Evelyn
"Cullen!"
Evelyn jolted upright, sweat cooling too fast on her skin against the damp stone of the Deep Roads. Hakkon's realm still clung to her like frostbite, its echo fading into the memory of Cullen's arms—of trying to tell him she carried not one child, but three—before the Fade ripped her away.
"Keep your dirty dreams to yourself," Oghren grumbled from his bedroll, rolling over with a snort.
Blinking hard, Evelyn rubbed at her eyes. The flicker of firelight revealed their small camp, hopefully the last before they reached the surface. Her startled cry had already roused her brother and drawn Miriam and Sorin from their quiet watch on a nearby boulder.
Her hands went instinctively to her stomach. The blanket slid off her shoulders. She froze. "By the gods!"
The others all turned at her distress, wide-eyed, as she tugged her tunic aside. A slight but undeniable swell rounded her belly. Her mouth went dry, words failing as she looked back at them, half-panicked, half in awe.
"Evie, you're—" Owayne stammered, waving his hands uselessly.
"With child," Miriam supplied, her voice ringing with delight as she hugged her shoulders. "Praise Andraste! Congratulations, Evie!" The healer jumped up, summoning a steady green glow to her hands.
Sorin inclined his head in quiet agreement. Oghren sat upright with a bark of laughter. "That calls for a drink!" He dug through his pack, only to curse. "Sod it! Empty! I could brew something if I could find—"
"NO!" they all shouted as one.
"Maker's breath, you'd kill her with your swill!" Miriam snapped, her Warden fire blazing through. She crouched beside Evelyn, hands till ghosting over her swollen belly. "Did you have any idea you were pregnant? I don't mean to alarm you, but merciful Andreate, you're much larger than you should be."
Evelyn shook her head. "Cullen and I had tried before I left, but—what do you mean larger than I should be?"
The mage's eyes narrowed. "Women don't show this soon. How far along do you think you are?"
"Maybe three months? I've missed a few cycles, but… I thought it was stress. It's happened to me in the past."
Miriam gaped. "And by some miracle, your poor child survived Oghren's cooking. Maybe he's aggravated a humor—"
"By the Stone, will you ever let me live that down?!" Oghren hurled an empty bottle at the cave wall.
"Never," Miriam shot back flatly.
Evelyn let out a shaky laugh that dissolved into trembling. "It's all right. The gods protect them. Perhaps my early progression is Hakkon's doing. It's the only explanation." His marks glowed faintly on her skin, affirming her words.
"Them?" Owayne's brows shot up. "Uh, Evie?"
Her voice wavered while she nodded her head insistently. "Triplets. One Thane and two mages." She lifted a hand, tracing the glowing script etched across her flesh. Panic rose sharply in her chest. "Gods, I don't even know how to birth one child—how does one do three at once?!" Her breaths grew shallow, the Phoenix's fire inside her sparking in agitation. "I need Cullen! I need my husband! And I need out of this stinking hole!"
Miriam and Owayne reached for her at once, their voices low and soothing. "We'll get you to him," her brother promised. "But… after we finish this. Just hold my nieces and nephews in until we're done, okay?"
Both women skewered him with identical flat stares.
"Can he meet us at the next Hold?" Miriam asked, pressing a water skin into Evelyn's hands.
Evelyn shook her head, tears stinging hot and sudden. "No. Long story short, if Cullen leaves, our child can't be Thane. Hakkon would see us fail. I can't risk it." The sobs tore out of her before she could stop them. She had been through much worse, and here she was crying the Deep Roads a new river. "What's wrong with me? Why am I crying? I don't cry!"
Miriam's expression softened, healer's warmth smoothing her stern features. "Pregnancy makes emotions run higher. It's natural."
"Well, I wish it'd fucking stop! There's nothing natural about me!" Evelyn snapped, swiping at her eyes, as the tears continued. "And I could really use a sweet roll."
***
Cullen
Cullen nearly punched the door off the hinges of the Augur's Hut as he stormed out.
Dhara was hot on his heels. "My Thane! Wait!"
He didn't hear her through the blood pounding in his ears. Bursting through the door to his longhouse, Cullen scared the happy gathering celebrating Rosalie's pregnancy, striding in like he was about to fight an Archdemon. His family and friends froze, their smiles falling as their eyes widened, reading his body language.
"Thane, I didnit know why yer upset?" The Augur imparted as she squeezed through the closing door.
"Cullen, wot's wrong?" Rylen was quick to his side, looking between him and Dhara. The mage shrugged, shaking her head.
The blonde ran his hands through his hair in frustration, breathing heavily through his nose like a Druffalo. Three children, not three months pregnant, stampeded through his mind. Cullen couldn't think, he couldn't speak, he just paced back and forth. Finally, gazing up at his best friend, he felt a deep frown pull at his mouth.
"Ah. Come on. We'll be back," he told the others before strong-arming the Thane back out of the house.
Behind his home was a small cluster of trees that offered them privacy. As boys, the two of them often met there to play, but now it served as a place to talk as men.
Cullen leaned back against the rough pine's bark, uncaring how it poked him through his linen shirt. "Evelyn is having triplets!" He let that sink in, watching his friend's face drop. "Three, Rylen! And she is traipsing through the blighted Deep Roads, fighting darkspawn! Gods, I can't lose the four of them!" His head thunked hard back against the trunk of the tree.
"Ya aren't goin' to lose them, not this time. The gods are with ya."
"Even so, it does not say anything about Evelyn's survival. Nothing is assured after the fulfillment of the prophecy and her deal with Hakkon. The Spirits say this is her last task… what if it is truly her last task?"
Rylen was quiet for a long moment. The weight of Cullen's fear pressed heavily between them, thicker than the pine-scented air. "Ye know them, Cullen. Cryptic riddles wrapped in maybes and what ifs." He looked up, his dark eyes steady. "They didnit say she'd die." Rylen crossed his arms. "Evelyn is not just some vessel for prophecy. She survived more than most would've dared to attempt. Ye think she'd let some birthbed take her down now?"
Cullen's throat tightened, his gaze flicking away to the treetops like he could find reassurance in the swaying branches. "I can't help it," he muttered. "What's the old saying? Trouble comes in threes? It's quite literal this time."
There it was—raw and unguarded. Not the Thane, just Cullen, a man afraid of losing the woman who held his world together.
Rylen stepped closer and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Then don't leave her alone in this. Fight with her. Don't start mournin' her while she's still breathin'."
Cullen exhaled, slow and shaky, knowing he was right. "I just feel useless here. I need to do something. Anything!"
"But ye have. Ye've done everything asked of ya. From keeping Evelyn here, to marrying her, and giving her children." A thoughtful silence settled around them in the circle of trees before he spoke again, trying to cheer his friend up. "Triplets," Rylen said after a beat, lips twitching with a faint smile.
Cullen gave a tired laugh despite himself, wiping a hand down his face. "Triplets."
The Master of the Hunt's large hand gripped and patted his shoulder. "Come, the others will want to hear we're about to have three more additions to the family."
Back inside after sharing his news, the celebration erupted further into cheers and toasts. With his best friend's advice fresh in his mind, he allowed himself to rejoice in his blessing. Yet, all the while, he felt the yearning to have Evelyn safe him press him harder.
An answer as to what he should do would come from the gods and spirits, of whom he had faith. She was Hakkon's Herald, and even if he wasn't as important to the prophecy as she, he was the father of her children. Her lion. He was part of this tale.
That night, he knelt beside the home's small shrine and prayed to the gods that they'd use him to help her. One sign is all he'd need. Yet, he was met with night terrors, and Bran rushing into his bedroom as he shouted for Evelyn yet again.
Then, as he was eating breakfast, the answer came in the form of two of the Lady's servants squawking in his window, holding two written messages.
The first message was from his spy at Wolf-Fang Hold, Leliana, who spoke of the ongoing unrest. She wrote that the candidates for the Thaneship are either too untrustworthy or inexperienced for the job. The clan is in shambles, and many were readying to leave. With no order, resources were being fought over, and the Hold was all but defenseless.
The second message was from his wife, relaying that she and her party were on their way to Wolf-fang territory. They had been successful thus far and had restocked at Stone-Bear before leaving. A smile came to his face, reading that their children were doing well, and she had picked up a skilled healer, Miriam. Coincidentally, on the road, she met a family formally from Wolf-Fang Hold, leaving to join with distant family, telling her to avoid the Hold. So, they would not be resting there, but pushing on to finish the cleansing.
Cullen needed no more than that. He saw the path as clearly as if the gods had written it out in the clouds in the sky. If the Hold had no strong Thane and Evelyn was to pass through their land, he would not leave her to chance. He would bring Redhold to her.
With his advisors gathered around the War Table, he laid his plan at their feet. Cullen put his palms flat on the map and spoke with a voice that brooked no argument. "We're going to take Wolf-fang Hold."
Silence held for half a breath. Then Cassandra's gaze slid up, stern. Dhara's fingers flexed once in the wood of the table, like she was feeling for an omen.
Cullen's leonine gaze cut sharply into them. "My wife and heirs will be there. If I can't leave Redhold, I'll bring Redhold to them. I think the wolves have proven themselves incapable of electing a Thane, so I'll claim it and all their territory." He let that sink in a moment, seemingly already having convinced the Master of the Hunt. "I'm their best chance at stability. We may have been enemies in the past, but if Hakkon wants to see my children unite the Basin, I might as well get them started."
Dhara perked her head up. "Aye, that's right. Carve a foothold for the next High King."
Cassandra crossed her arms, glancing between them skeptically. "What High King?"
The Thane stood to full height. "Part of the price of Hakkon's gifts to Evelyn. The markings on her stomach that saved her life are a blood debt to Hakkon. She will bear three children: One Thane and two mages. My heir, the first to be born, will become the next High King." His two lifelong friends' eyes bugged out—and not much shocked them anymore. "With the help of his siblings, they will conquer the Basin, unite the Avvar. Make our people stronger against what's coming next from the Red Goddess. And Skymother take me if I'll stand behind our walls and do nothing!"
"It is the will of Hakkon." The Augur echoed. "Isn't it excitin' what we're to be a part of?!"
"Korth's stones," Rylen cursed, "you didnit think to share that wit' us last night?! That's… that's—!"
"I know, I know! Which is why it needs to stay between us council members. I don't want anyone else to know for my children's safety."
"And Hakkon only shared it wit' Evie in her dreams," Dhara added. "We only know wot' the Spirits tell us he said. We may want to wait to hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak." The collective was in agreement with that. Who knows what kind of plan Winterbreath was hatching, but they certainly didn't want to step on his cold feet.
Rylen snorted and rubbed his tattooed chin, but the sound was not disbelief. "So, back to the task at hand. How are ya plannin' to govern two Holds miles apart?"
"I'll make Bran Thane of Wolf-Fang Hold. A Rutherford will govern in each Hold. He's shadowed me for years, and his loyalty will never be in question. Our Holds will work together to recultivate the land and raise animals. Besides, Evelyn's popularity is drawing people to our gate. Soon, Redhold will need to expand its walls because of it. Having two fortified positions will not only increase our capacity but strengthen us defensively."
Stoic as ever, Cassandra finally uncrossed her arms, staring at the map. "All legitimate reasons, my Thane, but we'll still meet resistance. We will have to crush the remnants of Axlan's rule."
This Cullen knew, and he was ready to meet it. Fully recovered and with his wife's life in the balance, nothing was going to stop him. "I want the Hold scouted, and I want to overwhelm their force. I don't want a battle, but their willing surrender. I'll walk up to the Hold, claim it, and deal with the challengers. If they don't like it, they're welcome to try to kill me or leave." His Head Warrior's brows shot to the sky, but she made no counterargument, looking rather pleased with the promise of action. "I want that Hold under our control within the month."
Rylen and Cassandra exchanged looks, affirming in unison, "Yes, Thane."