Chapter Text
EIGHT YEARS OLD
1-
Diary:
Today is my birthday. I am eight now. Starting tomorrow I will begin warrior training for real. Fergus, my big brother, gave this diary to me for my gift. I love him very much, even if the woman he is courting is a bore.
Mother gave me her first dagger, and Father gave me the tie he fastened his braid with when he was my age. Anora came to visit as well, with her father in tow. They gave me sweets and Loghain let me give him a hug in thanks!
Anora is the prettiest woman in all of our country. Her eyes are so clear and her hair is so soft, and her smile is so warm that my heart skips a beat when I see it. I should very much like to marry her when I get older.
2-
Diary:
Today I escaped mathematics lessons and went to explore Highever, the place where my family governs. There I found the most horrific thing.
There is a place called an "alienage". It is where elves are all but forced to reside. It is dirty and cramped and poor. I asked the nicest one I could find why they live there. She told me that elves are paid so little that they cannot afford to live anywhere else.
And in that moment I was ashamed and inflamed. My family has so many nice things, and yet some of our subjects are forced to live in poverty! I picked up an errant shovel and began to strike at the Alienage walls. I had a good part torn down when guards came to see what was going on.
I must have looked quite strange because they did not recognise me until I told them to fetch my father. When he arrived I yelled at him, asked him how he could let people live like this, how he could possibly be a good Teyrn if his subjects lived in squalor like this.
By the end of the day, Father had had the walls torn down and was starting drafting a new law that would require every business to pay elves (and dwarves) the same as they paid humans.
No one deserves to live like that. No one.
3-
Diary:
I am doing well in Warrior training. My teachers are very proud, even if I skip Mathematics a lot. I simply do not like mathematics, it bores me to no end.
I find that the weapon I enjoy most is a large axe that I must wield with two hands. It is large and powerful and feels good in my hands.
But what I do not enjoy about training is when father takes me on hunts. He makes me take down deer with a dagger and watch the light to out of its eyes.
But even then good comes out of it. We bring the meat from my kill to the Chantry to feed those less fortunate.
We hired a new maid today. Her name is Elissa and she is elven and twelve. Mother says she is to be my Lady in Waiting, and my best friend in the world, who I can tell anything. Mother says it is tradition, like getting Fergus a Mabari to celebrate his wedding.
We leave to the place where Mabari are bred tomorrow to bond one to him.
4-
Diary:
The most wondrous thing happened today! I got a Mabari! When we went to bond one to Fergus, none of them seemed to like him, but the biggest of the puppies, the most beautiful male, he ran up to me and would not leave my side!
Father of course got him for me and Fergus said that the glee on my face was a far better gift than a hound. I named him Ser Barker, and he is very smart. He is laying beside me as I write, and I feel happier than I ever have before.
5-
Diary:
Brother married today. Oriana is now my sister, and I suppose I should be happy for them. Elissa said she loved the dress Oriana wore, the way the Antivan headress and jewlery meshed with the Fereldan wedding dress. It wasn't too bad to look at, though the liveliness of the ensemble was much unlike she who wore it.
It is not that i dislike the woman, just that she does not interest me. Not in the least. She is intelligent, but worries needlessly over every little thing, and her accent grinds in my every nerve. I do not care for her, nor do I dislike her.
The food was good though, and the Mac Tir family was there so that made me happy. Anora was as lovely as always and I found myself picturing the way she would look on our wedding day.