Epilogue

Not a year passed before Alistair and Lyssa had their second child. The loss of Duncan had been hard on the people of Ferelden, but news of the queen's pregnancy had brought them hope. Lyssa and Alistair named their new son Andrew. He was greeted with tremendous fanfare by both the nobles and commoners alike.

The nobles had wanted to know exactly what had happened to Duncan, of course, when Lyssa and Alistair had returned with what little remained of him. Some even openly questioned how they could be certain that what Alistair and Lyssa had brought back with them was Duncan. Lyssa and Alistair had already discussed this during the trip back. They had agreed that the truth would simply seem too outlandish to the nobles. Instead they spun a tale of a terrible maleficar who had managed to tear a hole in the veil in Highever. The physical evidence of destruction in and around Highever was enough to sell the story to the nobles.

Duncan, Alistair had said, had discovered the maleficar when traveling to Highever. In order to save the city from destruction, he fought the maleficar himself. He had been terribly and mortally wounded in the process. Lyssa asked that his remains be interred in the Grey Warden cemetery in Amaranthine.

Connor eventually married Claudia. The circle tower, in need of a new first enchanter, asked Connor's suggestion. After a time, Connor sent them the name of a Dalish mage. Aneirin was eventually convinced to take over as First Enchanter, with Irving's gentle persuasion. Connor stayed in Ferelden as castle mage for years, far into his dotage.

Sten went back to Seheron, taking a dozen Mabari with him. After Arishok passed, Sten took over and ruled the Q'unari for a time. Diplomacy continued to flourish between Ferelden and Seheron while Sten ruled. As a result, the Qun gained a foothold in Ferelden. It soon became at least as popular a belief system in Ferelden as the elven Pantheon. Since their Arishok began commanding it, the Q'unari were also now rarely seen without at least one war hound traveling with them. Some inns had begun posting "No Mabari" policies, which the Q'unari ignored; as every so often a Q'unari would arrive alone from the wilds, save for his pack of twenty hounds.

Dread and Bigfoot took command of the Grey Warden barracks in Seheron. The Grey Wardens of Seheron soon became famous for their ferocious tenacity in battle, often fighting off hordes of darkspawn that greatly outnumbered their own ranks. The Seheron Grey Wardens made frequent sorties into the Deep Roads with the Legion of the Dead, helping them to drive back the darkspawn. They even managed to help the dwarves reclaim several thaigs, allowing them to expand their reach beneath most of Ferelden for the first time in ages.

Gildre continued to live the life as a bachelor. He never found anyone to settle down with. He was not alone, however, when he eventually did meet his end. Many years after Andrew had taken over the throne, while Lyssa and Alistair were traveling to Amaranthine, they were ambushed by a group of Tevinter mages. Nobody understood why the mages had attacked them, until the mages began shouting that the King and Queen had killed their gods. During the attack, Gildre was mortally wounded. With no spirit mages to help heal him, Gildre passed away surrounded by the people he cared about most in the world. He was buried alongside his brother in the Grey Warden sanctuary of Amaranthine.

o=o=o

Teagan lie in his bed, too weak to even get up to go to the bathroom. Connor sat beside him, his own red hair turning gray. Teagan started a little when he heard the knock at the door. It opened and Lyssa poked her head in to look at him. Her hair was white, and her face wrinkled, but Teagan still found himself blushing when she smiled at him.

She stepped into the room followed by Alistair. They came and stood by the bed looking down at Teagan. Alistair put his hand on top of Teagan's and smiled.

"I have to tell you, old friend," Teagan said grinning up at Alistair weakly, "I never expected you to outlive me."

"No. It wasn't on my calendar either," Alistair said patting Teagan's hand.

A young man stepped into the room. He was in his early twenties and roguishly handsome. His hair was the color that Lyssa's had been when she was much younger, and he had her sharp features. His brown eyes twinkled as they met Teagan's. He approached the bed. He had a warrior's build, and was slightly taller than his father.

"Andrew. I see you were able to sneak away from the nobles," Teagan said. He coughed dryly.

"Yes," the young man said happily. "Jeanette is very good at coming up with excuses. When she's this pregnant she gets kind of bossy. I don't think they'd tell her no if she asked to spend the entire royal treasury on a giant bow to wrap around the castle. Duncan and Gildre wanted to come too, but Jeanette was afraid they were a little too young to travel just yet."

"I understand. I'm glad you came," Teagan said. "So tell me Alistair. This is my last chance to know. Are you finally going to tell me what really happened in Highever all those years ago?"

Alistair chuckled. "Is this a last request then? Are you sure you wouldn't rather have some pie, or perhaps a kiss from Lyssa?"

Teagan blushed and Lyssa elbowed Alistair in the ribs. "You're a grandfather now. Act a bit more your age, you aren't a boy in the clubhouse with his mates any more. Don't listen to him Teagan. You can have all three of those things, if you like."

Lyssa leaned forward and kissed Teagan on the cheek.

Teagan laughed a little, and that brought on a short coughing fit. "Well if I knew all I had to do was die to steal you from that man, I would have done it ages ago."

Alistair laughed at Teagan. "Keep talking like that and I may change my mind about bringing you that pie."

Alistair sighed then and put his hand on Teagan's arm. "Well, I hope you have a while still. This is going to take a bit of explaining."

Author's End Note:

I hope you enjoyed the trilogy as much as I enjoyed writing it. I think I'm going to take a break from Dragon Age for a while though. Thanks for reading!