writing prompt: A plaque denoting the Hero of Ferelden’s birthplace
Happy Friday! for @dadrunkwriting
Anora wouldn’t shut up. Wouldn't stop blathering on about Alistair this, Alistair that, like she hadn't been ready to throw him to the wolves just weeks ago.
Tabris sat straight-backed in her chair, dry-eyed and stone-faced. These shem wouldn't see her cry.
When she finally wound down, the grand cleric nodded at two servants. Elves, Ris noted bitterly.
"We send you to the Maker's side." At her words, the pyre was lit. They had to treat bodies with something to make them so . . .combustible. Alistair's body caught instantly, and the smoke stung her eyes.
The rest of the mourners started filing out of the courtyard, but she stayed put, hoping the attendants would leave too, just so she could have a moment alone with him once more.
"Warden Tabris." The queen was approaching.
She didn't move to stand. Didn’t even flick an ear.
Anora smiled thinly. "I know you and my husband's brother were . . .close."
Fuck you. Ris just nodded. She might have power now, but it wouldn't last, even if she had put this bitch on the throne. "And?"
"Is there anything he'd want?"
To be alive. She shook her head. "Nothing you can give." It wasn't a politically savvy answer and she didn't care.
Anora sniffed delicately. "I know what it's like to -"
"Go away, your majesty." She pointedly turned back to the pyre. Alistair was already ash and she'd never been able to say goodbye.
She didn't go away, but she did finally stop talking. Ris ignored her as she watched the ash blow away. Her eyes burned with tears, but she wouldn't cry. Not in front of her of all people.
Only when the fire died down and the last few attendants started to sweep up what was left of him did she stand, still not acknowledging Anora. The bitch followed her as she walked out. "Warden, would you walk with me?"
She bit back the Do I have a choice? and just nodded again.
Ris followed her through the winding corridors of the palace. Anora collected a few more guards as they continued out the front gates. They headed toward the alienage. Years of practice kept her face neutral, but nothing about this felt right. What is she playing at?
The vhenadahl looked the same: sickly, but trying. Just like the alienage itself. Shianni was talking with Alarith nearby, and headed toward her as they approached.
"Your majesty," she said, nodding respectfully, before falling in next to Ris. "I told them not to," she muttered, so softly only an elf could hear it.
Before Ris could ask what Shianni meant, Anora clapped her hands. There was a sudden cacophony of trumpets, and only Shianni's hand on her elbow stopped Ris from drawing her blades and falling into a defensive crouch.
"We've gathered here to honor one of our own: an elf from Denerim, who saved us all! The greatest elf since Garahel" Anora'a voice was resplendent and insincere. A politician's voice. "She saved us from certain doom, stopped the Blight in barely a year! How should we thank her?"
Leave me alone, Ris wanted to scream. Wanted to, but didn't. Not when confronted by all that fucking hope on the faces of the gathered onlookers. This was what heroes did, she supposed. Fought and died by inches, giving others a chance to keep going. She didn't even recoil when Anora grabbed her hand and hoisted it to the sky. "Behold, our Hero of Fereldan!"
The crowd cheered.
She held her tongue and smiled. Anora nodded at her, like she could see through it, like she knew Ris was fantasizing about cutting her throat. "We'll build you a statue later, but this is all we can do for the moment." She let go of Ris' hand and pointed at the vhenadahl.
Ris followed her gesture with her eyes, despair turning into horror.
It was a gold plaque. Nailed to the tree.
Birthplace of Kallian Tabris, Hero of Ferelden, 9:10.
They'd poisoned the only thing that mattered in the alienage to honor her. Her gaze swung to Shianni, begging her mutely to tell her this wasn’t happening. Her cousin only shrugged, then low under her breath, mumbled, "Fucking shem."
Fucking shem indeed. To the void with appearances. Ris fled.
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Happy Friday! :) I have a prompt for Kallian and Shianni; “you are perfect the way you are. you don’t need to change for anybody, sweetie.” Platonic or romantic, entirely your choice. ^^
happy friday! ooh thank you!! i haven't written shianni very much :3
rated t. kallian & shianni tabris for @dadrunkwriting. 631 words. set the night after unrest in the alienage; kallian takes shianni up on her offer of wine.
[content warning and spoiler: shianni blames herself for the events of the city elf origin, though rape is not explicitly mentioned.]
* * *
The fire had dulled to a low crackle. Kallian and Shianni basked in its glow in a way that only the very drunk and very tired could.
They had both changed. As their conversation waned with the moon, Kallian took the time to look at her cousin. Really look.
The bags under Shianni's eyes matched her own, and spoke of longer nights of exhaustion than the one they shared. She seemed... older. It had barely been a year, but the youngest Tabris cousin looked as though she'd aged several. She had bruises here and there. Not too bad, not too many, but they were noticeable enough to Kallian.
"How did you get those?" she asked, slurring.
"Oh, you know," Shianni responded around a giggle. "Troublemaking, as per usual. Plus I'm hardly gonna let Soris get beat up on, am I?"
Kallian couldn't help her grimace.
"...It's not your fault," Shianni said.
"I know," Kallian muttered, surprised that it was honest. "But it's not fair. I wish I could be around to help you."
"You're doing more than enough, Cousin," Shianni smiled. "Besides, I owe it to him; to everyone. I can't do nothing."
It took a moment for her words to sink in, but when they did, Kallian frowned and squinted at her blearily.
"What do you mean, you owe it?" she asked, brow furrowed.
"I don't know," Shianni slurred, but her eyes were downcast and her shrug noncommittal. "It doesn't matter."
"No, what?"
"Ugh, you know!" Shianni insisted, waving her hand.
"No I don't, what?" Kallian pressed, leaning forward in the ratty old armchair.
"It was my fault."
Kallian stared.
Shianni didn't even look bothered. It was a punch to Kallian's stomach, but her cousin looked as though she had made a casual statement of fact.
"No it wasn't," Kallian said, dumbfounded.
"I'm the one who bottled him, Kall," she laughed.
"So? That doesn't–"
"Honestly, it's fine. I've come to terms with it. If I wasn't so... I don't know, aggressive... obnoxious... jumped up–"
The chair nearly fell over with the force of Kallian getting to her feet. She ignored her watering eyes and stormed over to Shianni, crouching to her level and holding her by the shoulders.
"You are perfect," Kallian said emphatically, moss-green eyes boring into hazel. "You are brave, and fierce, and I know you know your worth. You're better than any monster that struts in here, no contest, and you don't need to change for anyone. You can't change."
Shianni didn't respond right away, but her eyes were wide and shining in the firelight. Kallian held her ground, the set of her jaw as determined as it was in any battle.
Then, her cousin's bottom lip began to tremble. Kallian grabbed her into a tight hug before the tears could fall.
When Shianni finally did start to cry, Kallian joined her. They held onto each other in earnest, and the wine probably didn't help, but the build up of everything just wouldn't stop. They cried, and cried, until they didn't have it in them anymore.
"You know, I thought it was my fault too," Kallian said, leaning away and wiping her face. "And I spoke to Soris earlier. He thought it was his fault."
Shianni laughed wetly. "Your dad thinks that too."
"What, that it was Soris's fault?" Kallian joked.
"No!" Shianni snorted, batting her with a lazy hand. "That it was his."
"Ah, fucking hell," Kallian sighed, but she was smiling. "What are we like?"
"Maybe we shouldn't have had the whole bottle," Shianni chuckled. "I swear Alarith's wine is illegally alcoholic."
"Yeah, that's the problem." Kallian rolled her eyes.
There was a pause. Shianni was looking at her, smiling softly.
"I'm proud of you, Cousin," she said warmly.
"...I'm proud of you too, Shianni."
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