Chapter 27
The moon silhouetted the outline of her small frame as she sat on the beach and watched the waves roll in. Alistair made his way over to her, sat down beside her and slid his arm around her shoulder.
She gave a slight smile, "How did you know I would be here?"
"Because I know you, my Love, I know that the ocean calls to you and that you find solace and comfort in it," Alistair replied.
"That's very perceptive of you," Alex said softly.
"One of the many things that I have learned about you since I arrived here in your world; seeing you here in your own environment has taught me a lot about you. Things I would have never learned if we had remained in Ferelden," Alistair stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh really, what else have you learned?" Alex asked.
Alistair thought about it for a moment and then a wicked grin spread across lips, "Well, behind that beautiful face and stunning intellect, you have a very dirty mind. Which by the way, you put to good use and I love it when you do," Alistair replied.
Alex giggled, "Well, a dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste."
Alistair laughed, "Yes it is."
"What else have you learned?" She asked.
Alistair remained quiet for a moment before he replied. "I know that you deeply love your brother, father and your mother and I know that James' words profoundly hurt you." Alistair saw her quickly wipe a tear away and Alistair reached up and took her hand in his. "Stop, you don't have to do that, Lexie, you don't have to be strong when you are with me. When you hurt, I hurt so don't try to hide your pain from me. Let me be your strength when you are weak, let me be your safe haven when you seek comfort. I love you, Alex I want to be there for you."
In one swift movement Alex turned, straddled Alistair and sat in his lap. She looped her arms around his neck and whispered, "What did I ever do to deserve such a wonderful man as you?" She kissed his cheek, then his chin and then her lips found his. Alistair's arms encircled her as he drew her closer to him and as he pressed his lips against hers and all the pain, all the anger and the sorrow just slipped away; it was just the two of them again holding on to each other.
Somewhere behind them someone yelled, "Hey get a room, this is a public beach."
They both laughed as they struggled to their feet. "That is excellent advice, my friend," Alistair yelled to stranger. "I think I will take that advice to heart." He smiled down at Alex, kissed her forehead and said, "I think there is bed a few blocks from here that has our names on it."
Alex grinned, "Yes there is."
When Alistair and Alex entered the living room they found that everyone was still there. Anders was entertaining Eva and Matt with fireballs and lightening while James sat in a chair moping. When Alex entered the room James leapt from his chair and scooped Alex into his arms. "Lex, I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I should have never said those things to you. Alistair was right I shouldn't be blaming you; I should be rejoicing that I have my baby sister back. Please forgive me."
"James…I ..can't breathe," Alex said as she struggled to loosen her brother's embrace.
"Oh, sorry about," he said as he released her.
"James, I'm the one that should be apologizing to you. I never meant to put you and Dad through such hell. I was given this rare and intriguing opportunity and I seized the moment without thinking through the ramification. You were right, that was selfish of me and I can't apologize enough for what you, Dad and…Mom went through," Alex's voice cracked as her emotions began to rise to the surface again.
James pulled her back into his arms, "Lexie, you did want I think anyone in this room would have done. If I am to believe this crazy story, which after watching the freak over there," James pointed in Anders direction, "create fireballs and lightening for the past hour, I am leaning towards believing you. So given the chance to visit another world no one in the right mind would turn that down."
Alex smiled up at her brother, "Thanks, James."
James kissed the top of her forehead and then released her, "Anytime, Sis."
"Watch who you call a Freak," Anders retorted, "Or you might wake up a toad one morning."
"You can do that?" Matt asked.
"If he could I would have been eating flies and living on a lily pad a long time ago," Alistair said dryly.
"Well, that's a relief," Matt replied.
James walked over to Alistair and extended his hand, "Hey man, I am sorry about earlier and I do appreciate the way you stood up to me and defended Alex. It takes balls to do that so you are okay in my book."
Alistair laughed and shook his hand. "Good to know that I have balls," Alistair said matter-of-factly and everyone in the room burst into laughter.
"So can I count on you to help me convince Dad about Alistair?" Alex asked.
James nodded, "Yes, as long as we find a less terrifying and bloody way to persuade him."
"I agree completely," Alistair said.
"Well, I think with you on my side, a little magic presentation by Anders and a little templar demonstration by Alistair might work," Alex said with a grin.
A huge smile spread across Alistair's face, "I get to smite Anders….excellent!"
"Hey now, I think I am still recovering from the last time you smitted me," Anders grumbled.
"Well, you deserve a little pay back for not letting me know about Alex's plan," Alistair retorted.
"What is a templar and smitting?" Matt asked
"The Order of Templars is a military order of the Chantry, which is the official church of Thedas," Alistair began. "The templars watch over the mages from the Circle of Magi and they hunt apostates, which are mages outside the Circle's control and maleficars, which are mages that practice the forbidden arts including blood magic. In order to help the templars control the mages, templars have the ability to dispel magic and to inhibit spellcasting," Alistair concluded.
"Thanks for the textbook definition. Templars are lyrium addicted, celibate, and probably all virgins I might add, zealots," Anders retorted.
"And you were one of them?" Eva asked.
"No, I never became a full-fledged templar, I was conscripted into the Grey Wardens before I took my vows," Alistair replied.
"A Grey Warden?" James asked.
"How about we continue the Ferelden history lesson later," Alex interjected. "What I want to know, Eva, is how long you have know that you were a healer and why I am just finding out about it now?"
"For as long as I remember," Eva said. "My earliest memory of healing was when I was around nine. I saw a cat get hit by a car. I ran over to it and it was still alive and it was crying in pain. I was so upset and I as stroked it's fur I felt this rush of heat leave my hands and wash over the cat. A moment later the cat jumped up and ran into the woods completely healed. However, I can't do it all the time. It only seems to work when I am very upset."
"That's because you haven't learned to tap into the Fade unless you are in an elevated emotional state which actually is very dangerous. I can teach how use your magic and how to control it," Anders said.
"Really?" Eva asked.
Anders grinned, "I think a few private lessons would be most beneficial…for both of us."
Eva grinned back. "Yes, I think that would have the best chance for a satisfactory outcome," she whispered into Anders ear.
"I'll start working on the lesson plan," Anders murmured back.
"And what if I develop a school girl crush on the teacher?" Eva sighed.
"Oh that's encouraged…as a matter of fact the teacher may have to give you detention if you don't," Anders replied softly.
Eva's eyes narrowed as she smirked. "Oooo, I like the sound of that," she purred.
"Earth to Eva," James said. "Come in Eva."
"Huh?" Eva said as turned her attention back to the room. "I'm sorry what were you saying."
"You said your great-grandmother's people call you a shaman. Who are your great-grandmother's people?" James asked.
"I am a descendant of the Miwokan Indians. The healer's powers have been passed down through the female line of my people for hundreds of years," Eva replied.
"How does a Native American end up with blonde hair and blue eyes?" James asked.
Eva laughed, "When Native American's mother marries a blonde, blue eyed Anglo-Saxon. You should see my sister – dark black hair and deep brown eyes – stand us side by side and you would never know we are related."
"Huh, so what made you decided to become a doctor?" James asked.
"I liked the idea of healing people and making them better, but I decided to explore the scientific side of healing, while my sister who has a stronger gift chose to work in holistic medicine," Eve replied.
"Did you try to heal me?" Alex asked quietly.
Eva smiled sadly at her. "Yes, but only once was I able to make myself angry enough to have any affect. Your chart showed marked improvement for several days after that attempt, but then you started to decline again."
"How did you make yourself angry?" Matt asked.
"Remember when I told you I broke my finger playing volleyball?" Eva asked.
Matt's eye brows furrowed, "Yes," he replied tentatively.
"Well, I actually slammed it in the door in Alex's room," Eva replied.
"Damn, I can see why you didn't try that again," Alex said.
"I'm so sorry Alex. I really did try to heal you on other occasions, but I just couldn't bring myself to slam the door on my finger again," Eva sighed.
Alex laughed, leaned over and hugged her friend. "Self mutilation is going above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you for trying, but I completely understand."
They spent the rest of the evening relaxing and enjoying each other's company. She loved and needed every person in this room. This was her family and as she watched all of them interacting with each, all of them getting along a feeling of happiness and contentment settled over her. It felt good to be home.
xxXxx
Fergus sat on the throne in the main hall and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to make the headache subside. Chancellor Eamon Guerrin and Arl LeonasBryland were once again in each other's face as they argued the pros and cons of making Fergus the King of Ferelden. The Landsmeet had convened the day after Alistair's memorial service and this very argument had been waging back and forth for the past three days. Half of the Landsmeet was in support of honoring Alistair's wishes and crowning Fergus as their King. The other half lead by Eamon said that Alistair had written his will before Fergus had married a commoner and that he would have never placed Fergus in the line of succession if he had known that Teyrn Cousland was planning on marrying a commoner.
In a surprising turn of events, Arl Teagan of Rainesfere defended Fergus' bid for the throne and for Leliana to be Ferelden's Queen. "Leliana isn't just some normal commoner. She is a Blight Companion. She fought fearless and tireless defending Ferelden against the Blight. She was on the top of Fort Drakon when the Hero of Ferelden delivered the killing blow. She may not have noble blood flowing through her veins, but she has the heart of a noble. And that is good enough for me, but if you insist on the Queen being a noble then elevate her status to a Bann for her heroic actions during the Blight."
Teagan's declaration brought on a new wave of arguments and the uproar in the main hall continued. Fergus had always liked Teagan. He was a couple of years older than Fergus, but the two of them had always gotten along. About a year before the Blight, Teagan had started to make bi-monthly pilgrimages to Highever to court his sister Elisa. During that time the two men had grown even closer and Fergus' respect for him increased. On Elisa's nineteenth birthday, Teagan had asked their father for permission to marry Elisa. Bryce had said as long as Elisa wanted to marry him Teagan had his permission. That night at Elisa's birthday celebration Teagan had proposed and Elisa had accepted and the date for their wedding had been set for the following summer. Three months later Howe had attacked Cousland Castle destroying both men's lives. Like Fergus, Teagan had been devastated over the loss of Elisa and the men continued to bond together over their mutual losses.
Fergus felt that Teagan seeing him once again happy with Leliana had brought the man some small measure of hope- that eventually he would be able to move on and meet someone who would make him happy. Fergus also felt that it was because of that ray of hope that Teagan was fighting so adamantly on Fergus' behalf.
The argument raged on well into the evening until Arl Teagan once again took the floor. "Ladies and Gentleman, we have been arguing this issue for three days now and we are still at a deadlock. So this is what I propose, that we walk away from this heated discussion and reassemble in six months to reevaluate and readdress this situation with cooler heads. Fergus has done an outstanding job governing the country as Regent and should continue to do so during the Landsmeet hiatus. Do I have a second?"
Bann Alfstanna was the first to stand, "Here, here, I agree completely and second the motion."
Eamon's eyes narrowed as he addressed the Landsmeet, "I will agree to this compromise as long as Fergus has a proper Chancellor aiding him in the decisions regarding the country."
"Yes, Eamon that is a splendid idea," Bryland said as he turned to Fergus. "Fergus, who would you like to select as your Chancellor?"
Fergus had to suppress a grin as shock registered on Eamon's Face. The man definitely hadn't seen that coming. "I select Arl Teagan as my Chancellor," Fergus declared. A resounding cheer went up from the crowd.
The proposal was put to a vote, the majority of the Landsmeet agreed with Teagan and the Landsmeet finally came to an end. Fergus approached the Teagan and shook his hand, "Thank the Maker you came up that brilliant idea. I don't think my head could take much more."
"Yes, but when I made that suggestion I didn't think I would be selected as Chancellor," Teagan retorted.
Fergus laughed, "Well, now my pain is your pain, my good friend."
"Well, it is probably good that I will be here in Denerim over the next six months. We have a lot of work to do Fergus if we are going to get the majority of the Landsmeet to support your bid for the throne," Teagan said.
"I liked your idea about making Leli a Bann. Can the Regent enforce that without the Landsmeet approval?" Fergus asked.
Teagan grinned, "Yes, as long as you have the support of the Arl or Teryn of that area and the support of at least one other noble in that region."
"Which Bann were you thinking of?" Fergus asked.
"White River, Bann Westin was killed during the Blight and it is currently is without a Bann," Teagan replied.
Fergus smiled, "And it just so happens, that White River is in the Arling of Rainesfere and one of my more outspoken supporters Bann Alfstanna also hails from that area."
"Hmmm, come to think of it I believe you are correct," Teagan said with a grin as he put his arm around Fergus and the two of them headed for the Library to give Leliana the news.