I really had a lot of fun writing this story. From the dream sequence to the excitement at the Landsmeet and the quiet aftermath at the end, this is by far my favorite chapter in the entire story.

Chapter Eight

She giggled as she ran before him, her red hair streaming out behind her like a banner. Teagan had chased her across the yard and into the meadow where the tall grass grew like soldiers standing at attention. She reached the top of the meadow's rise and paused to look back at him. The smile on her face took his breath away and he stopped to look at her. She just stood there watching him with that smoldering look that drove him mad with want for her.

He walked the few steps between them and she smiled at him, watching him close the distance, one brow delicately arching when he got close enough to hold her in his arms. She reached her arms up to him, standing on her tiptoes and kissed his throat just over his Adam's apple. He felt an answering jolt along his spine at the touch of her soft lips to his skin.

She was warm and pliant under his touch—he'd never touched anyone with such soft skin before. He bent his lips to hers, pausing just over them, feeling her warm, sweet breath on his face before gently capturing her mouth with his. Strawberries, she tasted of strawberries. She teased his lips with her tongue, nibbling with her teeth and sucking on his bottom lip.

She unbuttoned his shirt to the waist and ran her fingers down his chest, playing over the muscles of his abdomen teasing close to the core of his pleasure. With a giggle, her lips began to follow her fingers…

He awoke with a start and groaned, rolling over and grabbing her pillow, pulling it to him. A poor substitute for the warm and willing woman in his dream, or the one who had shared his bed all winter.

He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but the noises of the house that had roused him from his dream continued unabated and he lay there unable to doze back off. Awakened fully now, his concerns rose back up to haunt him.

She had been gone a week now, and he prayed he would hear something from her soon. He had already posted one letter north to Amaranthine. He might be bound to Denerim till the problems with the Bannorn were dealt with, but he had to try to warn her of the danger she was in.

He sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning.

Today was the Landsmeet. Usually these things went on for a week or more as petty issues were argued back and forth and policies for the coming year adopted. There was no telling what would happen this year. At the very least, it was going to seem strange not having Maric or Cailan there. Even if Anora had made most of the decisions during Cailan's brief rule on the throne, she'd had the good grace to make it seem it was her husband who was ruling.

He rose and dressed for the day in his chain mail armor and buckled his sword at his waist. If there was to be trouble at the Landsmeet, he wanted to be prepared.

Downstairs, Isolde was sitting at the breakfast table alone again. She raised a brow at the sight of Teagan dressed as if off to war.

"It never hurts to be prepared. The last Landsmeet broke out in pandemonium. The one before that I thought Loghain was going to have me executed for treason on the spot."

"I remember. Remind Eamon he is not as young as he used to be."

"I will, Isolde. Got to run, no time to eat. See you later today, Sister."

He gave her a peck on the cheek, then reached for the bowl of strawberries on the table and plucked a few from it, popping one in his mouth as he strode out the door.

Muffin came trotting up beside Teagan, and for once the bann didn't try to stop the mabari. He wanted every asset he could put at his disposal now and was grateful Neria had left her warhound in his care.

He didn't dawdle this morning. He went straight to the palace. Already several of the banns had arrived. He saw Edwina standing to one side and went to her.

"Good morning, Bann Teagan. I see you came expecting trouble," she said quietly.

"As did you," he replied, his voice low as well.

Edwina was wearing leather armor and sporting two wicked looking daggers at her hip. She shrugged.

"With all the troubles the other banns have been having, I figured it may be a prudent move. I hope we can resolve this peacefully."

"As do I," he replied. "Ferelden doesn't need to be torn apart. Your mother didn't come?"

"I was serious when I told those girls I would be speaking for West Hills now. My mother has all but turned over the title of Arlessa over to me. She just doesn't have it in her anymore."

Teagan frowned. He had known Mathilde for many years now and she had usually supported Eamon's stance in the Landsmeet, even if it was her husband, Gallagher, who spoke for their arling. Looking over the people present, some of the banns were unfamiliar to him, and he realized a new generation was coming into power in the Bannorn.

"There were a lot of lives lost in the Blight," he said.

"And the civil war," she said.

She frowned and he got the feeling she was going to say something else, but a familiar voice purred at his ear and he felt Bann Regina tuck her arm in his, interrupting their conversation.

"Bann Teagan, come, let's get a good spot for the festivities, shall we? We can't see anything back in this little mouse hole."

He got the feeling she was being insulting, but she smiled so sweetly at Edwina when she said it, he wasn't sure. Edwina's expression was inscrutable.

"You go on ahead, Bann Teagan. I think I'll just stay in my little mouse hole for now," she said.

Taking a place on the balcony, Teagan watched as the others began to file in. Bann Alfstanna, Bann Sighard and Bann Ceorlic took their places on the opposite balcony. He felt Arl Bryland move up to stand beside him. Arl Vaughan stood nearby, looking down at the gathered assemblage. Teagan recalled his father, Urien had been an ardent royalist and he wondered how Vaughan would be voting on things.

Shortly, the moment Teagan had been anticipating happened, and the Cousland brothers entered. Fergus wore a tabard bearing Highever's colors and Michael was wearing Gwaren's.

Teagan watched, amused, at the stunned silence as the expressions of shock and surprise ran through the banns assembled. Even Regina stiffened beside him in surprise, an emotion he rarely saw on her face.

His thoughts must have shown on his face. Regina poked Teagan and pouted petulantly. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

Shrugging, he responded, "It wasn't my secret to tell. If it's any consolation, I didn't tell Isolde either."

She giggled. "I'm glad. Bryce and Eleanor will be missed, but I'm glad their sons lived."

Obviously, Michael was enjoying this, as he couldn't wipe that mischievous grin off his face. But Fergus was grim-faced.

Though they had the status to ascend to a balcony, Fergus and Michael chose to remain on the ground floor, though Fergus took Leah up to the balcony where they normally would be standing. The very pregnant woman sat down on one of the seats there, flanked by two of Highever's knights, while her husband took a position by his brother.

Edwina also took her place in her father's old spot, not far from Leah's seat, smiling sadly and running her fingers along the wood of the railing.

Also dressed for trouble in his armor, Eamon stepped up to stand beside Teagan.

Shortly after all the banns were assembled, King Alistair emerged. For just a moment, Teagan's heart skipped a beat and he thought Maric himself had returned to the throne left to Cailan by his disappearance at sea seven years ago. There was no denying this was Maric's son. Teagan had to hand it to the boy—he had grown in presence since taking over his father's throne. His sense of timing was good anyway.

Thus began the Landsmeet. Matters before the Crown this year were mostly petty issues, which were dealt with quickly and easily enough. Since the banns involved were unable to resolve them, it was left to the gathered assemblage, and ultimately the king, to decide. Alistair made some fairly reasonable rulings and most involved felt the compromises were fair and equitable.

With a large portion of the Bannorn in a blighted state, the issue of improving the flow of trade with neighboring countries was brought forth and while most supported the motion of getting in more goods, many of them didn't want to foot the bill for such. Alistair took it upon himself, meaning the Crown, to handle this. As it was something he had already been working on, he had obviously anticipated this.

The problem of restoring the blighted landscape was brought up and the tone of the discussion began to get ugly. Chief among the proponents of more concessions from the Crown was Bann Loren. His assertions were backed by several of the more disaffected banns, particularly Bann Mather.

"The situation is dire, your Majesty," said Loren. "People in the Bannorn are starving. We need more goods until the effects of the Blight can be removed."

Teagan frowned. He was well aware there had been hardship in many of the Bannorns' households, but he also knew most of that hardship had come from excesses and mismanagement on the part of the nobles. However, Teagan felt Loren's reasons for asking for more went beyond those needs.

He was about to speak up when Fergus's voice rose over the gathered assemblage.

"The Blight?" he said, his voice clipped and controlled. "Why not call your need by its true name? We know you've been gathering mercenaries, Loren. That's the real reason why you want more goods. Who is your next target? Will Gwaren be next?"

Next to him, his brother tried to restrain him, but Fergus had obviously been in tight control so long it was about to snap.

"I'm sorry about your parents, Fergus. Your father was a good man, but we must attend to the here and now. I hired some men to offer better security when I heard about the bandit attacks in…the bannorn."

"Not just the bannorn, Loren. Highever was hit and two of our villages were burned to the ground," said Fergus. "Let's just call it what it is—raids. These weren't simple attacks. You don't slaughter everything to a man and call that an attack."

Michael let go of his brother's arm and stepped back, but his gaze glared out at the rest of Loren's supporters. He had his brother's back if there was trouble.

The Reverend Mother looked at Alistair, who nodded, obviously both concerned that open hostilities would erupt.

"Enough," he said. "You say you gather men to defend your lands. Their upkeep will be your responsibility, not the Crown's. Please, feel free to hire more mercenaries, but those hiring extra 'help' will not be assisted this year as you quite obviously have the resources to support them. I already have the names of several banns that have done so and your concessions this year will be cut.

"And let me make this perfectly clear. If there are more 'bandit attacks' this year, those with mercenaries will be the first held accountable to supply troops to the army that will have to root out those bandits. The Crown will not expend resources on this matter. Since they remain so elusive, I suppose that will take some time to sort out.

"If I learn otherwise, that these 'attacks' were orchestrated by anyone present, there will be serious reprisals."

"You can't just let them get away with it," said Fergus, incredulously.

Teagan frowned. It would seem his experiences during the war had changed the sweet boy from Highever. He seemed almost obsessed with punishing the raiders and their employers.

"Brother, they aren't just 'getting away with it,'" Michael said. "Calm down, you aren't helping Leah and your baby this way."

Fergus turned on Loren and grasped his collar.

"I won't let them be hurt again!" he said, his voice a tense growl. "I won't …"

A sharp whistle near his ear made Teagan turn. It was Edwina, who was holding Leah by the elbow helping her stand, moving her out of a pool of water under her feet. On the other side of the pregnant teryna was one of the knights, also supporting her.

"Teyrn Cousland, your wife needs you," she said.

"Fergus, darling, it's time." Leah's voice was surprisingly calm.

Simultaneously, the expression burst from Bann Sighard and Fergus, "Maker's breath!"

Fergus took the steps up two at a time to come stand by his wife. A moment later the expectant grandfather was there on the other.

"What…what do we do? It's too soon," Fergus said, his voice in a near panic.

Edwina shook her head.

"Men," she sighed. She leaned over the railing. "Your Majesty, is there a room where we can have some privacy for the teyrna? And perhaps a healer can be summoned?"

"Please," Leah said to Edwina. "Please come with me. Maker bless them, I love my father and husband, but men are useless in this situation."

Alistair, as shocked as everyone else, quickly regained his composure and nodded. He summoned the chamberlain who took charge and led Fergus, Sighard and Leah to one of the rooms in the palace. A messenger was sent to bring Sighard's wife to the palace so she could be present for her daughter as well. Edwina and Alistair followed and silence descended on the gathered bannorn.

After a few moments, a low hum filled the room as voices rose again to a quiet whisper. Any dissention or malicious gossip was quickly squelched by a glare from Michael.

A bit later, Alistair returned with Edwina and went to Michael. He spoke close to the young man's ear and then Michael nodded to Alistair, bowed to the assemblage and left the room, following Edwina.

"Now that that bit of excitement is done, let's finish this," said Alistair. "I'm kind of excited to see whether we'll greet an up and coming teyrn or teyrna!"

There was a general murmur of expectancy from the crowd, also curious what the baby's sex would be, but that would take many hours to be revealed and there was the business of a country to run.

The idea of a tax to cover expenses of restocking was discussed and was polarizing the banns in the room. Teagan loathed taxing already strained poor people just to make life easier for their banns. Rainesfere and Redcliffe had fared well, but other areas, such as West Hills, were decimated. Regina patted his arm and smiled at him.

The lovely bann disengaged her arm from Teagan and stepped forth.

"Your Majesty, Southern Plains has done well this past year. We were sufficiently removed from the path of the darkspawn, and our harvest went well. I would be happy to donate surplus to the rest of the Bannorn, at a reasonable price, of course. There will be no need to beggar the needy."

She looked pointedly at admirers who had been all too eager to try to curry her favor, but were now ducking heads and trying not to meet her eyes.

One man in his late forties, whose name escaped Teagan, stood. "As did mine, your Majesty. We pledge our aid as well."

Regina smiled sweetly at him and now others began to step forward. Either currying favor with her or the king, Teagan wasn't sure, but no one wanted to be left out of the loop of generosity.

One by one, people stood and offered their assistance to those who had known hardship, though some more reluctantly than others, and Alistair smiled. He seemed much more relaxed.

"The Teryns of Highever and Gwaren have also agreed to aid those in greater need as well, with both surplus supplies and man-power if necessary," said Alistair.

A couple of hours later, final business was finished up for the day and several people went to the rooms Teyrna Leah had been taken to. Alistair and Teagan joined Edwina, Fergus, Sighard and Michael in the antechamber where they were awaiting the arrival of the new Cousland. Several others waited in the hall outside, concerned for the young woman and her child.

Fergus was sitting anxiously, his hands knotted together as Leah struggled to bring their child into the world.

"It's too soon, Michael, it's too soon," he kept saying over and over. "I never should have brought her here."

"Leah insisted, Brother," said Michael, a supportive hand on his brother's back. "You know how she is. She was always that way, whatever she wanted she got. She was always strong willed and she still is. She'll be fine, and so will your child."

Sighard nodded, worry etched on his face.

"I can't lose another one, Michael," Fergus said. "I just can't."

Edwina took Fergus's hand and seemed to will courage into him. "Enough of such talk. You must be strong for Leah. It's in the Maker's hands now and we must cope as best we can. You must have faith she'll be all right."

Fergus rose and paced back and forth. "Why is this taking so long? Why won't they tell us what's—"

A shriek and a curse muffled by the closed door made him tense up and stare horrified at the doorway. Teagan wasn't sure he had ever heard a human throat make that kind of sound before.

"Well, um, you remember, Fergus, the stories Mother used to tell. According to her, we came out with all our baby teeth, and at least thirty pounds and walking. And I don't really think I believe that story about the three day labor. Surely it doesn't really take that long?"

"Maker's breath, Michael, that's not helping."

Michael shrugged. "Neither is worrying. Just try to relax, Fergus. Women have been having babies since…well, since the Maker made them. Leah's body will know what to do even if she doesn't."

Then a tiny, petulant cry issued forth from the room, heralding a burst of hopeful exuberance on Fergus's face.

A bit later, with Fergus sitting beside her on the bed holding his son, Leah was propped on pillows holding her daughter. Despite their early birth, both were of sturdy Ferelden stock and the midwife had pronounced each healthy and whole. Fergus looked like he would burst with pride at any moment.

"Twins," Teagan said, watching the little family in awe.

"Twins," snorted Michael. He tried to sound annoyed, but Teagan could hear the pride of a new uncle in his voice. "He'll be insufferable now. There'll be no living with him."

"So, what will you name them?" Edwina asked, smiling down at the new parents.

Leah looked at Fergus and nodded. He grinned.

"If it had been a boy, we were going to call him Bryce." He indicated his son who was sleeping peacefully after all the excitement, then nodded to the little girl who was looking at the faces around her with bright, blue eyes. "And if a girl, Eleanor. I see no reason why we have to change that plan."

Teagan leaned against the door and again his hand came up to clutch at the little golden locket as he tried to imagine himself and Neria in that picture. Then he frowned at the thought, imagining Eamon's reaction to half elven, possibly mage children. No one was paying attention to the quiet bann in the corner. Michael and Fergus were teasing and joking with each other, trying to shock the ladies, and Alistair was talking shyly with Edwina, one hand behind his head, patting his cowlick down. Sighard stood nearby with his wife, proud grandparents. The crowd outside had dissipated once it had been learned what Leah had brought forth into the world.

Teagan slipped out and went home. It was a happy day for Ferelden that hostilities had been avoided, at least for a time, and the Cousland family had doubled in an afternoon. Fergus was a good man and he deserved to be happy.

For Teagan, he was, of course, relieved that things might just work out but he feared that happiness might not ever be for him. Now that thoughts of the situation were eased, he worried anew for Neria in Amaranthine and he hoped she had people she could trust watching her back.

At Eamon's estate, Teagan went into the study and found Isolde in there, standing by the fire warming her hands.

"Has Eamon been home yet?" he asked.

She jumped, startled, and looked at him queerly. "No, he hasn't come home. What happened?"

"Teyrna Leah gave birth tonight. Boy and a girl."

"That's…good."

"And Michael Cousland survived Howe's attack on Highever last year." Teagan chuckled at her astonished look. "And he's the Teyrn of Gwaren now."

She frowned. "Teagan are you drunk?"

"No, Sister, I'm not. I'm just tired. Goodnight, Isolde."

"Good night, Teagan," she said. "Teagan…"

He paused. "Yes, Isolde, what is it?"

She ducked her head, frowning. "Nothing. Good night."

Frowning at her strange demeanor, he shrugged. Perhaps they were all a little on edge with things being what they were. He hoped the rest of the Landsmeet would be a lot more boring.