Her earliest memory was from when she was three years old. She was sitting on Papa's lap and they were talking.
"Papa?"
"Yes, my little Pebble?" She liked being called 'little Pebble' – that was Papa's special name for just her.
"Rica's papa lives with them."
Papa looked sad. "Yes, I know."
"Can you come live with us? I miss you."
Papa frowned, which made her sad. But he gave her a big hug anyway. "I would dearly love to, little Pebble. But if I come live with you I can't help your Mama take care of you." He kissed the top of her head. "I miss you too, my darling girl, when I have to go home."
She thought about that for a minute. "Then we should live with you! Then you can take care of us and we won't miss you!"
Papa put her back on his lap and looked at her. He didn't look happy, but she didn't think he was mad at her. He traced the mark on her cheek that matched Mama's. "Do you remember this?" She nodded expectantly. "This mark that the Shapers gave you means that you have to live here, for now."
"But why, Papa?"
"Because, my little Pebble, there are rules that even grown-ups have to follow. And there is a rule that says that good little girls have to stay with their mamas. And since you're a good little girl, and I love both you and your mama very much, I want you two to stay together for me."
She thought that was a good rule, but she didn't understand. "But Mama can come live with you too, can't she?"
Papa looked very sad now and shook his head. "No, my little Pebble, she can't. There is another rule that says I have to get the people in charge of my house to let you come and they won't let me."
She crossed her arms and pouted. "That's a dumb rule."
Papa laughed and hugged her again. "Yes, it is a dumb rule, little Pebble. But you remember that I love you and Mama, and that Mama loves you too. Even when I'm not here, I love you."
She hugged Papa back. "I love you too, Papa."
-0-0-0-
The bad men came when she was five.
There was a knock on the door. Mama pushed her back into the secret room, the one she stayed in every time the bad men came to yell at Mama. "Erna, listen to me," she said quietly. She was using her serious voice. "You must stay quiet. And you stay in there until Papa or I come to get you, no matter what."
She looked at Mama, and Mama looked very scared. "I promise, Mama." She gave Mama a hug and Mama pushed the stone over the secret room.
She hated the secret room. It was smaller than the other room in their house and it was dark. It scared her to go in there, because Mama was scared when she went in there. She sat huddled with her chin on her knees and hugged her legs. She heard Mama arguing with some men in the other room.
"You tell that tailor you're whoring for that he needs to pay his protection money."
"He already paid you this month. You go tell your boss that." Mama sounded mad.
"He didn't pay enough, bitch. The rate has increased." There was a silence and then the man said something she couldn't hear behind the stone because it was too quiet.
"You leave my baby OUT of this!" There was a crash, and then silence again.
"Who do you think you are, WHORE! You need to learn your place. Boys, keep the whore under control while I teach her some manners."
She shivered as she heard Mama's screams. They went on forever. She wanted to cry, but Mama said to be quiet, so she bit her hand instead and kept the tears silent. She was really scared; this never happened before. The bad men laughed and Mama screamed and screamed and screamed …
Finally, it got quiet, but nobody came to get her. Mama said it was really important to stay there until Mama or Papa could come and get her, and she wanted to be good for Mama, so she stayed there, crying silently. She tasted blood where she had bitten her own hand, but even with her hurt she was a good girl and stayed quiet.
After a long, long time, the stone moved away from her secret room and she saw Mama's face. Mama had been crying too and there was blood on her dress. She ran out of her secret room and gave Mama a hug.
"I'm sorry, Mama. I tried really hard to be good." She cried as she hugged Mama around the neck.
Mama cried too. "You were extra good, Erna. I'm proud of you. You're a good girl," and she rocked Erna back and forth, hugging her tight.
Mama walked slowly for the next few days, and when Papa came by he was extra sad. But, still, he told Erna that she was his little Pebble, and that he loved her and Mama still. But after that, Mama cried a lot more and Papa always looked worried. Mama didn't smile again for a long time and it seemed like it was hard for her to hug Papa.
-0-0-0-
Her baby brother was born several months later. She had just turned six.
"Can I hold him, Mama? Please?" She hovered around the little bundle that Mama was holding, hoping that she'd get the chance to play with the baby. "I promise I'll be careful!"
Mama carefully stroked her hair with the hand that wasn't holding the baby. "Not yet, little one. He's sleeping, see?"
She pouted a little. "Mama, he sleeps all the time! Doesn't he want to play?"
Mama shook her head. "He won't want to play for a while yet, Erna. You didn't either until you were a few months old. But don't worry; when he gets a little bit bigger he'll want to play all the time."
She turned away and sat on the other end of the room. She was bored and lonely. She had been really excited that she would have a little brother to play with, like Rica did, only Rica's little brother was three already and he played all the time. Babies took too much time. She wanted to have Mama hold her and hug her too, but the baby was always there. "Stupid baby," she muttered. "I wanna play with him too." She wished he would get bigger already so she would have someone to play with.
Papa arrived later that night to see the baby. He and Mama both looked over the baby and he kissed Mama's head. Mama hardly flinched this time; she must have been feeling a little better.
The best part, though, was Papa spent a lot of time with her that night. "Little Pebble," he said, "come here and sit with your Papa."
Happy to finally get some attention, she scrambled onto Papa's lap. She gave Papa a big hug. "The new baby is boring," she announced. At this, Papa laughed.
"Yes, he will be boring for a while. But it won't be too long before he gets really interesting. You'll be able to teach him everything you know." Her eyes grew wide.
"Really?"
"Really. Now, let me show you something." Papa pulled out a little pouch from his pocket. He unrolled it and there was a smooth sliver in it, with a little hole on one end, and some really thin string. "Do you see this?" She nodded. "This is a needle and thread." Papa pulled another small pouch out from his pocket and unrolled it. This bundle she recognized; it was scraps of cloth. "This is what your Papa uses to earn money to help take care of his little Pebble."
"What do you do with it? How does it work? It's so small! Can I try? I promise I'll be good!" She was excited and leaned over to look at all the pretty things.
"Patience, little Pebble, patience!" Papa laughed again and kissed the top of her head. "I'll show you how this works, but first you have to promise me something." He tilted her face to look at him. He was using his serious voice.
"What is it, Papa?"
"You have to promise me that you will be very careful with these things. You and I could get in a lot of trouble if somebody catches you doing this. You have to promise me that you'll hide these things in your secret room and never, ever let anybody see them. Can you do that for your Papa?" He smiled again. "It needs to be our secret."
"I promise Papa! I'll be very careful!" She was excited to try. And besides, keep a secret with Papa! This must be important! She had never been given such an important secret to keep before.
Papa studied her face a little longer before smiling again. "All right, little Pebble. This is how you put the thread in the needle ..."
-0-0-0-
She was thirteen the first time Beraht tried to get at her. It was just after her mother died.
"You're a pretty little thing, aren't you? Just like your mama was." The leer on Beraht's face was familiar to Erna. She'd been putting up with it from some of the casteless boys for the past year. "I can help you, you know."
Papa and Mama had already warned her many times about Beraht and how he was trying to gather girls to 'train' them to become noble-hunters. They also warned her that nothing ever came for free, and that being in that Stone-forsaken dwarf's employ was worse than being a starving casteless, regardless of the pay. If she accepted his or any of his men's offers she would end up not only forsaken by the Ancestors, but a slave as well.
"No thank you. I will manage on my own." Erna tried to be respectful while she stood her ground, but the merchant made her skin crawl. She managed to somehow avoid taking a step back while he loomed over her.
Beraht's eyes narrowed. "What are you going to do now that your mama can't protect you, girl? You have nowhere to go and your father can't be here all the time." He sneered at her and turned his back. "You'll come to me sooner or later, girl, if only to avoid having to beg on the streets." He opened the door just as Papa came to it. "Your brat is uncooperative," he told Papa. "It's too bad. It'd be a shame to see her pretty face … marred." He walked past Papa, who looked like he wanted to punch the merchant.
Papa closed the door as soon as he came into the one-room house. "Did he hurt you, Pebble?" He rarely used her nickname these days, but in his upset he reverted back to his pet name for her. "He didn't try anything, did he?"
She shook her head. "No, Papa. He offered to … help." At this, Papa's face turned red. She hurried on before he could get more upset. "I remembered what you told me, Papa, you and Mama. I told him I would manage on my own. I don't mind begging, Papa. That doesn't bother me. And I can bring Ragnar with me so that I can take care of him, so you don't have to worry about us being slaves to Beraht and his men. He just got Rica, Papa, and Rica said he's gonna make her brother work for him as soon as he's big enough! I don't want Beraht to do that to Ragnar, Papa!"
"Shh, shh, it's all right, Erna." Papa calmed down when she explained everything to him, and even started smiling at the end. "You've always been a good girl, and you still are. I had an idea, but we'll have to be very careful. If we get caught, we could get in big trouble and we'll have to leave Orzammar forever. Do you understand, little Pebble?" To leave Orzammar meant losing her stone sense and having nowhere to call home. She didn't know if she could do it, but she knew she could be careful. After all, she had kept her secret sewing talent hidden for years now, right? After just a little bit of thought, she nodded enthusiastically. Papa smiled. "All right. Go get Ragnar and your needle and thread from the secret room and I'll show you what I have in mind."
Erna hurried to the back wall and moved the chair away from the stone that hid the secret room, and then moved the stone itself. Ragnar had fallen asleep in there. She got Papa, who gently picked Ragnar up and moved him to the bed as she got out her sewing supplies and moved the stone back to hide the secret room.
Papa had laid out some fancy fabrics, large pieces, on the table. Erna fingered them gently, almost reverently. "These are really pretty, Papa. I've never seen cloth this nice! Or so big! Did you bring this for me to sew on?" Erna was really excited. Papa had said that she could stitch even better than him, and he was artisan caste, but still … to have a big piece of cloth the height of an adult dwarf to work on? This was amazing!
Papa sat down next to her and spoke quietly so they wouldn't wake Ragnar. "All right, Pebble. Our business is doing well, but we don't have enough time to make all the fancy clothing we need, so I want you to help me. For every dress you make, I'll give you your share of the profits that our merchants give me. But we have to be careful! If the Shapers or the guard find out about this then we'll both be dropped in the Deep Roads and our needles won't help us for long against the darkspawn!" He looked at Erna seriously. "You have amazing talent, Erna, and I hope that someday you'll be able to show everyone what you can do. Will you be all right if, for now, we use your talent to keep you fed, even though you can't tell anyone about it?"
She looked at Papa. "I can do this. I promise I'll be careful. I'll make you proud." Papa smiled at her and they started sewing together. They worked together in near-silence for only a few moments before Erna started to feel the need to talk. "Papa?"
"Yes, my girl?"
"Why didn't you get your house to take us after Ragnar was born?" The question had bothered at her for some time and it had always made her wonder. After all, the older girls who had birthed baby boys of higher castes were taken into those houses all the time.
Papa sighed. "I was wondering when you were going to ask that." He put his sewing down and turned to her. "Ragnar is not my son, even though I think of him that way. Your mama got into some trouble and the men who bothered her … well, some people do really awful things to each other." She knew what Papa meant. It happened in Dust Town all the time. She thought she even knew when Mama had gotten into trouble; she could still hear Mama's screams in her ears. "I actually thought about claiming that Ragnar was mine, but my house would have only taken Ragnar. And if they did, they would have forbidden me to come down here at all to take care of you and Mama." Papa sighed and looked very tired.
"Papa?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry that the dwarves in your house are a bunch of jerks."
This made Papa laugh. She was glad that she was able to do that for him, at least.
-0-0-0-
Ragnar got into another fight again.
She had just gotten home from working as a street sweeper, her twelve hour shift barely adequate to keep them from starving, and she still had another five hours' worth of sewing to do to finish that wedding gown that Papa had been commissioned. She walked in the door to see Ragnar with a black eye and bruised knuckles, sitting sullenly at the table. She sighed.
"Who was it this time?"
Ragnar sat sullenly and took a moment to answer. "Faren."
"Faren Brosca? Rica's brother?" Ragnar nodded after a moment. "Ragnar, he's three years older than you! And he's huge! And he works for Beraht! We can't afford to get their attention!" Ragnar looked at her and opened his mouth to speak, but then there was a knock on the door. She motioned for Ragnar to stay put and went to the door.
She opened it to see one of Beraht's new goons, an older boy named Leske, standing there. "Hey, Erna." He stepped inside. "Your little brother got into some trouble today. Beat up Rica's brother." He noticed Ragnar there and whistled. "Hardly got a scratch doing it, from the looks. Not bad, kid."
Erna looked at Leske. He didn't seem angry, but she didn't want to take any chances. "I'll talk to him and make sure he understands. He's only ten! Please don't hurt him." She stood in front of her little brother and put up her fists. "I'll fight you if I have to!"
Leske put his hands up. "Whoah now. Beraht didn't send me. I'm not planning on hurting anyone." At this, she relaxed a little bit, but she still stood in front of her little brother. "I just wanted to see the kid who took on a scrapper twice his size. I can see that being brave is a family thing." He looked at her consideringly. "Or maybe it's stupid." He chuckled then, disarming her completely. "Can I talk to your brother a minute?"
She looked back at Ragnar, who was watching her. He nodded, so she turned back to Leske and moved out of the way. She wasn't leaving her little brother to be alone with this hulking boy, though, so she stayed in the room. Leske nodded at her and knelt down by Ragnar, who watched him warily.
"You're pretty tough." He looked at Ragnar, who after a minute of studying him with narrow eyes, shrugged. "Listen. I know you were trying to protect your sister. I understand. I know Beraht has been trying to get her to take … gifts … from him." Her eyes widened at hearing this, but she somehow held her tongue. "How old are you, kid?"
Ragnar looked at the ground sullenly. "Ten."
Leske whistled appreciatively. "Not bad, kid." Ragnar looked up at him, surprised. "How old is she?" Leske pointed over to Erna.
" … Sixteen." Ragnar was suspicious, now. "Why?"
Leske nodded in understanding. "Okay, kid. Here's the deal. Beraht's only gonna get worse now that Erna's old enough for noble hunting. I should know. I have to watch the way he acts around the girls he's already got." Ragnar looked a little scared at first, but anger took over and he clenched his fists. "Hey, now. I said I don't want to fight you and I meant it. You two are gonna have some rough times coming up, you know that. Right?" After a minute, Ragnar nodded. "So if you can leave Faren alone, I'll teach you what I know about fighting. It'll help you when your daddy can't be around. He's not much of a fighter, anyway."
Erna was suspicious. "So what do you want in exchange?" Ragnar's eyes widened. "You have to know that we don't have any money to spare." She put her hands on her hips in a challenging posture.
Leske stood and looked at her. "I owe your daddy one. And let's just say that I'm not a big fan of Beraht taking all the pretty girls out of Dust Town." He turned back to Ragnar so he missed her blush. "We got a deal, kid? You take lessons from me and you leave Faren alone? He's all mouth anyway." Ragnar looked at Leske, still not trusting him, but nodded his head once. "Okay then. I'll come by between jobs for Beraht and teach you what I can. You stay outta trouble now, you hear?" And with that, Leske turned and left their house.
Erna sat down, suddenly unsure that her legs would hold her up. "We must be the luckiest Dusters in Orzammar," she said. Ragnar nodded at her silently.
-0-0-0-
Papa died when she was eighteen.
"PAPA!" She knelt by Papa, watching him bleed onto the floor of their home. "No, Papa, no!" He tried to speak, but all that came out was a gurgle as his head lolled back and he stopped breathing. She fought back the tears as she looked up at Ragnar, who was barely being held back by a pair of Beraht's goons. "Why? What did he ever do to you?"
"He interfered one time too many." Beraht's voice was cold. "And you, girl, belong to me now. You gotta pay off his debts." Ragnar snarled and tried to jump at Beraht as Erna stilled in shock.
"No! I WON'T!" She stood and put her fists up. She might not be any good at fighting but by the stone, she wasn't going down without defending herself. "I won't work for you, Beraht! Not now, not ever!"
Beraht started to say something, but then more of his goons burst into Erna and Ragnar's hovel. "Boss! We got a problem!"
Beraht turned and snarled at his underling. "This better be important. I'm busy."
"It is, Boss! Faren ended up in the Proving! Him and Leske – they got caught! The Proving was declared null!"
Beraht swore to himself. "You," he said as he turned to Erna. "I'll be back to deal with YOU later. You better rethink your manners, girl, or you might find yourself an only child." He motioned to his goons, who hit Ragnar over the head and dropped him on the floor as they let go of him. He turned to leave. "Let's go," he said to his men. "We need to capture those two before the guards do."
As soon as they left, Erna knelt by Ragnar. "He's still breathing," she said to herself with relief. "Ragnar, you need to wake up. We need to get out of here. Maybe … no, I don't think we can get Leske from him. I think we're gonna have to get to the surface." She shook him to try to wake him, but he'd been hit pretty hard. She talked to him quietly the entire time until he woke up.
They had put their few things into a small bag and walked out of their home when the news came that Beraht was dead. They looked at each other before going back into their home and sitting down in relief.
"We really are the luckiest Dusters in Orzammar," she said as they sat on either side of their father's body. Ragnar nodded solemnly. "Let's get Papa back to his house so he can be returned to the stone." After everything that Papa had done for them over the years, it was the very least they could do for him.
-0-0-0-
She missed Leske.
In the year and a half since she last saw him, when he got caught illegally in the Proving, she had been lonely. Working her twelve hour shifts as a street sweeper kept her occupied, and the additional five hours a day sewing helped as well, but she still had too much time to think.
She knew that Leske had been with other girls besides her – Papa had always told her she was smart, after all. But she liked to think that Leske liked her better than most of the other Dusters he knew, except for maybe Rica. But now Rica was going to be married to Bhelen, and she had always been off-limits anyway because of being a noble hunter. Having Duster babies was bad for the noble hunters' business, after all.
She sighed and swept along the street, picking up larger pieces of garbage and putting them in the bag hanging on her shoulder. Something shiny caught her eye, off to the side, so she knelt down to look at it. It was a piece of steel from a destroyed breastplate. Suddenly, she had an idea.
"Ragnar might be able to use this," she thought aloud and opened up her extra bag, putting the metal in the bag. "I wonder if there's anything else here that's useable." Nodding to herself, she kept working and keeping a lookout for anything salvageable. As she worked, she talked to herself. She hated the silence the most. When Mama and Papa were still alive, she always had someone to talk to. Ragnar never said much of anything; he always just watched and would say maybe a word or two at a time. At least he listened well. She smiled to herself as she worked and talked.
At the end of her shift, she got to her last destination. She slowly swept the narrow passage behind Papa's old house, hoping the door would open. She was lucky – today it did. Her father's old partner looked both ways, and seeing that they were alone, smiled at her.
"I have some more garbage for you," he said, winking as he handed her the bag. She knew that the contents inside would keep her up late sewing for the next few nights, but it meant money that would make the difference between starving quickly or starving slowly for her and Ragnar.
"Thank you," she said, smiling. She lowered her voice. "I really appreciate that you let me continue to work."
He put his finger to his lips in a shushing motion, then looked around nervously again. "I'll see you in three days," he said as he nodded at the bag. "Thanks for taking the extra garbage for me."
She smiled at him and he closed the door. She added the bag with the sewing job to her spare bag, and finished up work for the day.
When she returned home, she had the unpleasant surprise of seeing Jarvia's men waiting for her. Ragnar was nowhere in sight, which worried her. He made it a point to always be there if Jarvia's goons came through.
"What is it?" she asked.
The largest goon stepped forward, blocking her passage to her home. "Jarvia wants to see you. Now."
As she shook her head, she backed up a little. "I haven't done anything to bother Jarvia," she said, trying to show more confidence than she felt. "She has no reason to want to see me."
The goon narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to her, looking at her threateningly. "She got word that you're making money on the side, bitch. She wants her cut. You need … protecting … after all."
She bristled inside. "I'm not paying anybody for any protection," she spat. The goon frowned at her and started to motion for his goons to surround her when she suddenly heard a low, musical voice sound from behind and above her.
"Is there a problem here?" She turned to see a human, of all things, standing behind her. The woman had a bow on her back and was surrounded by two other humans and an elf. All of them were heavily armored and they were VERY tall. And VERY sure of themselves. The man, in particular, looked huge in full plate. The woman continued. "Are these men bothering you, miss?" She looked at Erna with knowing eyes.
Jarvia's goon looked at the newcomers with a measuring glance. "No problem, human. We were just leaving." He looked back at Erna, promise in his eyes. "We'll come back later." The unspoken promise of pain made her shiver involuntarily. He motioned to the other goons and they left, grumbling.
"Are you all right?" The woman addressed Erna directly.
"Yes. For now. They'll just be back later." She sighed. "Thanks though. Putting it off gives me a chance to find my brother."
The woman nodded. "They work for Jarvia, right?" Erna nodded. "We're going to pay her a visit now. Stay away from her, all right?" The woman's eyes twinkled and the elf with her chuckled.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Erna said quietly. "Good luck, human. You'll need it." The woman inclined her head and left with her companions. As she looked after them, she shook her head. "It's your funeral, after all."
Several hours later, she still hadn't found Ragnar. She decided to wait at home and hope that he showed up on his own. She had just put down her things when the door opened. "Ragnar! And … by the stone? Leske?"
Ragnar half-dragged Leske into the house. It was definitely him, although he looked really different. He was a lot thinner and had a heavy beard. He also looked really pale. "What happened?" Ragnar helped Leske sit in a chair.
Leske leaned on the table. He started to laugh with a rusty voice. "You'll never guess what happened. Some humans – Grey Wardens! - came through. They killed everyone in the Carta and let me out. We're free until someone new takes over!" He leaned back in the chair. "How long was I in there?"
Erna knelt on the floor. "They're … gone?" Leske nodded his head and she had to sit back on her heels for a minute as the relief nearly overwhelmed her. "Even Jarvia?"
Leske smiled and nodded before breaking out into a coughing fit. It sounded bad. She stood, worried, and pounded his back with her hand. "You're sick!"
Leske waved her away. "I'm just glad to be free before I die." He looked at her carefully then, his sunken eyes brightening just a little. "You're prettier than ever," he said as he smiled at her. "I'm glad I got to see you again." He started coughing again but she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Ragnar just shook his head and started to put together their meager dinner.
-0-0-0-
"I wonder how Ragnar is doing," she says to herself as she pulls herself from her memories and gets back to her sewing. After all, today is the big day. Ragnar was really excited to get to be in an actual Proving, and he's been gone a long time. She has no idea how long Provings go, but she figures the longer he's out there, the better he's doing. She just wishes that they had found him some armor for his hands. After all, they've managed to put him together the rest of a suit of armor and they've even found him a sword and shield over the past couple of years.
"He'll be fine, Erna. He'll be fine." She looks over to the wall, where the sole decoration in their abode hangs. Leske drew it for her just before he died. She smiles. He was a terrible artist. But still, his rendering of a nug is adorable, and she's glad to have something to remember him by. "Leske taught him everything he knows, and Leske could really fight."
She returns to her sewing. "If Rica knew that I was making the prince's first birthday outfit, she'd go into fits." She smiles again to herself as she makes a row of tiny, perfect stitches. Most of the nobles would have fits if they knew that their best outfits were made by a Duster. She laughs to herself. Just getting to see her creations on all the best-dressed Dwarves makes her happy, even if she can never take credit for it. It's worth the risk of being caught and tossed in the Deep Roads. She finishes off the row and ties off the thread, then turns the outfit right-side-out so she can take a look at the finished clothing. "Perfect," she murmurs to herself. "I think I'll make a patch with the Aeducan crest on it. King Bhelen will love it." She starts sewing again.
She finishes the patch and realizes that Ragnar still isn't back. She starts to worry. Shouldn't he have been back by now? But maybe … She starts to hope against hope that Ragnar might have actually won the Proving. That would be incredible, and they could really use the fifteen silvers that King Bhelen promised the winner of the Proving, if the winner is casteless. It would mean having a really good meal in their bellies for dinner. She might even convince Ragnar that they can go to Tapsters to get an ale. She hasn't had an ale in years, since Papa was alive.
She carefully wraps up the baby clothes and the patch, putting them in the small satchel that she will deliver to Papa's partner at the beginning of her sweeping shift the next morning, and sits. Hopefully Ragnar will be back soon. "He's seventeen, Erna. He's an adult now, and he can beat any of the other Dusters with one hand tied behind his back. He'll be fine." She talks to herself to reassure herself that he'll be fine, pacing the small floor and looking up at Leske's drawing from time to time.
After another long period, the door opens. She looks up and sees Ragnar standing in the doorway, surrounded by … "Do I smell food?" Erna's eyes widen at the bag that Ragnar's holding in his hand.
Ragnar's face unexpectedly splits into a huge grin. "Erna," he says. "I met a Grey Warden. She bought me dinner and gave me leftovers." He drops the bag on the table and unwraps it. Erna's never seen so much food in her entire life. Her mouth starts watering. "I already ate," he continues. "Eat what you want."
"There's so much!" Erna doesn't know where to begin. She finally decides on a stew. It smells like nug. It's fantastic. "You want more? I can't eat all of this." She does her best to try, however.
Ragnar actually laughs. He never has laughed much. "Don't need to tell me twice." He sits down. "That's not the best part."
Erna mumbles around her food as she shovels in the marvelous, exciting, fresh food. It's even still warm. "Whas' de bes' par?"
Ragnar smiles again. "Erna, she wants me to be a Grey Warden. And she said you can come too."
This is probably the only thing that can take Erna away from her first filling meal in forever. She knows her eyes are wide as she gulps. "... What?" For possibly the first time in her life, she's at a loss for words. Ragnar nods at her.
"You heard right, Erna. We just got to meet her tomorrow morning at that Kal' Hirol thing everybody's been talking about."
"Let's go." It doesn't matter to her that they have to leave Orzammar forever. Mama's gone, Papa's gone, Leske's gone. It doesn't matter that they'll lose their stone sense. They've been offered a place to belong, and they both know that another opportunity like this will never happen. She realizes that the hope she was feeling before was nothing. She and Ragnar, for the first time in their lives, are going to have a future. She doesn't need to think about it. This is what they need to do. "A Grey Warden! My little brother! Papa and Mama would be so proud!"
Ragnar blushes a little at Erna's observation. "I didn't believe it before, you know. But I do now."
She looks at him curiously. "Believe what?"
"We ARE the luckiest Dusters in all of Orzammar."
FIN