Leliana watched Alistair and his son walk down the hall, occasionally giving each other awkward looks. Aside from the bow he carried, she saw almost nothing of Cathiel in the young man. Jerath trailed a pace behind Duncan, clearly still considering himself on guard. She flicked her eyes towards where Brehan had fallen into step beside her, and noted that he too, was staring at the younger version of Alistair.

"This was the dedication of Kirkwall's Chantry."

She turned to look at the other young man. She could hear his grandfather in his voice, despite seeing little trace of the man in his features other than the blue eyes. "Yes. What do you remember?"

"Mostly just the storm that hit the ship on the return voyage." He furrowed his brow. "How long were we..." He shrugged. "Well, missing, I suppose?"

"The chantry was attacked and you were abducted two evenings ago." She sighed. "Your mother is..."

"Fraught with worry, I am certain." He drummed his fingers against the hilt of his sword. "I think Erlina came with us? She is tending to Mother?"

"Yes." Leliana caught Alistair's glance over his shoulder at her, and she waved him to continue on with Duncan and Saitada. She gestured for Loghain to follow her towards Anora's room. "Any idea how best to inform her of the..." She looked him over again. "Situation?"

"I imagine she's going to take this somewhat less well than she did learning Ser Alec had taken me dragon-hunting." He took a deep breath, and murmured something. "Until the last foe has fallen." He opened the door and stepped into Anora's room.

#

Cullen kept looking at the staff on his son's back. Gavren caught the look, and gave him a small smile. Shame clutched at his throat. He should not be surprised his son was a mage, considering his wife was one of the most talented mages in Thedas. And it shouldn't matter. "Is your sister also a mage?"

"No. I'm afraid it is much worse than that." Gavren smiled. "She's an artist." He glanced over his shoulder, and then walked backwards a few steps before turning back to Cullen. "The Chantry dedication? First visit to the estate, yes?"

"Yes." Cullen nodded at where Kels was opening the door of the aforementioned estate.

"What do you remember?" Ruya asked.

"Meeting Leandra. She climbed the fence between estates to come visit, and bit Uncle Kels when he tried to take her back home. Left a scar. He's still holding a grudge." Gavren rubbed the back of his head. "This is..." He followed them into the estate. "I'm not sure what this..." He trailed off when he saw Iron Bull come down the stairs. "Uncle Bull."

"Er..." Iron Bull blinked. "What?"

It took less time than Cullen would have thought to explain what had happened. But then, it was the Inquisition. Weird things weren't entirely alien to them. Bull immediately started asking what things he'd killed over the past few years. Sorrow appeared on Gavren's face at the question. "You and Rainier tangled with one of the great dragons last year. First to kill one since Calenhad, but..." He sighed. "Rainier didn't make it."

"Oh." Iron Bull hung his head a moment. "What about the others, are they...?"

"Dorian is still in Tevinter, scandalizing the magisterium. Sera..." Gavren frowned. "I don't actually know where Sera is at the moment. She and Brehan were doing a favor for the Divine last I heard. The Lady Seeker is on her way to Orlais for a meeting of the Exalted Council, along with Mother and Father. Kailey is actually in Antiva visiting Josephine and her daughter -"

"Josephine has a daughter?" Ruya smiled at the thought.

"Reyna. Cole and Maryden are currently in Antiva as well." Gavren nodded. "And about ten years back, Uncle Lukas got tired of being hounded by suitors and had Josephine pick him out a wife. He's got a son now, Julien."

"And Vivienne?"

"The Grand Enchanter remains in Orlais. There was a..." He hesitated briefly. "Falling out some years ago. You aren't currently on speaking terms." He looked around, and clearly saw the question on all their minds. "Fen'Harel is still out there."

#

Caleb's eyes widened as he followed his family back to the Hawke estate. "That's Leandra." Leandra was a cute little girl. This woman looked like she could go toe to toe with Aveline.

"Yep." She smiled.

"But she's..." He shook his head and held his hand out at just below his waist level to indicate the height she'd been the last time he saw her.

"How?"

"Things when somewhat awry." Merrill exchanged a look with Kieran. "But they can be fixed. We just need a plan."

"Wow." Leandra was staring at Varric. "I forgot what Uncle Varric looked like without gray hair." They all turned to look at her. She raised an eyebrow. "What? Thirty odd years of dealing with Hawkes, he's lucky he has hair at all. Donnic doesn't."

"Good to know..." Varric looked up at her. "I suppose?"

"Okay." Leandra looked around at them. "So, how old am I supposed to be?"

"You just turned five." Her mother gestured. "The Divine was dedicating the new Chantry."

"Oh. So Uncle Fenris doesn't even own the Hanged Man yet." Leandra scratched her head. "Wow."

"Wait, what?" Papa nearly stumbled as Father laughed. "Fenris owns the Hanged Man?" He looked at Varric. "What kind of mad city are you running?"

"Hey, you married him." Varric held up his hands in mock surrender.

"What else should we know?" Carver raised an eyebrow at Leandra.

"Well..." She started listing things on her fingers. "The king of Ferelden gets assassinated, the Qunari decide to take a break from fighting Tevinter long enough to reconquer Rivain and a lot of Antiva. And move against some of the Free Marches, and I think they just launched an attack on Ferelden as well. The Inquisitor thinks the Qunari have somehow split into two factions. There are some weird rumors about folks across the sea. The Grey Wardens of the North and South are having a pissing match. Gavren and I are engaged. Empress Celene finally got around to designating an heir but folks are upset because he's married to the Tevinter Archon's youngest daughter and the King of Nevarra is married to the Tevinter Archon's eldest daughter and they are worried Tevinter is trying to become an Empire again the Antivan way plus mages. Nobody outside Ferelden has seen a Dalish clan in a year. The veil is doing weird things and great dragons have been seen in the skies. And some insane cult tried to dig up Lusacan in the wastes only for that entire area to end up turned into pretty much glass for like ten miles in all directions."

"Maker's breath." Varric stared. "Doesn't anything stay fixed?"

"Guess not." Leandra shrugged. "So..." She looked around at them. "Food?"

"I'm sure Orana will have something..." Carver stopped in his tracks. "Wait, you and Gavren are what?"

#

Alistair rubbed the back of his neck. "You're king."

"Six years now." Duncan's nervous gesture mirrored his own. "You..." He looked down at the ground. "It was just before Wintersend. A bloodmage summoned demons in the palace." He swallowed. "They killed Mother before anyone realized what was happening." Duncan glanced at Jerath. "You shoved me at Jerath and told him to get me to safety, and then you and Uncle Rory..." He cut himself off, and shook his head, motioning to Jerath.

"We made it out of the palace and to House Brosca's holding there in Denerim." Jerath took up the story, his voice steady. "Lenore Amell dealt with the blood mage and her people bolstered the guard enough to take care of the rest of the demons. Lord Eamon, a few other nobles, and a third of the guard died that day, but the rest of the royal family was kept safe. Arl Guerrin, Teyrn Cousland, Bann Shianni, Teyrna Anora..." He nodded at Saitada. "And the Warden-Commander formed a council of regents until the king came of age."

He looked at where Jerath stood, and noted again the scars on the young man's face. Had they come from that battle? Or had there been another attempt on his son's life? "Thank you."

"Who was the bloodmage working for?" Saitada folded her arms. Trian looked around the room, and then went to the sideboard and began pouring whiskey into glasses.

"Orlais." Duncan nearly spat the word. "They were slithering around on the border before the pyres were cold. It nearly came to war. They settled for annexing Haven and 'renegotiating' some trade relations. Maferath's balls."

"Language." Alistair's voice was sharp as he gave the habitual correction before realizing he was no longer talking to an eight year old boy.

To his surprise, Duncan's face broke into a wide smile, and he actually laughed. When Alistair raised an eyebrow, the younger man shook his head. "It's stupid, but..." He wiped a hand at his eyes. "It's good hearing you yell at me again."

Alistair strode forward and wrapped his arms around his son.

#

His mother's eyes kept searching his face. She was taking it better than he'd expected, but that might have had something to do with the fact Erlina had clearly slipped something into her tea. The Divine and the Dalish man he assumed was Brehan had remained in the room. Loghain would have objected, but his mother was clearly comforted by the presence of the Divine. And so he took the teapot out of his mother's shaking hands, refilled her cup, and answered the Divine's questions.

At least, he answered the questions he could. Not all the secrets he knew were his to share. Kieran, Carver, and Merrill had all been in the room. If the Divine was meant to know certain things, surely one of them would have been forthcoming. She asked her questions almost casually, but her eyes were sharp. Best not to forget he was speaking with two people who knew enough of the puzzle that even a hint could cause them to put pieces together.

Thankfully, Erlina came to the rescue. As politely as she could, the elven woman chased the leader of the entire Andrastian faith out of the room so his mother could rest. When the door closed behind them, Loghain let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

Anora's hand touched his cheek, tracing the mark. "You..."

"By choice, Mother." He caught her hand, and smiled at her reassuringly. "My choice, made freely."

Slowly, she nodded. "I..." She sighed. "I should not be surprised, I think. You should..." She straightened her shoulders. "Erlina, please get a bed made up. We should all get some rest."

#

Leandra took a cookie off the plate mostly to keep Orana from continuing to offer her the treat. Her uncle had threatened to banish Agatha to the winecellar if she didn't stop laughing. And her father was taking her engagement harder than he had taken her not being five. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned it.

"You can fix all this, right?" Her father turned to the dark haired and unfamiliar young man that had accompanied them back from the Chantry.

"Find the caster before the spell is cast. The stone was never..." He frowned. "Will never? Is never? Hmmm..." He shook his head. "The future is part of their past and 'tis then both ways, but if we counter the ripples now do they flow back to then, or do ripples from now counter the from before it becomes to?"

"What?" Caleb looked at him. The guy sounded nuts or lyrium addled.

"Tenses are hard." He brightened. "Yes, we can fix this."

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Leandra gestured at him.

He gave her a startled look. "You do not know me?"

"No."

"Oh." He actually looked crestfallen. "I should fix that too. I am Kieran."

"Seriously? Then yeah, I know you. You just looked different then." She looked from him to her father, who nodded. "Wow. Alright, so, we find the guy who cast the spell, kill his ass, and everything goes back to..." She shrugged. "Normal is probably too strong a word. Okay. So, how do we find this asshole?"

"Wait..." Uncle Fenris waved a hand, and turned towards Kieran. "You said you bound this thing with part of you. Why can't you just pull that back and then reopen the tear so we can kill it?"

"I considered that notion." Kieran nodded. "I could pull me back, but it would come with me, and push at the pull."

"So you pull it back with you, and then kill it?"

"No. Well, yes, but that would be bad. 'Tis strong, and hitting it when 'tis that strong would mean hitting it very hard."

"Okay..." Uncle Gabriel frowned at him. "You do understand that there are quite a few people here who can hit really hard, right?"

Kieran opened his mouth, and her father held up a hand. "Kieran, if you hit it as hard as you'd need to in order to kill it at full strength, exactly how much collateral damage would occur?"

"Well..." He tilted his head and half closed his eyes for a moment. "The structure of Kirkwall 'twould limit the effect from reaching more than a mile or so outside the city itself, and the Gallows still has some wards in place, so 'twould mostly just kill everyone in the city proper. Including me, and Father gets very cross when that happens."

"Well." Varric sat back down. "Shit."

#

Trian hung back, watching the king talk to the prince. Or the young king. Saitada sat nearby, occasionally asking questions. The prince or king noticed him standing there, and nodded. "Trian. Sorry, I almost didn't recognize you. You got..." He caught himself. "Well, taller is the wrong word, I suppose." He gestured at his chin. "Hairier, maybe. And the crown gives you a few more inches of height."

King Alistair blinked. "Crown?"

"It was decided Kal'Hirol needed its own king. Trian of House Saitada, first king of Kal'Hirol." Duncan shook his head. "Orzammar had a collective cow, especially with Kal'Hirol officially having a thaig on the surface." He glanced back at his father. "We ceded each other a square mile each."

"Your right as king." King Alistair nodded. "I'm pleased to see the alliance remains strong."

"How big a collective cow did Orzammar have, exactly?" Saitada raised an eyebrow.

"Well..." Duncan grinned. "They were all set to declare war until someone pointed out to them they'd have to either march through an area still infested with darkspawn or come across the surface. So they armed a bunch of casteless and tried sending them. Apparently, they forgot that Paragon Brosca and King Trian used to be casteless, cause all that did was double the size of Kal'Hirol's standing army."

"Kal'Hirol had to create two new houses to accommodate the rest of the casteless, who arrived in Kal'Hirol a month or so later," Jerath said as the laughter died down. "Though Ferelden acquired a unit of dwarven sappers out of that debacle."

King. He was going to be a king. That was... He shook his head. Stone.

#

They managed to wait an hour after all the lights had gone out before sneaking down to the room that had been given to Leandra. No sooner had Agatha put her hand on the doorknob than the door opened. Leandra stood on the other side, smiling, and quickly gestured for them to enter.

Salla followed Agatha into the room. "You were expecting us?"

"A mystery and Agatha doesn't have her nose crammed into it?" Leandra shook her head. "That's one thing that hasn't happened in the past sixteen years." She gestured for them to sit before doing the same. "So what did happen?" She looked at Salla.

"Kieran opened the tear, a bunch of demons came out, and then suddenly you all were there, fighting alongside everyone." Salla leaned forward. "You threatened the Grand Enchanter."

"Wait..." Agatha blinked. "She did what?"

"Bitch wanted to make Gavren tranquil." Leandra's eyes hardened. "She pulls any shit his direction, I'm taking her down."

"Wow. Tell us how you really feel." Agatha grinned. "So what am I like in the future? Does Salla get her prince? Spill."

#

He wasn't surprised to find his father awake, even with the sun still an hour from dawning. Frankly, he'd be surprised if his father had even slept. As he stepped into the garden, he saw his father's eyes go immediately to the staff on his back before settling on his face. "Gavren."

"Father." He glanced into the darkened estate. "Dreams?"

Cullen closed his eyes. "Yes."

"I can make tea. It helps, sometimes." He could see the tension behind his father's eyes. And wished he weren't the cause of it.

"Thank you, but I'll be fine."

Gavren nodded. He looked down at his feet. Then he shook his head. "It manifested when I was seven. You were sparring with a new recruit, and trying to get him to fix a problem with his grip. He wasn't listening, so you told him to take a break and go get water. When you turned away, he came at you." Gavren met his father's eyes. "And then his hair was on fire."

For a moment, Cullen stood there silently. And then he smiled. "I imagine that caused him to reconsider his actions."

"You could say that. You dragged him to the water trough and dunked him, then pretty much threw him to Iron Bull. He ended up staying with the Chargers." He shrugged. "You took me into the garden and we played chess until Mother got back. Pretty sure you threw both games I won."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." He trailed off and nodded apologetically.

"Finding out your three year old little soldier is suddenly a nineteen year old mage is an understandable kind of shock." Gavren came to stand next to his father. "Though if it makes you feel better, I do know which end of a sword to hold."

"I'll admit that it kind of does." Cullen rubbed the back of his neck. "Your mother was pretty good with a sword herself, actually."

"Is again. Dagna's apprentice, Terra, made her a new hand."

"Good to know." Cullen took a deep breath. "So..." He looked around the garden. "You play chess?"