Chapter Twenty-One

The two Templars stood outside Cullen's door whispering to themselves and shrugging a lot. As Alistair watched them, he was thankful that these weren't the only Templars Cullen had brought with him. All the others seemed more than capable, including those who were permanently assigned to guarding Anders on a rotating basis. If it were left up to these two, despite that it seemed Anders had so far proven to be on his best behavior, he'd have no trouble plotting an escape attempt, of that, the King was certain. Hell, Alistair himself was finding it almost too tempting not to screw around with them, just on general principle. Being a former Templar, he wondered how these two were so clueless, yet were Lieutenants already.

With a small smirk, Alistair figured he'd at least attempt to put them out of their misery, "Excuse me, but I couldn't help but notice that you two seem lost, can I help you with something?"

The first Templar spoke up, "Er, it would help if you could answer a question we had?"

Alistair's smirk grew into a full grin, "Well, it is my house, so I'll do my best."

The second Templar blinked a couple of times and continued, "Right, well, we were told that this," he knocked on the door next to him, "was the Knight-Commander's room."

Alistair nodded slowly, "That is correct, it is."

"Well, he's not there, then. And, furthermore, it would appear that the room itself hasn't even been used. So, you understand our confusion, sir."

Alistair furrowed his brow slightly, then opened the door. It hadn't been locked. All of Cullen's things were still packed away, as if they'd just been brought up.

He had a good idea about what had happened, and where to find the Knight-Commander. He chuckled to himself as he contemplated how uncomfortable he wanted to make this situation. Finally, he shrugged to himself and figured that if Cullen was going to go AWOL on his first day out of Kirkwall, he deserved what he got.

Exiting the room, he closed the door behind him, trying to put on a concerned face, "Yes, of course, I see what you mean. What was the business you had with him, again?"

"There's a gentleman at the front gate, says he knows the Knight-Commander. Was a Knight-Commander himself once, apparently."

Alistair shook his head, "Did he say his name was Gregoire?"

The two Templars looked at each other, then nodded and looked back at the king, "Aye, sir, he did."

Alistair smiled. As this was his home, he would go personally welcome Gregoire into it, "Well, then, I'll see to former Knight-Commander Gregoire so that he doesn't have to wait too much longer. In the meantime, have you tried the Viscountess's room? Just a suggestion, but perhaps she may know where he went, or maybe he joined her for breakfast...or something." Alistair feigned a look of innocence as he walked away and went to tend to his guest.

Evelyn lazily opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Ferelden, right. Meeting with the Divine today. She sighed contentedly and turned over. As she did, she draped her arm over Cullen and pulled him closer. He rolled over and took her hand in his, then kissed the back of her fingers.

"Morning, my love," he said, not opening his eyes.

"Morning," she responded happily.

She stretched a bit and he opened one eye, then the other and watched her. When she was done, he lay next to her and kissed her lips, then her neck. He put one arm around her waist and pulled her body closer to him.

"Somebody is awfully frisky this morning," she said.

He chuckled, "Well, someone else was awfully frisky last night."

He was just starting to kiss across her collarbone when there was a knock at her door. Both he and Evelyn stared at each other and didn't move. There was another knock, slightly louder.

Evelyn shrugged at Cullen and cleared her throat, "Yes, who is it?"

"Pardon the intrusion, Lady Evelyn, but we were wondering if you had seen the Knight-Commander this morning?"

Evelyn tried to muffle a chuckle with her hand. Cullen rolled his eyes, and started to get up out of bed.

"Just a second, please," she called.

Cullen started to hastily pull on his clothing and armor from the night before, "I know I haven't done anything wrong, so why do I feel like the kid who got caught with his hand in the candy jar," he muttered to her.

She laughed, then tried to stifle herself quickly, "Because, oh honorable Knight! By what authority can you possibly have to scold them even slightly for going to the Rose, yourself having gotten caught in the Viscountess's bed?", she said melodramatically. She wrapped a blanket around herself and stood near him.

He gave her an annoyed look and finished buckling on his armor, "There's a big difference between..."

He was interrupted by another knock on the door. He gave it an annoyed look, then turned back to her. He sighed, kissed her, then said, "We'll talk about it later."

She went to the other side of the door, so that she was out of sight, then he opened it. Immediately the two Templars stood at attention.

"This had better be good," Cullen allowed his annoyance to underscore his words.

Evelyn chuckled again from the other side of the room.

"Aye, sir," and the two Templars delivered the message about Gregoire waiting patiently downstairs, here to see Cullen. He sighed and thanked them, then walked out, closing the door behind himself.

Evelyn immediately burst out laughing. Mr. Paragon of Virtue got caught with his hand in the candy jar, indeed.

After taking a bath and getting ready for the day, Evelyn made her way to the meeting hall. When she arrived, she heard a great deal of laughter. She didn't want to disturb them, so she peeked around the corner and saw Alistair, Cullen, Anders, two templar guards, and an older gentleman she didn't recognize. She had to admit, she enjoyed seeing everyone getting along so well and smiled to herself, shaking her head. As she was about to slip away, Cullen saw her out of the corner of his eye and excused himself from the table.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

Cullen chuckled, "What have I told you about that already, my love? Come, please, there's someone I'd like for you to meet?" He offered his arm for her to take, which she did.

When she entered the room, all the men seated immediately stood. She had on a pale green dress with a beautiful silver swirl pattern that started at just below her waist and got more intricate towards her hem. The neckline of her top was gracefully rounded, slightly off-shoulder, and the flare of the dress at her waist was mimicked in her sleeves, which were slightly fitted, then flared at her elbow. Her hair was in one single braid that she had pulled to the front, and of course, her silver crown on her head. The paleness of the dress accentuated her dark hair and brown eyes.

Upon approaching the group, Cullen made the introductions, "Your Grace, please allow me to present former Knight-Commander Gregoire, of the Circle of Ferelden."

Evelyn bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement. Gregoire smiled at her and took her hand in his, "My dear Viscountess, I've heard much of you from Ser Cullen, and thought him to be exaggerating. On meeting you, I now realize that his words did not do you justice."

Evelyn smiled at him, "Thank you, Ser Gregoire. The Knight-Commander has spoken well of you also."

Gregoire turned to Cullen, "I knew he'd do well for himself, but even so," he turned back to Evelyn, "I hope he realizes how lucky he is to have you."

Cullen shot a glance to Anders, who had caught the look, then responded, "Luckier than you can imagine."

Gregoire asked Evelyn, "I assume you know everyone here, my dear?"

"Yes, Alistair is family by marriage, and Anders is," she hesitated briefly, "an old friend."

Gregoire turned to Alistair, "That's right, you're married to Solana Amell, aren't you? Where is the Queen, then, I'd love to say 'hello' to her as well."

"She's off somewhere, probably getting ready for the meeting this afternoon, no doubt. I'll have her sent for." Then he went over to one of the castle's guards, said something, and rejoined the group.

Gregoire made a motion towards Anders, then said, "And as for that one!"

Anders gave Gregoire a look of complete innocence, "Pardon me?"

"Please! Don't give me that look! I've seen it from you a hundred times before."

Anders grinned at the old Templar.

Gregoire continued, turning to Evelyn, he said, "Do you have any idea the trouble he used to give Irving and me at the tower? Finally, we resorted to locking him up in solitary because we had no idea what else to do to keep him from trying to escape." He gave a chuckle, "I was sitting with Irving one day, and we were commenting on how peaceful the tower had seemed, just the normal everyday stuff lately. Then we get to talking about him and realized that he'd been locked up for about a year." He turned to Anders, "Sorry about that. We hadn't meant to keep you in there that long, just long enough to teach you a lesson." Then, he paused, "Of course, it still wasn't long enough, it would seem. What happened to you after you escaped again? Why aren't you in the tower now?"

Anders had started to respond, then from across the hall, he heard someone say, "I recruited him. I admit, not the brightest of my ideas, though."

Solana walked up to join them. She winked at Anders while he rolled his eyes. Then, she held Gregoire's hand, "It's been awhile. How have you been?"

"I've been well, my dear, and yourself?"

"Between Alistair and the rest of the country, I'm on my toes, but generally speaking, doing alright."

She turned to Evelyn, "I hope you slept well, last night, my dear."

Alistair had an evil grin on his face as he turned to Evelyn, then to Cullen, and said, "Yes, how did you sleep, anyway? After such a journey, I would have expected all of you to be absolutely exhausted. Being back in Ferelden after so many years must be quite a relief for both of you, I'm sure."

Solana caught her husband's eye and gave him an amused questioning look; his demeanor and tone suggested to her that he knew something that the rest of them didn't.

Evelyn responded, "We...that is...I slept well enough, thank you."

Alistair's grin deepened, "And you, Ser Cullen, how did you sleep?"

Cullen was fidgeting and avoiding looking at anyone, "Fine, thank you."

"I hope you're bed was suitable, not too lumpy...and all."

"It was fine, thank you."

Alistair nodded, "Good to hear, good to hear, indeed. And how was breakfast?"

Cullen looked at him confused, "What?"

"Breakfast. The two Templars that were looking for you this morning. They confirmed my suspicions that you were having breakfast with the Viscountess...", his voice trailed off.

Cullen caught on at the same time Evelyn did, he gave her a look, then rolled his eyes, before responding, "We were interrupted by them before we had the opportunity to partake. We had a rather large supper, however, so I assure you, we're not starving."

Alistair loved watching Cullen squirm, but he didn't want to press it any further as it also affected the Viscountess, so he decided to drop it, "Well, that is good to hear, then."

Turning to the rest of the group, Alistair said, "I'm sorry, where were we?"

Gregoire turned to Anders, "Yes...where were we? Ah, you were recruited? As a Warden?"

Anders nodded, "The Queen was my commander."

Gregoire turned to Solana, "I suspected you had more sense than that, my dear."

"As I said, not one of my brightest ideas."

Anders looked mildly annoyed, but was smiling, "I'm standing right here, guys."

Solana smiled at him, "No, actually, he was a fairly good recruit. And had he stayed, he'd be one of the most senior Wardens by now."

"I couldn't stay. Not after you made me give up my cat."

"I did no such thing!"

"Not how I remember it."

"You left the camp, we had no idea where you were or what had happened to you. For awhile, I was afraid Roland and his men had you. Then, about a year later, Evelyn writes me and mentioned you in a letter. A former Warden, healing refugees in Darktown. It was good to know where you'd finally ended up."

Anders shook his head, "I should have written before, I was just a little...ashamed, I guess, of leaving so suddenly. I'm sorry for that. I didn't want to cause you to worry."

Solana waved her hand, "Don't bother about it. I wasn't shocked."

Anders looked a little surprised.

She continued, "People generally don't change overnight. With as many times as you'd tried to escape the tower, I'd hoped that being a Warden would give you the freedom you wanted, but I could see you growing restless and knew it was only a matter of time," she shrugged, "I figured that as soon as you felt too comfortable, you would leave," she gave Evelyn a look, "and I was right."

Evelyn slowly nodded, saying more to herself than to anyone else, "Sometimes being too comfortable can be a prison itself." She took a deep breath and then smiled at Solana, "Do you need any help with the preparations?"

Solana smiled at her cousin, "I could use a bit, if you're offering."

"Great! Then point me in that direction." Turning to Gregoire, Evelyn said, "It was a pleasure meeting you."

Gregoire bowed his head, "And you as well, my dear."

Solana turned to Evelyn, "Go ahead and exit that door. I have to discuss something with Alistair before I leave, then I'll join you."

Turning to the king, she pulled him off to the side, then whispered, "That conversation with Evelyn and Cullen...you weren't really talking about food, were you?"

Her husband smiled at her, "What do you think?"

"I think that you are putting your nose where it doesn't belong," she swatted him on the arm, teasingly, "Besides, I think it's charming. Let them have their fun while they can."

Alistair chuckled, "He's just so damn proper all the time. I couldn't resist making him squirm. I truly meant no harm by it, you know that."

Solana rolled her eyes, "No more teasing. I want to make them feel welcome in this house, not incapable of showing their faces. Especially since we're likely to see so much more of them together."

Alistair shook his head and gave his wife a kiss, "You win, my love, no more teasing. I promise."

"Does he know?"

"I would hope he would."

Solana rolled her eyes, "I meant that we know."

"I don't know. I'll discuss it with him later, privately."

"Alright. Later then, my love."

Solana gave her husband one last kiss, then went out the door to meet Evelyn.

Alistair rejoined the rest of the group. It was good to see everyone getting along together, but he wondered how long that could possibly last.