A/N: As usual, I own nothing that is part of the Dragon Age universe. That honor goes to Bioware and Electronic Arts.
-0-0-0-
It was Satinalia.
This Satinalia was particularly special for the denizens of Vigil's Keep, however, as it marked the completion of the repairs made to the keep after the darkspawn sieged its walls less than five years before. Thanks to the many and generous donations from the lords and ladies of Ferelden, Orlais and other countries, the keep was fully restored in record time. Since the city of Amaranthine had been repaired some years prior, the completed restoration of the keep marked the effective end to looking back on the past for the Grey Wardens and a complete focus on the future.
Because of the significance of this momentous occasion, the Grey Wardens had decided to hold a festival at the keep, with the last day of the festival coinciding with the Satinalia holiday. Vendors and merchants came from all over Ferelden to peddle their wares, performers juggled and sang and did tricks to please the masses gathered, and games were set up in every available space at the keep. For their part, many of the Wardens had family members come and stay for the duration of the festivities. Nathaniel's sister Delilah and her son Samuel came, as did Felsi and Oghren's daughter Elissa. Once the children were introduced to each other (somehow they hadn't managed to visit the keep at the same time in their short lives), Samuel and Elissa ran off together to play games and eat treats. Nobody was concerned for the four-year olds, since most of the Wardens and the keep's guards knew the children and had posted guard throughout the keep. If there was a place where two small children would have constant supervision, this was it.
Nathaniel and Elissa walked together with Oghren and Felsi as they observed the festivities. Over the years since their divorce, Oghren and Felsi had become friends, at first for the sake of their child, and later because they genuinely got on well together. Felsi would insult Oghren at nearly every opportunity and Oghren would make crass jokes to force rolled eyes or some other reaction out of Felsi. Somehow there was never much fire behind the teasing and insults, however. It was a strange relationship, but one that worked well.
As the four walked throughout the festival, they noticed that everyone was having a good time. The jugglers had attracted a huge audience, as had the minstrels. There was an acting troupe performing impromptu theater; the crowd surrounding the troupe periodically roared with laughter. The meat cooked on the outdoor fire pit was tender and juicy, causing many a chin to have juice dribbled upon it and clothing to have spots, but nobody seemed to mind. Children ran about from here to there and back again, playing games of tag or hide-and-seek, their energy feeding off that of the festival. Nathaniel thought that there would be many small children asleep and carried out of the keep by exhausted parents come sundown.
Delilah found them browsing through the merchants' wares. She was smiling, her eyes crinkling at the corners, as she regarded her older brother. "Having fun?" she asked Nathaniel after they exchanged hugs.
"Very much so. How about you?" Nathaniel smiled back at his sister.
"This festival was an excellent idea. Everyone seems to be having a grand time. Now all I need to do is find my son and make sure he's all right," Delilah mused as she looked around.
Just then, a small dustball with dark hair ran up to the adults, an even smaller dustball with red hair following close on his heels. "Mother!" the dark-haired dustball exclaimed, giving Delilah a dirty hug.
Delilah smiled at her son. "Have you two been having a good time today?" she asked as Felsi made clucking noises and pulled out a handkerchief to try to take the top layer of grime off her daughter.
"It's been sodding great!" Samuel almost shouted in his excitement.
Silence fell in their little corner of the courtyard. Delilah raised an eyebrow as Elissa tried to smother a laugh with an incredibly fake cough. Oghren looked almost innocent, but not enough to avoid the glare that Felsi had now leveled upon him. Nathaniel inwardly grimaced at the look of death Felsi was now wearing.
Delilah recovered first. "Sam, dear, please don't say 'sodding' again, all right?" She bent down to his level and looked him in the eye. "Do you remember when I was telling you about things that children shouldn't say?" Samuel nodded dutifully. "That's one of those things. Can you remember that for me, sweetie?"
"Okay!" Samuel smiled at his mother, completely unperturbed. Before Delilah could say anything else, little Elissa started to run off.
"Sam, you nughumper! Let's go!" And with that, Samuel squirmed out of his mother's grip and ran off with the little dwarven girl, the pair of children laughing and running as fast as their little legs could go.
As soon as the children were out of earshot, Felsi rounded on Oghren. "Really, Oghren! You had her for three days! Couldn't you have watched your language for THREE days?"
"I tried, really I did, Fels!" Oghren held his hands out in a gesture of defense. "But it's sodding hard to suddenly watch your tongue all the time!"
"This is important. Now Ellie's gone and corrupted Delilah's little boy! How many other parents are going to come to me and holler at me for their children learning unsuitable language?"
Delilah, ever the peacekeeper, spoke up. "It's all right, Felsi. I'll just have a talk with Sam when the festival is over." She patted the dwarven woman's arm. "He was bound to hear some coarse language around the keep anyway, what with all the soldiers here. I'm surprised it took this long, actually." Felsi was only slightly mollified, but she managed to reduce her bristling to an occasional grumble coupled with a sharp look in Oghren's direction. Oghren, for his part, had learned enough over the years to look sheepish when she did so.
The adults continued mingling and enjoying the celebration until dinnertime, when it was time to collect the children and feed them. Oghren spotted them first and waved his daughter over. As little Ellie and Sam trudged their dirty little selves over to their parents, it was Felsi's turn to look sheepish at little Ellie's next words:
"Dammit Oghren, do we have to?"