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"...And the whole world was looking to get drowned
Trees were a fist shaking themselves at the clouds
I looked over curtains and it was then that I knew
Only a full house gonna make it through..."
-Josh Ritter, "Thin Blue Flame"
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9:13 Dragon
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Ferelden
Malcolm Hawke opened the door that divided the shack he currently called a home into two rooms. He moved quickly from the bedroom into the slightly larger living area. He went to the basin to wash blood from his hands and wrists. Then he turned to his daughter, curled on her little cot, fast asleep.
He crouched beside the girl. Gently, he rubbed her back. "Sarai, dear heart, wake up."
"Hm?" The toddler sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Don't you want to meet the babies?"
Sleep vanished from her face and she nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I wanna meet da babies!"
With a wide grin, he scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom. Leandra, his wife and her mother, was lying in the bed, skin shiny with sweat. She cradled a tiny form in each arm. Her expression was tired but happy.
"Mama," the girl said, reaching out her arms.
"Mama can't hold you right now. She's holding the babies. Your brother and sister."
"Babies?"
"That's right. Look, that's Carver, and that's Bethany." Malcolm squatted down so his eldest could have a closer look at the newborns. "Now, Sarai, I want to tell you something very important. You're a big sister now."
"Big fifter?" she asked.
"That's right, big sister. That means it's your job to look after your baby brother and baby sister. You have to take care of them."
"Malcom," Leandra said softly as a shadow darkened her features. "Don't. She's too young for this."
"I'm a big girl!" Sarai protested.
Malcolm nodded. "I know you are. That's why you have to promise to always protect Carver and Bethany. Okay?"
"Okay!"
"That's my good girl. Now let's put you back to bed, hm?"
~—~
Anderfels
The boy was the middle child, three of five, and he was a disappointment to his father. His father had never said as much, but he didn't have to. Unlike his two older brothers, and even his younger siblings, the third boy was soft. He had no fondness for working with his hands, and he hated to get dirty. For a family struggling to scrape an existence out of the Blight-cursed earth, he was a liability.
The boy didn't mind being a disappointment to his father, most times. It only bothered him when the man had been drinking and would smack him out of the way, or kick him if he got underfoot. The boy didn't mind, though, because he knew he was his mother's favorite. She had never said as much, either, but she didn't have to. She coddled him. She slipped him extra bits of food when her husband wasn't looking. When he had bad dreams, she held him close and stroked his hair.
On his eighth birthday, she gave him an embroidered pillow, whispering, "Now, liebling, don't let your brothers take this away from you. It's your gift."
The older boys had teased him, of course. When teasing lost its appeal, they tried to grab the pillow out of his hands. He clutched it tightly, wrapping his whole thin body around the gift. His brothers kicked him a few times, then left to seek another source of entertainment. He crawled over to his thin mattress and let the pillow soak up his tears. He wished, with the fervor only a child can muster, that he had no siblings.
~—~
[Author's Note: This is a prequel to my other stories (find them through my profile if you're interested), with the same Hawke character, but it will stand on its own if you haven't read them. A few comments about the story:
I was partly inspired by the song "Thin Blue Flame" by Josh Ritter - hence the title. I highly recommend you go listen to some Josh Ritter immediately.
In my personal continuity, I'm assuming Hawke is about three years older than Bethany and Carver, and that Anders is about five years older than Hawke.
I'm also assuming that the Anderfels is loosely based on medieval Germany, so I'm going to throw a few German words and phrases in. I do not actually speak German. Please correct me if I mess something up.]