Exchange of Kings

The plate of cheese was lifted as the head came tumbling past the Dwarf and she put it back down on the table to continue with her lunch. This was turning out to be more amusing and satisfying than she could ever imagine. She winked back at Zevran and chuckled under her breath as she grabbed a citrus fruit. Why intervene now? This was too much fun and exciting that Ali was getting a backbone.

"For now, Alistair, that is enough. As I've said in the past - to exhausting lengths - experience will come with time. A man is not made a king in a year, or even ten years. It is a lifetime, a life in and of itself. You are the last of your line - until the time where you have a child of your own, no other can even hope to replace you, when your time comes. And when that time does come, and an heir is not present, then that will be chaos. And that same chaos will only erupt sooner - now, in fact - if you abdicate." It was clear that Alistair was reluctant to see the truth in the words he was speaking, but he would need to. Fereleden depended on it.

"Anora cannot take the throne now - she has already earned the mistrust of the people. And I can hardly take it - then all of this will simply turn into one large conspiracy theory. Men in the court already think I've placed you on the throne to exact my own power, but Alistair, that is not what I want. I believe, with all I have in me, that you are the rightful King. In time, you could easily be twice the King your brother was."

His eyes turned to Nygozy, now. It was clear to him that she was the driving force behind Alistair's personal rebellion, though whether she had an active part in that, or if it was simply her presence that made Alistair long for his days of travel, he couldn't say. Either way, it mattered little. Grey Warden Commander or no, Ferelden needed its King. Eamon looked back at Alistair. "Alistair, listen to me. What would come of this desire to flee back into the wilds? Only a swifter death, I can assure you. The Commander has her duty, and understands it. She has more than enough Wardens and recruits to begin rebuilding the Order. I cannot say you would be a valueless addition to that endeavor, but you would be a needless one. Any good you could do there would pale in comparison to the good you would do as this country's King."

And then, of all the interruptions possible, a head rolling onto the table had to take the mabari's bone. Eamon barely concealed a look of disgust as the traitor's head slowed to a stop under where a plate of cheese had just been, lifted expertly out of the way by the dwarf snacking on its contents. The Arl raises his eyes to the Antivan assassin - quite possible the last person qualified to speak on these matters - and he raised an eyebrow. "And Anora might have seen their coming with more clarity? Or myself? A King is not guaranteed to understand matters of war and subterfuge - in fact, Alistiar would be better equipped than most to foresee such things, considering the fighting he has see. The invasion is a troubling matter, but not a relevant one. Such a thing is a matter for the guards, and men of defense."

"Very cuth, Zevran. Very cuth." Alistair rolled his eyes and took a deep breath wondering what it was that the assassin wanted from him. Yes they were sort of friends in the general 'we put up with each other because of someone else' way but it was never a secret that Zevran would rather he were out of the way than with the rest of the wardens.

"And what I continue to say - to exhausting lengths - falls on deaf ears." He put his hands on the table, "If you want me to be king on this throne ..." Now what? There was nothing he could do to get his uncle to understand just how bad he was. How could he do it? The man refused to listen and he was running out of ideas. He'd explained everything and the man still would not listen. He'd almost had all of Fereldan at war for goodness sakes, "Then I will have Nygozy by my side as wife. A paragon queen."

It was said in panic and even though he wanted her with him he certainly didn't want the two of them to have to rule Fereldan. That was too much to ask her. Wasn't it?

Nygozy held a glass of wine and rolled about the contents watching the liquid move about and waiting out Arl Eamon's repetitiveness with relative calm and boredom now. The head was a funny, yet yes uncouth addition to the conversation but other than that it was the same ring around the rosier pocket full of posies garbage. If anything was going to actually be done it would have to be after these men stopped pissing around playing the normal idiot boxing match that they were so used to doing.

What was even more aggravating was that Eamon, as smart as the man was, had been completely ignoring that Alistair said right out he was making mistakes that could ruin the kingdom. If anything that should have changed the man's mind. What if Alistair accidentally did something to offend an ambassador and Macha was not there to cover for him.

Her lips touched her glass and she started to drink the wine when Alistair blurted out his response and she almost choked, blew wine out her nose and mouth with a shocked reaction then looked at Alistair in surprise, "What?" She yelped very intensely unlady like.

Kai had been there, hiding as always. He'd tried to pay attention, which normally would have been simple for him to do, he did so all the time. But he couldn't, instead his mind was on other things. Why he was opening up to the hero so suddenly, what the old memories were that kept trying to uncover themselves, what made him feel different. Things like that.

Suddenly Alistair's voice broke into the assassin's thoughts. "If you want me to be king on this throne...Then I will have Nygozy by my side as wife. A paragon queen."

Kai's eye widened, he had been thrown completely off guard. The words hit the dalish harder than a golem of stone. He lost his focus and fell down from his hiding place towards the ground, he only just managed to catch himself and land shakily on his feet before he connected with the ground.

It looked ever so graceful

With a sudden anger filling him Kai's body trembled, his hand was at rest on a daggers pommel. But of course even when dominated by rage, he was not so stupid as to draw it out. "I..." he started, looking up feircely. "Refuse to allow that!" The eyepatch Kai always wore had fallen off, it was at his feet. His eye that was colorless and scarred, stared at Alistair intently, though it saw nothing,

"I refuse to allow you to bind Nygozy" He used her name for the first time since they met. "To this throne. I am her protecter, and that is a job I do not intend to fail. I have to keep her safe, from monsters, demons, traitors, bandits, thieves and-" He paused looking at the hero briefly. "Those who have hurt her."

He turned back to Alistair. "You were once a source of happiness for her, now you only bring her pain and worry. She had not eaten, had not slept since the horses were taken, she was robbed of all emotional health when she came back to meet you, experienced great pains because of it. As one who is to ensure her saftey I will not have her bound to your side for all her life, while she goes through that every damned day."

Without bothering to retrieve the patch from the floor, the assassin walked behind the dwarf and let his hands rest, firmly and protectively on her shoulders.

Alistair gasped like a dead fish, staring astonished at the assassin that dared to lecture him with such manners in front of Eamon, Zevran, Macha, and worst of all, the woman he had just claimed to be his Queen no matter what.

"I refuse to allow you to bind Nygozy to this throne. I am her protecter, and that is a job I do not intend to fail. I have to keep her safe, from monsters, demons, traitors, bandits, thieves and those who have hurt her.

You were once a source of happiness for her, now you only bring her pain and worry. She had not eaten, had not slept since the horses were taken, she was robbed of all emotional health when she came back to meet you, experienced great pains because of it. As one who is to ensure her saftey I will not have her bound to your side for all her life, while she goes through that every damned day."

His heart ached knowing that everything the assassin was spating at him was true. His shame grew as fast as his anger, and he roared at Kai

''How dare you??? Who the hell do you think you are???'' He looked furiously at Zevran and pointed at him with one shaking finger, furious ''Was this your doing?? You prepared all of this and that's why you insisted on sending Kai with her???''

Looking again at Kai, Alistair snarled once more

''One thing is sure, and that's that either you nor I have no rights on her, so it's her choice. I must have done this long ago, but now I'm stronger than I was and I'll be King with her, or no King at all, but WITH HER, DO YOU HEAR ME, BRAT?''

This was more than just a slight mess, it was now pretty much an atrocity. First everything is moving along in the normal frame of things, annoying as per usual when it came to dealing with being in the middle of those two men, but Nygozy could follow that. Even Zevran's interference was acceptable if not understandable.

But ... this? What was Alistair thinking?

What came as a huge surprise was the sound of Kai landing on the ground which made Nygozy shift in her seat to see the man gracefully in this stance glaring at Alistair. Then he reacted and she was stunned into silence as Kai berated the King, telling the man the truth as he saw it and Nygozy could not deny the words which came from him.

She looked to Macha, her eyes wild as she had no idea what to do then Kai's hands landed on her shoulders and Alistair suddenly reacted with fury using names to fuel his reasoning.

Still stunned she was unable to do much. Fighting Darkspawn a cynch. Killing arch demons, done and survived. Battling gooey things that left ooze all over you, completed and grossed out but still safely unconfused.

Now? This was mental, a psychological battle which struck her down like no other weapon could.

Zevran made a strange condescending sound, "You do a man a favour and see what it gets you. The youth's reactions are his own as are yours. It is not my fault that you tend to put your foot in your mouth and upset others, now is it?"

What had he to really worry about? Alistair was not his king and no matter what Nygozy would keep him from being killed by the other man or thrown into some dungeon.

All he did now was watch to see what would happen once Nygozy snapped out of this little phase.

Macha couldn't help the flinch that wracked her as Alistair's voice rose to heights she'd never seen before, and she felt a sympathy pang when she saw the color drain away from Nygozy's face. This - this was not the place for an argument like this, but maybe it couldn't be helped. Emotions had been high, and it looked like they'd finally reached the breaking point. Still, she thought as she risked a glance towards Eamon, it would have been better if Alistair hadn't lost in in front of the man he was trying to convince he was mature enough to make this decision.

Slowly, Macha moved away from the wall she'd been leaning against, and moved closer to Nygozy. She put one heavy, comforting hand on the dwarf's shoulder, seeing how the elven assassin and King were currently too ensconced in their argument to pay her any mind. She looked down and shared a grave, meaningful look with her old friend, and then turned her disapproving stare to the men's fighting. She wanted to shout at them, but that would only make things worse, and things did not need to get worse.

Eamon frowned, but remained silent. This was most certainly not the time or place for this sort of argument. It was beyond propriety that a bodyguard should speak up in such a matter, but Alistair should have known better, regardless. If the boy was trying to convince him that he was ready to make the sort of decision that was as grave as abdicating his throne, he was doing a poor job of it - he was hardly ready to sort out when or when not to argue with another man over a girl like a mere child.

"Alistair," he said sharply, every ounce of his disapproval making its way into his voice. "This is not the time, nor is it the place for such an argument. And Commander," he said turning his eyes, a little less hard now, to Nygozy. "You might do well to ask your bodyguard if he would stand down." Whatever quarrel Alistair had over Nygozy's affection, it could - and would - wait.

Macha's calming hand upon her shoulder and the comforting look gave Nygozy a bit of sanity back then the Arl's words brought her back to the here and now. She put a hand on Macha's and squeezed gratefully then grabbed Kai's hand to keep him from doing anything in the heat of the moment.

She let go, took a deep breath and then looked towards Alistair then Kai, "Alistair, your seat." She pointed for him to sit, "Kai stay here. I know what you are capable of and it doesn't matter where I am in this room for you to be able to do your job sufficiently. Zevran," She pointed to the other assassin, "Joking is done. Macha," She squeezed the other woman's hand again, "Thank you."

Then she moved around the table to stand between the Arl and Alistair, "Thank you for pulling me out of that shock, Eamon. Now, let us talk more realistically than these young men can handle at the moment."

Nygozy pointed at some folders and spoke as a commander, not an emotionally wrought woman, "Do not think I have been going at this situation with an emotional oulook, even though I do admit that I have been subject to a great amount of it within the last while. Since Alistair brought up this concept to come back to the warden's fold I have been studying up to see if his words were correct in this manner."

She put a hand on a chair and shook her head, "If you go through that information you will see that Alistair has not been a help but would have been a strong hindrance to the growth of the city but was also, accidentally almost a cause of two wars all of which were only averted by Macha's careful calculations."

The woman looked back at each person then turned to Eamon again, "If Alistair had proven himself to be capable within these manners I would not have stepped in to help his plea. I of all people understand what it means to put your life for the people. However, Alistair has already proven to not have the required abilities. His skills are much more geared towards being a warden than anything else. That is not a slight that he has been unable to learn how to be a king yet. He was never trained for it, was pushed away from it and told to not even think of it. To drop a baby into water and expect it to swim right away is not the way to do it."

She took a piece of cheese and ate it before going on, "Fereldan needs a king who is able to administrate NOW. Not later. You say things like he can learn in time. We have no time. The Qunari are sending out their people to try to teach us how to be like them in advance of when they attack which can be within the next five to ten years. The Darkspawn have had new innovations set upon them to be able to speak and think freely and this issue must be addressed. There is also a cult which has not only been involved in various attacks upon travelers and other forms of criminal activities but have also been able to impose themselves within the palace and pretend to be real guards and soldiers which is currently being looked into and removal of these people is in full force. This cannot be addressed by a wet behind the ears king who doesn't even want the job."

Finally she sat down, "I understand the reservations upon yourself taking the throne as well as Anora." She frowned at that thought, "But has anyone given consideration to Bann Teagan? He is well thought of, a great administrator as he runs his own lands with competence and is within the royal family as he was Rowan's brother and is your younger brother. He has never had designs upon the throne and all do love him as he also fought courageously in the blight."

She poured glasses of wine and put one in front of each person, except the assassins as they could not drink on duty, "Then again I should have shut up. I get caught up in more mental exercises between these men if you agree to allow Ali to abdicate." She rolled her eyes, joking with the Arl as she handed him his glass.

Leave it to the Commander, then, to bring things back to business (and forcefully, too). Eamon couldn't help the surge of satisfaction he felt as the dwarf ordered each of them about in turn - she had always been a powerful presence, but the months since the Blight's end had been good for her, it seemed.

But then, what she suggested was an old idea. Although . . . and old idea, yes, but Eamon was no fool, and he had been dealing with Alistair for most of his life. If the boy no longer wanted to be King - saying it that way certainly made it sound frivolous, but such as it was - then he would not change his mind on the matter. And King though he may be, and as grave as a responsibility as it was, one that was not to be thrown aside lightly, he might have had a point. Or, the way Nygozy had said it made it sound like he had a point.

"As usual, you see things in ways others do not, Commander." He sighed, and crossed his arms, glad to be back to business, however troubling, after the fiasco from moments before. "I still cannot accept the idea that Alistair should simply abdicate but . . . if I might offer a counter proposal?" He intoned, raising an eyebrow to look pointedly at Nygozy - it was the Commander's attention he wanted right now, for all it seemed that Alitair relied on her.

The Arl was certainly listening and working everything out with a close eye to detail. It was one thing she liked about the man. He could always see where there were areas in which something could improve or would be best done another way or even find little tears in an idea. It made trying to get him to come to the same conclusion that you had difficult and sometimes resulted in the other person changing their mind but that is what created such a good ruler.

"It is a talent." Nygozy smirked at the comment of her seeing things the way others do not. She drank some wine waiting to see what he would come up with next. He would as the Arl realized she was over being emotional and would react accordingly, as a ruler should considering that she was back to acting as a commander should.

Now there it was. A counter-proposal? That was ominous sounding and made the Dwarf smirk even more so, "Well, Eamon ... let us mash this out. What is this counter-proposal you have conjured?" He had her full attention as this had to be interesting if nothing else.

Eamon smiled. Thank the Maker that at least someone was thinking reasonably. It seemed a long time to him that anyone had sat down and listened with sense in their head.

"As you may well know by now, letting Alistair abdicate his throne is something I cannot agree to in good conscious. His father and brother were King, and I truly believe that he is meant for it." He paused, allowed his words to sink in, and continued. "But, it is as clear to me as it is to anyone that he is not ready. But, not ready, I say, not unable. Believe it or not, Alistair, you are not the first King who was unready when he took the throne. So, this is what I propose. Do not abdicate - stay your hand from that. But leave Teagan as regent. My brother is, as you say, a good man, and few people will think that he has taken regency as a ploy for power. Go, and travel with your Wardens. It should not be difficult to keep your identity secret. Travel and fight, do whatever it is you want to do, and when you feel you are ready, return, and become the King I know you can be." He stopped there, certain to expect some protest or other from Alistair.

It was an unconventional proposal, to be sure, but not strictly unheard of. Sometimes, a young king needed to experience more of life for himself before he was ready to shape the life of a kingdom. He and Teagan could run things without problem. They had connections to the royal family, and were well equipped for the job, and Teagan was an amicable man who people naturally respected. If people cropped up here or there to protest, well, those people would always be around, no matter who was king.

Alistair thought for a while about that new proposal. It wasn't that bad either, but then, he was going to be free just for some time after having to return to the same cage he was trying to escape from. And then, there was another thing Eamon was trying to hide under the rugs.

''I already said I'm just going to be King if Nygozy is my Paragon Queen. I haven't changed my mind yet, Eamon, and you're trying to tiptoe around that fact. So let's pretend I accept what you're offering, I go and then return when I'm reaaaaady, if that's going to happen in this life. What's going to happen then? Because I'll just be King with her, and I won't accepto other thing''

He smirked ''Also, you're forgetting that I just have 20 years to live, 27 if we want to be exact. Don't forget I am a Grey Warden even if you pretend me to be a monkey wearing a crown''

Before Kai could start in on the king again, Nygozy put up a hand and looked him in the eye to tell him to back down and wait it out. Just because Alistair requested something it did not mean he was going to get it. Besides, she wanted to know what the response to that would be.

Since she was a paragon and the hero, would Arl Eamon now consider her a strong enough figure to be queen if it came to that? Considering that she had more standing with the people than any of the nobility, even men and Alistair, she wondered whether the Arl would relent and say that she were now a good choice of queen.

Nygozy was not sure if she were going to allow Alistair into her personal life very much, even though she did still feel very strongly towards him. How couldn't she? They had fallen in love and stood by each other through so much bad. Except at the end when he caved to what others believed was right. That was not going to go away so easily.

So she turned her head to look straight ahead while keeping an eye on the Arl as she drank some of her wine in a delicate manner, waiting to see, waiting to know, and waiting for the words which may at least partially sew the tear within back together.

((This would be a couple days before Kai's gift so she wouldn't know of that yet.))

Difficult. Of course, he didn't expect much of anything else from Alistair. But this was a difficult he could deal with. It wasn't overly hard. His hand absently swirled the wine that Nygozy had handed him moments before, and his eyes flicked between the Commander and King.

"Your issues with the Commander are your own, Alistair. Matters of Queen are no longer mine to make, now that you are King." He said the last bit pointedly, leveling a stern look at Alistair before continuing. "I will not deny that her circumstances are different now, now that the Blight is over. Forgive me for speaking of you, Commander - I mean nothing personal by it." He had never disapproved of Nygozy personally - had she been a human woman, even of lesser birth, she would have made a much beloved ruler and wife. But the country had needed stability, and with relations between Ferelden and Orzammar as bad as they had been, the people would have reacted poorly. But now, as he had admitted, things had changed - at this point, Alistair could have married a bitch dog, and it wouldn't have made much of a difference to the people who were simply too relieved at the Blight's end to care much about their King's marital life.

"As for the Warden-blood affecting you," he paused, and he looked almost sad, because no matter how difficult Alistair could be, he'd still raised him, and to think of that burden on him was no easy matter of heart, "many Kings have done as much in five years as others have done in fifty. No man knows when he is going to die, Alistair - not even a King. You could hardly spend all of 27 years traveling, even if you weren't a King - I know that much at least. There is time to make a proper King of you yet."

Alistair's eyes went wide while realizing what Eamon just had said.

Josie could be his queen. Maybe everything would work then.

Without even thinking what he was doing, or thinking about throne heirs or such, he turned to Nygozy with eyes full of hope

''Have you heard that? Have you heard? That would work, Josie! What do you think??''

Nygozy waved her hand at the comment about there being no offense meant for speaking of her, "No offense taken." She returned while sipping her wine and continuing to listen. The Arl was correct and she admitted it. Her own personal wishes had been an issue in the past when it came to Alistair becoming king but it was mostly because she had felt like she had been tossed away like a rag that was only good enough to clean up the blight mess.

Alistair had made mistakes which went on to her making mistakes and everything spun out of control after they ended the blight because of hurt feelings.

But it was also true that Alistair was no good for the throne at this time. In the future it could be possible, if he learned. So she accepted the Arl's words and gave it thought on how to best deal with all of the pieces which would need to be mended so that the land, the people and they could all heal and be able to stand against the future.

Then Alistair spoke and she looked up, suddenly facing an excited Alistair who had hope in his eyes. She softened for the moment, seeing him so full of life and expectations, dreams he'd not felt could become a realization since before the Landsmeet. Then she clamped down on her feelings, drank back the rest of her wine and put the glass upon the table.

"Yes. I ... " Lock it down woman lock it down or you will break and Kai will assassinate Ali and be hung for treason. Just what I want for my birthday. Her eyes still said that this was a difficult subject for her but she tried to get her expressions under control as she looked at Alistair so that when she looked to anyone else it would be fine, "I heard, Alistair and it is good for you to have the ability to choose whomever you wish as your queen. As for the rest, I believe you have the good of it, Eamon."

Nygozy finally got herself in control and turned to the Arl, avoiding looking at Kai as she did not wish to worry the elven assassin, "Once Teagan is ready then Alistair will come with the wardens to our new establishment in what had once been Lothering. It is already under construction to rebuild the town base, which we will need to go over as you have ..." Her mind went blank for a moment and she rubbed her forehead, "You have resources which may be of assistance. We will have a training program for Alistair to learn more of being a king and give him time to adjust by learning and working as a warden. As for the matter of queen ... we can discuss that privately, Alistair. As the Arl has given his consent it is between the two of us and something I do not wish to discuss and make decisions with an audience."

Macha watched the exchange, body tense (though she did feel a bit better now that they were no longer shouting, and seemed to be discussing things like adults rather than children). She wanted the outcome to be happy for everyone, but she knew that, no matter what it meant for Alistair, she found herself agreeing with Eamon. Maybe it was because she was noble-born, and knew what it was to have responsibility you didn't want but had to take, regardless. Still, she was happy that things seemed to be going more smoothly now, and she thought, maybe, that an outcome that was good for everyone would be reached after all.

A part of her began to feel excited. If Alistair was allowed to go off again . . . then maybe she'd be able to go with them, too. She'd only stuck around the city as long as she had because Alistair had needed her, but Teagan was capable on his own. She hadn't been in the field for too long. She wanted action - she wanted her life back. Slowly, she began to smile, and didn't bother trying to stifle it. This might work out as well for her as it did for the others.

Eamon nodded as he listened to Nygozy speak, almost glad for himself to be moving away from Alistair's difficulties. He had heard, once, that dealing with one's children was the most daunting task in the world. He'd thought he'd understood what that meant with Connor, but Alistair, frankly, re-defined "dealing with." Still, Eamon was proud that Alistair had come as far as he had.

"Hmm. Yes. The matter of the new establishment is one of great urgency. The Wardens will need to focus on fighting rather than building, so it must be addressed quickly. Was there something I could do, specifically, that you had in mind, Commander?" He watched her with steady eyes, only a tiny portion of his curiosity finding its way through his mask of business-like professionalism. He must have been getting old, for even that little bit to make it through.

Alistair wasn't sure what was going on but he was scared. Scared because Nygozy hadn't answered what he had expected, scared because all of that 'private talk', and scared because Eamon seemed to agree somehow with her. What was happening?

He turned to face Eamon and nodded, eyes hard now, trying to hide his own hurt pride and pain. ''I won't promise any of that. I promise I'll try to learn, but I won't promise I'll come back, because I don't want to be here and you know it. What the hell, you could have Macha as Queen for all I care, she is Cousland and people respects her, why not her?''

He pointed at Macha, feeling some kind of rage boiling in him. He had been raised as an orphan, a bastard child that everyone could beat or despise. He had been banished from the only home he knew by the Arlessa, and the Arl hadn't done anything to avoid it. He had been forced to join the Chantry and train to become an assassin, because thst's what the Templars where in the end. He was saved by Duncan by becoming a Grey Warden.

Alistair lifted his chin angrily. ''I don't owe you or this country anything, Eamon. I never knew my father, who never bothered about me, I never knew properly my brother, who never bothered about me either. You were the only one that bothered about me and when your stupid wife made me go away to the Chantry you obeyed her like a maid. I've been abandoned by you all, meaning the nobility and the country, and now you're asking me to encage myself here and save your way of living. Why the hell should I care??''

Leave it to a Templar or a warrior to not want to do things in a subtle manner but instead attack the matter full on like an angry bull wanting to just run over whatever is ailing them. Then again, Alistair had all this anger building up in him for years and he truly needed to get it out or sooner or later he would burst. The problem was that the direct manner did not always work when it came to political scenes and the king's uncle was a political entity who often took the direct approach as being a childish one whereas it was mostly only their inability to deal with situations in a more diplomatic way, especially when they were angry or needed to let things out.

She rubbed her brow while debating whether to get into the debate or leave it be. She could make it easy by being a mediator but the truth was that is was not really helping anyway. Alistair would still be upset, still need to vent and still need to deal with his built up frustrations.

"I could intervene." She pointed out as she gave a look to each man, "But this has been building for a long time with Alistair. I understand the sentiment on both sides and I just tried to do this the diplomatic way; however, you two need to hash this out. Or maybe Ali just needs to do a bit of yelling. I'm not sure."

Finally the Warden Commander just sipped some wine, giving up for now even though she was still listening in case she was needed.

He could see Macha tense in her chair as her name was mentioned, but right now, Eamon could afford to give the Cousland girl no portion of his attention. Right now, Alistair was important - not the King. Alistair.

His eyes met with Alistair's, and they did not waver in the slightest. "Alistair," he began, his voice low and calm, distinctly different from Alistair's passionate shouts. "Your father could not acknowledge you, or his reign would have been knocked on its feet. Your brother was never accused of being the most aware of men, either. I have failed you as they failed you, and there is no way of apologizing for that. You must understand, Alistair, that yours was a strange situation, and that cannot be changed." He paused, watching the boy - the man - in front of him with tired eyes. "But Alistair, no matter what wrongs have been served to you, you must persevere. A country is rarely kind to its King, and it has been less kind to you that most, but any job worth doing requires sacrifice. Being a Warden requires that you give your life for the men and women and children you've been sworn to protect - being a King requires that same sacrifice, if not more so. It's not fair, and it never will be fair. It is hard, and it is cruel, and in death, even the greatest of Kings can only find solace in the fact that they tried. I am not going to stand here and tell you that it's a glorious position waiting for you - I'm not going to tell you that you'd be happier in this castle than you would be out there, fighting darkspawn. But I am going to tell you that there are thousands of people in this country, and you are the only person to whom they will look in a time of crisis. You are the man they trust to do this job, not me or Teagan or Macha, and they deserve better, Alistair. I would never ask you to do it for you, but for them: for the people who have been ravaged and destroyed by darkspawn and hunger and violence. In the face of their need, of their true suffering, what right do you have to be selfish?"

He stopped then, and heaved a great sigh through his nose, steeling himself before looking back up at Alistair. "Go. Take your leave with Nygozy. Become a Warden again. But when you travel, and you see the faces of the children who's fathers have been killed by the monsters that ravage these lands, I want you to remember that you do them better here than you ever could out there. One man can do little to change the tides of war on a battlefield, but he can do so much from a throne. I don't tell you this to make you feel guilty - I'm not trying to stop you from leaving. In fact, I believe this might very well be good for you. But it can't last forever, Alistair, and you will return here in the end. Not for me, and certainly not for you, but for Ferelden."

''And yet you insist'', Alistair growled, still angry.

He looked around, trying to think about something to say, but he was way too furious in that moment. Furious and scared, and they were strange emotions for him to be felt at the same time. Shaking his head, he stepped back.

''No, Eamon, I don't owe you or this country anything. You are a great diplomatic, and I think you truly believe your own words, but the truth is that I never wanted this, that I don't deserve it, and that I don't want it. You insist in having me here like a monkey even if I've never been educated like I should have to rule, and that was your own doing, Arl, that I remind you''

Alistair grabbed a piece of cheese from a plate and turned his back on them. ''I'll see you later, or tomorrow, or whatever''

The King left the room without any other word, and closed the door behind him