"The Arl is awake, and he asks for the ones responsible for aiding Redcliffe and saving his life to join him in the Great Hall." A guard had knocked on the door to the room I was currently holed up in, reading, and he was talking through the wood.
"I'll be there as soon as I can." I responded, putting the book down. There was such fascinating things to be learned about Thedas, in general.
When I entered, everyone was already gathered.
"This is most troubling." the arl was standing at the front of the room, his back to us all, but he turned as he kept talking, "There is much to be done, that is true. But I should first be thankful to those who have done so much. Grey Warden," He looked at me specifically when he said this, "you have not only saved my life, but kept my family safe, as well. I am in your debt. Will you permit me to offer you a reward for your service?"
I knew that that was really code for "I'm going to give you something, and you're going to at least act like you liked it," so I smiled and spoke respectfully, "We need your help against the Blight. That will do."
"I understand, but regardless of your motivations, I feel you are worthy of a reward. I would like to honor your efforts, nothing more."
Bowing my head, I murmured, "As you wish, then."
"Then allow me to declare you and those traveling with you champions of Redcliffe. You will always be welcome guests within these halls. And for you, Warden, a shield of the same make as those that have been given to our finest knights."
I gently took the weight of it from him, feeling how light it was in my hands, "Thank you, your grace."
Teagan spoke quietly, "We should speak of Loghain, Brother. There is no telling what he will do once he learns of your recovery."
"Loghain instigates a civil war even though the darkspawn are on our very doorstep. Long I have known him. He's a sensible man; one who never desired power."
"I was there when he announced he was taking control of the throne, Eamon. He is mad with ambition, I tell you." The brothers were in a heated debate, everyone looking on.
"Mad indeed. Mad enough to kill Cailan, to attempt to kill myself and destroy my lands. Whatever happened to him, Loghain must be stopped. What's more, we can scarce afford to fight this war to its bitter end."
"But you can unite the nobility against Loghain, can't you?" Elissa asked, shaking her head.
"I could unite those opposing Loghain, yes. But not all oppose him. He has some very powerful allies. We have no time to wage a campaign against him. Someone must surrender, if Ferelden is to have any chance at fighting the darkspawn."
"But once everyone learns what he's done, surely..." She trailed off, realizing how it sounded.
"I will spread word of Loghain's treachery, both here and against the king. But it will be but a claim made without proof. Those claims will give Loghain's allies pause, but we must combine it with a challenge Loghain cannot ignore. We need someone with a stronger claim to the throne than Loghain's daughter, the queen."
The warrior beside me shifted uneasily, not liking where this was going. Teagan had been right.
"Are you referring to Alistair, Brother? Are you certain?" said man questioned, sounding a bit anxious.
"I would not propose such a thing, if we had an alternative. But the unthinkable has occurred."
"You intend to put Alistair forward as king." There was no question about it, it was a simple fact, and I said it thusly.
"Teagan and I have a claim through marriage, but we would seem opportunists, no better than Loghain. Alistair's claim is by blood."
"And, what about me? Does anyone care what I want?" Alistair burst out, unable to stay silent any longer.
The arl's voice was stern, "You have a responsibility, Alistair. Without you, Loghain wins. I would have to support him, for the sake of Ferelden. Is that what you want?"
That was a low blow, and I wanted to make him take those words back. That wasn't fair to him. The speed with which I was instantly on the attack, surprised me and rendered me immobile.
"I... but I... no, my lord." He was angry, but he couldn't find a way to go against him.
"I see only one way to proceed. I will call for a Landsmeet, a gathering of all of Ferelden's nobility in the city of Denerim. There, Ferelden can decide who shall rule, one way or another. Then the business of fighting our true foe can begin. What say you to that, my friend? I do not wish to proceed without your blessing."
Eamon was looking to me. God dammit.
"Do you think the Landsmeet will work?" I was cautious in my response, wanting to know the details first.
"That depends. If we cannot gain a consensus in the Landsmeet for Alistair, we cannot afford to oppose Loghain, either. Does that mean Loghain could win? A man who killed his own king, who has gone mad with power? Perhaps. We must see that he does not."
"What about the darkspawn?" Aedan interjected, having our backs.
"Ferelden must stand united to defeat the darkspawn. A fractured nation will not defeat the Blight, even given my army and those gathered with your treaties."
"And what are our options?" Duran raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.
"You have already found allies, but we need those to fight darkspawn. I truly believe the Landsmeet is our best option." Eamon emphasized the Landsmeet before moving on, "We could attempt to wage a military campaign against Loghain. But even if we win... would we have enough left to defeat the darkspawn?"
"No, but neither would Loghain."
"But we don't want Ferelden to be crippled and destroyed, because we can't work together." I said carefully.
"Perhaps Loghain gambles on this attitude. That everyone will decide facing the darkspawn is more vital than facing him, so that he leads us against the horde."
"It seems we have little choice." Natia muttered.
"Very well, I will send out the word." With that, the arl had decided, "But before we proceed, I believe there is the matter of the mage... my son's tutor. He still lives, I understand. I hear you let him go."
I squared my shoulders and nodded, "Yes, my lord."
"He was a blood mage, or did he tell you differently?"
"No. He admitted to it readily." I said flippantly, earning myself a raised eyebrow, "I chose to let him go. He was under the threat of death or worse, to himself and maybe even people he was close to in the Circle, by Loghain directly. He only did what he had to do. Would you expect any other man or even woman to act differently?"
There was silence as we stared each other down.
"No. No, I would not." He took a deep breath and pointedly looked away from me, "It will take some time to recall my forces and organize our allies. I would prefer to wait until that is done, before calling the Landsmeet."
"The Grey Warden allies stand at the ready, simply awaiting our signal." Aedan said assuredly.
...
"Oh. It's you. The one they're all talking about. Shouldn't you be out there, stopping the Blight?" the dwarf waved me away, expecting me to just leave.
I tilted my head, "I'm looking for the Qunari sword you bought."
"Now, why would you be interested in that?"
"It's mine." Sten stated, causing the thug bodyguards to flinch.
"You know, Faryn didn't mention the giant he took it from was alive."
"Why don't you give up the sword, and we'll go?" I offered sweetly.
"Excellent idea." he held out a key, "It's in my strongbox. Here's the key. Now why don't you leave me alone?"
I snatched the item from him, in case he changed his mind, and went to the back of his small house. Unlocked the only chest in the room, then stepped aside. Sten slowly moved closer, as if afraid it wouldn't be the sword we were looking for. Admittedly, that thought had crossed my mind, too.
He reached in and pulled out a sword and scabbard, "Strange. I had almost forgotten it. Completion." Without another word, he left the building, and I ran to catch up to him.
"Sten?" I murmured softly, unsure how he was feeling. If he was happy or sad or angry. He'd gotten his sword back, finally, but he didn't seem... okay.
"Are you sure you are a Grey Warden?" The question made me stop, and he paused when he realized I wasn't beside him, "I think you must be an ashkaari, to find a single lost blade in a country at war."
"You're welcome, Sten." I struggled to keep the smile off my face at his high praise.
"I would thank you for this, if I knew how." He bowed his head, "And I could deliver a much more satisfying answer to the arishok's question if the Blight were ended, don't you agree?"
I remembered that conversation, where he'd told me about why he'd been here, at all. The arishok had wanted to know more about the Blight, if it was a huge threat or not.
"Absolutely."
"Then lead the way."
I couldn't help the grin that appeared, then. Sten was definitely warming up to me, and I was glad for it. We walked back to the Redcliffe castle in a comfortable silence.
We parted ways once we were inside. I found Alistair in the library when I went to go pick back up where I'd left off with that book.
He looked up upon my entrance and held out a letter, "Irving, at the Circle, says he'll accept Dagna to do her study of magic. Says he's already sending someone to collect her."
"That's wonderful news. She's going to love it there, I just know it." I beamed at him, but the smile waned at how defeated he looked. I hopped on to the arm of his chair and hugged one of my knees to my chin. "What's on your mind? You haven't looked like this since..."
He nodded after I trailed off, "I'm not ready to talk about it yet. Maybe once we're in Denerim, and the sword is hanging over my head. Right now, I just want to ignore it all. Be a Grey Warden."
I snorted, "Who knew being part of a secret society would be easier to deal with, than being told you're going to be a monarch?"
"Secret society? Everyone knows about the Wardens."
"Secret societies have secrets and rituals."
"...You've got me there." his lips turned up slightly.
"Sten got his sword back. We just went and bullied a dwarf for it." I rolled my eyes, "I thought his guards were going to pee themselves when Sten said it was his."
"I would have liked to see that." he chuckled, the gloomy atmosphere dispelled.
"When do we leave?" I asked nervously. I knew I had to tell him sooner or later about Duncan. I mean, I had already sent the missive this morning, telling him to meet us in the capital.
Groaning, he flopped back in to his chair, trying to burrow, "Soon. Within the week, Eamon wants us to start heading that way."
I made a face, "I have... something... to tell you?"
He gave me a look that was not amused, "Is it more magic, because I don't care that you're a mage. I swear."
"Oh, no. It's nothing as easy as that."
Alistair stared, really took in how I was acting, and swallowed hard, "Do I want to know?"
"You're going to be so mad." I whispered, my eyes watering.
"Ana!"
I closed my eyes, feeling more than a little frustrated but marginally relieved. This conversation could wait.
"Cali. What's wrong? You only show up when things are about to go south."
"I was-" the little girl stopped, her eyes saucers, "I shouldn't be here. He-"
"It's fine. I told him about everything. Almost everything." I turned my gaze to him, "Alistair, Calilian. Calilian, this is Alistair."
"Y-your Majesty." She curtsied to him.
"-not king yet!" He and I both exclaimed at the same time. We shared a grin.
"Y-you're real-really pre-pretty." She stammered, staring a hole through him.
He raised an eyebrow, "This is your friend who warns you about things?"
"Yeah. She's a traveler, too. But I think she does it differently than I do."
"I use gadgets and machines."
"She means, she uses things that aren't found in Thedas." I murmured quietly, motioning for Cali to come closer so she wasn't so loud, "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you."
"There's a Grey Warden in a dungeon, somewhere. Riordan, I think his name is." She pulled out a little clock-looking thing and pushed a few buttons, "Riordan the Grey Warden. He's in-Can I tell you, without messing things up?"
"Depends on where he's at."
"Arl Rendon Howe's dungeons. In Denerim."
My smile was savage, "I don't think it'll be a problem. We were going there, anyway. Now, we have a reason."
"We?" Alistair emphasized.
"Elissa, Aedan, and me. We have score to settle with the arl."
He shook his head, wide-eyed, "Okaaaaaay. Don't tell me anything more. I want to have as little information as possible in case someone thinks its you guys."
"Don't worry. I'm sure they wouldn't want to get anyone else in trouble." I patted his shoulder.
A moment passed before he pulled himself together, "What was it you wanted to tell me?"
"Don't yell. That's all I ask."
"You're not making this any easier. Just tell me what it is. It can't be that bad."
"When I went and recruited the elves, Kallian and Lyna, the battle had already begun when we'd arrived." I paused to take a deep breath and settle myself. He looked confused by where I was going with this. "The Battle of Ostagar."
The other Warden grew very still. I wondered for a second if he was even breathing.
"I watched as king Cailan fell. I saw the ogre switch his focus to Duncan. I..." my throat felt like it was closing, but I forced myself to push through it, "I couldn't let it happen."
"What are you saying?" he asked carefully, searching my eyes.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." I realized I was shaking with fear, scared he would hate me.
"What are you trying to say, Anastasia?" He gripped my shoulders, squeezing roughly.
"I saved Duncan." The whisper fled from me as if something was chasing it. The first tears fell, and I couldn't see his expression. My vision was too blurry.
I heard his sharp inhalation, though. Felt his fingers dig in to my skin, and the beginnings of bruises started to form.
"Ana..."
"He's supposed to meet us in Denerim. I would have told you sooner, I swear, but after too much time had passed, I didn't know how. I didn't know how to approach it. I'm so sorry. So, so sorry."
"This... this is the best news I've ever gotten, aside from you also surviving when Flemeth saved us." I was suddenly pulled forward, and I crashed against something hard. He was hugging me tightly.
A sniffle drew my attention, and I rubbed at my eyes best I could, seeing Calilian tearing up next to me. I grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly.
"We need to celebrate." Alistair held me at arm's length, "We need to celebrate this."
My head bobbed up and down because he was shaking me. I held up my hands, one of them having been torn from Cali's, and stuttered for him to stop. He let me go and gave me an apologetic look.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. I'm just not ready to meet the Maker, yet. Plus, that's not how I would want to go." I righted myself and smiled, "Let's get everyone together and have a dinner! We haven't all eaten together in... ever, actually. Now that I think about it. Either someone is on watch or Morrigan is at her own camp. You get everyone you can find. I'll go ask the kitchen ladies."
"May the Maker watch over you." He prayed solemnly.
I rolled my eyes, "I'm a little kid. They'll like me. Aside from that, we saved their arl. And the village."
The conversation with the servants in the kitchen went smoothly, the women all doting on me and wanting to repay us for our help in defending their village. With the arl's permission, we were able to cook up something akin to a feast. In reality, it would have been one, but with six Grey Wardens to feed... the others would be lucky if they got any seconds.