Age of the Dragon 5: Dragons, Riders, and Kings

The First Court - Gwaren

Adaia grimaced as she expertly dodged yet more grasping hands, hidden among the many servants as a volunteer to keep an eye on the many people who had travelled to lay their eyes on the fabled rebel prince. Her Commander had a look of surprised appreciation in his eye when she had suggested it. After all, elves were all but invisible in plain sight to even the most well-meaning nobleman or even the most open-minded farmer.

She paused as a middle-aged noblewoman swiped a glass from her tray and silently slipped back. Most of the whispers were about whether or not there would be a coronation, some whispering about how young the Prince looked and concerns about whether he could really oust the Orlesians. She also heard gossip about whether the rumours of dragons and dragon riders were true.

Silence fell over the hall as she noticed Prince Maric had stood up. Nobles took their seats, and the servants silently slipped back out. Adaia hovered behind a pillar, watching and listening. Her Commander had privately let her know he had concerns about traitors and spies. So she watched them all closely. Of them all, the elven woman she had seen hovering near the Prince before now made her the most suspicious. It seemed she was not alone, as the Riders and her Commander viewed her suspiciously.

A soldier stepped beside the Prince, thumping a staff to the ground three times, silencing the last hushed whispers and fidgeters. The soldier then presented the scroll and read:

"On this, the ninety-ninth year of the Blessed Age, thou art welcomed to the court of Prince Maric Theirin, son to she who was Queen Moira Theirin and heir to the blood of Calenhad, First King of Ferelden. Bare not thy blade and respect shall be shown to thee in turn."

The soldier stamped the staff again once, and the room responded with a low and solemn chant: "Our blades are yours, my lord."

Adaia held her breath, waiting to see how the Prince would conduct himself.

"I know what you're thinking," he said, his voice carrying easily throughout the quiet hall. "Many of you have been asking me about it tonight. I know some of you were at Redcliffe when Arl Rendorn declared my mother the rightful Queen, but I didn't ask you here to witness a coronation."

A stir of surprise rippled through the people gathered, and Adaia could hear some of the servants whispering their confusion and shock.

Prince Maric held up a hand, raising his voice above the din, "When I am coronated, I intend for it to be while seated on Calenhad's throne and with the crown that currently sits on the usurper's head!"

Shouts and cheers erupted in the hall, and Adaia glanced back as a subdued applause rippled through the eavesdropping servants, smiles both vicious and hopeful on their faces.

"So why are you here?" the Prince began again before the shouting subsided.

He walked forward, moving slowly among the tables. A hush fell back over the room, people in the hallways straining to watch and listen through the small cracks in the doors.

"Part of it is to recognise that we have made the first step in reclaiming our homeland," he said. "If only Teyrn Voric were still alive. He was a friend of my mother's, and I would have been delighted to see him sitting back on this chair that belonged to him. But we know what happened to him, don't we?"

Adaia scowled, recalling the vile scene in Denerim Square. Seeing that family hanging and rotting for weeks was what inspired her to pack up and leave. Despite the family having been the true rulers of Gwaren, it still felt remote enough to be safer from the atrocities happening in the capital.

The Prince continued to talk, drumming up sympathy and anger in the displaced nobles over the fate of one of their own.

"Meghren's power is in the chevaliers, those men sent to him by the Emperor. Without them, Fereldan people would have risen up long ago," the Prince continued. "I hear your question: What can we do against the chevaliers? They defeated us once during the invasion, and even if we defeat them now, the Emperor will keep sending more!"