Chapter 8

"So just call on me brother, when you need a hand, we all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand, we all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long, till I'm gonna need, somebody to lean on"

Lean On Me by Bill Withers

The following evening Tristen sat in the Commander's office going over paper work that Varel had just given him to handle. He looked out the window and watched the snow that was still falling as it created a fresh blanket of snow. His mind drifted back Sabrina and how things had turned out yesterday. She had always been open with him, always willing to talk about everything, but when he had tried to talk with her last night about the events of the day she had been distant and distracted. That is what he had been worried about. Things had been going so well, than Alistair came along and screwed with her head.

He didn't know what had happened in their meeting after the joining, but when they were dealing with the basement issues she seemed very preoccupied. He had heard Alistair yelling at her that she had kept this from him and it had taken everything in him to stay in the room when everything in him wanted to punch his brother for being such an incredible arse. But he knew she needed to find the strength in her to stand up to him. When she returned she was very agitated and tense. He tried to comfort her, but she didn't want to discuss it and asked to be alone. With a heavy heart, he honored her wishes and gave her time to think.

She came to him last night and let him know she had received word about one of the missing Wardens in the city of Amaranthine. The new Wardens would be going with her in the morning to investigate. Depending on how things went would determine if she spent the night in the city or come back to the Keep. Since the sun was about to set it didn't look promising that she would be back this evening and the thought of not seeing her again made him feel melancholy.

While she was gone she asked him to handle things at the Keep in her absence. He told her that he would preferring letting Varel handle the Keep so that he could go with her.

He recalled the sad pained look that had spread across her face, "Tristen, I really need some time away from both you and Alistair. Having both you here is confusing the hell out of me. I need to sort things out without either one of you around."

Tristen cupped her face and pulled her close, "Brin, I completely understand and I will be waiting here for you when you return. I told you once and I meant it, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to leave you." He drew her to him and softly and lovingly kissed her good-bye.

As she was heading out the door she turned and looked at him, "You should take this time to get to know your brother better." Then she blew him a kiss and headed out the door.

Get to know his brother! He knew is brother very well, thank you very much and at this particular moment had no desire to get to know him better. So instead of listening to her recommendation he spent the bulk of the day catching up on her paper work for her.

There was a knock on the door and he yelled that it was open.

The door opened and Alistair walked in. He looked a little shocked to see Tristen there. "Aaah, I was hoping to speak to Sabrina."

"She isn't here. She went into Amaranthine to follow a lead about one of the missing Wardens," Tristen replied.

"Oh, I didn't realize she was even gone from the Keep. It must have been your taint I sensed," Alistair muttered.

"Yes, it would have been mine. She left very early this morning before most of the Keep was up. Is there something I can help you with?" Tristen asked.

Alistair ignored his question and asked one of his own, "When do you expect her back?"

"Well, since it is late in the day and she hasn't returned yet it won't be until tomorrow. Alistair, is there something I can help you with," Tristen asked again patiently.

"Well, two of my scouts just returned with a report that Dragon's Pass is covered in ice and is currently impassable. So it looks like we will be imposing on Sabrina's generous hospitality a little longer. At least another week until the roads can be traveled," Alistair replied.

"Of course, I will make the house servants aware that your stay has been extended," Tristen said. He looked at his brother and could tell he was nervous.

His heart softened towards him and he gave him a warm smile. Alistair, I know that a lot of information was given to you yesterday, and after you've had time to process it, don't hesitate to come to me if you have any questions. I want to help you adjust to this if I can."

"Actually, I do have a couple of questions, if you don't mind," Alistair said.

"Of course not, let's sit over by the fire where it's warmer," Tristen said as he got up and walked over to the fire. "Would you like a brandy?"

Alistair smiled, "Yes, that would be nice."

Tristen poured the brandies and took the chair beside Alistair in front of the fireplace. Alistair took a sip of his brandy and began to speak, "You have to understand what a shock this is for me."

"I do, Alistair. I have known about you all of my life, you just found out about me yesterday. I know this is going to take some getting used too."

Alistair chuckled. "To say the least, to find out not only that you have a brother, but a brother that is a twin and that your mother is alive it's a bit overwhelming."

Alistair took another sip of brandy before he continued. "Maric has been dead for almost seven years now. Why has neither you or our mother ever made an attempt to contact me until now?"

"You think the timing has to do with you being named the King of Ferelden?" Tristen asked.

"Well, it is a little suspicious," Alistair countered.

Tristen smiled, "Yes, I can give you that. Well, when the news of Maric's death arrived I was in the Deep Roads and our mother was at Weisshaupt. By the time the news had reached her and she'd made the necessary arrangements to return to Orlais it was almost three years after his death. In the meantime, it was about a year after his death when I arrived back at the Orlais compound. When I found out I contacted Duncan and asked what I should do, he told me to wait until Fiona came back and together we would come to Ferelden."

Alistair looked stunned. "You knew Duncan."

"Yes, I knew him most of my life. He was like a father to me and when we received word that you were being sent to the Chantry, Fiona asked him to go to Ferelden and look out for you. Which he gladly did," Tristen replied.

Alistair ran his fingers through his hair and breathed out a long sigh, "And the hits just keep on coming."

"Alistair, our mother loves you. It caused her great pain to know that her son was in Ferelden, but she couldn't go see you and be a part of your life. When she found out how you were being treated she was outraged. She wrote Maric and demanded that the treatment of his son was inexcusable and if he didn't do something about it she would. He wrote her back and told her it was none of her concern and that if she came after you he would have her arrested for treason. What a fucking joke? Have her arrested for treason because she wanted to take care of the son that he wouldn't even acknowledge." Tristen paused and shook his head. "Just because she couldn't be a physical presence in your life she did try to look out for you as best as she could."

Alistair nodded. "I can see that and I appreciate that. Please tell me, what is she like?"

Tristen's face light up and tender smile spread across his face. "She is wonderful – she is kind and compassionate, yet so strong and unwavering in her convictions. She is beautiful and very funny. She manipulates the veil like it's her own personal cloak"

"She's a mage," Alistair asked.

Tristen narrowed his eyes as he looked at his brother, "Yes, she is an elven mage. Is that a problem?"

Alistair thought about it for a moment and then a wicked grin spread across his face as he started to laugh. "No, not at all, it's just I think the Landsmeet would shit themselves if they knew my mother was an elven mage. I don't know which they would struggle with more, keeping a Theirin on the throne or removing me because I have magic and elven blood."

Tristen chuckled, "Yes, I do believe that would be an interesting Landsmeet to witness as they confronted their prejudices and weighed them against the importance of the Theirin blood line.

The fact that you were trained as a templar and she is a mage, that's not a problem?" Tristen asked.

"I never took my vows as a templar, but even if I had it would not be a problem. I always believed that the treatment of mages was completely unfair. Besides, I traveled with a couple mages during the Blight and they saved my life on numerous occasions," Alistair said.

"Well, that's good to hear. So anyways, by the time that Fiona and I were ready to travel to Ferelden, rumors of a Blight were beginning to circulate. We received word from Duncan to hold off on coming here until he could determine whether or not there was a real crisis to be concerned about. Then about three months before Ostagar we received word to send Wardens to aid Ferelden against the growing numbers of darkspawn. Both Fiona and I were among the Wardens that were turned away at the border by Loghain's men, which frustrated her to no end and she swore she would have Loghain's balls hanging from her staff," Tristen chortled.

Alistair started to laugh, "Would have loved to have seen that."

"I'm with you on that one brother," Tristen chuckled.

"Brother…" Alistair muttered.

"I know. It's weird. Even though I have known about you all of my life it's strange sitting here drinking brandy and laughing with you."

"Well, it good to know that I am not the only one here that feels that way," Alistair said. He paused for a moment before continuing, "So I'm glad that she wasn't part of the Orlais Wardens that were here at the Keep, but why wasn't she here?"

"Well, that would be my doing. It was one thing for her to cross the border and fight against the Blight when she thought she was coming to her son and her close friend's aid – that was something that was worth the risk. However once we were allowed back into Ferelden, we didn't know what we would find when we go here and I didn't want her to be overly exposed to the taint. No one knows how her body would react if the taint was reintroduced back into her blood stream. I was concerned for her well being."

Alistair smiled sadly, "Well, that is what a son is for, to look out for his mother's well fare."

"And now she will both of her sons to look out for her," Tristen replied.

Alistair didn't say anything, he just nodded and remained quiet for a long moment. "I have another question if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

"Yesterday, Bree said that you have a connection with me and that you were concerned that I might hurt her, which is why you were so eager to get her away from Denerim. What is this connection?"

Damn it, Brin why did you have to bring that up to him? "Well, in a way I can sense your emotions and feelings. Now that you are aware that you have a twin it will probably be just a matter of time before you will begin to recognize it too."

"How does it work?"

He couldn't just tell him that they shared dreams and that 'hey every intimate feeling and memory you have ever had I have been there with you'. Talk about killing a relationship before it even had a chance to get started.

"I can't explain it, but now that you aware of me it will become very clear, I promise."

"And why did you think I would hurt Bree?"

Tristen looked at him for a long moment, "Are you telling me that your anger at her was not so powerful that times you didn't want to physically slam her up against a wall and inflict pain on her?"

Alistair looked up at him in shook and then embarrassment flickered across his face. "H-how? You know that from this connection?"

"Yes and before you did something that you would deeply regret I felt I needed to get her away from you while you worked through those emotions and strong urges," Tristen replied.

Alistair hung his head down and was quiet for a long time. Then he humbly said, "Thank you. I would not have been able to live with myself I had ever hurt her."

"I know," Tristen stated.

Alistair looked at him for a long moment, "It's nice to know that someone has your back."

Tristen smiled. "Yes it is." He got up and poured them eah some more brandy, "I hope Sabrina won't be to upset that we drank the brandy that Fergus gave her as a parting gift."

"Oh she will be very upset. That woman likes her brandy. Once I had to wrestle her off of Oghren to keep her from chocking him because he accidently found a bottle of antivian brandy in her backpack and drank it all. For a tiny thing she packs a surprising wallop," Alistair chuckled.

Tristen laughed, "She punched you?"

"Yeah, she told me to mind my own business and that damn dwarf deserved to die if he was going to steal from her backpack," Alistair grinned.

Tristen started laugh even harder. "The damn dwarf deserved to die…oh that's too funny. Why did she let him become a Warden if she doesn't like him."

"Oh I didn't say she didn't like him. Actually, she found Oghren's boorish manners very entertaining and the two of them would stay up drinking around the fire late into the night….actually there were three of them, there was an assassin who would join in the merriment," Alistair recalled.

"And you didn't join them?"

"Hell no, don't get me wrong, I love brandy as much as the next guy, but I couldn't keep up the three of them. They would drink late into the night and then Bree would get up the next day and take on a dozen darkspawn like she had twelve hours of sleep. That woman's constitution amazes me. I'm sure she let Oghren join the Wardens because she missed her drinking buddy."

A loud knock came at the door and Tristen got up to answer it. "Warden Theirin, this message came for you."

"Thank you, Jacob," Tristen replied.

"Warden Theirin?" Alistair asked.

Tristen made his way back over to the fire, "Aaah, yes our mother's evil sense of humor. She was so angry at Maric for his treatment of you and of me that she purposely gave me his surname. I think since we didn't live in Fereleden and I was mostly surrounded by Wardens that it didn't matter. It was her little dig at him."

Alistair grinned, "I think I am going to like our mother."

"Oh you will, trust me." Tristen opened the message, read it and sighed.

"Is everything alright?" Alistair asked.

"Yes…no…oh hell, probably not. The message is from Sabrina. She found some information in Amaranthine that there were darkspawn spotted near Knotwood Hills. The entrance to the Kal'Hirol Deep Roads are right near there, it makes me uneasy for her to go into the Deep Roads with a bunch of new Wardens," Tristen said.

Alistair brow furrowed. "She is no new recruit. She will be fine."

"Yes, I know, but I would prefer going into the Deep Roads with more than one experienced Warden. I just wish she would have come back here so that I could have gone with her. Two experienced Wardens are better than one," Tristen replied trying to down play his concern.

"Well, she has Oghren with her, correct?" Alistair asked.

"Yes."

"Well, he is no stranger to the Deep Roads or to fighting alongside her. He was on top of Fort Drakon with her. She will be fine. I know you are new to traveling with her, but she has this an uncanny ability to bring out the best in those around her. They will be fine," Alistair said reassuringly.

The two brothers spent the rest of the evening drinking, eating and getting to know each other. Tristen was amazed at how easily and effortlessly they had fallen into a comfortable camaraderie. He always knew through their dreams that he would like Alistair, but it surprised him how much he enjoyed being with him. It saddened him a little to think of all the years that they weren't together and all the memories that would never be.

The following morning after breakfast, Tristen went out into the sparring ring to get some practice in when he noticed Alistair working out on a wooden dummy.

"Good morning, how are you feeling today?" Tristen inquired.

"I have felt better. Fergus' brandy is potent. I thought a good work out might help sweat it out," Alistair replied.

Tristen chuckled, "Great minds think alike. I had the same thought."

Both of them spent the next thirty minutes working over the practice dummies and the exercise in the cold crisp air did wonders to clear his head. He took a break to get some water and Alistair joined him.

"I see that we both use the same fighting styles," Alistair said.

Of course Tristen already knew this, but nodded in agreement.

"What do you say to a sparring match?" Alistair asked.

Tristen grinned, "You're on!"

Both men quickly selected practice armor and weapons from the armory and met back in the sparring ring. They took their time circling and getting a feel for the other, but Alistair eventually made the first move and the match was on.

They went after and matched each other blow for blow. It was almost like a synchronized dance. Tristen instinctively knew every move that Alistair was going to make and he would try to counter it, but it was as if Alistair was inside his head and was able to anticipate the next blow. They went at it for what seemed like hours and had drawn a large crowd of spectators. Both men completely exhausted called a truce and a loud cheer went up from the crowd. Without even thinking they both took a bow, then looked at each other and started to laugh

They rested against the railing, drinking water and trying to catch their breath. "Is that what you meant by a connection?" Alistair asked.

"Yeah, but even that was new to me. It was like you were inside my head and knew exactly what my next move was going to be and I could do the same to you," Tristen replied.

"It's a little strange, but very handy in a battle. I wonder…" Alistair voice trailed off.

"You wonder what?"

"How it would work if you and I were in dual match? How well we would work together against an opponent?"

Tristen grinned, "Well there is only one way to find out. I wonder which two soldiers are willing to be our guinea pigs?"

As it turned out, one of the Keep's guards and one of royal guards volunteered for the match and the four of them entered the sparring ring to face each other. As before, Alistair and Tristen could foresee each other's moves and they worked in tandem to quickly disarm their opponents.

Alistair laughed as they helped the guards to their feet. "That was awesome. I haven't fought like that with someone by my side since Bree. I thought we did a good job of reading each other, but nothing like that. That's incredible. It's like I see the move in my head before you even make it."

"That would definitely come in handy in a real battle situation," Tristen replied.

"This whole connection thing isn't too bad," Alistair said.

"You say that now, but there will come a time when it's not so great," Tristen responded.

Over the next week, as the two brothers waited for Sabrina to return, they spent a lot of time getting to know each other. Tristen already knew a lot about Alistair's upbringing, but the emotions that were conveyed when he told stories about his youth were so much more heartfelt than any dream and Tristen really enjoyed hearing about things that he had only experienced in dreams. Alistair asked a lot of questions about growing up with the Wardens, their mother, and Duncan and Tristen enjoyed tell Alistair about his childhood years.

On the eighth day, just as Tristen was about to start to seriously panic about Sabrina she rode into the Keep bright and early that morning. She had an extra companion that rode on the back of her horse with her. Tristen walked up to her horse, took the reins, handed them to the stable boy and helped the dwarf down.

Then he turned back just as Sabrina slid out of the saddle and was only inches from him. "Welcome back," he said with a grin.

She looked up at him and grinned back, "It's good to be back." She looked good and maybe the time away had helped her sort something out. He hoped so.

"So were you able to work through some things," Tristen asked tentatively.

Sabrina smiled radiantly at him, "Yes, I do believe it was a successful trip all around." And her eyes slid to the new companion.

Tristen turned to the newest companion, "Hello I'm Tristen."

"Nice to meet you I'm Sigrun."

"Sig, is going to become a Warden," Sabrina said.

"Oh, that's great. Then welcome, Sister," Tristen replied.

"Nate, could you please show Sigrun to a room in the barracks and let Varel know we will performing the joining ritual this afternoon," Sabrina commanded.

"Yes, Commander," Nate replied coldly and then headed inside with the new recruit.

"I see he is still as charming as ever," Tristen chortled.

"Oh, he will come around. He started to dethaw towards the end of the trip," Sabrina replied.

Just then the main doors to the Keep opened and Alistair stepped out. Tristen heard her breathe a sigh of frustration. "Bloody hell, why is the King still here?"

"Aaah, well Dragon's Pass is covered in ice and is too treacherous to travel. It looks like Alistair will be with us for at least another week," Tristen replied.

"That's just lovely. How have the two of you been getting along?"

"Very well, as a matter of fact." Tristen said. The horse blocked Sabrina from view and Tristen was the only one visible to Alistair as he approached them.

"Aaah, there you are, are you ready to head to the sparring…" Alistair paused as he round the horse and saw Sabrina there. His eyes light up and he smiled warmly at her. "Bree, you're back, I'm glad to you have returned safe and sound."

Tristen watched Sabrina closely for some type of reaction, but she had already reigned in her emotions and he couldn't read her.

"Alistair, I hear you will be extending your stay with us," Sabrina replied neutrally.

"Yes, I hope I am not imposing on your generosity too much," Alistair answered.

"Well, I can't very well kick the King of Ferelden out on his arse, now can I?" Sabrina chortled jovially as she smiled up at him warmly, but her eyes contradicted her words and expression. She was clearly not happy to have Alistair here for another week and both brothers knew it as they shifted uncomfortably.

She turned to head into the Keep when Varel approached her, "Commander, I am so glad you have returned and just in time for your Welcome Reception tomorrow. I was beginning to worry that you were going to miss your own party."

"My what?" She asked incredulously.

"Well, the nobles of Amaranthine want to meet their new Arlessa so while the King is here I arranged for meet and greet," Varel replied.

Sabrina looked flabbergasted. Her mouth opened, then closed as she paused to collect her thoughts. She looked back and forth between Varel, Tristen, and Alistair. "Look, I am in the middle of some damn war between feuding factions of darkspawn and you want me to stand around, sip wine and eat hors d'oeuvres with a bunch of nobles."

"On come on, Bree, you're no stranger to the political games that need to be played with the nobles. They want to meet their Arlessa and swear their loyality to you even if they are plotting your demise in the same breath," Alistair said jokingly.

"Well, you aren't too far off the mark on that one, your Majesty," Nate said he rejoined them and bowed to Alistair.

"Alistair, this is one of my new Wardens, Nathaniel Howe," Sabrina said.

Alistair shot her a side glance, but smiled at Nate. "It's a pleasure to meet you Warden."

"Nate what was that you were saying about not being far off the mark," Tristen asked.

"Well, we ran into a very friendly fellow while in the city. Goes by the name the Dark Wolf, he informed us that there is contract out on Sabrina's life," Nate replied.

Both Alistair and Tristen had the same shocked expressions on their face. Sabrina's brows furrowed as she looked at both of them, "It's kind of freaky when you both do that."

"Do what?" They both asked in unison.

This time Sabrina raised an eye brow, "That! You two have been to together for a little over a week and you are already mirroring each other's expressions and completing each other's thoughts. It's just a little freaky."

Tristen ignored her comment and asked, "So this Dark Wolf, does he know who is behind the plot?"

"No, but for fifty sovereign he can find out, which Sabrina handed over to him without hesitation. Pillaging and plundering noble's estates during the Blight must have really paid off," Nate said sarcastically.

"No, not really, just your father's estates, but then again I was just reclaiming the things that he stole from my home," Sabrina retorted sardonically. Nate just glowered at her.

"Yeah, I can see what you mean, he has really thawed out," Tristen said.

Sabrina just rolled her eyes and continued her argument, "Look Varel, my point is, I have a lot going on. If the nobles want to stay alive I need to figure out who or what the Mother and the Architect are so I can…"

"Did you say the Architect?" Tristen asked.

Sabrina nodded, "Why have you heard of him?"

"Yes, do you remember the brooches I told you about, the ones that speed up the taint?"

Again Sabrina nodded. "Well, the Architect used the brooches as part of a plot to lure Grey Wardens into the Deep Roads. From what I have heard my mother and Duncan say he is not someone to be trifled with. He is intelligent and cunning and lacks all morals to guide him in his decision. I will write and inform Fiona immediately. She will want to know that he is active again and I will see what information she can send. But we need to proceed with extreme caution," Tristen said.

"Well, since it will take some time to acquire that information I believe you will be free tomorrow evening for your Welcome Reception," Varel said.

"Varel, is right, Bree. Before you can go charging off to save the day you really need to gather more information. It won't hurt you take a day off, relax, get something to eat, socialize a little before you go gallivanting off again" Alistair chortled.

Sabrina stared at him for a long moment, "You know, you really have gone soft, Alistair."

He chuckled. "Me? Gone soft? Never! But I have learned to stop every now and then to smell the roses." Alistair smiled and winked at her. It must have been some underlying joke between them because Tristen noticed that she was trying to suppress a smile.

Sabrina finally threw her arms up in the air exasperated. "Oh for the love of Andraste's arse, fine you win. I will go to your party, Varel, but after this one no more parties until after this damn crisis is over."

Varel grinned at her, "Yes, Commander."

Tristen felt a wave of nausea come over him. He loved his brother and the more that he got to know him the more he respected and cared about him. And Maker help him, he loved Sabrina desperately. He knew how much Alistair loved her, it was almost as much as he did.

Tristen also knew that Sabrina loved them both and she was being torn apart between the two of them. Tristen knew he was better for her, that he could give her the life she wanted and he had to make her see that. He also knew that even if she was with him that Alistair would always have a piece of her that he could never touch. He would spend the rest of his life sharing her with his brother and that might just be his undoing.

Author Notes – I wanted to thank everyone for your reviews and for adding this story to your alert and favs list. The response has been awesome and I appreciate your support. I always try to respond to review posts, but if I missed someone, I apologize and please know that I am grateful for you taking the time to read and review.

As always I need thank my Beta Goddess, RandomWittering for her excellent skills of making me look good and I also want to thank her lovely assistant Jinx for her support.

I also wanted to give a shout out to both Jinx and RandomWittering for putting together such a wonderful forum for writers. It has been a pleasure getting to know all of the cheeky monkey over there. If you haven't visited the forum I highly recommend it. ht tp:/ /w w storm. /cm da/ index. php Remove the spaces