Disclaimer: I do NOT own Dragon Age or anything related to it.


"All those poor elves I haven't set free yet, having to stay over during Christmas because there aren't enough hats!"
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Prologue 4:Zoë Tabris


"I hate going to the market."

Looking up from the basket under her arm and the shopping list in her hand, Zoë Tabris cocked her head to the side and raised an amused eyebrow at her cousin's miffed grumble. Shianni was a fiery redhead and a well-known troublemaker in the Alienage and so was Zoë, but unlike her cousin, the older girl was much more skilled when it came to avoiding getting caught or lectured about it, something Shianni failed at miserably. Shaking her head, Zoë felt her ankle-length strawberry blonde braids flick lightly against her back and gave a snort of amusement.

"You hate everything that doesn't involve getting into trouble." Shianni crossed her arms and glowered in a rather sullen manner, causing Zoë to smirk widely at her. Since Shianni's father had passed away when they were still children shortly after her mother died giving birth to Shianni, she and Soris were taken in by Zoë and her parents. Being older than them both, Zoë often acted like a big sister to her younger cousins and was very protective, especially after Adaia was murdered by a group of shemlen while defending Zoë and several other elves from the lustful bastards after they attacked the market with the intention of raping women and children. The fire in Adaia's eyes was unmistakeable as she made quick work of the guards, only to perish when the shem in charge stabbed her through the heart just as she did the same to him.

Zoë never really recovered emotionally from the ordeal. Her sleep was almost always plagued by terrible nightmares that forced her to relive her mamae's death and all of them ended the exact same way; Adaia gave her one final smile before her eyes closed and her breathing stopped. Next thing she knew, the elven girl had woken up screaming, sweating, and sobbing as her father desperately tried to comfort her, but as soon as she was asleep again, the dreams returned and each time they only got worse.

"Like you're any better." Shianni retorted.

"Better at not getting caught than you are, that's for sure." Zoë said dryly as she shoved the shopping list into Shianni's hands and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear."Now quit your whining and read me the first thing on the list. The sooner we finish up here, the sooner we can go home." When Shianni did not do as she said, the older elf heaved a sigh and threw her a stern look."Shianni, if you don't help me here, then I'm going to tell Alarith that you were the one who put glue in his moccasins last week."

Shianni's eyes went wide and quickly narrowed."You wouldn't dare."

Zoë smirked, taking a small step closer to her."Try me, cousin."

"Alright, alright, fine." Shianni grumbled to herself with a very annoyed sigh before taking a look at the list."First thing on the list is...mushrooms?" She looked up from the list and quirked an eyebrow."We haven't needed mushrooms in years, who's cooking tonight?"

"I am." Zoë smiled."The other day I was going through one of my mother's cookbooks so I could find that special vegetable soup she used to make when I was a kid. I thought it would be nice if I tried making it myself. One of the ingredients I need are mushrooms."

"Oh, I remember that." Shianni nodded slowly and smiled."Remember how you, me, and Soris would always beg for seconds until we were all too full to eat anymore?"

Zoë laughed."And then Father would scold us about eating too much when we got those terrible stomachaches all night." The smile soon faded from her lips as she sighed and returned to reality."Come on, I wanna get all these ingredients I need for the soup before sunset. The last thing I want is for those shemlen guards to get a nice little chance to turn in a couple of lady elves wandering out in the dark after curfew."

"Tell me about it." Shianni muttered in agreement.


"What's taking so long? I'm starving."

Rolling her eyes at Soris's complaint, Zoë stirred a large wooden spoon in the pot as Shianni took out four bowls and spoons. Soris had been whining nonstop for almost an hour now and how Zoë simply managed to ignore him rather than just smack him upside the head so he would shut up already was a mystery to Shianni, who would've gladly done so a long time ago.

"Almost ready, Soris." Zoë said over her shoulder as she tasted the soup and hummed in delicious content, nodding to herself. She beckoned Shianni over, letting the redhead try it as well and smiling when she saw her grin widely at how good it tasted."You can stop complaining and sit down now, Soris." She then called her father over."Father, dinner's ready."

"You never did tell me what you were cooking tonight, my dear." Cyrion stated, raising an eyebrow questionably as he took a seat beside Soris. Zoë gave Shianni a grin and the redhead couldn't help but return it. She could just picture what her father's reaction would be when he saw the dish her mother would always love cooking for everyone.

"It smells familiar." Soris commented, sniffing the air.

"It should." Zoë said, smiling to herself."You just haven't had it in a very long time."

From the corner of her eye, she saw her father's eyes narrow and could've sworn she heard something similar to a ghost of a sigh escape his lips. A frown spread across her face when she heard this. Did he already realize what was for dinner? If so, then why did he seem so...cross or unhappy about the meal? She brushed it off as simply being her imagination and assured herself that everything would be just fine as Shianni helped her fill the bowls up with soup.

"Oh." Cyrion said simply as Zoë and Shianni sat down at the table."Your mother's old soup."

"Uh, yeah." Zoë gave a small nod, her smile threatening to falter at the uninterested tone in her father's voice."I found it in her cookbooks and just thought-" She was suddenly cut off when Cyrion calmly pushed his bowl away and stood up to leave.

"I don't think I'm very hungry tonight." He murmured simply."I'll see you all in the morning."

As soon as the door to her father's room closed, Zoë swallowed down a sob that threatened to escape her throat and tightened her grip on the spoon as she started to eat quietly. She felt Shianni touch her arm, but the former shrugged her off and grabbed a piece of bread, her teeth roughly digging into the viand. Shianni exchanged worried looks with Soris, both of them stealing glances at a clearly upset and sulky Zoë, the three young elves drifting in silence as they ate. Soris eventually cleared this throat in an attempt to break the silence.

"This soup tastes great, cousin." He gave a weak smile that caused Zoë to smile sadly in gratitude for the small compliment. She lowered her eyes and sigh quietly to herself.

"Thanks." Her voice was weak at best, but both of her cousins were glad that she at least wasn't so quiet anymore. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and did her best to sound jovial."Anyone for seconds?"

Both Soris and Shianni nodded eagerly and Zoë started to feel a little bit better.


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Elven Translations:

Shem/Shemlen - (Literally: Quick children) Humans

Mamae - Mother

Name meaning:

Zoë - Life

Next up: Chapter 1:Mirror, Mirror