Prompt: Naked Landsmeet
Loghain was in the middle of evilly denouncing Arl Eamon and his heartfelt appeal for basic decency and the preservation of their cherished traditions when Alistair strode into the Landsmeet. He was a little cold but took care not to shiver for fear that it would make it look like he was afraid of Loghain. He had just known that he would cause a huge scene by walking in late and he thought it would look rather unprofessional but Eamon had assured him that it was important to make an entrance and he had reluctantly agreed that he could hardly make an entrance by showing up three hours early. Anora, despite the fact she had left four hours early, didn’t appear to be in the room. Alistair may not really like Cailan’s wife but he did hope that nothing had happened to her. It was bad enough that she had to have a father like Loghain; she really had been through enough.
“Tell us, Warden: How will the Orlesians take our nation from us? Will they deign to send their troops, or simply issue their commands through this would-be prince?” Loghain turned to face them. “What did they-” He stopped and a look of disgust crossed his face.
Alistair rather imagined that a similar look was on his own face whenever he so much as thought of Loghain, never mind being face-to-face with him like he was now.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” Loghain demanded, sounding outraged.
For once, Loghain actually appeared to be speaking to him. Was that a trick question or something? Suddenly, he wished that he had spent more time listening to Arl Eamon prepare his fellow Anastasia on what to say at the Landsmeet (he had been instructed to keep his mouth shut, accept the throne when offered, and be ready to fight). “I’m here to expose you.”
“It rather looks like you’re here to expose yourself,” Bann Ceorlic muttered.
Alistair blinked, confused. What heinous crimes had he committed lately? Besides, of course, daring to be a member of an order that was hell bent on saving Ferelden from being completely destroyed by darkspawn despite itself.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Anora spoke out suddenly, appearing from Maker only knew where. “Arl Eamon has spoken passionately about the need to keep the Theirin bloodline alive and while I can certainly understand the weight of that symbol, I ask you to look at the boy who would be king and honestly tell me that you think that he is up for the task.”
So Anora had betrayed them! Wait…was this a betrayal? She hadn’t actually said anything about Loghain. But why would she turn on them without committing to Loghain’s side? Having two enemies at once was a really stupid idea, even he could see that. What was going on?
“Would somebody like to explain what’s going on?” Alistair demanded. Sure, he wasn’t supposed to say anything but no one was telling him anything and he was sick of it.
“I think we would all like to know the answer to that,” Loghain drawled. “Tell me, Alistair.” The Teyrn said his name like it was something dirty. “Why did you feel the need to show up to our most sacred of gatherings without so much as an undergarment, especially when you remembered to put on a barbarian hat? Have you no shame?”
Alistair froze. No…it couldn’t be. But he’d been so unusually cold all day. He was wearing the hat, yes, he could feel that. But if he weren’t wearing anything else then why wouldn’t anyone have said anything? Why would they have let him make an ass of himself? And for that matter, how could he possibly have failed to notice? He didn’t want to look down but he was a Grey Warden and Eamon wanted him to become king and so he couldn’t afford to shy away from anything.
Alistair had glanced down for perhaps half a second before his head quickly snapped back up. His face was burning. Everyone had a very nice view of his entire body. It was bad enough from the back but from the front? And it was so cold, too…
“Well?” Anora asked, looking triumphant. “Do you have an answer for that, Alistair, or are you really that ill-prepared for being king? The common man off the street could tell you that it is improper to wander around without clothes on – regardless of headgear – and it’s even worse somewhere important like the Landsmeet!”
“I…uh…” Alistair looked helplessly at his fellow Warden. How could he possibly explain this?
Fortunately, Anastasia Cousland was one of the most persuasive people he had ever met. Even when Alistair knew that she was just making things up, she still always managed to at least halfway convince him.
“Alistair isn’t naked,” she declared boldly.
Loghain snorted. “I beg to differ.”
“I wish that I could be surprised that you thought so,” she said sadly.
Loghain’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?” he all but growled.
“Alistair is fully clothed but, well, his outfit is only the finest made by Dalish artisans,” Anastasia lied. “As you may know, we spent some time with the Dalish recently as we travelled the land calling on the ancient Grey Warden treaties. We aided them in the process of doing this and they gave us that outfit as a token of their thanks.”
“He’s not wearing anything,” Loghain grated.
Anastasia shook her head. “Oh, but he is! It’s just that…well, the Dalish are a little…preoccupied about their past. From what I understand, all living Dalish are descended from noble elven families back when they had their own homeland and so all the Dalish could see Alistair’s outfit just fine.”
Anora started to look a little worried. “What are you saying?”
“Only someone with noble enough blood – be it elven blood, human blood, or even dwarven blood – can see the fabric,” Anastasia responded. “Normally, Alistair wouldn’t wear fabric that would make it appear that he was naked to commoners out in public but since this is a meeting that only nobles can attend, we rather thought it would be safe. I guess it wasn’t.”
“This is absurd!” Loghain said dismissively. “There is no such thing as noble-detecting fabric.”
“I-I actually think that I can see it,” Ceorlic inadvertently saved them. “It’s so gorgeous, really.”
“I see it, too,” Habren Bryland cried out. “And I want one!”
One by one the nobles all claimed that they could see it and gushed over how magnificent it was. Once some among them started insisting that they were noble enough to see it, they wouldn’t dare risk being dubbed as un-noble as Loghain and Anora clearly were and so it looked like Anastasia’s absurd story would actually see them through this.
Suddenly, the entire place began to shake and after a moment, Alistair’s eyes snapped open. He was still lying in bed and Anastasia was shaking him awake.
“Come on,” she whispered. “It’s time to get ready for the Landsmeet.”
Alistair nodded silently as he sat up. First thing on the agenda: locate some pants.