So I finished my prompt response ridiculously early but my only idea was a really obvious one and I didn't want to have to find a new one so...
Nathaniel Howe was sure that he must have heard wrong. “Come again?”
“The King and Queen of Ferelden granted Amaranthine to the Grey Wardens on account of them saving Ferelden from themselves and the Blight both,” his dinner companion, a man named Samuel, repeated obligingly.
That was what Nathaniel had thought he had said. “But…what about the Howes? They can’t just take land away from somebody and give it to the Grey Wardens!”
“The Howes?” Samuel laughed and leaned back in his chair. “You really don’t pay much attention to what’s going on in other parts of the world, do you?”
“I have more than enough to occupy my attention here in Kirkwall,” Nathaniel said stiffly. “Especially since Hawke arrived.”
Samuel nodded his agreement. “Some people are natural rabble-rousers, I guess.”
Nathaniel waited for Samuel to explain about how the Grey Wardens came to be in possession of his family’s ancestral lands but he didn’t seem inclined to elaborate. “What happened to the Howes?” he prompted.
“What? Oh, them. Arl Rendon Howe was stripped of his titles and lands after he died in disgrace,” Samuel explained. “And he had collected quite a few of them from what I’ve heard. Arl of Amaranthine, Teyrn of Highever, Arl of Denerim…”
The last Nathaniel had heard, Urien Kendalls was the Arl of Denerim and Bryce Cousland the Teyrn of Highever. He hadn’t really known Urien or his son Vaughan well so that wasn’t much of a concern to him but the Couslands were old family friends. He and Fergus had grown up together, Anastasia had trailed after the pair of them for years, and he had watched little Oren breathe his first breath. “Highever? What happened to the Couslands?”
“Howe killed them, he did,” Samuel replied matter-of-factly. He had no idea that Nathaniel was a Howe himself as he hadn’t wanted to deal with responsibilities and privileges of his heritage while he was attempting to become his own person and learn to survive on his own. “Right before that King Cailan fell at Ostagar.”
“He…
what?” That Nathaniel couldn’t wrap his mind around. His father killing Bryce Cousland? The Couslands were like family to the Howes and had been for as long as he could remember (though there was that unpleasantness concerning Harpers Ford back during the rebellion so he knew it hadn’t always been that way) and Bryce had always been one of his father’s closest friends. There were only two possible explanations. The most obvious answer was that there was some mistake and his father had not done that. He might be mistaken, though. His father might have killed the Couslands. He hadn’t been home in eight years and so he didn’t have a very up-to-date view of the situation. One thing he was
absolutely sure of, however, was that the Couslands crimes must have been grave indeed to earn such a fate. He loved the Couslands dearly but he loved and trusted his father more and so he had to believe that if he had done such a terrible thing then he had a damn good reason for it.
“If the Couslands were dead then it makes sense that their teynir would fall to the Howes,” Nathaniel said slowly, trying to will away the images of dead friends that wouldn’t stop forming in his mind. “I’m not sure why they would get Denerim but I suppose that’s not really what’s important right now. What’s this about Arl Howe dying in disgrace?”
“You heard about that civil war Ferelden had because they were too stubborn to let the darkspawn kill them but too backwards to be able to kill them?” Samuel asked.
Nathaniel simply nodded, far too used to slights against his home country to bother defending it now. “I had heard something about it. It was a war of succession after King Cailan died, yes?”
“Right,” Samuel confirmed. “At least that much information managed to trickled down to whatever rock you’ve been living under. Queen Anora tried to keep her throne and was supported by her father who became her regent, Teyrn Loghain. Arl Howe supported them. Arl Eamon – who is Cailan’s mother’s brother – put King Maric’s bastard Alistair on the throne with Anastasia Cousland as his consort.”
Nathaniel blinked. “I thought you said that the Couslands were dead?”
“All but Anastasia who became a Grey Warden and ended the Blight and Fergus who reclaimed Highever,” Samuel clarified. “It’s not surprising that Alistair and Anastasia gave Amaranthine to the Wardens since they’re Wardens themselves. I think she took Gwaren after they killed Loghain and Howe.”
“The Grey Wardens…they killed Arl Howe?” Nathaniel demanded. He couldn’t believe it. Eight years was a long time certainly but he never would have believed this of her. “Then the posthumously stripped his titles and lands leaving his family with nothing? And for what? For being on the losing side of a civil war?”
Samuel shrugged, looking a little confused as to what had riled the younger man up so. “I guess so. That’s just how the world works, though.”
“I have to go,” Nathaniel declared suddenly, standing up. He threw some money on the table and stormed out of the tavern. He knew it was hopelessly rude but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He couldn’t just sit there and pretend that everything was okay.
It was a conspiracy, that’s what it was. His father had been a true patriot who had made the mistake of siding with those who had lost the civil war and for that he had been disgraced, killed, and now vilified. And it wasn’t just his father, either. Nathaniel would have wanted vengeance for destroying such a great man as Rendon Howe but if they had left his sister and brother with Amaranthine instead of taking
everything then he could have rested easier.
He hadn’t intended to leave Kirkwall just yet and he knew that Hawke would be incredibly disappointed but he felt like there was no time to say goodbye. He had to get back to Ferelden and he had to do it now. The Howe name depended on it.
:wub:
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