Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age or any of its related characters. This is just for my own enjoyment and the potential enjoyment of other fans like me, and no monetary gain was expected or received.
Rating: T
Spoilers: May contain spoilers for Origins, Awakening, and Dragon Age II as well as the novels The Stolen Throne and The Calling.
Chapter Forty-Five: Reeling
Anora sat in her chambers for a long time after her father departed, her head reeling. There was too much to process; her father was a half-blood, his mother was a Dalish elf. And on top of that, he told her of how he'd been held down, helpless, his head ratcheted back by strong hands, forced to watch while she was brutalized and viciously slain. It was…almost impossible for her to imagine her father helpless. She couldn't picture the child he must surely have been, it seemed as unlikely a creature as those unicorns she'd imagined long ago.
Wrapping her mind around the concept of her own heart pumping elven blood through her veins was difficult. She had never thought herself prejudiced, she had been raised to treat all equally - equally badly, some said, but the important part was equally. It might be easier to deal with this new information if she could but determine whether it was the knowledge that she was part elven or the fact that she had lived almost forty years not knowing she was part elven that bothered her most.
The information was dangerous, she knew - to herself and her children. Alistair probably wouldn't care, if he were to learn of it, but the Landsmeet…oh, the Landsmeet would have plenty to say, for certain. Most of them were still affronted by the fact that Maric appointed a half-blood to the arling of South Reach. They would demand an immediate annulment of her marriage, or a divorce if the Chantry made difficulties. But annulments and divorces were rare dispensations indeed. Much more common, throughout the history of Thedas, was either the surreptitious assassination of the offending Crown Matrimonial…or a public execution. Granted there was no history of that in Ferelden, but Ferelden was a young nation compared to most. But Alistair would never stand for it…provided he had the strength to stand.
She found that she was a trifle angry with her father for telling her this story at all, even though she had asked for it many times in the past. She understood precisely what he'd meant when he'd apologized both for telling her these things so late, and for telling her at all. Moreover, she understood what he'd meant when he kissed her and left, saying, "If you want to see me later, I'll be in my rooms." There was some small part of her that didn't want to see him again. It might take a while for that small part to die away.
Her seneschal entered the sitting room. "Your Majesty, you asked that I inform you when Teyrn Fergus Cousland arrives at the palace - his retinue has just entered the grand hall."
"What? Oh. Yes, that's good. Allow His Grace an hour in which to settle in and speak with Lady Cousland. After that, speak to him and tell him I would like to see him. Make it the Little Audience Chamber."
The seneschal clicked his heels smartly and bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Anora watched the man leave and then sighed and prepared herself. This new…information…changed nothing, just as her father had said before even telling her. Set it aside for now and get on to business. There was always more work to be done.
"Sister!"
"Fergus! Putting on your winter weight already, I see," Elilia teased, as she gave her brother a hug.
"The city is warm, Sister. The wind off the Cliffs of Conobar is bitter and cuts right through to the bone," he said, grinning.
"Ha! How much weight will you recommend I pick up to protect me from the cold of Gwaren's winters?" she asked.
"Sister, I recommend you stay inside during Gwaren's winters. Under a pile of heavy blankets and furs, in a room with several blazing hearths."
"That won't do much for my cachet with the locals," she said. "They face the winters head-on, and I don't think they have much love for those who won't."
"Gwareners are insane, Sister. And very thick-bodied." He stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. "So it's true, then; the rumor that their Majesties are offering you Gwaren. The Queen's idea, I presume. What are her terms?"
"Only that I make her daughter my legal heir," Elilia said.
"Mm hmm. What about the other half of that rumor?"
"I don't listen to the rumor mill, Brother. Elucidate, please."
"It is rumored, dear Sister, that you are to wed. The Queen's father."
"Rumors are such silly things, don't you think? Sometimes it seems to me that people will say anything just to create a sensation."
"That's not an answer, Sister, that is an evasion."
"It's an accepted strategy."
"Sister, please. No jokes. Just tell me. Are you and Loghain going to marry?"
"That's the plan, Fergus, yes."
"Maker's breath."
"You should be happy, Fergus. I don't have many years left in which to make little Cousland heirs for you, after all."
"Mac Tir heirs, you mean."
"Nonsense. Anora didn't take her husband's last name. Either time. Why should I?"
"Sister, can't you do anything by the book?"
"Brother, the 'book' you speak of was written ages ago - by men. I don't consider that it has any application in my life."
Fergus sighed deeply. "All right, so perhaps your children will be Cousland in name, Sister, but they will still be Mac Tirs in blood, and - "
"And what? Mac Tir blood is good enough to sit the throne. Isn't it good enough to grace the Keep at Highever? Any child I bear will be sired by Loghain Mac Tir, Brother, and I'm sorry if you don't like that, but the fact of the matter is that no child of mine will be Loghain Mac Tir. If the idea is simply too reprehensible to you, then feel free to remarry and produce your own heirs. I am not particularly sold on the concept of motherhood, anyway."
"Sister, I - "
"No, Fergus. I love and honor you, and because I do, this conversation is over."
"Lord Loghain, I've been looking over some rough schematics I happened upon…"
"Dworkin. 'Happening upon' things generally implies a certain degree of treachery. From whom did you 'happen upon' these schematics?"
"Er…from you, Ser."
Loghain turned to glare fiercely at the dwarven inventor. "And just how did you 'happen upon' schematics that were in my possession?"
"Don't get your knickers in a knot; I saw them on your writing desk last time we discussed your plans for improvements to the city wall. Since that was more Voldrick's bailiwick, I had time to glance over them. Some good concepts there, to be honest with you. Who engineered them?"
Loghain scratched the back of his head and looked sheepish. "No one. That is to say, they're just…ideas. I'm no engineer."
"I am."
"You…think you could do something with them?"
"Your Lordship…I know I can do something with them."
"What exactly are you up to? What plan is my sister fulfilling for you? Is this all just about getting your father's nobility reinstated? Or is there something deeper and more devious under the surface?"
"Teyrn Fergus. Straight to the point, I see. Please, have a seat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, I prefer to stand."
"As you will. Well, I see I don't need to debrief you on the basics, at least. Yes, your sister intends to marry my father. Whether you believe it or not, this was not through any office of mine. I merely chose to take advantage of a preexisting condition. Granted, they might not have married legally without my machinations; your sister seems somewhat opposed to the concept, for which I am in no position to blame her. Marriage is often an institution wherein the woman suffers, at the very least, a diminishment. That will not be the case with my father, at least in the way he treats her. How she is viewed by others outside the marriage is, unfortunately, a different matter. But I am certain she will be able to hold her own."
"How my sister is viewed after this is only one of my concerns."
"I understand. Will it help you to learn that the intention is to grant my father only the title of Teyrn-Consort once all is in place? He will have no vote of his own in the Landsmeet, and only as much power to rule over the teyrnir as Elilia allows him."
"That is of very little comfort, Your Majesty. Elilia will allow him a great deal of latitude."
"Do you not trust your sister's judgment? She has proven herself quite a capable leader, I think."
"I - that's not what I - "
"Fergus, I understand. Elilia is your baby sister, and all the family that remains to you. But she is a grown woman, and by whatever guides such things as this, she is in love. Frankly I would have preferred my father marry a woman more…opposite him, if I am to tell the truth. Someone who could balance out the extremes of his nature. Elilia is rather extreme herself, but I think they could be good for each other."
Fergus seemed to shrink slightly inside his clothes. "I…want my sister to be happy, and I am not…quite of the same opinion held by many of the Landsmeet. My father respected yours, and Elilia respects him, and she seems able to trust him in spite of what happened during the Blight. I…I will support your proposal in the Landsmeet, Your Majesty. For Elilia. Because it is what she wants."
"Thank you, Teyrn Fergus. I appreciate your support, and I know that your sister will, as well."
"Hello, Elilia. Did your brother arrive? You look a bit…perturbed."
"He arrived. And we had words. It will be all right, but it's got me perturbed, as you say, for now. What about you, Little Bird, did you have a good adventure? You don't look particularly happy, yourself."
"I…I actually had quite a lovely day, for the most part," Seanna said.
"Uh huh. And for the other part?"
"I…met a young man."
"Well, that can be good or bad, depending on the man. Tell me; do I need to break out the champagne, or do I need to break a skull?"
Seanna smiled, slightly. "Neither. It was just a chance encounter. He was very friendly, and very attractive…and very married."
"Oh. Yeah, that kind of puts a damper on the scale of attraction, at least for most women."
"It just…it brought home to me all that I've missed out on in life, thanks to my magic. I was born in the Denerim alienage. If I hadn't been a mage, I would have lived there all my life, most likely. I would have married young, had children…and possibly I'd be scrubbing floors in some Tevinter's manor house right now, like the rest of my family. So I suppose it's not all bad. Still, I'm not certain I wouldn't have preferred such a life to…what I experienced in the Circle. After…"
"After Jowan."
"Yes."
"How bad was it, Seanna? I mean, you told me some things…"
Seanna sighed. "I spent most of a decade in solitary confinement. That alone was…brutal."
"And then the templars abused you."
"Some of them. There are always…bad apples. Greagior would have had them hauled out and flayed, before sending them to Aeonar, if he'd known of it, but…"
"What's Aeonar?"
"The mages' prison, or so they call it. I don't know of any mages who have ever been sent there, though. In fact, the only person I know who was sent there, if it exists, was a Chantry initiate who broke her vows and tried to help a blood mage escape the tower. Jowan, in point of fact. It's a threat, to keep mages and templars alike in line. If it's worse than the Circle, it must be hell on earth."
"Where is this Aeonar?"
"Somewhere in Ferelden, it is said, but I don't know where. In fact, I don't think anyone knows where, outside of the Chantry higher-ups."
"Wonder if Loghain knows of this? Seems to me he wouldn't be too happy to learn that the Chantry potentially has an unknown templar stronghold in this nation."
That prompted a wider, but even more bitter, smile. "If he should ever find it, let me know. I would love to watch him tear the wretched place asunder."
"Ha. You and I both, dear heart."
"Meeting that young man today…it made me think of things I've tried to forget. Back before…before I got into trouble for helping Jowan escape, there was a templar. Young, a new recruit. Very green, very idealistic…and very kind-hearted. I think he was attracted to me, actually. Always blushed and stammered whenever I was near, though honestly he did that a lot regardless of whether I was near or not. Cullen, his name was. After what happened with the other mages…with the demons…he changed."
"I met Cullen. He went through a terrible ordeal at Uldred's hands. He's Knight-Commander of Kirkwall, now."
"I know. But before Greagior sent him away…"
Elilia's hands curled into tight fists. "Was he one of the bastards that raped you?"
Seanna shook her head. "No. No, he never did that. But he was one of the templars that brought Jowan back to the Circle after he was captured at Redcliffe. He brought him to the dungeons where I was held. He…he cut off Jowan's head in front of me. I think he thought it might give me some kind of comfort to witness."
"Huh. So that's what I sent Jowan back to. I'm sorry, Little Bird. In spite of what he did, I think he was a good man. And I know he was your friend."
"In spite of what he did."
"You paid for those mistakes far more than he did, I think."
"They were my mistakes as well as his."
"Your punishment was disproportionate to your 'crime,' Little Bird, and if I have my way, there will be a reckoning. The Chantry owes a debt it can never repay."