A/N: I decided to have a little fun before delving into my first full length Dragon Age fanfiction. This is a series of short tidbits of Elissa Cousland's life before the events of the Fifth Blight. It will include both the Cousland family and the Howe family in many parts as well as some appearances from Ser Gilmore, King Cailan Theirin and Anora Mac Tir. Elissa is going to be my main character throughout a series of stories I plan on writing chronicling the Blight, the events of Awakening and DA2.

This is going to be mostly fluff. Since the story concerning the Blight is going to be very dark at times, I wanted to make something light and fun. If anyone has any writing prompts that they'd like to see with this group of characters, feel free to PM me or leave it in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bioware, Dragon Age or any of the characters I write about. I just borrow them for my own machinations.

Chapter 1: "Bryce's Little Spitfire"

"Now what do we do with the biscuits?" Nan, the elderly woman who had been caregiver and the head cook of Castle Cousland for many years, said with a fixed gaze at the little girl sitting on the stool beside her. She'd spent the last hour trying to teach the terror of the Cousland family some sort of cooking skills. The girl needed to be ready if she were going to run an entire household in the future.

Elissa Cousland, chewing on a carrot she'd nabbed from the cutting board, pointed towards the oven without a word. Nan lifted an eyebrow at the way she was being intentionally insolent. With a mouth full of unchewed vegetable, Elissa said, "What?"

Nan, with a huff of frustration, slammed the tray of biscuits on the table in front of her. With a gnarled finger, she pointed at the door and closed her eyes. Elissa knew that look. Nan was close to her breaking point. It was time to make an escape. "Out! Get out of my kitchen!"

Elissa slid off of the stool gracefully, quickly adjusting her blue skirts before sweeping into a pitiful curtsy. Turning on her heel, she stalked from the room, intent on putting as much distance between herself and the kitchens as fast as possible. She didn't need Nan to decide on some sort of punishment for her behavior. Punishment that usually included making tarts of some kind. With a barely suppressed shudder, she gripped the metal of the door handle and pulled.

As she passed through the doorway, Elissa was suddenly drenched with bucket of cold water.

Her screams pierced the otherwise quiet afternoon within the walls of Castle Cousland.

Rolling laughter met her ears and Elissa, drenched to the bone, spun around to face her elder brother by five years, Fergus. The bucket he had used was empty on the ground beside him, obviously dropped once he had completed his mission to embarrass her. His hands were on his knees as he leaned over in a fit of laughter, unable to control himself.

Anger burned through her veins at his clear disregard for her appearance, or anything for that matter. The Howe family was coming to Highever for their annual visit and now her pretty dress was ruined... Mother was going to be furious.

Taking a deep breath, Elissa tried to calm her rage while her brother continued to laugh at her expense. When it did little to compose her, she exploded in her fury. "I'm going to kill you!"

Fergus bit his lip to stop the next round of chuckles so he might respond to his younger sister's threat. His blue eyes glittered with his delight. "I doubt Father would want you to murder his only heir."

"The Arl is here, Fergus!" Elissa shouted, throwing her hands up and waving them in the air as if they would make her point come across even more clearly. "I don't have time to change!"

Fergus shook his head as a new chuckle slipped out. "That's why you're so angry."

Elissa lifted an eyebrow at his statement, not liking where he was heading with the conversation. "Don't you dare..."

"Better not keep Nathaniel waiting." He teased, crossing his arms over his chest as he got a good look at the wet mess his sister was. The wet mess he caused. It made him want to laugh all over again.

"Maker's balls, Fergus!"

Fergus winked at his little sister before turning on his heels and taking off down the corridor behind him. She tried to control her body, but before Elissa could process what was happening, she had taken off in pursuit of Fergus. Her brother was much faster than she was, Elissa had to admit that grudgingly, but he was terrible with a sword. She would find him and challenge him to a duel. Then she'd stick him a few times with the pointy end of the weapon just to prove-

As Elissa turned the next corner, she collided with her father. Teyrn Bryce Coulsand gripped his daughter by the shoulders, halting any further progress in her attempt at revenge. Or maybe Fergus was right and she was plotting his murder instead. It was hard to tell with the rage controlling her thoughts.

"Where's the fire, Pup?" Bryce said as he gazed down into the bright green eyes Elissa shared with her mother. His expression was one of a stern father, but his voice... His voice was the only part of him that revealed his amusement at her appearance.

Water dripped from Elissa's curls and made soft plopping noises on the stone as she glanced up at her father. She knew her mother was somewhere behind her, glaring. It was the only expression Eleanor Cousland could muster when it concerned her rambunctious ten year old daughter.

Elissa lifted a hand and pointed down the hallway where her bastard of a brother had disappeared a few seconds before. "Fergus dumped a bucket of..." A shiver racked her body as she stood there. She was having a hard time controlling her temper. Damn you Fergus. "He is a sodding piece of-"

"Elissa!" Her mother scolded, cutting off her colorful dialogue before it had a chance to be fully expressed.

Elissa had turned to address her mother when she realized they had an audience. Standing behind the Teyrna was a group of four individuals, all similar in appearance. The oldest of the guests was a man with a hooked nose, graying black hair and grim eyes. Arl Rendon Howe. He stood beside her mother with his hands behind his back. He was staring down his nose at her as if the state she was currently in was unacceptable. Which it was if she were being honest.

The other three who stood next to the Arl were his children. Delilah Howe had been one of Elissa's best friends for as long as she could remember. The two girls, the only daughters of their respective families, were drawn to one another from the day they met. They couldn't look more different: Elissa with her auburn curls, sun-kissed skin, the smattering of freckles on her nose and bright emerald eyes; Delilah with her straight black hair, gray-blue eyes and pale complexion despite the rosiness that never seemed to leave her cheeks. Both were considered beautiful in their own ways, thankfully Delilah looked more like her mother than her father, but anyone who knew them agreed, Elissa was the one men was going to seek for marriage. Not only was she a Teyrn's daughter, which made her position higher than Delilah's, but she was regarded as an exceptional beauty. A term she despised above all others.

Elissa had always taken those compliments at face value. They were nothing but pretty words and false promises. There was no way Elissa would settle down and marry. She'd never douse that 'fire' in her blood enough to serve as the wife of some Ferelden noble. She was born a warrior. That's what she was going to be while Fergus took over the estate and served as Teyrn. There was no other life for her.

Beside Delilah was her younger brother, Thomas. He was spitting image of his father. Nose, eyes, even the look of barely concealed disgust on his face was an eerie copy of Rendon Howe. Thomas was a few years younger than she was, barely eight years old to her ten, but Howe seemed determined to see her married to the boy. The idea of marriage to Thomas Howe made her stomach violently sick. Barely able to suppress the eye roll she felt coming in response to the look of loathing on boy's face, Elissa allowed her eyes to pass over him without another thought.

Then her eyes landed on the very person she had wanted to see since the news of the Howes' arrival had reached her ears.

Nathaniel.

Her brother teased her mercilessly about her crush on the eldest Howe, particularly since Nate was Fergus' best friend. At the age of fifteen, Nathaniel had grown into his height and looked even more handsome than she remembered. Lean muscles could be seen through his simple tunic and pants, cultivated from long years of riding horses and using a bow as his weapon of choice. His features were softer than those of his brother and father, but he still retained some of the Howe appearance. His dark hair wasn't short like Thomas', but instead, had grown past his shoulders. Pieces of his black hair had been braided back out of his face. A pair of gray eyes peered at her out of his stoic face, but she could read him better than anyone. There was laughter in those orbs.

As she stared at him, Nathaniel didn't speak, but instead lifted his hand to his mouth.

And coughed.

Nate was the only person Elissa knew who would use a cough to cover a laugh at her expense. Especially with her standing there, soaked to her smallclothes with ice cold water. 'A gentleman to the bitter end,' her father had always said.

Once Nathaniel's hand dropped to his side, a smile spread across Elissa's face.

"Nate!" She cheered in excitement, her earlier dilemma completely forgotten. She launched herself towards him and on instinct, Nathaniel caught her in his arms with a chuckle.

"Hello, Liss." He said, his voice deeper than she'd ever heard it before. "I've missed you too, but do you mind?"

Realizing her clothes and hair were still dripping water all over, and probably drenching Nate's as well, Elissa released her hold on his neck and dropped down to her feet. She could feel her cheeks reddening at her inappropriate display of affection, but the smiles on her mother and Delilah's faces made it worth it.

Though she didn't want to, Elissa could hear the Arl telling her father that she was too wild and free with her actions and affections, but that had never bothered anyone before. Her brother had always said it was one of the things he could actually stand about her. Her father's usual response to the accusations was that she was his little spitfire. He wouldn't change a thing about her.

Elissa's green gaze caught Nate's in that moment and he grinned at the question in her eyes. It was enough to relieve her fears.

Her father was right. She may have been wild and free, and perhaps a little crazy, but there wasn't a thing she would change about herself.

The smile on his face established the fact that Nate would never ask her to change either.