Lillian Hawke had always known that her family was in danger. Her father and younger sister were both apostates, and that was why she had learned the art of combat since she was old enough to hold a dagger. Every step of the way her mother had been absolutely against the idea of her oldest, yet still very young daughter "playing" with deadly weapons, but her father had been adamant about it. "Leandra, if something should happen to me someone needs to take care of the family," her father always assured her mother. In the end her mother always gave in, but Lily never missed the unhappy glances that would be cast her way.
Subterfuge was Lillian's specialty; subterfuge and archery. It was her skill in stealth that landed her in her current position – sneaking through the local chantry to learn everything they knew about any local apostates, namely her father and sister. It was something she did on nearly a weekly basis, and surprisingly it had all been her idea. If the chantry caught wind that her father and sister were apostates she wanted to know ahead of time so they could have a head start and flee. Unsurprisingly her mother had been against it. "What if they catch you, Lillian?" she had asked. Of course the brave girl merely grinned. "Pat me on the head and send me on my way. I'm twelve, Mother, I'm certain they won't think twice about me being in a chantry of all places." And that had been the end of it. Her father had taken her side and Leandra had given in once again, seeing no real reason to oppose other than her own mild worry.
Sneaking wasn't even the word for it anymore. Lily glided between the lay sisters and the templars without much notice and slipped into the back rooms. There was nothing of interest in the room, she knew, as her true destination was down a few more hallways and into the commanding templars office. If anyone knew there were apostates in Lothering, he would.
Lily had made the trip to the office many times before, and so quite fearlessly she continued through the next door which led her into a narrow hallway. Statues of Andraste were everywhere along the hallway, and it smelled perpetually of mothballs. But she trained her face into an impassive one as she moved along, ready to play the lost little girl should she be discovered. But for all the twists and turns in the corridors that she had to make, she never ran into a soul. As she finally came upon her destination she carefully twisted the door knob only to find that it was locked. She frowned fractionally and pressed an ear to the door, but there were no sounds coming from inside. Taking caution, Lily explored a few of the nearby halls to make sure it was clear before she moved back to the office door. She plucked a pin from her hair and set to work on picking the lock. The locks were weak, and it took only mere seconds before she heard the click that meant she had succeeded.
The girl made sure it was clear once again before she turned the knob and slipped into the office, making sure to silently close the door behind her. From there she set to work, snooping through the drawers of the desk and the cabinets that took up the space of the room. Moments passed by and she found nothing. A sigh of relief left her, and at that moment she heard the click of the door behind her that caused her heart to drop. She turned around only to see a boy standing there, a year or two older than her with dirty blonde hair and confused brown eyes. They stood there for what felt like moments, his eyes locked to hers, and Lily standing there scanning him like he was fruit in the marketplace. He was no templar, but one in training, she could tell from the cheap leathers that they called armor. It was nothing more than hand-me-downs.
"You're not Ser Harrison." the boy said lamely.
Lillian blinked a few times as she tried to process what he said. Was he serious? "No, I'm not." she replied mildly. But then an idea struck her, and she went with it. "He had requested to speak with me, but Sister Maureen needed him. So he told me to wait here for him. I suspect he will be returning shortly." Her tone was natural and easy, such a believable lie. It was something she had perfected.
The boy seemed to believe it as he nodded his head. "Oh, alright then." Without asking he took a seat in the chair across from the desk and began tapping his legs patiently.
Lily was taken aback by this, but she kept her face neutral. How was she supposed to get out of this now? She glanced to her side where she saw a large window, and her escape plan quickly formed. She let out a dramatic sigh and put her hands on her hips. "You know, it's one thing to request an audience with me, it's another to keep me here waiting for an hour!" An annoyed look etched across her face, and she was happy to see the boy looked horrified at her words.
"An hour?" he repeated.
The brunette nodded dramatically yet again. He seemed like a sucker and would probably eat it right up. "An hour! I don't have the time for this! If Ser Harrison returns and you are still here, tell him he had better learn some manners concerning the way he treats his guests!" and with that Lillian swung the window upon and gracefully hopped on to the sill.
The boy looked positively alarmed. "No, wait! That's a long drop!"
But she didn't stop to listen. Lillian only had to take a single glance to find a safe way down the two-story drop. She leaped from the window fearlessly which caused the templar boy to cry out again. But Lily's hands skillfully caught on to a sturdy tree branch that hung only feet from the window. She easily brought her legs up and swung her body so she sat on the branch and turned to the boy in the window. She was amused to find that his face was a ghostly white, his mouth hanging agape. She cast him a confident smile and wiggled her fingers at him in a wave. "See you around, Little Templar." she called, and with that she scaled down the length of the tree as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
A/N: And voila, the prologue! If anyone is curious, no the story will not take place during this time. It is merely a convenient flash of Hawke's past to show how she was when she first met Alistair (and yes, that was him!) in contrast to how she will be towards in him later chapters. :)
