Rumors Abound

[Queen Anora Theirin]

Anora paced back and forth inside the royal apartments. Her husband Alistair was nowhere to be found. Rumors were spreading throughout the castle, and undoubtedly throughout all the kingdom as well, that Alistair was having an affair with the Orlesian Empress Celene. Normally she did not heed rumors like this but this one... this one could be true. While it was true that she held no great love for the man she had married, she still did not approve of him having an affair, especially with the Empress of Orlais. She was not as against Orlais as her father had been, but she wasn't about to let them retake Ferelden without a fight, and certainly not through any affair her fool of a husband got into. Celene was very clever indeed if she meant to use an affair with Alistair to influence how Ferelden was governed.

Anora huffed in annoyance. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that it was true! Even Calian hadn't been so foolish! If her father were here... She sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands. Her father. No, he would never have accepted such a thing. He would have been outraged at the rumors, and if they were true he may have even challenged Alistair to a duel. She smiled sadly at the thought. Her father wasn't here now though. Her sadness quickly changed to anger as she thought of the ones responsible for her father's death. Those bastards! Alistair hadn't even wanted to be king, oh but he'd take the crown if it meant her father would die! That other Grey Warden, Teyrn Cousland's brother, he had delivered the killing blow! How dare they! How dare they! She was seething inside by the time she finished this train of thought, clutching the folds of her dress in tight fists. She could not deny that the 'Hero of Ferelden' had done a great service for his country, but it could not make her forget the killing of her father. Nothing could make her forget watching his murder.

She sighed softly and tried to calm herself. She could not afford to dwell on such thoughts. She had a country to govern and new issues were arising all the time. It was time to go find her husband and drag him back to the royal palace by his ear if she had to. They had work to do. She shook her head and sighed once more. Why had she agreed to marry him again? Ah yes, to stay on the throne. It was the only reason she would marry him.

[Alistair Theirin]

Within the given estate to Empress Celene, Alistair now found himself in pleasant company. He had been there all night and now it was morning, the sun slowly rising above Denerim in the horizon. Time had flown by faster than Alistiar had expected and he now feared that his wife would soon be out looking for him, as had happened many times before. He liked being around Celene and her fascinating charm always lured him to stay a little longer then he had intended. There was a rumor however, that Alistair was having an affair with the women, but he never answered those who asked. In fact he and the Empress had not had an affair the night that had kept them both awake, although they had rather been awake talking, talking about each other`s interests and the future of Ferelden and Orlais.

Close to the window, Alistair stood looking out at the sun that was about to rise and he felt a happiness he never had felt before. Being with Celene was different than being with Anora, she understood him and it was good to have someone to talk too, especially after what had happened in the past with the Blight, the death of Duncan and the disappearance of his best friend Aedan Cousland. He had never wanted to rule, but had been forced into it. The very thought about it made him sad, but where else should he have been, if not a King. Should he have been with the Wardens all his life and then gone to die in the Deep Roads? Well into the Deep Roads one would sooner or later need to go, as like any Warden would need to...if one was not to be turned into a Darkspawn, those hideous creatures. A shill came down Alistair`s spine as he thought it, he shrugged and with a smile he turned toward Celene who still was awake, and after heavy consideration he agreed. "I will help you win back your throne and your people, even the nobles of Ferelden and my wife may not agree.” Alistair spoke lightly and walked over to Celene, before he bowed and kissed her hand. "Sadly I now must leave you, I should return to my wife, or she will cut my head off. Haha,” Alistair laughed sarcastically and with a smile he left, hoping Anora would not really kill him.

[Queen Anora Theirin]

Where was he? She had been searching for what seemed like hours now, and made no progress in finding her infuriating husband. Her patience was wearing thin. There were only two places she could think of right away that he was likely to be at. There was the Pearl, which she was not going to enter if she could avoid it, and the estate he had given to the Orlesian Empress for when she visited Ferelden. She narrowed her eyes and headed toward the estate. Sure enough, just as the estate came into view she could see a familiar head of brown hair. There you are my dear husband. She thought with a wry smile. He had been away from the royal palace all night, and all this time he had been with the Empress of Orlais. Was he a complete moron? Did he not realize what this looked like, or did he simply not care? Were the rumors true after all?

...What if they were? How should she react? She could not simply accept it, nor would she, but it was true that she and Alistair had never had a close relationship. If he was entranced enough by Celene, would he try to kick her off the throne in favor of naming the Orlesian Empress the Queen of Ferelden? The citizens of Ferelden would never accept it, she thought with grim satisfaction. Even though many had considered her father a bit mad for being so concerned about Orlais during the Blight, they wouldn't just had their country over either, and if Alistair wished to kick her off the throne, she certainly would not go quietly.

She approached him with cold eyes, "Husband, I am glad to see you well. I feared the worst when we could not find you, and no one knew where you'd gone," she told him, turning her head slightly to indicate the guards who stood behind her at the 'we could not find you' part. The part about being afraid for him was not exactly true, but there were people around and she certainly could not start a rant where everyone could hear her. No matter how much she wanted to. That would be foolish, and undignified. "How fortunate that you are so close with the Empress of Orlais, perhaps she will prove less likely to attack us than her predecessors because of your...friendship." She continued in the same tone, "In any case, we ought to head back to the palace, there is much to be done. Wouldn't you agree husband?" She stated more than asked, raising her right eyebrow.

[Alistair Theirin]

As Alistair were about to leave the estate, he was escorted out by an Orlesian servant elf that had followed Empress Celene to Ferelden. She opened the door to him and Alistair was allowed to leave, he smiled and nodded in return, but just when he was about to say something to the elf the door slammed shut. How rude Alistair thought, slamming the door just like that in front of the king of Ferelden. Perhaps she did not like nobles, well who wouldn`t, especially after what all the servant elves in Orlais had to endure, or elsewhere for that matter. Even in Ferelden there had been much quarrel between the elves and the humans, far more than Alistair had thought it could be. Since Alistair had appointed a part of the Korcari Wilds to the Elves and made Shianni their ambassador, the people had grown so angry that they had gone to murder the favored she-elf Shianni, and not only that, many nobles in the south had begun conflicts with those elves whom had saved them from the blight. It had all become quite a mess, though still after many years of trouble, Alistair was determined to solve the situation, some way or another.

With the door locked and Alistair now in the street, he turned to look around and see if there were many people staring at him, hoping not many had noticed his long stay over the night, gladly there was none at the moment. In the distance the sun rose ever higher and from it came a bright light that made his sight weary, Alistair raised his hand to block the sunlight, but as he did so a tall figure came in the way. She was tall and a beautiful woman, who walked proud and gracefully across the street, two guards following her. Alistair swallowed heavily and sighed, it was as he previously had feared, Anora, his wife, had again gone to look for him. How many times did he need to explain himself to her? Too many times had it been. As she approached Alistair quickly he tried to put a smile on his face, even he knew what now came would embarrass him in front of the guards and probably the people who soon would start flocking.

Wow, this would be difficult to explain Alistair thought to himself as Anora approached. Staying up all night with Empress of Orlais would surely bring heavy suspicion to his whereabouts, but no matter what, Alistair would tell the truth, because he was an honest man after all, and he really didn’t enjoy lying, nor was he good at it, people figured him out far too easily. Looking at Anora as she came closer, Alistair could see her grim expression and her cold looking eyes, she was not happy, no not at all. “Eh…Hello to you too, wife, my Queen.” Alistair said with a faint smile after she spoke to him, slowly beginning to become uneasy and he knew she did not like what he just had done. “I and the Empress have just been discussing important matters Anora, nothing to get upset about, it`s not like I was dressed in fancy Orlesian dresses and run around the room, yelling: Maker, Maker, come and save me!” He joked and waved his hands up in the air strangely. “Anyway, yes, your right, we should return to the palace and attend to other matters.” Alistair said more serious as he cleared his throat, looking with a forgiving look, hoping she would forgive him.

[Queen Anora Theirin]

"I see. Did you have a nice talk? Perhaps next time you desire to chat with the Empress Your Majesty would be kind enough to conclude his visits before midnight?" She asked with a cold smile still fixed on her face, "It would be most appreciated... And I would suggest you avoid dresses all together husband, they do nothing for your figure." She could see a crowd of anxious citizens forming out of the corner of her eyes, so she figured it was time to head back to the palace. She turned, said a few words to the people who had gathered around them, and headed back to her home for many years.

Upon reaching the nobles' complaints room in the royal palace, because that may as well be what really what it was for, she was greeted with an uproar of citizens screaming and yelling at each other. She cleared her throat and before addressing them, "My people, please! There is no need for this uproar. His Majesty and I are happy to hear of any issues that have arisen in our kingdom, and we shall deal with them swiftly and fairly," she said in an attempt to calm them down. She made her way up to where she normally stood near the King's throne. The first noble brought up Empress Celene's extended stay in Ferelden. What could she say about that? She was aggravated with it too! Alistair was just so insistent on being 'hospitable' though. Well, hopefully with the nobles on her side in this matter, Alistair would given in and tell his friend to leave.

The next matter was not brought up by a noble, but by one of the former elves of the Denerim Alienage. Apparently the elves were not happy with the land that Alistair had granted them in the Korcari Wilds. She personally could not blame them for that either. The amount land he had chosen to give the elves was large, but she didn't think Alistair had pick very good land to give them. What could they do though? Some of the elves could move back into the Alienage if they wished, and the Crown could pay to fix the place up a bit, but other than that... Hmm. She turned to Alistair after a few moments of thought, "Well husband, what are your opinions on these matters?" she asked.

[Alistair Theirin]

(I think we`ll move our thread now to this place, it`ll be easier I think, hope you agree.
dragon-age.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=denerim&action=display&thread=129)