An Elf Named Hawke: Siblings

Bethany's crying woke her out of a sound sleep.

Sula Hawke opened her eyes and stretched. The small house they had moved into along the Highever coast was not the best in the world. It was drafty and the wind off of the sea could be quite cold sometimes.

Few people lived this far out, which was always a boon for the Hawke family. Father did not have to worry about people seeing him use magic occasionally, and no one was there to bother Sula about being an elf.

The loneliness got to Sula sometimes. She had seen the other children playing nearby, but they were all human.

Most of them would have nothing to do with an elf.

No…their home wasn't perfect, but as always the Hawkes made due. Father had been talking about heading south, perhaps buying a farm and finally putting down roots.

Sula did not think she would miss this place much; its faults far outweighed its advantages.

The three bedrooms did at least give them some privacy, which was a step up from some of the places that the Hawkes had lived in the last few years. Mother and Father had a room, Carver, being the only boy, had one, which left the girls to share, the single bed was large enough for the both of them.

Sula did not mind, she loved her sister and the two of them shared everything.

This is perhaps why it hurt her when she heard Bethany cry.

She sat up in bed and looked at her younger sister.

The six year old was facing away from her, but Sula could see the way the girl's shoulders were shaking. She could hear the slightly muffled whimpers.

Her elven ears twitched with curiosity.

"Bethany?"

The girl did not respond.

Sula gently reached over and touched her shoulder.

"Sister," she murmured, "What is wrong? Please tell me."

The little girl rolled over, her black hair in two fat pigtails.

She looked at Sula with weepy brown eyes.

"What is wrong?" Sula repeated.

Her little sister let out a shuddering breath.

"I…I am not like you sister," she murmured.

Sula tilted her head, not truly understanding.

Bethany pulled up the covers tighter around herself.

"I was watching you today," she continued, "Saw you…training with Father. You…you did very well."

Sula smiled slightly. Malcolm Hawke had been teaching her, training her to defend herself with a pair of daggers. In truth he had been training her since she was Bethany's age, the first time she had held a training blade was at six. In the last two years Father had intensified her training.

A solitary elf is often prey for others, he informed her, I will not have my eldest child falling victim to scum and bandits.

Sula had welcomed their training time together. At eleven she was now quite skilled with a pair of blades, and extremely quick.

Father had already started the twins' training as well. Carver was proving skilled with a great sword, while Bethany was still undecided. She did not have the speed for daggers, or the strength for swords. Father had been trying to teach her archery, but that was not a skill he was very good at himself.

The fact that she was not like her brother and older sister clearly bothered Bethany.

Sula gave her a smile.

"It is not your fault that you're not good with daggers," she said trying to reassure her, "You are better than me with a bow. You should be proud of that."

"It is not about the bow," the girl in a tiny voice, she reached up and touched her sister's face, a look of sadness showed brightly there.

Bethany's hand paused over the point of her elder sister's ear.

"I…I'm so plain compared to you. I…I have always wanted to grow up and be like you…"

The little girl's voice trailed off, she sniffled again.

"But…I…I'm not, I'm just me."

Bethany shook her head.

"It isn't fair."

Sula's eyes widened with recognition. She finally understood what was bothering Bethany.

Sula had always tried to be there for her, to protect her. It never occurred to her that…

Her elven ears rose with slight surprise.

"You want to be like me?" she said, "You…you want to be elven?"

Bethany nodded.

Sula almost laughed, but held her tongue.

Oh Maker, her sweet little sister.

If…if she only knew.

This was likely the first time a human child had looked at an elf and said that they wanted to be like one.

When she was younger, Sula did not understand why Mother and Father kept her isolated from human children, why she was only allowed to out to play with them if other elven children were around. Why elven children looked at her so strangely when Mother or Father scooped her up in a hug. She knew that she was different sure, but she just didn't understand how different.

When she was eight, she heard a human call her a knife ear for the first time. That night, Father had pulled her aside and explained to her the history between humans and elves.

That night, she learned the price of being a child of two worlds.

Father told her what he knew, he told her about the elven slaves of Tevinter, and how their Prophet had freed them and given them the Dales.

The he told her about the war that destroyed the Dales, how humans had forced the elves into the Alienages or into the woods to live as hermits.

She had cried when he told her that most humans did not like elves, that they viewed them as lesser. She had known that humans did not like elves much, but she had never realized…never realized what had happened.

In the weeks following that conversation she had did her best to hide her elven blood, she wore floppy hats or bonnets to try and hide her ears.

She…she did not want to be an elf! Not if it meant that she was not her parents' daughter.

Mother and Father put a stop to that, they did not want Sula to grow up ashamed of her elven blood. She was their daughter, and they loved her.

Here…among her parents, with her family…she was simply Sula Hawke.

It had taken her some time to come to terms with that.

Now to hear Bethany…

Sula would not deny that she sometimes envied her little sister. She could at least be herself among humans.

Sula would always have to hide.

Father hid her marshal training just as he hid his own magic. The humans in power would not appreciate an elven girl who knew how to fight. When the Hawkes were out in public Sula followed respectfully behind them, her eyes downcast. As far as the neighbors were concerned, Sula was simply the elven waif that Malcolm Hawke had taken pity on.

Few would think her his daughter.

She wanted to explain that to Bethany, to warn her about the world around them, but she was only six.

It was not yet the time.

Sula hugged her sister. She laughed lightly.

"You will never be like me sister," she purred.

Bethany looked ready to burst into tears again, but the warmth in her sister's eyes stop her.

Sula smiled.

"You will be better than me."

Emotions warred on the little girl's face as she tried to decide if her big sister was telling her the truth.

Finally, the six year old smiled.

"You promise?" Bethany asked.

Sula nodded.

The girl pulled her elder sister back into a tight hug. Sula accepted it.

There would be time to explain to Bethany about humans and elves, but that would be later.

Tonight she did not need that information.

Tonight, she needed her sister.

Sula intended not to disappoint her.

IOI

"OW!"

Carver Hawke tried to slide back while Sula applied the balm to the cut on his forehead. She could do little for the black eye, at least not until they got back to the farm, for now, she just had to try and make her brother comfortable.

"Quit being such a baby," she murmured.

The ten year old glared at her.

Sula was fifteen now, the Hawkes had been living on their farm in Lothering for almost two years now. It felt nice to not have to move around as much. Father stayed home, and did not spend all his time out hunting down mercenary work. The business of the farm held him close by, that and the need to tend to Bethany's magic.

She had only just started to show signs. Mother was worried, but Father took it in stride.

He was a far better mercenary than he was a farmer, but he did know quite a bit about magic.

He would make sure that Bethany knew about it too.

More and more of Father's time were spent watching over Bethany and the farm, which left Sula and Carver to fend for themselves. Not that that was a problem for Sula of course, she had learned quite well over the last few years to stay out of the way of the shems that looked down her.

Shems.

She knew that Father and Mother did not like that word, but sometimes…it just fit. A human in her eyes did not just her by her pointed ears, and they treated her with at least a smidgen of respect.

A shem did not; they thought them better than her because they were simply larger and had rounded ears.

Sula did not give shems the time of day.

Alas there were far more shems in this world than humans. It was most unfair.

Sula rocked back admiring her work. It was still clear that her little brother had been in fight, but at least he did not look like he had lost.

Which he had not by the way, the Black boy looked far worse.

"All done," she murmured.

Carver stood; he straightened his shoulders, and tried not to look like he was going to the gallows.

Father was going to kill him.

Sula, though five years his senior stood almost the same heights. She recognized that when Carver had his growth spurt he would likely shoot up past her. Bethany was already taller than her.

The elf smiled.

She was about to become the little big sister.

"Anything you need to tell me?" she asked.

The boy shook his head no.

"You sure, I could make this go easier for you. Father won't be as mad if you had a legitimate excuse for that fight."

"He would not shut up," Carver grumbled, "He just kept pushing."

So you decided to push back?"

Again her brother nodded.

Sula shook her head.

Carver was not often a hothead. The marshal training that Father had been given them meant that they had to keep cool heads.

The Black boy must have said something pretty bad to get under Carver's skin.

Usually only she was able to have that kind of effect on him.

They fought often, not physically mind you, but verbally. Carver was getting to the age that he wanted to prove himself. Sometimes he felt like Sula was holding him back.

That had never been her intention; she was simply doing what she could to keep him safe.

Her brother stared down at his feet as they made their way home. They walked in silence for much of the journey, but as the lights of the Hawke farm came into view, Carver paused.

He shook his head.

"He called you a knife ear," he murmured.

Sula paused, her elven ears lowered slightly.

"Who did?" she asked.

"Brayden Black," he snorted, "He said Father should never have taken you in. That he should have drowned you like the useless knife ear you were."

Sula almost gasped.

The shock of what the boy had said surprised her. She knew Serah Black; he seemed like such an even tempered man. Father had traded with him often.

The thought that his son would have such harsh feelings about her…was a little surprising.

"And you beat him up for that?"

Carver nodded, he shifted his foot in the dirt.

"No…no one talks that way about my sister."

She tried not to smile, to show Carver that she was grateful for what he did, it might not have been right, but that did not take away from the feeling behind the act.

She hugged her little brother; he winced where Brayden Black had kicked him.

"Sorry," Sula murmured.

"It…ugh…it is okay," he replied.

Sula grinned and put her arm around his shoulder.

"Next time…let me handle things like that," she said, "I would have left fewer marks on the little bastard.

Carver chuckled.

"You would have gotten in worse trouble than me," he reminded her, "An elf beating on a human."

"Do you honestly think Brayden would have told his Father that he got his tail kicked by an elven girl?"

Carver shrugged.

Sula fell a step behind her brother, Mother and Father would not be happy, but they at least would understand why Carver had acted the way he did.

Carver would have to apologize to the Black boy of course, and likely have to do a few extra chores, but it would likely end there.

Children fought after all.

For tonight though, she would honor his victory. He had defended her, and she was grateful for that.

Grateful to have another human in the family…

…and not another Shem.