Since it took me so long to update last time, I figured I would do everyone who likes this a solid and do two chapters in one month instead of the one chapter a month like I planned. I'm not sure if it's a trend that will stick around, but maybe I will be able to write these chapters with more frequency.
Unlike I originally said, this chapter will not have any Grey Warden cameos, and that is for two reasons in particular. The first is that the story kind of went its own way as I was writing it, and the second is that I still haven't been able to decide between the Templar Carver and the Warden Carver.
Anyways, on with the show.
Quote of the day:
"But I have infinite tenderness for you. I always will. All my life long."
- Emma, Blue is the Warmest Color
It really was a lovely night, Merrill admitted to herself as she looked up at the stars of Amaranthine, Hawke at her side as they contently rested against the wall of a dimly lit building, silently fulfilling all the promises that he had ever told her when they were alone together in the quiet and the dark of the night.
She adored her children, the little Elf-blooded Humans being her gift from the Creators, her proudest legacy that she could ever leave the world, but there was a certain magic to be had whenever she and Hawke were alone together, the often unspoken affection between her husband and herself being something that she had never expected of her future when was a girl. She had the gift, that ancient Dalish magic which was the reason that she had been taken from her parents to learn under Marethari, to be strong enough for when the People eventually needed her, and she had always seen it as a strange tide that her life had clung to that eventually brought her to a Shemlen's side, hand and hand as they watched the sky together, both hearts beating just as fast as the first time that a certain James Hawke went to visit her hovel in the alienage, each of them having a small easily pushed away thought that perhaps there was a twinkle that sparked between them.
She had noticed the people staring at the two of them as they strolled throughout the city earlier, Hawke wearing a nobleman's outfit adorned with the heraldry of the Amell family, finding a date with his wife a right enough occasion to risk someone recognizing him as the Champion of Kirkwall, and Merrill in a simple but elegant green dress that her daughter Bethany had raved about before the two of them had left for their date, even now the Dalish woman deciding to not wear any shoes.
A part of her pretended that the lack of shoes was the reason that certain people had been whispering, had had trouble taking their eyes off of her and her husband, but Merrill knew the real reason, her ears being like knives as some people were fond of saying. It wasn't all like that though, the years that Merrill and Hawke spent in the farmlands of Amaranthine being years where they met strangers whose faces would eventually become familiar, friendly even and happy to see the sight of the charming Hawke family who lived just on the other side of the bend, and eventually the rolling hills of the land that she and her husband grew their crops and raised their animals on, eventually over time they became places that reminded her of the forest.
It wouldn't be until a few more minutes of staring up at the sky with Hawke, both of them forming dreams for their shared future in the outskirts of the Warden city and the quiet life they had built together, dreams that Merrill didn't even have to ask to know that hers was the same one that James had envisioned, but she eventually looked away from the sky when she heard the familiar sound of hushed laughter coming from a pair of teenagers holding each other in a nearby alley, away from judging eyes, away from gazes who would no doubt have a problem with the kind of love they shared together. She recognized the blissful laughter that came from the girl in the alley as her boyfriend held her languidly, never wanting to let her go. It was the kind of laugh that only teenagers had, all passion with no looking to the future, the only thing that mattered being the then and there and the same very moment where they clung to one another, and she frowned for a moment as she watched them, the laughing reminding her of Mahariel and Tamlen. She watched them for another handful of moments, the two teenagers thinking that perhaps they were hidden from the rest of the world, that perhaps that little alley was their world, as she nudged Hawke so that he could see what she was seeing, frowning all the while as she knew that the two lovers in that dirty alley were going to have a hard life together, the world tending to frown especially hard whenever a Human girl found herself in love with an Elven boy.
It didn't take long before the two teenagers eventually broke off from one another, as reluctant as could be, as Merrill watched while they each walked out of the darkness of the alley that had kept their love hidden and safe, the Elven boy turning and heading in the direction of the alienage, and the Human girl walking the opposite way as she went home for the night, no doubt to eventually listen to her father ramble on about well off Human boys that he wanted her to marry.
"You know," Merrill thought out loud as the final images of the two star-crossed teenagers drifted into opposite sides of the world, "Leandra didn't exactly approve of me."
Hawke frowned at a memory, the thought of his mother still being something that filled him with pain for what he had lost and regret for what he had been unable to do. "She liked you," James offered, remembering how back in Kirkwall he didn't even have the strength to go and sit in her room anymore, "Mother was very fond of you."
"She was," the Dalish woman admitted, taking that moment to look back up at the stars again, wondering all the while in those wispy dreamy thoughts that she had always noticed were the ones that Elves tended to have, thinking that maybe in another world, another time, that love would be a simpler thing, "but I could always tell that she had different hopes for you," her words caught on her breath for a moment, Merrill for a second not knowing if she dared to finish her sentence, "different dreams."
"Different dreams?" Hawke now began to wonder, pausing as he then looked up at the sky again just like his wife had moments ago. He pondered for a second as he wondered if the Maker was smiling down at them, thinking that maybe his sister Bethany and his parents were staring down at him as well from the Heavens. A small smile crept upon his face. The stars were shining.
Not answering just yet, Merrill blinked as her hand tightened around Hawke's just the tiniest bit harder, perhaps in a sweetly naïve hope that she would never have to let go, and for a moment her thoughts drifted back to those teenagers in the alley, Merrill hoping that they too would be able to hang on tighter to each other. A part of her admitted that maybe it was just a girlish fantasy in her belief of true love that she wished that the two kids in the alley would be able to fight against the odds to be together, but as she felt Hawke's hand tighten right back in response to her own, she knew that true love was more than just a fantasy.
"I can see it now," Merrill elaborated, her voice thick with the Dalish accent that even after all these years hadn't lost it's songful cadence, "Serah James Hawke, engaged to be married to the sweet nobleman's daughter, the Champion and his pretty new wife squeezing out little Human children."
Hawke snorted in laughter, a noblewoman sounding much too posh and boring for his taste. "And what, miss the scandalous rumors about the Champion moving his Dalish lover into Hightown? I wouldn't dream of it, Ma'vhenan."
She smiled at the thought, Merrill knowing all those years ago when Hawke invited her to move in with him in the fanciest part of town that she was going to have her hands full with the Champion of Kirkwall. Of course, back then she hadn't known that 'having her hands full' so to speak included pregnancies and swollen feet, or Hawke asking her to marry him one year on the first day of spring, under the eyes of both the Creators and the Maker as well.
She thought of Leandra at that moment, and pondered on what it would have felt like for a woman like her to run away and leave her entire life behind on the sole basis that she had fallen in love with a mage. According to the stories Hawke told her, Gamlen had helped Leandra throw caution to the wind to dash after a life of hardship and running from Templars, the struggle made worthwhile by wistful promises and quiet nights under the stars, just like the one that she was currently sharing with James. It was a beautiful sentiment to think about as her eyes remained forever fixed on the twinkling lights in the sky, and all she could do with her heart of hearts was hope that in their time together that Leandra and the older Malcolm Hawke had been given the chance to stare up at the same wondrous Ferelden stars together.
"I don't hold it against her," Merrill responded quietly, the woman herself feeling the same way about her own children, "I know that all she wanted was what she thought was best for you."
Hawke said nothing, digesting his wife's words in his head, before he nudged her and pulled her closer to him, his words holding just as much sincerity as hers had been laced with. "Merrill, you are what's best for me."
She tried to hold it back, but Merrill was powerless to stop the grin that crept across her face at Hawke's words. She didn't dare look at him, and instead was thankful for the dark since the shadows of the night hid her reddened face from him, and the tips of her pointed ears that burned with a lovely embarrassment that she wouldn't trade for anything in the entire world. The Elven woman pushed herself up from the building where she and Hawke had been leaning against, and she pulled James with her, laughter escaping from her mouth and drifting across the air, not caring who else would hear it.
She ran as fast as she could in that green dress of hers, Hawke trailing right behind her without having any kind of idea about what his wife was exactly doing. The Elven woman hoped that there was still time, and the grin on her face brightened more than she ever thought that it could when, out of breath, they came face to face with a teenage girl who was sitting on the steps of a blacksmith's shop, perhaps taking one last chance to look up at the Amaranthine stars before going to bed that night. The stars shone brightly, and Merrill and the teenage girl continued to stare at one another, Merrill for the first time ever seeing her own reflection in a young Shemlen stranger.
The Elven woman watched as the teenage girl looked at her with a sort of perplexed stare, before the girl's eyes widened when her gaze trailed to Merrill and Hawke's hands, still tightly clasped with one another after all this time. Merrill could see the moment where a flash of recognition came across the girl's face, that these two strangers that had come to her knew about the secret she shared with the teenaged Elven boy from the alienage. Merrill didn't have to be magic to notice the moment where panic danced about the girl's eyes, and fear for what people would do when they found out that an Elf had dared to lay his hands on a Human girl.
The two pairs of eyes continued to watch each other, neither saying a word, and Hawke too decided it was best to remain silent, feeling that his wife was perhaps having a moment so to speak. Without uttering a single sentence, thinking the old adage proved true that actions spoke louder than words, Merrill looked away from the girl and began to stroll once more into the city, all the while resting her head on Hawke's shoulder. She could feel the girl's eyes burning into the back of their heads, but as her feet connected with the chilled cobblestone of the Amaranthine streets, she knew that they were eyes that burned not with hatred or with anger, but hope.
The stars were shining.
I enjoyed writing this, even if it was perhaps a twinge too sappy I suppose. Something I've always noticed about Dragon Age is the fact that there is a quiet acceptance when a Human man wants to be with an Elven woman, at least on a purely physical level it even seems encouraged due to the beauty that Humans find in Elves, but the other way around? That is a controversy that has yet to be explored in the series I think. I found myself having a certain fondness for the two nameless teenagers in this chapter.
Anyways, I want to do a Carver chapter soon, but first I have to decide on what he exactly turned out to be. I also want to do a Velanna chapter, and perhaps one where Aunty Isabela comes to town for a visit. If any of you have any good ideas for a chapter, just let me know. As this is a slice of life, there isn't really any set ending or plot in mind. Just life.