Please forgive any mistakes, as I don't have a beta for this

Pride and Joy

The little house, made of simple wood, was quiet, except for the dulcet tones of Mama's soft humming. Kali sat at the table with her sewing kit out, trying to make the stitches of her mending neat and tight. Every once in a while, she would lift her head to see Mama fluttering around in their modest little kitchen area.

Mama always loved to sing while she cooked; she said it made the food taste better. Her long blonde hair swung around her as if dancing to her tune while she grabbed this or that spice, and added it to the small pot. As the stew slowly began to warm up, Kali could smell the delicious scent of vegetables; it made her hungry, and her stomach growled as if in agreement.

After a time, Mama turned from the little stove area and saw Kali watching her. She covered her face with her long hands, and peeked between her slim fingers, making a face that sent Kali into a fit of giggles.

She pranced over to the table. "Let me see how the mending is going." She plucked one of the finished socks from Kali's basket, and turned it over in her hand. She studied the seams for a moment, before glancing back up. "Look at how neat these stitches are!" She suddenly frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm...how old are you now?" She tapped her chin with her finger, pretending to forget the age of her only child.

Kali set her sewing down with an offended air. "I'm ten, Mama! I'm almost eleven now!" Her lower lip stuck out.

"Oh, that's right!" Mama shook her head in mock sadness, and Kali realized that she was teasing her. "You're practically an adult now!" She tilted her head, and a bright smile spread over her beautiful face. "Hmm, I think you're old enough to start mending actual clothing, don't you?"

Kali hopped up from her chair, unable to remain seated. "Really?" She loved sewing with a passion, and Mama had promised her that if she did a good job mending Father's old socks, she could start mending some of their clothing, with the pretty designs. They weren't plain and boring, like the stuff she usually mended, and she was excited at the thought of finding pretty patches to mach the simple swirls and patterns on Mama's dresses, or Father's tunics. If she practiced really hard, one day she might even be able to make her own clothing!

Laughter bubbled from Mama's long throat, and she put an arm around Kali's shoulders. "Of course! You're going to be best seamstress in all of Denerim one day, aren't you?" She tucked Kali's golden hair behind her ear, and her voice grew tender. "What are we going to do with you? Such skill with cloth, and soon you'll be the most beautiful girl in all of Ferelden; how are we ever going to find a husband for you? Boys will be too nervous around you to do anything but stand and stare."

"I won't be as pretty as you, Mama!" Kali said determinedly. She knew that her mother was the most beautiful woman in the whole world. Every time Mama set foot outside, she was gaped at by every single man they encountered. Even the men who lived around them, and were used to Mama's extraordinary looks, couldn't help but watch her as she passed. No merchant ever sold her anything at full price, and she could charm almost anyone into doing whatever she wanted, just by smiling at them.

When Kali was little, she would twirl Mama's hair around her small fingers, unable to decide if it was made of gold or silver. It was a point of pride for her, whenever people told her how much she looked like her mother; she would stare at her reflection in the well, trying to determine if her blonde hair was a match to Mama's. It was close, but Kali's had more gold in it. But they shared the exact same wide, bright green eyes. It was the feature Kali was most proud of.

The door to their small home was suddenly flung open, and Kali saw her thirteen year old cousin, Shianni, standing on the threshold with an offended look on her face. "I need to get out of this rat hole right now, or I'm going to go crazy!" Her voice rose dramatically.

Shianni and her brother Soris had lived with Kali's family for years, ever since their parents passed away from one of the many sicknesses that plagued that alienage, and over the years had become a brother and sister to Kali. But while Soris was quiet and somewhat shy, similar to Kali in behavior, Shianni was always on fire about something. Mama liked to joke that Shianni's blazing personality was what made her hair so red.

"Did you get into another fight?" Mama asked, amusement in the back of her throat.

Shianni had something of a reputation around the alienage, since she usually relied on her fists to solve most of her problems. One of the girls, Letia, had once made the unfortunate mistake of making fun of Shianni's hair one time. Kali wasn't sure what exactly her cousin had done to the poor girl, but now she always seemed to suddenly disappear whenever Shianni came around.

Father always tried to tell her to be more calm, but Mama seemed to approve of Shianni's blunt way of handling things. She always said that Shianni could be counted on to take care of herself; she'd never have to rely on someone else to take care of her.

Shianni rolled her eyes. "No, I didn't get into another fight, Aunt Adaia. I just want to get out of here for a while, but Uncle Cyrion said we can't leave the alienage unless you come with us. I've been stuck here all day!" Out of the many things that made Shianni angry, the alienage was certainly at the top of the list. She looked for any excuse to leave it.

Mama smiled indulgently, and glanced over to the stove, where the stew was still warming. The fire was made from poor materials; it took quite a while to heat up enough to cook the food. "Well, we have some time before the stew is heated, so I don't see any harm in going to the market for a while. There's only a few hours left until sundown; I'm sure we'll can leave for a bit." It was a rule that elves had to be back in the alienage by the time the sun set; if they were caught outside at night they were often mistaken for thieves, and arrested or killed.

She walked over to the stove, and make sure that the small fire was blocked in so it wouldn't spit embers on the house, and led the girls outside.

When Kali stepped outside, she felt the familiar wave of sadness at seeing the place where she and her family lived. No one took the time to make the alienage look nice, so the whole place seemed to be falling apart. In some places the path itself was nothing but a piece of rotted wood, and weeds were clustered in every corner. The homes were wearing down; there was nothing new, or clean.

Kali looked up at Mama, and pulled lightly on her sleeve. "How come our home is so much different from where the humans live?"

Mama looked down at her, and there was something in her green eyes that Kali couldn't recognize. She thought for a moment, and when she answered she spoke slowly, in a rare moment of seriousness. "Humans...tend to think that elves aren't as important as they are. Most of them are raised to see us as lesser beings, so they see no problem with keeping us in places like this."

Shianni stomped her foot impatiently. "We live here because we let the humans treat us like this!"

Mama shook her head. "Not all humans are evil, Shianni. Some of them are very kind." She sighed. "But, I suppose those kind humans are few and far between. One day, I hope that will change."

She flashed the two girls a grin. "But enough of such thoughts. Now, instead of going to the market, I think we should visit a friend of mine that I haven't seen in a while. Cyrion's been having a hard week at Bann Rodolf's estate, and I think it might cheer him up to come home to a warm cup of mead."

Kali tilted her head. "Drinking mead will cheer Father up?"

Shianni rolled her eyes, with all the superiority of her thirteen years, but Mama laughed. "Drinking cheers almost everyone up, sweetie. It'll be a nice surprise for him when he comes home."

Instead of taking the normal path to the market, where Kali would have imagined Mama's friend to be, the two girls were led down a back alley. Kali didn't like being there; the sun was blocked out by the tall houses, and foreboding shadows were cast all across the walkway. It made her nervous; what if there were thieves or murders hiding in the darkness?

She glanced hesitantly at Mama, and saw the familiar outline of a knife strapped to her forearm, covered by the sleeve of her dress. Mama never followed the rule that elves weren't allowed to carry weapons; she said it was important for a woman to be able to defend herself. If she was caught by the guards she would be in a lot of trouble, but the thought never seemed to bother her.

Of course, it made sense that Mama wouldn't listen to such a rule, since she had probably been carrying weapons since she was old enough to use them. Before getting married, Mama had been a highly skilled rogue, known throughout the underbelly of Denerim for the stealth of her thefts, and the swiftness of her attacks. She once told Kali that she made a lot of money by selling her skills, but she never killed, and she kept to a sense of honor. She would break into a noble's estate, but she would never rob an orphan. It seemed like Mama knew almost everyone in Denerim from her time as a thief, but no one ever told the guards about her. She told Kali that one of the benefits of being a thief, was that her targets rarely knew what she looked like. The only ones who knew who she was, and what she had done, were people who wouldn't betray her.

She didn't do anything like that anymore, but she never kept any parts of her old life a secret. She said it was an example of how not to live; she wanted Kali to find a skill that would allow her to have honest work.

After a little while of walking through the back streets, with Mama and Shianni gossiping the whole time about everyone in the alienage, they eventually came to a very pretty building with a large sign over the door that read: The Pearl. Kali looked at the flowers decorated along the path leading to the door, and the blossoming trees scattered around the outside. It was prettier than anything she'd ever seen before, and when Mama pushed the door open, Kali caught the scent of delicious food mixed with something sweet.

The small entrance room was clean and almost as pretty as the outside, with polished wooden floors and beautiful paintings of scenery on the walls. Kali could see a much larger room through an open door, that looked like a tavern area. She could hear women laughing musically and men singing obnoxiously, and decided that this must be like the Gnawed Noble Tavern. That place was only for rich nobles; maybe this was where the rest of the people came to drink.

Shianni hesitated near the entrance, and glanced around. She didn't seem as awed by the place as Kali was; she looked almost suspicious. "Aunt Adaia, isn't this...?"

"A whorehouse?" Mama asked brightly. "Indeed it is."

"What's a whorehouse?" Kali asked. She had never heard of such a thing before.

Mama laughed, and patted Kali's long blonde waves. "A whorehouse is a place where women sell their...charms, for money."

But Kali's confusion only deepened. What does that mean, to sell their charms? She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Shianni put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head, indicating that she would explain it all later.

There was a delicate squeal from behind the counter, and Kali looked to see a very pretty woman fluttering towards Mama. "Adaia!" She held her arms out, and when she embraced Mama tightly, Kali caught the scent of sweet smelling perfume. The woman herself must be rich, since her dress was made of very expensive fabric; alone, it was worth more than Mama's entire wardrobe.

"I haven't seen you in months! How are you, dear?" She had a strange accent, but Kali decided that it sounded nice. Her words floated together with a melodic tone; she sounded elegant.

"Hello Sanga," Mama said warmly. "I have no real complaints, as of late." The two women laughed, as if at some personal joke, and Mama put a tender hand on Kali's bright hair. "I don't think you've met my daughter, Kali?" She warmly touched Shianni's shoulder. "Or my niece, Shianni?"

Sanga laughed. "Ah yes, you are a family woman now." She shook her dark head. "Such a shame." She looked back at the two girls, and chucked Kali fondly under the chin. "But such beautiful little girls you have! Tell me, do you have time to stay for a bit? We have much to catch up on, no?"

Mama shook her head. "I'm afraid not today; I have to get the girls home." Her voice took on a flattering tone. "We simply came to purchase some of the best mead in Denerim."

Sanga chuckled. "Come now, Adaia. You know as well as I, that our mead is not what The Pearl is famous for." Her eyebrow rose slyly. "Perhaps you came here for your mead because you thought to look for a discount, yes?" She held the back of her hand to her mouth, and continued to laugh; even such a small movement seemed very elegant to Kali. "How can I say no, to such an old friend?"

She snapped her fingers, and a young elf boy, only about four years older than Kali, suddenly stepped out from the back room; Sanga didn't bother to turn to him. "Go retrieve one of the jugs of our new mead." The boy bowed and scurried off, while Sanga smiled. "We have recently received a few cases of some delicious honeyed mead from my cousin in Orlais. I am sure you will love it!"

The two women gossiped together about various things while they waited. Kali tried to listen to them, but they were talking about people she didn't know, and laughing about jokes that didn't seem funny. Why would a man be naked? And why is it funny that his nakedness scared one of the women?

Frustrated by her lack of understanding, she settled for glancing around the room with Shianni. Her cousin was frowning in displeasure. From the angle where they were standing, they couldn't see much in the larger room, but Shianni kept peeking around to look. She gasped quietly. "There are dwarves here!"

Kali stretched out her neck and followed Shianni's gaze; sure enough, she could see a few dwarven women amidst the group of everyone else. They were wearing almost nothing at all, and sat around some of the drunk men, laughing and batting their eyes. Even though they were sitting, Kali had to stifle a giggle at how short they were. She found dwarves funny; even the adults were barely taller than she was. But Shianni told her that dwarves got really mad if someone made fun of their height.

Soon, the boy came back with a sealed jug, and Mama passed Sanga a silver coin. The two women exchanged farewells, with Mama promising to return soon, and Mama ushered Kali and Shianni out of the Pearl.

Once outside the streets, Shianni twisted around to face Mama. "Aunt Adaia, how do you know that woman?" There was judgment in her voice; she seemed angry about something, but Kali couldn't understand why she would be mad.

Mama smiled brightly. "I used to help Sanga out." Shianni gasped, clearly scandalized about something, but before she could say anything, Mama continued. "I wasn't one of the girls, but I helped out in different ways. You see, sometimes customers try to leave without paying, or they don't pay the full amount that they owe." She winked at Kali, with something of a sly grin on her face. "Well, Sanga got tired of it. And since the guards were too busy to help out as often as they were needed, she hired me to ensure that the customers paid every last bit that they owed."

That seemed to settle Shianni quite a bit, and Mama smiled. "Sanga treats her girls much better than most of the other brothels you'll find around here, and she and I became friends."

Shianni sighed dreamily. "Why would you give up a life like that?" She sounded wistful.

Mama laughed. "It gets tiring very quickly, I promise. I didn't like always having to look over my shoulder, constantly wondering if today was the day when I would eventually get caught."

Kali tilted her head. "What did Father think about that kind of life?" Father was always trying to shy away from humans; he counseled all of them that it was wise to never attract the notice of any of the nobles. She couldn't imagine him being okay with the life Mama lived.

Mama seemed to find her question funny. "I stopped doing things like that after we married, and he never brought it up. When my parents first arranged my marriage to Cyrion, I swore that I'd run away from Denerim. I didn't know where I was going to run, of course, but I wasn't about to let myself be tied down to a total stranger." She smiled at the memory. "But when I met him, he was so kind to me. He knew all about me, of course; everyone in the alienage knew how I was, and no one could resist the urge to fill his head with all sorts of wilds stories about me. The poor man was practically shaking when we met! But even so, he told me that he would do everything he could to be a good husband to me, as long as I was good to him. He never made any comments, or questions, about the life he surely knew I lead."

She patted Kali on the head. "In that moment, I knew that I wanted to stop all the stealing and sneaking around; I wanted to build a peaceful life with him. Your father gave me that chance."

Shianni frowned sulkily. "Well, you got lucky. I just know my future husband's going to be an idiot!"

"Now Shianni, you know very well that I have a say in who you, and Kali, and Soris marry." Mama tutted. "I wouldn't let any of you be married to someone that you couldn't love."

Shianni continued to protest, but Kali dismissed her cousin's concerns. Their marriages were years away. Traditionally, elven girls were married around the age of twenty. Because Kali was the only daughter of the house, she would be the one who married first; once she was wed, Shianni and Soris could find their own husband and wife. It seemed like a strange custom, but it was how things were done.

But Kali's marriage was at least ten years away; a lifetime!

As they reached the alienage, Shianni skipped off from the two of them to find Soris, and bring him home for supper.

Mama turned to Kali. "Come on, sweetie. Let's get ready for your father to come home. He'll have a nice, hot meal, and a warm cup of mead. And we can tell him that the mead is your present to him!"

Kali beamed. "Okay!" She slipped her hand into Mama's as the two of them walked home.

This is a random little story about the life Kali had before she became a Grey Warden. Chapters won't really follow any sort of plot, but I like writing about Kali's life. She makes me laugh with her innocence; she almost makes Alistair seem as naughty as Zevran.

Also, I'm aware that my Adaia looks nothing like the Adaia you encounter when you play Leliana's Song, but quite frankly, I don't really like that DLC. I don't like how they made Adaia's character, when its strongly hinted that she was a troublemaker, and obviously strong enough for Duncan to consider recruiting her into the Grey Wardens. In the DLC she seems practically terrified. So, I'm changing her around a little bit. I like to think that, after years of raising her family and loving her husband, she's become bubbly and cheerful, someone you wouldn't automatically think would do all the things that she did. But she still looks out for her family, and knows how to protect her loved ones. She's still got the mischievous troublemaker in her ;] Plus, her being so cheerful and energetic is what shaped Kali into the woman she is.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter into the glimpse of Kali's life. ~Seika