She was standing outside the keep making a deal with a dwarven merchant. The snow was falling and she could feel the cold air brushing her face. It would have been more comfortable to do this inside, but all his wares were in his cart and her men needed new weapons, not to mention dwarven ale. How Oghren could drink that stuff she never knew. She turned around when she heard someone slamming the door running down the stairs.
"Warden-Commander!"
"Yes, Sigrun. What is the matter?"
"Well, the youngest wardens are harassing Avernassus again."
"I can't turn my back for two bloody seconds. Would you finish this for me, while I take care of it?"
"Of course, Commander."
Alyssa ran up the stair and into the keep. Why didn't they ever listen? She had have dozens of people under her command, but no one gave her this much grief. They were equally rebellious and thought everything was a joke. She ran up the stairs. "Everyone is uncomfortable around Avernassus, but these two have no sense what so ever!" She was almost at the top of the stairs when she could hear Avernassus grumbling. She opened the door and saw Avernassus casting a frostspell on a chair that seemed to have been on fire.
"Duncan! Justin! What are you doing?"
"Practicing fire." Justin said proudly.
"Get those boys out of here! I have important work to do and don't have time for babysitting!"
"I am sorry Avernassus it won't happen again."
She took both boys by the arms and turned around.
"Wait." Avernassus turned around. "I need another blood sample from both of them."
"Do we have to, mother?" Duncan pleaded.
"Yes you do."
"But it hurts." Justin grumbled.
"Then you shouldn't have come up here in the first place."
The boys grumbled, but did as they were told. After the numerous blood samples that have been taken over the years one would think that they would have become accustom to it by now. They didn't know why they were subject to all these tests. They knew nothing of the taint in their blood or how short their lives would be if a cure was not found. It was probably the reason why they went up here so often. They were use to coming here. They knew nothing of blood magic, to them Avernassus was just one more warden. When the boys were done they followed her outside.
"So whose idea was it to set fire to a chair?" She gave them a stern look.
"Duncan's." Justin said trying to look innocent.
"I can't do magic. Justin is the mage not me."
"But you told me I couldn't do it!"
"It is not my fault that you listened!"
"Enough!" Both boys looked up at her with a fearful look. Both boys had blonde hair and brown eyes. Duncan had just turned eight and with his tanned skin he could have been his father's mirror image. Justin was a couple of years younger and was pale. Justin had only recently discovered his powers and Duncan used every opportunity to get him into trouble because of it. Duncan hadn't shown any magical talent yet, but he was still young. Though he envied his younger brother for it, the day would come were not having magical talent would become a blessing. This however was still a long way into the future, hopefully. Her greatest concern was finding a cure for the taint. Avernassus was trying his best, but she was afraid time was running out.
"How many times have I told you not to interrupt Avernassus when he is working?"
The boys didn't answer.
"Duncan, you have to stop encouraging Justin to use his powers at any opportunity."
"Why are you angry with me? I didn't do it."
"No, but you are the eldest and you know that he does whatever you tell him to. You need to be responsible and encourage people to do good things, not things you find amusing."
"Why?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to become commander some day? Then you have to learn how to lead people, not just make them follow your whims. Do you understand?"
"Yes, mother."
Justin was leaning over against the wall looking through whole made for archers. His face suddenly brightened and he started running. She looked over the wall and saw a man on a white horse she knew all too well.
"Alistair." She smiled.
"Father?" Duncan grinned and followed Justin down the stairs.
Alyssa quickly followed the boys. It had been months since they had seen Alistair. Being the King of Ferelden had not been without its costs. They could only ever be half a family as long as she could be no more than his mistress. This was part of the reason why Alyssa feared that Duncan had magical talent. He was the heir to the throne. "My own royal bastard." Alistair would joke, but being a bastard was one thing. That could be accepted by the people, Alistair was after all a popular king despite him being the son of a commoner. Accepting a mage king however would be an entirely different matter. Alyssa could already hear the accusations that Duncan would turn Ferelden into another Tevinter Emporium. The revolution was officially over, but now they needed to rebuild and mages all over Thedas bore the heavy burden of gaining peoples trust and enter into society as normal citizens. This would take decades and with the taint in Alistair's blood who knew how long it would be before his calling came... or her own. She looked at the children's faces and feared what would happen to them. When she came down the boys were already taking the ears of Alistair, who just smiled and listened. When he saw Alyssa he told the boys to run inside and wait for him. When he was there he would use all his time playing with them and telling them stories. Mostly he would goof around with them and for some reason the trouble they caused would always double when he was present. He might be a King, but he was still as childish as when she had met him twelve years ago. He came over to her and kissed her deeply.
"I have missed you, love." He smiled.
"I have missed you to. Though, you could have had better timing."
"What did I interrupt this time?"
"Your son decided it would be a good idea to make Justin set fire to a chair."
"How come when Duncan causes trouble he is only my son? Is he only your son when he behaves? I do remember us both being involved." He teased.
"Duncan has inherited your sense for mischief. I am the responsible one, so therefore I take credit for that."
"Not to mention stubborn. Ouch!" He tried to pout as he rubbed the part of his stomach where she had gently slapped him.
"Not that I am not glad to see you, but I thought you weren't coming until next month?"
"I wasn't planning on it, but I received some information I thought it best if I delivered myself. I will have to go back to Denerim tomorrow."
"You're cold. Let's go inside by the fire."
They spend the afternoon with the children and when they were tucked in bed, Alyssa and Alistair went to Alyssa's private quarters.
"What information did you have, love?"
"Anders has been freed from the templars in Orlais two weeks ago. The last message we received said that they were moving him south near the Ferelden border. I haven't heard anything to suggest that he has been recaptured, so hopefully he has crossed the border by now."
"Thank the Maker. She succeeded then. That man always gets himself into trouble, but if he has crossed the border he is safe at least."
"I hope so."
"What do you mean you hope so? The mages have been given their freedom there is no reason for anyone in Ferelden to hunt him."
"No, but I did receive a letter from a Prince Sebastian Vael of Stark Haven requesting that if we find him in Ferelden that we turn him over to him."
"Well, he can forget it. Anders has been made tranquil and forced to be a templar puppet for years. That has to be punishment enough. Besides there are people who need him."
"I know and I will not turn him over should we find him. He has been granted sanctuary in Ferelden. The only ones who can demand his release is the Viscount of Kirkwall, but he doesn't want anything more to do with this mess. But it is not only Prince Vael's interest that worries me."
"You are worried that he has made a substantial bounty on Anders' head."
"Yes and worse if he finds out about..."
"Then he will stop at nothing to get revenge." She interrupted him. Alistair nodded sadly.
"Is there anything we can do?"
"I will have my special infantry look for him discretely, but other than that we must trust that she knows what she is doing."
"All of this is my fault. If I hadn't left the wardens in Amaranthine to come here, all of this wouldn't have happened."
"You are not to blame, love."
"Aren't I? If I hadn't let the orlisians take over command maybe that bastard, Rolan would never have been recruited. If only I haven't been so obsessed with finding a cure for the taint and finding a way to have a child. I should have found a way to help Justice instead, so a merging with Anders hadn't been necessary. I failed both of them... as a commander and as a friend."
"Listen to me, love. It is not your fault. Even if you had known Justice and Anders would merge, would you have stopped them? I mean Wynne was possessed for as long as we knew her and was never a danger to anyone. None of you are to blame, love. Not Justice, not Anders and certainly not you. You don't blame Nathanial for suggesting them to merge do you?"
"Of course not."
"Then don't blame yourself. I am sure neither Anders nor Justice blames you."
"You are probably right."
"See... That wasn't so hard was it? I am not as stupid as I look, you know."
Alyssa started to laugh. How was it that he could always make her feel better?
"I have some good news as well."
"Go on." She smiled.
"Well, the council and I are about to make a decree that officially will give the mages the same rights as any other citizen. Hopefully this will make mage marrying more common and allow mage children to inherit. It will take time off course and I have to change over a hundred regulations, but eventually..."
"Our marriage will be legitimate?"
"Yes. Just imagine the scandal, a mage queen. Good thing you are of noble birth or we would really be in trouble."
Alyssa laughed and threw her arms around his neck as she kissed him. Thedas was changing. Hopefully for the better.
-OOO-
Two more days and they would be at the ruins where the ashes were supposed to be. Anders had tried to avoid talking and even looking at Bethany. The more he resisted looking that more he felt that he wanted to. He felt himself taken in by her beauty, but resented her bitterness. He could understand her anger, but her hostility towards him was getting on his nerves. At the same time he felt attracted to her and he felt ashamed. He had already destroyed her sister, would he now try to do the same to her? Not that it mattered, she probably wouldn't give him the time of day. He found himself wondering why he felt this attraction. Her personality was nothing like he had described Marian in his diaries. Besides the name they had nothing in common. Perhaps she looked like her and somewhere in his subconscious that was the reason why he felt drawn to her? Anders was beginning to think his mind was playing tricks on him. He could hear Marian's voice in his head and sometimes he could swear he could smell her vanilla scent. His heart was aching for her and knowing that she was gone, was more than he could bear. Perhaps he no longer wanted to take the ashes. Perhaps he should be grateful that he would die early. These dire thoughts were interrupted when Oran once again couldn't keep quiet. Anders chuckled. That young elf reminded him of himself as a younger man.
"I have to ask, why did you call yourself The Tranquil? Wouldn't templar destroyer or something be more appropriate?"
"Several reasons. For one it was symbolic. It was to take what the templars used against us and turn it against them. I wanted to make them fear what they did to us."
"And the other reasons."
"After they captured Anders and Hawke I lost myself. The pain was too much for me bear so I buried everything I felt and hid away my emotions. At the moment I put on that mask I became tranquil in a sense."
"Brutal... but if you weren't actually made tranquil what happened to your powers?"
"Well it would be strange for someone who appeared tranquil to throw around fireballs, don't you think?"
"Good point. But we know who you are now, so why not use it."
"I have come accustom not to use it. Besides if I don't use magic how do you think I get my voice to change?"
"Clever... Was the champion just as smart?"
"Oran that's enough." Phillip interfered.
Two more days and all of this would be over. Two more days and they would go their separate ways and find a new path. Anders feared it. He had lost everything and was terrified that if he were to regain something he would lose it.