5-Some Events Just Come Sooner

Cailan, Alistair, Elle and Midnight had spent the day riding along the cliffs overlooking the Storm Coast. As they rode through the gates into Highever and handed off their horses, Cailan said, "I'm going to miss doing this so much."

"You'll be King someday, Your Highness, you can do this whenever you want," Alistair replied with a wink. "But, I still find myself feeling pity for the limitations of your life," he added in a whisper.

"Maybe I'll let you be King, Alistair. I'll take Anora and we'll go off somewhere," Cailan said.

That made everyone laugh, even the two guards at the gate. Elle was brave enough to state the obvious. "Anora is one of my dearest friends. She can't wait to be Queen, Cailan. You just better get used to that." As if to confirm her human's statement, Midnight barked and gave his most endearing doggie grin. "Remind me to get a good treat for you, Midnight," Elle added with her own grin and a skritch behind Midnight's ear.

"Right. Back to never being able to spend the day just exploring." Cailan actually looked pretty glum.

"Just don't call it that, Cailan," Alistair said. "You'll be … 'out inspecting a future holding for some new farm-holders from some outland country that come with a pedigree a mile long and bring untold wealth with them'."

Cailan looked surprised. "Why Alistair, I never thought you that devious." He added in a mumble. "Should have never introduced you to Anora."

Elle laughed and was about to respond when she noticed a bunch of soldiers in the livery of Amaranthine. "What's Howe doing here? He declined the invitation to the festivities." She turned back to one of the guards and walked up. Quietly, she asked, "Do you know why Arl Howe is here?"

"It's not Arl Howe, Lady Cousland. It is Lord Nathaniel," the soldier replied equally quietly. Before she could get too excited that Nathaniel was there, the guard added, "He just arrived and we showed him to the audience chamber. He did not seem happy, m'lady. We sent a page for His Lordship."

"I see," Elle said and then motioned for Cailan and Alistair to follow her around to the side passage. She looked to make sure no one was around to report on her and slipped into a small room. Once inside, she whispered to Cailan and Alistair, "This is the coat room for the Main Audience Chamber. Let's listen for a bit." She put her finger up to her lips and the three of them crowded around a door to the inside chamber. They heard pacing and a door open and close a moment later.

"Nathaniel, this is a pleasant surprise!" Bryce said.

"Your Lordship, thank you for an audience, unannounced as it is." That was Nathaniel. "My father has bid me squire for Lord Reinhardt in Kirkwall for a time. I felt it necessary to report to our liege before I took ship."

When it looked like Elle was just going to barge in at the moment, Alistair stopped her and mouthed the word, "Wait." He followed with pointing to his ear. He was surprised when she actually took his advice. She loved Nathaniel. Deeply. They had announced their betrothal this past Summerday. Just last week, Elle told Alistair that they were supposed to be wed within a year or so. Elle and her mother, Teyrna Eleanor, were already making wedding plans. Obviously, Arl Howe failed to mention this change to anyone.

"I'm certain that your father has your best interests at heart, my boy, and I appreciate your attention to duty by notifying me. I'm sure a message will be coming shortly from my old friend," Teyrn Bryce Cousland said rather … too loudly. Alistair could almost see Teyrn Cousland glancing briefly at Amaranthine guards. That was confirmed when he added, "Guards, please take the Amaranthine guards to the dining hall for some refreshment while I continue with Lord Nathaniel."

"Your Lordship, we are bid not to leave Lord Nathaniel alone during this trip." That must have been one of the Amaranthine guards.

"I would like to speak with him privately on matters for Lord Reinhardt, Ser Branon," Bryce said.

"It is our duty to keep him safe, Your Lordship," this Ser Branon said.

"Surely, you're not implying that he is unsafe inside the walls of Highever Castle. Leave now. That is not a request," Bryce said. After hearing several people leave, Bryce added, "All right, Nate. What's going on?"

Alistair, Cailan and Elle looked at each other in shock as Nathaniel began, "It looks as though my wedding to Elle will need to be delayed a while. My father has changed, Bryce. About a month ago, he received a letter and he changed overnight. He had Thomas flogged! We thought maybe Thomas did something horrible, but he was locked in the dungeon and no one could speak to him to find out what he did. At least, I never could. Then, he locked Delilah in the North Tower because she made some nice comments about Albert, a merchant's son in Amaranthine. Father screamed around the Vigil, 'All my children are being influenced! There must be a blood mage here! Nathaniel must leave before he turns as well!' I hid as long as I could, but Ser Branon found me and dragged me before Father."

No great advocate for Rendon Howe, Alistair didn't stop Elle again as she walked out of the coat room. Before she could speak, however, Alistair pointed to a shadow walking by and then standing outside the door. Alistair put his finger to his lips and went back out the way they came in. Shortly, at the same time that Alistair slipped back into the room, they heard an argument outside the door where the shadow showed underneath. The shadows left and two knocks were heard on that door, on the door on the other side of the hall and the main door.

Alistair grinned. "I notified the guards that someone from Amaranthine was trying to listen in on a private conversation. The two knocks mean that the doors are now secure."

"What about …?" Cailan began while pointing at the coat room.

"I dropped the lock-bar on the outside door and closed the interior door." Then, Alistair bowed to Teyrn Cousland, "With all respect, Your Lordship, you should keep that door barred at all times."

"Thanks, Alistair," Elle said with a frown. "Now, I won't be able to listen in there anymore." Then, she walked up to Nathaniel and took his hands. "This is very troubling, Nathaniel. Is there anything we can do?"

As the others discussed unimportant things to give the couple a bit of privacy, Nathaniel took Elle in his arms. "Father didn't even mention our betrothal plans, Elle. I'm truly alarmed and concerned at what is going on there."

After the couple broke their embrace, Bryce shook his head. "I know you haven't made your decision yet, Alistair, but I think I may lock you away for a few years and make you head of the castle guard."

"I was thinking the same, but for the Palace Guard in Denerim," Cailan added with a grin.

Nathaniel smiled at the comments and then reached into his jacket and pulled out a sealed sheaf of papers. "This outlines my plan, Your Lordship. There is a known storyteller in Kirkwall that goes by the name of Varric Tethras. He is also a heavily networked source of information. I plan to coordinate with him to set up a message line with you and perhaps have him work with Elle's network here in Ferelden." He turned to Alistair. "I know I've only met you recently, Prince Alistair, but I pray you stay as far away from the nobility as you can. My father made an offhand comment when he first heard about you … that you could be used quite effectively to somehow control our King. He laughed and claimed it was a joke, but, after recent events, I'm not so sure."

"Maker," Alistair said with a sigh, after cringing at being called a prince. "That's one more tick in the Warden column." He bowed to Bryce and Cailan, "But, it goes without saying that I do appreciate your confidences, Your Lordship and Your Highness."

Elle chuckled, "Maybe we should make you Ferelden's Spy Master, Alistair."

"Maker's Breath, no! Please … no," Alistair replied in horror. "I think that's already your job in Ferelden, Elle, and you are doing a fine job."

"My precious daughter was joking, but put it on your list, Alistair," Bryce started with a straight face and then laughed. "I'm joking, too." He turned to Nathaniel. "I think our Spy Master outside Ferelden is going to be traveling the Free Marches, expanding the old ring already set up by Loghain and Maric. What do you think, Cailan?"

"We'll need to confirm it with Father and Loghain, who should be here by now, actually … but I think that's a dandy idea, Bryce," Cailan replied. "What do you think, Nathaniel?"

"I'll need to be very careful about it, but if King Maric and Loghain agree, I may leave it up to Varric to do the legwork while I appear to be the ever-obedient son," Nathaniel said. "Send me word as soon as the King and Loghain agree or not. I won't …" Nathaniel started, but was interrupted by the horns announcing the arrival of the King.

Alistair cleared his throat. "That was scary timing. We should get the approval and then allow the Amaranthine guards to listen in to the conversation after."

Faster than anyone expected, Maric and Loghain entered the hall and everyone briefly took a knee. Elle mumbled, "I'm having a talk with the ramparts guard about swifter notifications of arrivals."

Once everyone was off their knee, Bryce said, "Welcome to Highever, Your Majesty and Your Lordship!" Then, Bryce nodded to the guards to maintain surveillance on the outside doors.

Maric looked around. "Did the party start early?" he asked. His eye fell on Nathaniel. "Lord Nathaniel! This a surprise. Is your father here?"

Nathaniel looked at Bryce. "If I may?" After Bryce gave permission with a quick nod, Nathaniel caught Maric and Loghain up with the events of the day, including the introduction of Varric into the ring of information gathering/disseminating. Everyone had comments to add, but by the end of the summary, both Maric and Loghain had frowns on their faces.

"I know I always ask this, but could that letter have been from Orlais, Nathaniel?" Loghain asked.

Nathaniel smiled. "I had the same thought, Your Lordship, but it was ash by the time I could look without causing suspicion. The messenger was long gone, but Seneschal Varel said it looked like a plain, one page letter with no outside markings. Still could have come from Orlais." With a smile, Nathaniel added, "I trust Varel."

Loghain nodded. "Good man." He looked at Maric. "What do you think, Maric? Is it time to resurrect the Pack Runners?"

Maric looked like a dark cloud ready to rain on everyone. He picked up a bottle of wine. "Is this a good vintage, Bryce?"

Bryce shared a small smile. "Not that much, Maric … toss away."

Maric threw the bottle into the fireplace and stood looking at the liquid sizzle and the very tiny glass pieces sparkle for a minute. Then, he turned. "It's always from within, isn't it? Always!"

Nathaniel bravely said, "We don't really have any proof of treason, yet, Your Majesty. Just … just a man's mind heading down a dark path. That, we do have proof of."

Maric turned his glare on Nathaniel and then the glare lessened. "You're right … for now. Are you proposing to head this up yourself, Nathaniel?"

"That's what we were just discussing, Maric," Bryce said. "I was pondering whether to go ahead and give him our old contact list, should any of them still be alive."

"Do it," Maric said.

"Give me a few minutes." Then, Bryce pulled back a tapestry and opened a vault after twirling a dial through a series of numbers.

While Bryce was looking through the vault, Loghain asked Nathaniel, "What do you know about this dwarf Tethras?"

"I met him once a couple of years ago. Father took me along on a visit to Lord Reinhardt. I got bored listening to Father and Reinhardt arguing, so I went to explore the city. And, no, I don't know what they were arguing about, the sound was muted and I couldn't get closer to listen. I ended up at a vendor in Lowtown who sold my favorite kind of leather and arranged to have him send some to a leatherworker in Amaranthine. In fact, she made this armor I'm wearing. The vendor took me to the Hanged Man tavern to thank me for the order and I sat enraptured by Varric's storytelling."

Elle interrupted. "There must have been more to it than that, Nathaniel. You're much more suspicious than that." As before, Midnight moof'd his affirmation.

Nathaniel laughed at Elle and kissed her hand. He didn't let her hand go, either. "I'm getting to it! Varric got me into a Diamondback game and we started talking." Nathaniel chuckled. "He took me to his apartment at the inn after taking every coin I had on me. That's when I found out he was trying to recruit me as a contact in Ferelden." Nathaniel winked at Elle. "I would like to give him your name as a contact here, if that's all right."

"If you trust him to bring him into this confidence, I would be very much interested in working with Varric Tethras," Elle replied.

Nathaniel said, "He was the one who sent me some information about Amaranthine that helped against the smugglers there."

"I remember that," Elle said. "That was solid information. Amaranthine has never been so secure since."

"So, I sent him a few bits about Lord Reinhardt. Recently, I sent copies of letters and such. Varric checked out the veracity of the appeasing letters to my father and found out that Lord Reinhardt was playing him. It seems that my father has no real friends in Kirkwall, but they've made him think he does. The letters were coded, but it sounded like something was being planned and it didn't sound virtuous." Nathaniel's frown deepened. "My going to Kirkwall was Reinhardt's idea. Father refused at first, but after … after his mind slipped … he took Reinhardt up on his offer. It made me glad I hadn't gotten around to breaking the news about the letters." At Loghain's look of disdain, he added, "I had no idea how to bring up the fact that I'd sent copies of his personal letters to Varric."

"Just be careful, regardless, Nathaniel," Maric said. With a fond smile, he added, "You are definitely showing your bravery and attention to duty to Ferelden with this."

"I'm so proud of you, Nate," Elle said quietly.

He kissed her cheek. "I couldn't let you have all the fun, love. Besides, I couldn't have had a better teacher."

Bryce pulled out a valise and opened it. "Like I said, Nate, many of these Marcher contacts may be dead by now." He handed Nathaniel a two-page list of names and locations."

Elle turned to Nathaniel. "Nate, don't assume that Reinhardt is a friend. He and Rendon may have been setting this up for a long time. It smells like a trap to me. You must promise me that you'll be doubly careful."

"I promise I'll be careful … doubly careful," Nathaniel said and then he kissed her hand. "Or, Varric will tell you if I'm not."

"I'm liking this dwarf more and more," she replied with a smile.

Alistair finished writing a note while Elle and Nathaniel were speaking. He handed it to Bryce as he said to Nathaniel, "I made up some things that His Lordship may have wanted to pass on to Lord Reinhardt. If that list is all right, you can just fold it up and put it in a secret place on the ship. Branon is likely to look for something nefarious. By the way, keep that contact list on your person at all times until you can get it to Tethras. This short note gives Branon cause to believe this meeting was about other things, I think." Then, Alistair opened the side door to tell the guard to get the Amaranthine guards.

Bryce chuckled. "A list of Ferelden contacts for wheat and rye for Reinhardt's distilleries. These are real people."

"And, they all have adopted orphans over the last few years. Should the list actually make it to Reinhardt, they need any help we can get for them," Alistair explained.

"I'll wait until I feel more confident around Reinhardt, but I'll do what I can … and happy name-day next week, Alistair," Nathaniel said. He turned toward Bryce. "Please give my regards to Lord Fergus. I'm sorry I missed him before he and his family went for their annual trip to Antiva. I imagine Satinalia in Antiva is quite the celebration."

Just as Bryce folded the note and handed it to Nathaniel, Ser Branon burst into the room with his blade drawn. Unfortunately, he had entered right next to Maric.

Poor sod didn't know the king was there.

"Guard, please arrest this man for threatening the King," Bryce said calmly.

As the guards grabbed Branon's arms, Nathaniel stepped between Branon and the King. "Your Majesty, Ser Branon was unaware of your arrival." He turned back to the flustered knight. "Wait for me by the front gate, Branon. I believe we have a ship to catch. Do not embarrass Amaranthine again." Nathaniel made an obvious move of putting the folded note in his jacket pocket.

As they were shuffling the knight out the door, Nathaniel knelt in front of Maric. "You have my most sincere … and embarrassed … apologies, Your Majesty."

"None needed, Lord Nathaniel. Keep better control of your knights. The Marchers won't be so forgiving," Maric said with a slight wink.

Elle was frowning. "He didn't recognize King Maric, Nate. Surely, an Amaranthine knight would recognize the King. Be doubly, doubly careful."

"Yes, Nathaniel, safe journey. Stay alert. Learn much and return home to better serve Ferelden," Bryce added.

Elle took Nathaniel's hand and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes. Stay here and keep an eye on everyone, my brave Midnight." She and Nathaniel left the room. Midnight walked over where he could see everyone and sat at attention.

Once all the Amaranthine folk were gone, Alistair whispered, "I hope he doesn't break her heart."

"One thing about my darling daughter, Alistair," Bryce said. "If he does break her heart on orders from Rendon, I pity both Nathaniel and Rendon."

"I don't. They will only get what they deserve. Anora will no doubt join Elle in retribution," Cailan added. "Anyway," obviously wanting to end that conversation, Cailan turned to Alistair. "You're going to the Wardens, aren't you."

Everyone looked to Alistair in surprise. "I … I haven't … what made you say that, Your Highness?"

Cailan waved at nothing in the room in particular. "Nothing said here, Alistair. As we were walking back from our outing, you sympathetically pitied my life, not for my inability to do whatever I wanted, but for the limitations my life had. The limitations that any noble life has. Limitations that quite often have nothing to do with duty."

"Do not think for a moment that Grey Wardens are able to do whatever they want, Your Highness," Duncan said from the entry. "My pardons for interrupting your conversation. The guard told me your previous meeting had adjourned. However, I truly felt that needed to be said." He had a wide grin on his face.

∞∞∞!¡!¡∞∞∞

Meanwhile, out in the courtyard, Mari was told to wait for a bit until Duncan could explain her situation. He felt Teyrn Cousland needed to know all the details, even those she may not wish to broadcast elsewhere. (Teyrn being at the top of the nobility rankings in Ferelden. Just below the royalty.)

She had seen the guards drag out a heavily armored man. A man with really nice leather armor kissed the hand of a woman about Mari's age and walked over to the guards a few minutes later. Mari didn't miss the woman glaring at the heavily armored man just before she turned to go back inside the castle.

"Thank you, guardsmen," the leather-wearer said before he also glared at the armored man. "Ser Branon will behave. You may release him and go back to your duties."

The guards bowed in deference to the leather-armored man. That's when she noticed that the heraldry on the departing men depicted a bear, not unlike the two lightly armored men standing near to Mari.

One of the Highever guards rose from his bow and said, "As you wish, Lord Nathaniel." The leather-wearer was a noble. The woman must have been his lady? Interesting. However, not nearly as interesting as the hushed conversation of the two men near Mari.

"Arl Howe's whelp, Nathaniel. He'll learn his place soon enough. Now that the old man has him on his way out of the country, the Arl'll make them Highever guards pay for the treatment of the livery of Amaranthine," one of the men said.

Ah, that's the reason for all the glaring. Arl must also be one of the noble titles, Mari thought to herself. She put 'discussion of the nobility' on her list of topics for the professor here. She slowly slipped into a nook between a corner column and the wall of the main entrance before the other man answered, "Watch yerself, Hamat. We don wanna tip Arl Howe's hand too early."

It would seem that some who wear the livery of Amaranthine are dumber than others, Mari thought, wondering who she should tell what she just heard … and if anyone would believe her.

"Men!" Nathaniel commanded. "We have a ship to board!" The two next to Mari scurried away, none the wiser to the girl — not in any livery — with a long cloak that covered very unique and different clothing and backpack. The girl who had just overheard their entire conversation.

Simultaneously with the boom of the gates closing, Mari heard, "There you are! Marisia Park? Is that right?"

Mari jumped. After feeling so smug at stealthily overhearing possible sedition, she jumped like a kid caught in the kitchen eating the last cookie. "Yes!?"

The tall man had reddish blonde hair and wore a suit of quality splintmail. The livery of a circle of two plant fronds was emblazoned on his tabard. He had a nice laugh that reached all the way to his friendly amber eyes. "Sorry, didn't mean to come up on you like that! Duncan's explained your situation to us and the King…"

"King?!" Mari eeped.

"… and Crown Prince, His Lordships Teyrn Bryce Cousland and Teyrn Loghain MacTir and Lady Elethea Cousland would like to meet you." He tried to maintain a solemn gaze but failed. "You can jump now. I'm Alistair, by the way."

"No title?" she teased before her manners kicked in.

Fortunately, he only laughed. "People try to put titles on me, but they never stick for long." He brushed his hand toward the double doors. "After you, m'lady."

She moved closer to him and whispered conspiratorially, "Can I ask you something first?"

He bent his head down to listen and she told him about what she had just heard and saw. He looked toward the gate and his jovial manner was completely gone. "And, you're positive you heard that right? Sometimes Ferelden's accents can get a bit heavy."

"Yes. I was standing right here and they were a couple feet away. I guess a girl dressed without armor didn't hit their radar."

"What's a radar?" he asked with a frown.

"Right," she mumbled, "Got to work on getting the colloquialisms of home out of my speech."

"It's a figure of speech?" he asked.

"Not really. It's a thing. Radar is something from my world that can track things … transportation and the like. Anyway! My question is … well, how about you mention it if you think it important? I'll just keep quiet," Mari said with a sigh.

He chuckled and said, "Just a moment." He ran over to one of the guards and whispered something to him. The man quickly left. When Alistair returned, he swept his hand again, so she preceded him inside.

The one thing she always hated was when all conversation stopped as she entered a room.

Just like this moment when she stepped inside … everyone in this hall quit talking and looked at her. All but one of them had pleasant, welcoming looks. Alistair had not mentioned the dog. The dog sort of looked like a mastiff. A freaking HUGE mastiff. It just sat there with a rather noncommittal look on its face. Sitting right next to the woman who had been glaring at the armored man outside. One of the men stepped forward and said, "Welcome to Ferelden and the world of Thedas, Marisia Park. I am Maric."

Alistair whispered, "That's King Maric."

"Oh!" Mari quickly went down on one knee. "Thank you, Your Majesty," she said before she rose and curtseyed. She had no idea if one or both of those things was appropriate.

Maric had a smirky smile as he continued, "This mirthless man is Teyrn Loghain and one of my best friends in all Thedas. Ignore his scowl."

"Your…" she started.

"Lordship," Alistair whispered.

"Right, you said that," Mari said. She bowed to Loghain. "Your Lordship."

Aloud Alistair said, "Here's where you tell everyone what you heard outside."

Mari glared at Alistair with a look that hopefully conveyed this was not the plan, but he just nodded toward Loghain. "It's all right. He won't bite."

Surprisingly, Loghain smiled. "I haven't bitten anyone in at least a week." Mari liked him instantly. Loghain had her father's sense of humor. Of course, she had only just met the man.

"More like a few days," Maric said with a wink.

Mari glanced at Alistair and he nodded toward the others. "Well," she began, "I found myself waiting next to two men wearing tabards with bears on them. One of them mentioned that Arl Howe's whelp, Nathaniel, would learn his place soon enough. Then, he said that this Arl Howe would make the Highever guards pay for the treatment of the livery of Amaranthine." She shrugged, "I saw the man I think they were talking about walking up to an armored soldier — Sir Branon was his name. The other man near to me told the first man to watch himself … that they didn't want to tip Highever to Arl Howe's hand too early."

"I had Marley run after Lord Nathaniel to somehow alert him or pass him a note warning about Nathaniel 'learning his place'," Alistair added.

In an aside to Alistair, Mari said, "Oh sure, you tell the easy part."

"I like her!" one of the men said. He was blonde, athletic, tall and handsome. He also had a big grin on his face. It was contagious. Everyone was smiling after that.

"That's Prince Cailan," Alistair whispered.

"Your Highness, thank you." Then, Mari looked from Maric to Cailan to Alistair. "Is 'Prince' one of those titles that doesn't stick to you, Alistair?"

Unexpectedly, Loghain burst out with a laugh. "At least, I'm not the only one to be surprised by that face." He smiled at Mari. "I like her, too, Cailan. Doesn't mean I don't think she's a potential spy from Orlais."

She turned to Anton and said quietly, "You mentioned Orlais before. The First Warden was Orlesian, I think?"

"That's the country that ruled Ferelden by force once. King Maric, along with Loghain and Teyrn and Teyrna Cousland at his side, led the rebellion that ousted the Orlesians," Anton explained.

Mari shook her head and sighed. "One more topic to put on the lesson list. There is so much I need to learn."

"That sounds like my cue," one of the two unidentified people said.

"That's Teyrn Cousland," Alistair said.

"Can you just follow me around and whisper the proper action in my ear for a year or so?" she asked Alistair with a smile.

"Well, I like you, too, so that does sound like yet one more thing to put on my list of decisions," Alistair replied. When Mari just threw him a questioning look, he said, "Long story for another time."

Mari turned to Bryce and bowed, "Your Lordship."

The woman she'd noticed outside rolled her eyes and said, "To get all this formality out of the way, I'm Lady Elethea Cousland and this is my mabari, Midnight. If you say, 'My Lady' I shall have to have you arrested." The wink that followed cued Mari in that the Lady was joking.

Mari just smiled at her and gave a quick nod of deference to both Elethea and Midnight. Then, she turned to Bryce and asked, "Now, Your Lordship, cue for what?"

"First, I think we would all like to see this … tech-nolo-gy … you showed the Wardens," Bryce said.

"Ah, yes," Mari said as she took off her cloak, scarf and backpack.

"What is that … a metal frame on your backpack?" Elethea asked. "Doesn't that make your backpack horribly heavy?"

"It is a metal called aluminum on my world. It's actually a chemical element, I think. I really don't know about such things. I only use them," Mari said as she took out her laptop. She handed the rest of the backpack to Elethea. "See for yourself."

Elethea reached for it and was very surprised. "Maker's Breath! It hardly weighs anything more than its contents. May I?" she asked as she motioned to pass it around.

"Go ahead," Mari said as she opened her laptop, took a deep breath and tried to turn it on. It didn't turn on at all, much to her disappointment. "I was hoping to show you how this worked, but the battery — power source — must have gotten discharged going through the magical doorway to get to Thedas." She shrugged. "Maybe something inherent in a world with magic prevents technology to work? I have no idea, really. This case is a metal called titanium. It's lightweight, as well."

Alistair handed her backpack back to her and said, "I'm sorry that our world doesn't seem to allow your … battery … to work. But, you've convinced me that you come from a different world, all right." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Actually, your openness did more to convince me that these weren't just props, Marisia," Loghain said. "I always respond better to the truth. I think you may offer a fresh perspective for us."

"I'll remember that, Your Lordship," Mari said with a smile. "I'm a refugee here, after all. I will need roots soon. And, I respond to the truth, as well."

Bryce said, "Duncan mentioned that you'll be traveling with the Wardens for a while to learn about Ferelden, Mari. Know that you are welcome to live in Highever or just visit anytime you wish." He smiled at Alistair. "I've learned to trust Alistair's judgement about people. Duncan also said that you know nothing about our world and are anxious to learn, so, Elle, please escort Marisia to meet Aldous. Perhaps he can get her started during Satinalia while Duncan and the Wardens are here. Ask him to share any portable tomes with her that she may take with her."

"Right away, Father," Elethea said as she indicated a door to the left toward the back of the hall. "This way, Marisia."

After Mari secured the laptop in her backpack and picked it up, she nodded and started to follow Elethea. She turned back and said, "Thank you all so much for the warm welcome." A broad smile preceded her saying, "I like you all, too, so, please, call me Mari."

Once they stepped outside, Lady Cousland smiled at Mari. "Please call me Elle, Mari. I really prefer that to all that formality, as you may have guessed."

"Very well. I shall call you Elle," Mari replied.

"Is there anything we can help you with over and above time with Aldous?" Elle asked as they walked.

"Well, let's see … I don't know how to ride a horse … or fight close up," Mari said.

"I shall get with our stable master while you're learning with Aldous. Brinna is an excellent riding teacher. She'll know just the horse that is gentle and patient for a new rider, I'm sure. I fight with two long daggers. If that fighting style appeals to you, I'll be happy to work with you to learn a few things … and introduce you to the man who taught me." She leaned closer to Mari as they reached the library door. "Be prepared for sore muscles and complete humiliation, but you should be able to at least get started on how to defend yourself."

Mari felt her emotions start to intervene and found herself momentarily unable to speak without totally breaking down. Elle handed her a handkerchief and said, "I always have an extra. And, if you need to talk about anything at all, my mother or Nan or I are more than willing to listen. I'll introduce you to them later. What you're going through must just be horrible."

"Thank you so much," Mari said.

Elle gave her a brief hug. "Now, be prepared to learn much about Ferelden and Thedas." They walked into the room and Elle introduced Mari to an elderly gentleman who had been mumbling to himself as they walked up. Elle told him everything about Mari's short time in Thedas before she bid her farewell to get back to attending her father and the king.

∞∞∞!¡!¡∞∞∞

AN: Next time … impressions of Mari along with Alistair's name-day trials and festivities!