Memento

What is that ? Aífe was looking at the vibrant red dress lying on her bed, accompanied with a small note next to it saying "The shoes are waiting for you in your closet, love, Mother."

If the shoes were anything like the dress, it would be a disaster. Aífe shuddered at the idea. She dared to take a peak at the dress once again : it was fancy, Orlesian like fancy. It had golden embroideries from the shoulders to the skirt and looked far too tight around the hips and chest to her tastes. What was mother thinking ? The dress looked beautiful but would definitely attract attention, something Aífe wanted to avoid but her mother on the contrary...

She was stirred from her thoughts by soft knockings on her door. But before she could even open her mouth to answer, her mother had already entered the room.
"Here are the gloves that go with your outfit darling, and do not forget to put on the beautiful shoes I got you from Orlais ! I'm sure you will love the small red ribbons on them, nothing like the awful boots you wear everyday..." Eleanor glanced down at her daughter's feet and sighed. "And please, remember to take a bath before putting your attire on... Look at all this mud ! Where have you been ? Did you go practice with Ser Gilmore again ? Even though I specifically..." Aífe lifted her hand, cutting her mother short. "Mother, why exactly do I have to wear this tonight ?..."
Eleanor opened her eyes wide in shock. "For the reception of course ! Do not tell me you forgot."
"No... ?" Yes, and as a matter of fact, she now wished she had remembered it sooner so that she could have hidden somewhere.

Her mother walked to the closet and opened it, removing the shoes and putting them next to Aífe's bed.

"Remember, tonight you will be introduced to young men who one day could become your suitors and I want them to remember you as an elegant lady, not as a wild rogue. So put this on, and don't forget to smile." Her mother smiled before leaving the room, turning to Aífe, she simply said : "I know you will make me proud tonight darling." Aífe smiled awkwardly at her, unsure of what to respond.
She turned around when she heard a soft huff. Her large Mabari was sitting next to the bed, cocking his head to the side, he looked at his mistress.
"I know, trust me this would not have been my first choice either... I mean look at this dress, of course they will remember me with that color ! And when all of them will be looking at me, my cheeks will probably turn as red as the dress..." Aífe sighed heavily, I will pummel Fergus to death for not reminding me about that she thought while looking at the shoes with a disgusted expression.
Grimm at her side, Aífe left her room to ask one of the servants to prepare a bath for her.
"Your bath is already waiting for you M'lady, your mother also asked me to take care of your hair once you will be done." the servant told Aífe with a delighted expression on her face. "I cannot wait to see how beautiful you will be !" she was smiling and waiting for Aife to say something. Quickly, think about something nice to say "Well that makes one of us..." Smooth Aífe, real smooth.
She thanked the servant and went back to her room to get her gown, shoes and gloves to get prepared as soon as she would leave her bath. As she hurried back to the other room she bumped into a large man, and a familiar red headed face. Ser Gilmore looked down at Aife and especially at what she was trying to hide behind her back. The young man had a smile on his face, obviously curious and amused by Aífe's embarassed expression.
"What are you hiding exactly M'lady ?" he said, trying to look behind Aífe's back.
"Nothing... And why are you here anyway ?" she said, hoping she could distract him long enough to make a run to the door.
"Your mother asked me to get Grimm, she apparently does not want him by your side for this evening. She is probably afraid you will manage to escape another reception thanks to him again."
"I do not know what you are talking about Ser Gilmore ! But please, let him stay with me..." Aífe pleaded, looking at him with puppy eyes.
"Fine, but only if you let me have a look at what you are hiding." the young man said, grinning from ear to ear.
There, he trapped her, either she let him take a peak at that ridiculous dress, either she spent an entire evening amongst nobles without her faithful hound to endure that with her. She pulled the dress from behind her in a sigh of resignation, still carefully hiding the shoes under the clothing.
"There, it is not like you will not see me with it tonight anyway." she grumbled. "Happy now ?"
She waited for him to reply but instead, the young man just smiled at her, a smile of satisfaction.
"Well, I guess I will just have to tell you mother I could not manage to find Grimm, pity." Aífe let out a chuckle as Gilmore finished his sentence. "I look forward to seeing you with this M'lady." He then added much to the young woman's surprise. Before she could reply anything, Ser Gilmore walked away, his expression unreadable. Aífe stood there for a few minutes before she felt a small hand pressing hers.
"Auntsie ! Grandma said you had to hurry or you'd be late !" Oren's big eyes were fixated on Aífe, the child could not hide his excitement. "There's going to be a big party tonight and Mama said I could go to bed later than usual ! And and, there's going to be cake ! Aífe's nephew opened his arms wide at the mention of the cake, clearly overjoyed by the simple thought of eating it.
"Remember to keep some for your Auntsie, she will need a lot of it to comfort herself." Aífe said, kneeling down to pass and rub her hand through Oren's hair. The young woman showed her nephew the dress to illustrate her thought.
The boy disgusted expression was the only thing she needed to see to know the boy's thoughts.
"I know." Aífe softly said patting his head. "Now go to Grandma and tell her I will be ready soon, alright ?" Oren nodded and started running in the corridor, bumping into a servant or two who were in his way.
Aífe heard a whine from behing the room's door, and saw Grimm poke his head. "I know boy, Oren already told me I was going to be late, I do not need you to remind me." she told the Mabari as she entered the room, scratching one of his ear in the process.
The young woman quickly jumped in the bath, although she usually enjoyed a nice hot bath, this time she had no time to lose or all the guests would see of her would be a woman with disheveled hair and a muddy leather armor. Not that she minded of course, but she really wanted to avoir her mother's wrath.
Aífe just had enough time to wash herself before the maid knocked at the door and came in, bringing some brushes, ribbons and other instruments of torture with her.
"It is time for you to get ready M'lady ! Your father is waiting for you outside, he will escort you to the reception hall." the woman said, putting all her equipment on the vanity table.
Escort me so that I won't escape... Aífe thought while putting her dress on behind a folding screen.
As soon as she was in the maid's sight, the said maid let out a small cry and placed her hands on her mouth.
"Is it that terrible ?!" Aífe said, wishing she had not left her screen.
"On the contrary M'lady you look absolutely beautiful, I have never seen you so feminine before !"
The maid said, grabbing Aífe by the wrist. She made her sit on the stool in front of the vanity and started brushing her hair.
Grimm licked her hand from time to time, reminding her of his support and presence. Aífe kept sighing as the maid took care of her hair, afraid of what the result would look like. She constantly avoided to look at the mirror, and prefered to gaze at her feet instead which were now embellished by fancy Orlesian shoes.
"There ! Perfect !" the maid said as she removed her hands from Aífe's hair.
The young woman was too afraid to take a peak. What if she had ribbons in her hair ? Or worse a bird just like that Orlesian woman she once heard about ? Grimm barked at her and wagged his tail, the Mabari was boucing around, as if he was happy about something.
"What is it boy ? Is it my hair ? Does it look good ?" she half expected her dog to hide behind his paws and she pronounced the words but instead, Grimm barked again and Aífe lifted her head to take a look at herself in the mirror.
The haircut was nothing like anything she had imagined, instead, the maid did a simple twisted updo with Aífe's hair which looked both natural and very elegant.
"Do you like it M'Lady ?" the maid said, she looked both satisfied yet worried as she waited for Aife's answer.
"This is certainly not what I expected Elaisse, thank you for not following any Orlesian fashion."
Aife said, almost hugging the maid.
"We are in Ferelden here, I was not about to make you like one of these peacocks !" Elaisse said, smiling at Aífe. "You should probably go now though, you must not keep the Teyrn waiting even if he is your father." she added with a soft smile.
Aífe thanked the maid once again and walked to the door, Grimm by her side. As she opened the door she was greeted by her father's face, a radiant smile on his lips.
"You look astonishing Pup, I am glad you are wearing the dress your mother picked for you."
He offered his hand and Aífe took it, passing her arm under his as he lead the way.
"If I had not mother would have probably disowned me anyway." Aífe shrugged.
"Indeed she would have." her father replied in a chuckle. "I know you are not happy about tonight but I am sure it will comfort you to see familiar faces. Arl Eamon is coming, and so is Bann Teagan."
Aífe smiled at the mention of Teagan's name, he was far too old for her (or at least that is what she told herself) but she would never admit that it did not stop her from liking the man.
"And I heard that Isolde was not coming, she is apparently staying at Redcliffe with Connor. You will not have to endure her Pup." Bryce continued, he winked at his daughter who chuckled.
They arrived at the reception hall's doors, far too quickly to Aífe's tastes.
Bryce turned to look at his daughter and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Remember Aífe, all you have to do is mingle with people, just a nod and smile from time to time will be sufficient, I do not expect you to hold a conversation with Vaughan Kendells for example. It is just a matter of a few hours and then everyone will be gone." Aífe's father kissed her on the forehead. "Ready ?" he then added looking at her with an amused expression.
"Not really no, do you think I could crawl under a table at some point ?" she asked her father, her eyes fixated at the door.
"No escaping, no hiding, no fighting and no pretending Grimm is sick". Bryce said looking at Aífe's hound who whined in reaction.
The Teyrn then opened the doors, only to discover a large crowd of nobles who were now, all looking at Aífe.
"You know I prefer more discreet entrances, right ?" Aífe whispered to her father who laughed.
"Your mother insisted." he said while escorting her in the hall. Of course she did.

Eleanor Cousland waited patiently for her next to Oriana and Fergus (who was restraining himself from laughing) and took Aífe's arm, only to introduce her to some nobles.
Aífe looked at the crowd and recognized some faces she saw once or twice. Habren Bryland was there much to her dismay, she scrutinized every inch of Aífe's outfit and as usual had that disdainful expression on her face. Nathaniel Howe was there too, he was discussing with his sister Delilah and his brother Thomas who, caught Aífe's glance and smiled at her in return. Happily for her, he did not come and speak to her. Aífe continued her little eye patrol while her mother continued to introduce her to a certain Bann Sighard and the Arl Gallagher Wulff. She just nodded from time to time like her father told her to, she made polite conversations and laughed when the guests attempted to joke. Only late in the evening did her mother decide to leave her side and much to Aífe's pleasure, she was now able to go where she had spotted some interesting things : the buffet.
Oren was already eating more cake than his mouth could handle, making him look like a chipmunk.
Grimm sat next to Oren, wagging his tail when the child offered him some of his precious cake.
Aífe made her way through the crowd, only to be interrupted just before reaching her goal.
"Lady Cousland it has been a while !" Aífe turned around only to see that the person who just spoke to her was Lady Landra's son, Dairren.
"Indeed it has, how are you doing ?" she wanted to cut this short, if Oren kept eating that cake as he was doing now, there would not be a crumble left for her.
"Oh you know how it is, my mother keeps asking me when I will find a wife that will be to my tastes, she keeps presenting me to different ladies but none of them suit me !" he said while looking at Aífe. Too much informations she thought, I did not ask for a story about your sentimental life... she internally eyerolled and just smiled politely at him. She spotted a red-headed man in the distance and immediately knew what she had to do.
"I am really sorry Dairren but I shall take my leave from you, Ser Gilmore seems to be requesting my presence. It was a pleasure to talk to you." she managed her best fake smile and headed to Ser Gilmore before Dairren could say anything.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." she told Ser Gilmore who seemed surprised to see her almost rush to him.
"Escaping from someone ?" she heard a manly voice say coming from behind her.
"Fergus." if she could have growled his name, she would have. "Why exactly did not you remind me about this reception ?..."
"Well for you to have the surprise of course, and imagining your face while discovering the dress is just priceless." Aífe's brother said, chuckling and evading her poor attempts at kicking him.
"This dress is too tight, I cannot even kick you properly, but you will see once I am out of this thing..." she threatened him.
"This will have to wait, in the meantime, I get to enjoy seeing you pretending to be a perfect little socialite." He smirked. If not for all the nobles in the room and for her mother, she would have punched him in the face.
"Father wanted to see you by the way, he is waiting for you in his study." Fergus then said, suddenly very serious.
Aífe headed to her father's study, she was worried, she did not know what he wanted to tell her, had one of the nobles complained about her behaviour ? Was he disappointed by something she had done ? Or maybe he was simple giving her the chance to escape the reception for a bit.
She hoped it to be the last option as she knocked and opened the door. Bryce Cousland was sitting at his desk, a package had been put on it.
"Close the door Pup, I do not want anyone to bother us." Bryce said while standing up. He took the package from his desk and put it in Aífe's hands.
"I know tonight was complicated for you and for your nerves." he said while chuckling. "But I was told by your mother that your behaviour had been exemplary so here is a little something for you, happy Satinalia Pup."
Aífe could not believe she had forgotten about Satinalia, that explains the big reception she thought to herself. She quickly unwrapped the present, too impatient to see what was inside.
As soon as she saw what it contained she could not believe her eyes. Two blades were in the box, both of excellent craftsmanship. They looked expensive and extremely sharp. Aífe took them in her hands and then looked at her father.
"The hilt is made of Dragonbone, if you do not like them, I can always ask for the smith to do something else for you, maybe a beautiful tiara that will go with your dress ?" her father was laughing, obviously proud of his little joke.
"Haha. They are perfect Papa, thank you, I cannot wait to test them. I will have to ask Fergus to train with me, I have a score to settle." she put the blades on the desk and hugged her father close.
"I love you, and I hope you know it." Aífe then said while looking at her father.
"Of course I do Pup, and I love you too." Bryce Cousland then replied, a smile on his face.

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Aífe was sitting against a tree, she glanced at Alistair and Nelaros who were asleep by the campfire.
She looked down at the blades she was holding in her hands, soflty caressing them.
Grimm approached her and licked her face, as if he wanted to remove the pain of that old memory, he then whined while putting his head right in front of hers. Aífe scratched his head and held him close to her as she whispered these words in his ear : "Happy Satinalia to you too boy."

*Author's comments :

Here's a oneshot for my friend CouslandSpitfire ! Since I got her name for the Secret Santa thingie we did in the Thedas United group on Facebook I made that little oneshot about her character Aífe and what I imagined she could have gone through in her now past life. I still added a little reference to her actual fanfic "Requiem For The Lost" so that the whole oneshot could just be a memory of Aífe. Or something completely A/U, it's up to you and what you prefer :p. Anyway, I hope she'll like it, I certainly loved doing it ! And I also wanted to thank JayRain for making an adorable oneshot for me ! Dear DA fans, you rock ! ;)
[Also here's the dress I had in mind (and that I'm not picturing Aífe wearing) And the haircut I thought looked natural and that Aífe would like ^^]