WARNING: contains spoilers for DA2

-oOo-

"As we saw in yesterday's lesson, the Landsmeet of 9:33 Dragon, and the events that surrounded it, were pivotal in a number of ways. In the years following the Fereldan Reformation there was a great deal of upheaval, with some noble families holding to the Old Faith, secreting an Andrastian sister on their estate and hosting furtive prayer meetings for those who held to the creed of the White Divine. King Alistair held to a policy of leniency as long as possible, turning a blind eye to what was occurring, but eventually he was forced to…"

A bee buzzed outside the window, providing a welcome distraction from the dreary march of history. Gertie loved bees, loved their round, furry, stripy little bodies, loved the way they oh-so-gently plundered flowers whilst doing no harm. She scratched at the pane, wishing she could feel if the bee was as fluffy as it looked.

"By the time his daughter Philippa took the throne, tensions were high, hostility against the stubborn Andrastians fed by the prospect of war with Orlais. The appointment of the Queen's twin sister Wynnie as Grand Cleric brought about a stronger bond between Chantry and State in Ferelden, and between them they…"

A beam of sunlight fell across the floor of the Palace schoolroom, motes of dust dancing in the slanting light. Gertie slumped in her seat, grumpy in the stuffy air. She wanted the wind on her face; she wanted to hear it shushing through the trees in the gardens. Across from her, she could see her two brothers furtively playing some game on a piece of paper under their desks, scratching splotchy symbols with their fountain pens.

One of the servant's children, alert and attentive compared to their royal counterparts, raised a hand and Brother Michael stopped pontificating long enough to acknowledge the question, with the pleased beam of a true scholar. Gertie liked their tutor, he knew about important things, like the proper way to build a kite and how to grow cress in a hanky. It was just a pity he talked so much.

"Ser, what about Queen Madeleina." The boy speaking was quite new, and she couldn't remember his name. He was older than Gertie, with a shock of blond hair; the son of the new gardener and therefore worth cultivating. Gardeners were always interesting. "Is it true that she was a mage?"

Brother Michael perched on the edge of his desk down the front, obviously pleased by the question. "Scholars have been arguing about that for three hundred years and still haven't come to any kind of conclusion. Eye witness documents of her achievements abound, but many are claimed to be biased as they were written by confirmed royalists of the time. Propaganda set about by the Andrastian Chantry following the Reformation may also be dismissed, as it seems intended merely to discredit the Chantry of Ferelden. None of her children, nor any of the Theirin line since, have shown magical ability, which supports the view that she was not, in fact, a mage. What is well documented is the extent of her achievements."

He slipped off the desk, and moved to unroll two maps, pinning them to the wall. One showed the Ferelden Empire as it was today, with territories and trade routes across three continents. The other, bearing the symbol of the Dragon Age in the corner, showed only the continent of Thedas, trade centres sparse and wildernesses unpopulated, with Orlais dominating a great deal of the map.

"The forests she created formed the basis of our Empire, causing a boom in shipbuilding and shipping which extended well beyond her lifetime. King Alistair's clever and timely contract with Orzammar may have been intended merely to provide Ferelden with some independence from the White Divine, but the distribution of lyrium - in a merchant fleet built with Queen Madeleina's timber - meant that a great many other products could also be exported, bringing great wealth to the nation."

Brother Michael's eyes fell upon the two princes, now struggling for control of the paper they held between them. "Prince Maryn, perhaps you can tell us of the other main importance of the boom in shipbuilding at that time?"

Gertie grinned to see her brother's discomfiture, as his brow furrowed beneath tumbled red-gold hair.

"Er…" Beneath the desk the scuffle continued in a somewhat subdued fashion, until their elder brother, Cadryc gained triumphant control of his prize and hissed something in Maryn's ear. Maryn's face cleared. "Travel?" Cadryc snorted, having won on both counts, as Brother Michael frowned.

"You would do better to listen to me than to your brother, Your Highness. No, not travel. The development of strong trade routes and a fine fleet was the basis of our eventual success in the Second Orlesian War, a war as much about religious differences as about politics. It was at sea where we proved our dominance," their tutor nodded to all three royal children, "during the reign of your great-grandfather Alistair II, Queen Philippa's son. It was at sea that we broke Orlais for the last time."

Gertie yawned with her mouth closed, a useful trick if you didn't want to be singled out in the schoolroom. Mother said that they should take an interest in history, especially when it was about family, but it was all so boring.

"To return to the Dragon Age, as I would like to finish up that period of history today, it is worth taking a look at those advisors who surrounded Good King Alistair. Yesterday I laid out for you the background of each of them, their influence over the wise King both during the Blight, afterwards, and throughout his golden reign of expansion and prosperity. We looked at some of the key texts of the era and established that, although it is not possible to know to what extent these shadowy figures influenced King Alistair, it is widely believed that he himself was the driving force behind all his pivotal actions."

The boys both perked up at mention of the Blight. Those were the only interesting bits of history, with darkspawn and dragons. Cadryc and Maryn played at Blights a lot.

"You have studied the works of Leliana in music lessons, with Sister Juna, have you not? She was one of the most famous of the early musicians, and one of the last of the true bardic tradition."

One of the servant's children, Faldric, the Chamberlain's son nodded eagerly. He played the flute beautifully, and loved music. Everyone else slumped in their seats, uninterested.

"Very little of the life of Leliana is known, although her music provides clues. The period before she met the Hero of the Fifth Blight is shrouded in mystery, as is also her later life. It is known for certain that she remained at Court, acting as King Alistair's spymaster for at least a year following the Reformation, that post ultimately being taken over by Zevran Arainai, the Queen's sinister and controversial brother-in-law. Leliana's music from this period is filled with wistful, romantic yearning, and suggests that she suffered an unhappy love affair. Whether it was this that drove her to leave Ferelden is a matter for the scholars. What is known is that following the untimely death of Divine Beatrix III in 9:34 Dragon, and the ascension of Divine Justinia V, Leliana left the court of Ferelden for an unknown destination. The next time history finds her is in the famed chronicles of Varric, who states that the Champion of Kirkwall met one Sister Nightingale in the Kirkwall Chantry, and that she introduced herself as Leliana." Brother Michael coughed modestly. "For those interested, I have myself written a treatise on the fascinating subject of her life during this period, speculating upon whether she re-entered the Chantry in good faith, or as a spy for the Ferelden Crown."

Spying sounded like a fun game. Maybe she could convince Cadryc and Maryn to play spies later. Unfortunately, they had an irritating tendency to reject her games just because she was a girl and younger than them.

"The life of Warden Anders is well-documented, his place in history cemented by one lamentable action. During his lifetime he wrote several treatises on the treatment of mages, and history paints him as a rebellious, revolutionary figure. The carefully preserved correspondence of King Alistair contains a letter of great interest, addressed to Arl Nathaniel Howe, then Warden Commander of Ferelden, stating that Anders had fled the Court after what King Alistair candidly refers to as a 'blazing row' concerning King Alistair's moderate stance on Chantry and Circle practices. Anders - more commonly known to history as the Destroyer due to his cataclysmic actions in Kirkwall - took exception to King Alistair's rigorous requirements for the training of mages, and his absolute refusal to allow them free movement in the community unless they passed a series of stringent tests."

A butterfly fluttered past and Gertie craned her neck to follow its progress. As it dipped and rose on a path of its own, heading for the gardens, she yearned to follow it. The Tree was calling to her, promising warm, fragrant shade and a refuge from dry, dusty facts. She squinted at the sun. Lessons were nearly over.

"The period between Anders' disappearance from Court and his re-appearance shortly afterwards in Kirkwall is murky and subject to widespread speculation. The circumstances surrounding his supposedly demonic contract with the spirit known as Justice are the stuff of myth and legend; the results of his actions, however, are historic fact. By Dragon 9:40 only the Ferelden Circle remained stable, and mages from all over the known world arrived in droves seeking sanctuary. This massive influx of educated minds ultimately brought about the formation of the University of Ferelden, the finest in the known world, where today mages and non-mages study side by side."

Brother Michael checked the clock. As though everyone in the room wasn't aware of the time every minute.

"Lastly, we have just enough time remaining to mention the legacy of Zevran Arainai, brother-in-law to Queen Madeleina. We discussed yesterday his origins: he was a sinister Antivan assassin, hired originally by the Usurper Loghain Mac Tir to kill Alistair Theirin, illegitimate son of King Maric. Zevran Arainai was ignominiously defeated in the encounter and his life spared.

Several children nodded, sitting up a bit in their seats. They'd enjoyed hearing about someone who sounded so dangerous and exciting.

"How he moved from such an ignoble position to one of the most powerful men in Ferelden is not clear. It is known that he offered his service to the Hero of the Fifth Blight, Melissa Cousland, and that he served her up to and including facing the Archdemon."

You could have heard a pin drop at this point. A famous assassin against a demonic dragon? In Gertie's mind, reflected in most of the faces in the room, history didn't get much better than that.

"He is believed to have left Ferelden after this. History has nothing further to say about him until he enters King Alistair's service sometime the following year under the patronage of Philippe de Ghislain, Queen Madeleina's brother. How he inveigled himself into Prince Philippe's good graces is not known, but their association resulted in a political incident of monumental proportions."

Brother Michael looked around his class, but they had all slumped again, bored now no-one was being assassinated or fighting dragons. His next statement, quietly made with all the drama of a bombshell, made little impact upon them.

"They married."

Brother Michael perched on the edge of his desk. "It was not the first interspecies marriage the Chantry had performed by any means. Many were done, on the quiet. But elves were, at that point in history, considered second-class citizens, largely segregated and denied any but the most menial jobs. The marriage of the Queen's brother to an elf rocked the foundations of the class system. Even the fact that they were both men - fairly unusual at the time, and considered rather shocking - was eclipsed. The timing of the incident was, in political terms, incredibly important. King Alistair had already granted a number of concessions to the elves, improving conditions in the Alienage and offering them positions as well-paid craftsmen. Then, the very day after Philippe de Ghislain married Zevran Arainai in a hurried, private ceremony right here in the palace, the Elven Alienages played their pivotal role in changing Ferelden history at the Landsmeet of 9:33 Dragon. The whole thing screamed conspiracy, and the furious nobility reacted incautiously in the aftermath of the Landsmeet, sending mercenaries to punish the inhabitants of the Denerim Alienage. Their timing was unfortunate, as they arrived just when a large group of armed elves were returning from their shift as dock guards. The mercenaries, not expecting any resistance, were taken by surprise, and wiped out to a man."

Gertie looked at the clock for the hundredth time: just a couple of more minutes until freedom.

"When King Alistair sent troops to arrest the nobles behind the attack, two notable figures led them: Zevran Arainai, and Kallian Tabris, the Queen's elven bodyguard. The King couldn't have made a stronger statement if he'd screamed it from the rooftops, and it marked the beginning of the end for elven segregation, although the battle for elven rights in Ferelden was long and hard-fought over several generations."

Brother Michael looked at the clock and began to gather his papers. "We'll look in more detail at both the Reformation and Elven Integration in history class next week. Don't forget that tomorrow there will be a test on Magical Theory. Class dismissed."

-oOo-

Gertie dashed out of the schoolroom, scampered down the stairs and burst through the Orangery into the open air. Flowers nodded in the breeze, greeting her with their gentle beauty. She took off her shoes and stockings, toes digging into the grass, feeling the soil stir beneath her feet. But, nice though this was, it was the Tree that called to her most strongly, the wild, familiar song of nature that she had heard for as long as she could remember. The Family Tree it was called, and all the luck of the Theirin line was attributed to its magic, although the wood and brass plaque buried in the grass at the base of its trunk, stating when it was planted and by whom, gave it a fancier name in a strange, lost tongue: Vhen'alath.

The bark was rough against the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet as she scrambled up the trunk. This was the easiest tree in the whole palace gardens to climb, the knotholes and branches always exactly where she needed them to be, welcoming her into the friendly, leafy shade as she settled comfortably in the crook of its branches.

Perfect.

In the distance she could hear her brothers squabbling over something or other, but that was just background buzz, less important than the wind sighing through the leaves, the whirr of insects about their business, and the whole delightful pageant of nature that assailed her with scents and sounds, assuring her that she was loved.

The wind dropped, leaving the shady spot she sat in lovely and warm, like a soft blanket of air. Gertie stretched out, leaning her head on a branch, absolutely safe and secure in this, her favourite place in the whole world. The murmured song of the Tree lulled her into a quiet place near sleep, whispering secrets that she couldn't quite catch.

In this place, between sleep and waking, she could feel every tree in the gardens, linked together by a web of energy like a string of fairy lights at a party. Mentally she reached out to them, and each light grew brighter at her touch, glowing with life, feeding off an energy she barely realised she had, their trunks growing stronger, their leaves more lush. Their joy and love cradled her as surely as the branches of the Tree and she drifted further into sleep, into the place where she was a part of that web of energy.

The dream that came to her was not a new one, the people in it as familiar as her own family. While on one level she walked in the Fade, feeling the real trees around her, so much more vibrant than those in the gardens, on another she still slept in the Tree. Beneath its shade strolled a lady and a gentleman, in strange old-fashioned clothing. When they stopped to kiss, the green eyes the lady turned up to him were the exact green of Gertie's daddy's eyes, the smattering of freckles across her nose just like Gertie's own.

The head that bent to kiss his lady was red-gold, the same shade as her brother Maryn's, his smile was nice and his hazel eyes warm with love. Gertie liked the lady and gentleman, and more importantly the Tree liked them, too. The Tree was never wrong about things like that.

When they had finished kissing the lady spoke, her accent strange and her words foreign and archaic. Gertie learnt Orlesian, among several other languages and this was almost, but not quite Orlesian.

"Je t'adore, mon mari." Maddy looked up at her husband, her identity well-known to the Vhen'alath, even if not to the child who slept so soundly in its branches. "I love you."

Alistair gazed down at her, his eyes filled with love and devotion. "And I, you." He brushed a rebellious tendril of curly, brown hair from her face and smiled into her eyes. "Maker's breath, I'm a lucky man."

-oOo-

AN: that's it, the final part! After an entire year, Trouble and Strife is complete. I hope you all enjoyed this, my very first attempt at writing anything other than rp plot and adventures. I learnt a lot, and your feedback was invaluable. If you have any overarching criticisms, now would be the time to level them. For instance, I'm very aware that, due to inexperience, I began the Chantry plot a little late: in my opinion it should have been ongoing all the time our heroes were in Orlais. If this was a novel, rather than a periodic publication, I would have gone back and changed it.

I need a break, to mould my brain into some kind of order (and to progress Secret Service, my smutfic), and then I shall be starting a new story, Virtue and Vice, set in the murky world of Antivan politics. It you are interested in reading it, then an Author Alert will ensure that you receive the first chapter to your inbox. For now, thank you so much for remaining with me for such a long fic, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Regards, Karen xxxx