When Briana had walked out of Alistair's rooms all those months ago and then left the palace with her father, she had felt detached. She had spent almost the whole trip home in silence trying to figure out where things had gone wrong and what she wanted to do with her life. Her full detail of guards had come with her as Alistair had sent orders to Ser Fraser for them to stay with her wherever she decided to go. Once they arrived at the Bann of Waking Sea, she arranged with Revered Mother Gillian to stay at the chantry for a few weeks. She spent those first weeks in prayer, remembering her daughter, and taking counsel from the Revered Mother over what her course of action should be as far as she and Alistair were concerned. Finally, after much soul searching, she asked the Revered Mother to arrange for an annulment for them if possible.
She spent the next weeks while waiting for word from Denerim in slowly reacquainting herself with the places she had frequented as a child. She had only been away about 3-1/2 years, but in terms of how changed she was, it seemed much longer.
Bann Alfstanna was all graciousness to her and highly sympathetic of her loss. When she returned to the manor house from the chantry, Alfstanna had given her the best guest rooms for her use. Briana felt a little funny about it at first as she certainly hadn't rated such generous quarters growing up as a child. She soon adjusted to the situation, however. Alfstanna even allowed Briana to claim a small section of the gardens at the manor house for her own use. Briana set up a memorial to Moira and spread some of her ashes there. It comforted her somehow to know that a part of Moira rested here where Briana had been so happy as a child. Briana tried to spend at least a small part of each day there in the garden.
Briana had asked everyone to stop addressing her as "your Majesty" because she soon would not rate that title any longer. She was surprised when the paperwork for her annulment returned from the Chantry. Mother Gillian had requested Revered Mother Perpetua to act on her behalf in the settlement. She and Chancellor Eamon had worked out the details, and Briana was surprised how generous it was. Briana had more than sufficient funds to allow her to live, and she had been granted a small manor house for her use until such time as she remarried or until her death, when the property would revert back to the Crown. The name of the estate was Tirellan, and it was located on the eastern shore of Lake Calenhad. To her even greater surprise, she had been endowed with the title of princess. She was heretofore to be styled as Briana, Princess of Tirellan.
As the days went by and she was in no rush to leave for Tirellan, she found herself drawn back into her old routines. She started dropping by Master Drummond's workshop as she used to every day before she had left for those fateful balls at the palace where she had met Alistair. She was soon working in the still room with Master Drummond and helping him create his healing mixtures. This led to her assisting him with his patients, and before she knew it she was spending most of her days with him once again. As Briana went on rounds with the healer, she realized just how much she had missed the work that she had given up when she was carrying Moira.
And so time slipped away from her. Over the ensuing months after the annulment decree, most of her guards left for other employment as she no longer required that many men. Only Ser Fraser, Ser Albert, and Sgt Damian stayed on to guard her. In time, she found a contentment in serving Bann Alfstanna's people that she hadn't felt in a long while.
One day late in October, Briana and Ser Fraser were on their way back to the manor house. Briana had spent most of the afternoon attending to a sick child at one of the outer farm holdings. Briana was on a small palfrey with Ser Fraser mounted on a horse from Bann Alfstanna's stables that she graciously allowed them to use when Briana had distant calls to make. As they rounded a curve in the road with forest looming on both sides, the horses were spooked when something jumped out with a scream from behind them. As Briana and Ser Fraser both fought to bring their mounts under control, they were quickly surrounded.
"Stand down, Ser Knight," said a gruff voice. Ser Fraser looked up to see three men who had their bows trained on Briana. "Don't make me give the order to shoot," said another man who was obviously the leader. He was medium-sized with mismatched leather armor and flowing dark hair and beard. "You just climb down of that horse nice and easy," he continued.
Ser Fraser threw a desperate look at his mistress, but dismounted as he had been ordered. Two more men came up and began to bind him. One of them took his sword from his back and then slipped a dagger to his throat.
"Now, little lady, you do exactly what we say and neither of you has to get hurt, understand?" the man asked. "I don't have any wish to harm you, but I will if I'm forced to it."
Briana was afraid, but she held tight to her fear and tried not to let it show on her face. What did she know of armed men? She had never trained with a weapon in her life. Her gifts were in direct opposition to swordplay. Her talents lay in the knowledge and healing touch she delivered to those in need. "What do you want from us?" she asked.
"I want you to accompany me on a small journey."
"What? Why? Where?" cried Briana.
"Let's just say my employer has paid well for you to have a temporary change in location. As for where, a small house not terribly far from here. Shall we be on our way?"
Briana looked around in desperation. The man holding a bound Ser Fraser pushed the dagger against his throat hard enough to cause a small trickle of blood to roll down his neck. Briana's eyes opened wide in horror.
"Don't go-" Ser Fraser started to say before the dagger was removed and a fist connected with his gut. All the air was driven out of his lungs as he doubled over in pain. His hair was then grasped and his head yanked back. The dagger once again was laid along his neck.
"It's up to you, lady," said the leader with a shrug of his shoulders. "We can torment your man some more if you like."
"We'll come with you," Briana answered as she was not going to allow Ser Fraser to come to any more harm for her sake.
"Very good," replied the man with an evil smile. "I just knew you would see things my way."
The small band that had taken Briana and Ser Fraser was soon on the move again. Horses had appeared from the trees as if by magic, and one of the men put Ser Fraser's horse on a leading rein and he was tied to his saddle. The dark-haired leader rode up by Briana. "This way," he said gruffly before turning his horse's head in the direction he wanted them to travel.
After Elandria's outburst, none of the other Wardens spoke for a moment. Then Ashalle smoothly took charge for the Wardens. He deftly maneuvered the Commander into agreeing to allow him to continue the questioning by reminding him that there were other duties that needed to be attended to while they were here in Denerim. The Commander could handle the search for new recruits while Ashalle wrapped up questioning of Elandria. Commander Gerod agreed and left the room. Anders went with him as he had declared he had "no mabaris in this fight." He had done his part by helping to confirm her identity.
After the two humans left the room, the tension level dropped sharply. After nearly four years with the Dalish, Elandria felt comfortable with Ashalle as a man of the clans. They talked for a bit longer, but Elandria was anxious to find out where Alistair was and what had held him up. She knew it must have been something important for Alistair not to have made it here as he had told her he would. They agreed to meet again the next day, and then Ashalle left to go to the Wardens' compound in the palace while she headed off to find Alistair.
When Elandria left the room, she and her accompanying guards headed for Alistair's study first. Not seeing his bodyguards outside, she knew he wasn't there. She continued down the palace hallway and made the turn around the corner that led to Eamon's study. There she saw three of Alistair's men standing around the door. When she went to walk up to the door, one of the men stepped in front of it and held out a hand.
"I'm sorry, Warden. We have instructions that the king and the chancellor are not to be disturbed," the guard said.
Elandria just crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and looked at him. They stood that way for a few minutes until the man finally broke first and said, "I'm sorry, really I am. Ser Hugh told us we were not to allow anyone in. We are just doing our jobs."
Elandria decided not to cause a scene with the guards and dropped her arms. "Keith, isn't it?"
"Yes, Warden," said the man with a slight bob of the head.
"Will you let the king know I was looking for him when he comes out. I'll be in the salle."
"Of course," Keith replied with obvious relief.
As Elandria walked away, she heard one of the other guards say to Keith, "You could have told her about the queen's father."
Keith replied in a low voice (but not low enough), "It's not my place. If the king wants her to know, he'll tell her. If not, it's none of her business."
Briana's father? What was he doing here?
With his ex-father-in-law on his knee before him begging him to find Briana, all Alistair could think to say was, "Of course, we'll find her." Alistair raised his eyes to Eamon and threw him questioning look.
Eamon said, "Let's all sit down and discuss the situation calmly."
Gordan, Briana's father, rose to his feet and took the seat he had risen from when the king had entered the study while Alistair sat down in the other chair.
"Now, what exactly has happened?" Alistair asked looking at Gordan.
"About five days ago, Briana went out to visit a sick child on one of the outlying farms around Waking Sea," began Gordan. "We didn't start getting alarmed until that evening when she and Ser Fraser didn't return to the manor house. The next morning, one of the bann's tenants brought a message to me. Of course, they couldn't read it and the only thing they could tell me was that a man had asked one of their young children to deliver it. The child could not describe the man when asked about it later." Gordan fumbled in his belt pouch and brought out a creased sheet and handed it to Alistair.
Alistair took it and read the simple message, We have your daughter. No harm will come to her as long as the king does as he is told.
Alistair looked at Eamon in confusion. "Do you know anything about this? Have we received any kind of demand from Briana's captors?"
"No, Sire, not that I'm aware of," answered Eamon.
Alistair just grunted in response and turned his attention back to Gordan. "Did you institute a search for her?"
The man looked almost offended. "Of course we did. The best hunter in Bann Alfstanna's employ went to try and trail her and couldn't. He claimed she had been taken by a fairly large group, but said it looked as if members of the party had split off multiples times in different directions to try and confuse anyone attempting to trail them. What her captors couldn't know was that one of the shoes on Briana's palfrey had a distinct mark where the shoe had been nicked. The blacksmith had checked it and was planning to replace the shoe, but hadn't yet done the job. The hunter eventually lost the trail east of Kinloch Hold. He thought they may have been heading towards The North Road, but he couldn't say so positively. I left that evening when the men came back after losing the trail to come to Denerim, to you. Please, Alistair-I mean your Majesty, I know you two aren't married any more, but you have to save her!"
"Don't worry, Gordan," said Alistair soothingly. "I have no intention of allowing anything to happen to Briana. Eamon, have you made arrangements for Gordan while he is here?"
"Yes, Sire. I've already given orders to that effect to the servants. Gordan, you will have the same rooms as on your last visit."
Alistair turned to the man once again. "Why don't you go, freshen up, and get something to eat. Eamon and I will discuss the matter and see what can be done."
"I should be here. She's my daughter!" replied Gordan.
"I promise we won't do anything without informing you," Alistair said. "Please, let us handle this. We need clear heads so we can get her back safely."
Gordan, never an overpowering personality, seemed to deflate as he gave in to the king's persuasion. "I-I guess that will be okay, but I want to know what is happening."
Eamon rose from his desk and shepherded Gordan from his study. "Of course you do. I'll make sure you are kept informed," Eamon promised.
Once Gordan left the room, Alistair turned to Eamon. "What is going on? Is the whole country going crazy? Why would anyone kidnap Briana and then not issue any demands after insinuating they would?"
Eamon shook his head as he dropped wearily back into his chair and rested his chin on his hand. "I'm not sure, Alistair. I can't put my finger on whether this is a series of unrelated events or if it is an attack upon your leadership of the country. With Briana being taken, it seems to point more towards the latter. You certainly cannot afford to ignore the situation. You are going to need to be seen as taking action to get her back. Briana was very popular in an understated sort of way, and with the loss of your daughter and the subsequent annulment, I have heard talk among the nobles that they feel she wasn't treated very well."
"Wait a minute," Alistair protested. "She was the one who left me and wanted the annulment!"
"It doesn't matter," said Eamon firmly. "Plus with your marriage to Elandria…"
"No, Eamon. I'm not going there. Elandria and Kellin are the two people that make this whole king thing worthwhile and I'm not giving her up now." Alistair declared defensively.
"I wasn't asking you to. I've said all I'm ever going to say on that subject in the past, and you are legally married by the Chantry. However, you cannot afford to seem to be callous concerning Briana. You have to be seen to be making an effort to find her."
"More than be seen, I do want to find her. I still care about Briana, and I certainly don't wish any harm to come to her."
"Good. What do you want to do then?" asked Eamon.
Alistair sat back, thinking as he spoke. "I know most of our trackers are out trying to find Anora. My first instinct is to see if Zevran would go. He has many skills, but following someone through the countryside certainly isn't one of them. There isn't anyone better at ferreting out information, though. Plus, Zev met Briana years ago. He would at least recognize her if he saw her." His mind made up, Alistair continued, "I'll speak with him this evening and see if he would be willing. He may not even want to go, and I certainly can't force him."
"Who do you want to send with him to help with following the trail?" asked Eamon.
"That's the question, isn't it? Even though Zevran has been out of the Denerim the past few years, perhaps he may know someone. His contacts are incredible. How he does it, I'll never figure out." Alistair admitted with a shake of his head. With that he started to rise from his seat, "I need to find Elandria. She's probably quite upset with me. I promised her I would attend the meeting with the Wardens with her, but I came here instead."
Eamon tiredly raised a hand. Alistair could see the ingrained lines of fatigue in his face, "A moment, if you would?"
Alistair looked at him questioningly but stopped in his movement toward the door, "Yes?"
"I've had the report from the man I put in charge of the granary fires investigation. It definitely was arson. The troubling part is that there was a-a disturbance while the investigation was taking place."
Alistair placed both hands on the back of the chair he had just vacated and leaned against it as he asked, "What kind of disturbance?"
"There was a gathering of malcontents. It seems they have even begun to organize. They are calling themselves.." Eamon broke off to look down at a report on his desk, "Humans for Ferelden or HFF for short. The guards broke up the protesters before things became too serious. Evidently, there was name calling and shouted demands about 'putting the non-human races back in their places' but no real violence, thank the Maker."
Alistair just shook his head in disbelief.
"And you will never guess who appeared to be leading them…. our old friend, Goodman Campbell."
Alistair pushed off against the chair as he spun around in disgust and began pacing the area in front of Eamon's desk. "Too bad someone doesn't drop that man down a well somewhere and save us all from his trouble-making."
"As much as I may happen to agree with you, I don't think that is likely to happen any time soon."
"What is causing all this…unrest all of a sudden, Eamon? Have you heard anything?" Alistair asked.
Eamon looked at him.
Alistair groaned, "I know that look. It means I'm not going to like what you are about to say, but you're going to tell me any way. Go ahead. I'm braced for it."
"I believe it is springing from your wedding."
"What? Why would you think that?"
"There is no doubt that marrying Elandria has weakened you politically with the nobility. There was no strategic alliance to come out of it, no tying together of two great families, and no benefit to Ferelden as there would have been if you had married a foreign princess. Someone may think this is the perfect time to try and maneuver you off the throne; someone who thinks they have a chance to replace you."
"I don't really care what any of the nobles think about this marriage," replied Alistair. "I married for Ferelden once; this time was my turn. It's not like I'm trying to force her down the nobility's throat. I'm not demanding they make her queen or even give her any title. Why does it matter so much to others who I marry?"
"That's a naïve question and you already know the answers to it," Eamon answered shortly. "The other factor is what she is. Magic scares most people silly as you well know, and her elven heritage, well, we've gone over this many times in the past. I don't need to repeat it."
"No, you don't," Alistair said sharply.
"One more piece of bad news before you go. Teyrn Ranald and his wife quietly left town this morning."
Alistair cocked a brow at Eamon, "That's unusual. He normally follows the protocol of seeing me and requesting permission before leaving town."
"Y-e-s," said Eamon slowly.
"Back to this again, are we? I still don't think Ranald and Aileen have anything to do with this."
"Think as you like; however, just don't let your personal beliefs about the goodness of a person blind you to the facts."
"Find me facts and I'll act on them," promised Alistair grimly. "Now if there is nothing else, I need to go find my wife."
A.N.: Sorry this is a shorter chapter than normal, but I'm getting ready to leave to visit family for a week and I wanted to get something out before I left. I won't have the chance to write while I'm gone so I'm not sure how long it will be until the next update. Once vacation is over, hopefully things will get back to normal and I can update regularly.
I owe a big THANK YOU to Arsinoe de Blassenville for our discussion on titles and just how to handle Alistair and Briana's annulment. Melismo has once again proven to be the fastest beta in the west and saved me from some embarrassing errors in this chapter. Thanks to Ladyamesindy, Erynnar, and Violet Theirin for the support and also to the readers and reviewers whose interest keeps mine from flagging.