The morning sun shone brightly on my face and I blinked blearily up at the new crack in the ceiling, squinting my eyes against the light that shone mercilessly through. For a moment I considered pulling my pillow over my face and going back to sleep, but I knew it wasn't an option this morning. Groaning, I slid out of bed, wincing when my bare feet hit the cold wooden floor. I can't complain too much, many of the little houses in Lowtown had only dirt floors, and no one here was going to was perfectly good coin on carpeting.
I glanced over at my mothers bed, empty, she had probably been up for hours. She had a penchant for going out to the early morning markets as often as she could. It worried me a little when she went by herself, there are far too many pickpockets and worse that plague the streets of our lovely city. When I last had brought up my concern with her, she had given me an indulgent smile and patted my arm, going on about how she was perfectly safe and how Kirkwall was her childhood home.
I dispelled thoughts of my mother and her dubious safety, and blundered over to the chest holding the entirety of my belongings. The creak of the hinges was loud enough to make me wince, and I glanced guiltily at the screen separating our side of the room from Carver's. I listened intently for any sign that I had woken my brother up, but was greeted with nothing more than a bit of snoring. Heaving a sigh of relief, I rummaged through the meager contents of the chest, retrieving a tunic and trousers. I looked them over critically, both were starting to look a little threadbare, and the pants had the beginnings of a hole in the knee. Not that there would be much I could do about it until Carver and I found work again.
Our year of working with the mercenary group known as the Red Irons was up, and, while Meeran was as good a man as could be expected from that line of work, life as a hired sword did not suit me. He had made it clear that, should we run short on coin, he'd be willing to shunt any extra work my way. Carver had been willing to stick on with the merc group, but Meeran had made it very clear that he was not interested in Carver if I was not also a part of that deal. I winced inwardly, my little brother had yet to forgive me, and he was not quiet about his disdain for 'standing in my shadow again'.
Still lost in thought, I dressed, carefully lacing up my knee high boots over the trousers in an attempt to hide the hole in the knee. I retrieved the bright red ribbon from the bowels of the still open chest and attempted to tie my hair back. My hair is thick and unruly, not a bad thing when I had let it grow to the middle of my back, but only the week before I had not been careful enough during a fight and some bastard had managed to sneak up and grab me by the braid. I had had no time to think before hastily grabbing for my dagger and slicing myself free. Now I was left with a mass of springy, dark curls that refused to stay out of my face unless restrained.
I peeked around the screen to see if my brother was up yet. No such luck. I let my shoulders droop a little, resigned to having to get him out of bed myself. Quietly I scrounge around till I found the pair of socks he had worn yesterday. I picked them up gingerly, handling anything that has been in prolonged contact with my brothers feet is not for the faint of heart, and lobbed the smelly, wooly things one after another at his face.
He sat up with a start as both of my missiles found their target. Still half asleep, he lunged out of bed snarling and reaching for the huge broadsword he keeps within arms reach. I darted back around the screen, hoping that he would wake up enough not to cut me in half.
"Cat" he growled, and I peeked back around the screen to see him delicately holding the offending socks with two fingers. When he caught sight of me he gave me a wolfish grin and grabbed for my arm with his empty hand. I let out a squeak and tried to dodge backward, tripped over my own feet and landed on my rump. His grin became triumphant as he followed me to the floor and proceeded to scrub the dirty socks all over my face.
Hey, I may be an amazing mage and all, but he outweighs me by half my weight again, and he is almost a foot and a half taller, I can't be expected to raise any sort of good defense against that. Besides, I kind of deserved it, those socks smelled bad.
He finally let off, standing back up and offered me a hand up. I took it. That's kind of our relationship in a nutshell, we pick on each other, beat each other up, but are always there to pick the other up when they need it.
"Good morning dearest brother" I said, pulling a face as I tried to repair the damage being rolled around on the floor had done to my hair. He took a long look at me and burst out laughing.
"You look like you've just been hit by lightning again"
I sighed, giving up on the futile battle that was my hair.
"I'm going to go see if mother is back," I said, turning him about by the shoulders and giving him a little push, "and you need to get ready to go, we're going to go see if that dwarf Bartrand is still in need of people for that Deep Roads expedition of his".
Carver obligingly departed, and I left him to dressing.
As I poked my head into the main room I heard a quiet, off-key humming. I smiled to myself, it could only be mother. She always said that my singing voice was another thing I got from my father, no one on her side of the family could carry a tune. She must have heard me, for I had barely exited the bedroom when she turned toward me. She, unlike my brother, had the grace to at least attempt to restrain her mirth at the sight of my hair. Her gaze turned a little pitying, and she brushed her hands off briskly on her apron, motioning me to take a seat.
"Caitleen," she said, a little reproachfully, "you know better than to antagonize your little brother"
The obliging brother stuck his head out the door, and winked at me. Mother gave him a tight-lipped frown, "And you should know to pick on people who can defend themselves"
Carver and I rolled our eyes and chimed, "Yes mother" together. We swapped nearly identical grins, and he pulled his head back into the bedroom.
"Don't think I didn't see that you two," Mother was still trying to sound severe, but I could hear the note of amusement in her voice. With gentle hands, she deftly begin braiding back bits of my hair, slowly taming the beast. In less time than it took me to cast a healing spell, she had it subdued, and Carver was standing before me, anxious to get moving.
Mother crossed her arms and frowned at us. "I'll not have you two running all over this city on empty stomachs, the dwarf can wait till you have eaten".
Carver gave in immediately. All it takes is the mention of food and I'm sure my brother would trek through the fade willingly. We ate quickly, an unspoken agreement that the sooner we made it to the Merchants guild the better our chances.
Mother was worriedly chewing on her her lip as Carver finished lacing up his boots. She turned to me quietly, "Be careful Kitten," I knew she was worried when she lapsed back to my childhood nick-name.
I gave her a brief hug. "Don't worry mama, we'll get this for sure".
"I know," she said, "That's what worries me, I don't like the thought of you going down into those Darkspawn filled tunnels".
Carver cut in, "We've fought them before mother, we know what to expect".
"I know you have," she said a little too sharply, I saw the brief flash of pain on her face before she turned away, "and look how well that ended last time".
I had to look away, guilt and grief vying for my attention. The last time we had been up against Darkspawn, we had lost my little sister, Carvers twin. Mother still blames me for her death, and I cannot find it in my heart to fault her. I know there is nothing I could have done, yet... I still don't like to think about it. Her memory is still too close, to painful.
I
took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and let it out slowly, regaining control over my raging emotions.
"It'll be OK mother," I bit my lip, laying a hand on my mothers trembling shoulder, "We will be safe" "Besides," I said cheerfully in an attempt to lighten the mood, "we still have to face the dwarf, and he's supposed to be as fearsome as a horde of Darkspawn". My tactic seemed to work, for she let out a timorous little laugh.
"Good luck my little Hawkelets".
I gave her another quick hug before Carver and I left Uncles house.
Carver has a tendency to go charging off ahead without waiting to be sure I can keep up, and I've mastered the art of the skip-hopping gate that anyone habitually traveling with much taller people gains. Today however, I was practically having to run to keep up with him, cursing my short legs under my breath the whole way. I almost lost my brother around a corner more than once. I get lost in Hightown fairly easily. The streets make little sense, and, I'll admit, I have a hard time ignoring the snide comments from the gentry living there.
"Not that any one of them would pass up the opportunity to hire me out", I grumbled as I ran. Indentured servitude it might have been, but by the time our year was up Carver and I were the most requested team in the Irons, and I had made quite a name for myself among the sell-sword types as the best healer money could buy.
I caught up to Carver and hooked my fingers into the back of his belt, slowing him down enough that I could stay level with him. He glanced over his shoulder, startled, but only made a face when he saw I was the one dragging him down.
"We're not in so big a rush that you can't wait for your poor short sister", I whined breathlessly.
He kept walking, though he slowed a bit for me. "Sorry, I'm just worried that the whole expedition is going to fill up before we make it".
I patted him genially on the arm, "no worries brother mine, he wouldn't be so foolish as to turn down an offer from the Hawke siblings". At least I hoped so. Carver jerked his arm away from me, glowering.
"Hawke siblings", he mocked, "you know as well as I they only ever want you". He stalked on toward the merchant guild.
"You know that's not true," I said exasperated, "we are a team. I'm not much good without you along". I wasn't sure, but he seemed a little mollified, and his gate slowed back to a reasonable pace.
We entered the Merchant guild side-by-side. Carver was the first to spot Bartrand, the dwarf in charge of the whole operation. My brother made a beeline for the dwarf, almost yanking me from my feet when he grabbed a hold of my arm to tow me after.
"Good day", my brother said by way of announcing us, "word is that you might be looking for extra hands for an expedition".
The dwarf stared at Carver for a moment, then turned away disgustedly and began to walk away. I sighed, there was a reason I usually did the talking. Carver was, how to put this, blunt. It worked well enough for him on the battlefield, but not so well when job hunting. I hastened after the dwarf.
"We have skills that would be invaluable to you once you are down there, my brother and I have fought darkspawn before", I said, trying to keep the pleading note out of my voice. I don't think it worked, because the turned and gave me a sneering once-over.
"I don't need any more of you on this expedition", he snapped. "You're just looking for a quick way out of the slums". He huffed and turned away, "you and every other Fereldan in this dump. Go find yourself another meal ticket".
My shoulders slumped, and I turned resignedly to my brother, who was staring after the offending dwarf with barely contained rage.
"Come on then," I murmured, "we're not doing any good here".
We set out for Lowtown in despondent silence. My head was racing, trying to come up with another way to gain th favor of the prickly dwarf. We needed to earn some money. Any way to get us out of my uncles place and into a home of our own.
Beside me Carver heaved a sigh, "We have to do something," he groused, "You need to lay low for a while or get out of town. It's your Templars we are hiding from after all".
"Why are you so worried", I said archly, "after all, like you said they are my Templars".
He looked aghast, "did I really sound like that"?
I nodded and he slumped a little.
"I'm sorry, I sounded just like Uncle Gamlen there didn't I". He brightened then, a thought coming to him, "He's better at this stuff than we are, and he knows people. Maybe we could have him talk to Bartrand".
I mulled the thought over for a moment, "you catch more flies with honey" I laughed a little, "but maybe Gamlen's bullshit will work as well".
As we continued, my head was still racing so much that I didn't notice the pick-pocket until too late. He had already taken my coin pouch and was halfway to the corner before I realized what had happened.
Out of nowhere, a crossbow bolt came flying, it pinned the young man against a building by his shoulder. The bolt was followed shortly by the most handsome dwarf I had ever laid eyes on. He retrieved my coin, and the bolt, saying something to the youth I couldn't quite catch. It must have been pretty intimidating though, for as soon as he was free the young man took off in the opposite direction, clutching his shoulder.
The dwarf sauntered toward us, idly tossing my purse with one hand. He was clean shaven, odd for a dwarf, and his blond hair was caught back in a partial tail. He had a huge crossbow slung across his back, and his coat was open, as was his shirt, revealing a good deal of curling chest hair, a touch darker gold that the hair on his head. He caught me staring and smirked. I felt myself turn red as my own dark eyes met ones the color of burnished copper. I quickly averted my eyes, mortified. Next to me Carver was shaking with suppressed mirth.
The dwarf tossed my coin purse to me, nonchalantly twirling the bloodied bolt he had pulled from the pickpockets shoulder. "How do you do? Varric Tethras at your service".
With practiced skill, he sheathed the bolt, making the movement a slight bow. I smiled at him, recovering quickly from my embarrassment. I also managed to 'accidentally' trod on my brothers foot slightly as I tucked the coin purse back into my belt.
Varric noticed the movement and his smile widened as he continued "I apologize for Bartrand, my brother wouldn't know an opportunity if it hit him square in the jaw".
I looked at him skeptically, "but you would"?
"I would," he affirmed, "What my brother doesn't realize is that we need someone like you". "Not," he conceded, "that he would admit it, he's far too proud". Varric looked me in the eye again, "I however, am quite practical".
I eyed him suspiciously, "you're a part of this", I asked, raising an eyebrow. Carver let out a little huff of air as though to speak, but the dwarf beat him to it.
"That's right. The deep roads wouldn't normally be my thing, but I can't let him go down there alone" his tone suggested that his brother going alone wouldn't be a bad thing, but he continued, "So as you might imagine, I have more than a passing interest in the success of this expedition".
I nodded slightly, still a little suspicious, "What makes you think we can help, you no nothing about us".
His smirk said otherwise, "On the contrary, you've made quite a name for yourself over the last year". He looked at me, "the name 'Hawke' is on many lips these days" He nodded, "not bad for a Fereldan fresh off the boats".
I was a little surprised by that, "they must mean my brother mostly" I said, not missing the way Carvers chest puffed a little as I said it.
Varric shook his head, "Some I suppose, but mostly they speak of the pretty Hawke who always gets the job done".
Carver huffed, "That figures". I could hear the pout in his voice.
Varric shrugged off the grumbling of my little brother, "He can come too if you want, but I'll leave it in your hands".
"Oh, I'm going. No way I'm going to leave my sister alone with this venture", Carver stated.
I might have thought he was just being a good brother, but I knew him too well. No way would he stand aside while an opportunity for glory presented itself.
"Besides," he continued, "without the expedition we won't last the year".
I glared a, then conceded to the inevitable. "All right, there must be a way to convince your brother to hire us".
Varric smiled slyly up at me, "We don't need another hireling, we need a partner". He began pacing, "Truth is, Bartrand's been pulling out his beard trying to fund this on his own, but he can't do it". He looked back at me, eyebrow cocked, "Invest in the expedition. Fifty sovereigns, and he can't refuse, especially with me there to vouch for you."
I nodded, he had a good point, but I was still worried. "Your brother doesn't seem the type to split a profit." I said chewing on my lip.
He patted my arm, "my brother may be many things, but he's not stupid. It's better to split profit than be trapped in a thaig with thousands of darkspawn between you and the exit". "Trust me", he said emphatically, "He'll come around".
Carver and I looked at each other, he nodded but frowned. I turned back to the dwarf, heart sinking. I had no way to get that kind of money.
"It sounds interesting, but if I had that kind of gold, we wouldn't need this job", I said, a little glum. I could see this golden opportunity slipping away from me as soon as I had found it. To my surprise Varric didn't walk away. He shook his head, a strange smile on his lips.
"You need to think big! There's only a brief window when the dark roads won't be crawling with darkspawn. The treasure you find down there could set you and your family for life".
I had a sudden thought of my mother living in a real home, and of Carver being able to go on his own pursuits, and best of all, having the money and power to get the Templars off my back. The greed must have been showing as clearly on my face as it was on Carvers.
"Come on," he said, "the dwarf makes some sense, no offence". He lay a hand on my shoulder, "Look, you started this, and it's a much better idea than ending up in the Gallows."
I had to give him that, last thing I wanted was to end up in the circle, or worse, I shuddered, tranquil. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. I did not want to go to the dark roads, I did not want to fight any more darkspawn, but it looked like I had no choice. I nodded at Varric, and he gave me a relieved smile.
"We work together, you and I, and before you know it you'll have all the capital you need." He looked at me expectantly, "what do you say".
"I'll do it", I said, feeling as though a weight had settled into my stomach. Beside me, Carver made a small, pleased sound.
Varric grinned at me, "Perfect, Kirkwall's crawling with work. You'll just need to set aside a little coin from every job, and you'll have the money in no time".
Carver chimed in, "Easy, and we should ask Aveline if she has any bounties out, She joined the city guard right?" He looked so excited about the prospect of new adventures that I couldn't help but grin back at him. Deep roads or not, perhaps things were looking up for us.
Varric began walking, "we should talk privately when you get the chance", he said quietly to me, "At the Hanged Man maybe, I have a room there".
"Sure", I said, "see you later then".
He winked at me, and I once again felt the heat rise to my cheeks. Carver was tugging at my arm, and I let him pull me away as I watched the crossbow laden dwarf disappear in the crowd. I couldn't shake the feeling that Varric Tethras was about to become very important to me.