"Messere, the Captain of the Guard is here to see you," Bodahn announced. Hawke thanked him, pulled her chair away from the dinner table and nodded to her mother.
"Excuse me," she said amiably.
"Of course, dear. Ask Aveline if she has had dinner yet. Orana made more than enough. I think I'll go to market with her tomorrow. The poor dear is a very decent cook, but she doesn't have a good eye for calculating amounts."
"I think that's a splendid idea, mother," she smiled. Orana had been there for two days only and had already become her mother's protégée. She was grateful for the distraction; it kept conversation between them light. They spoke almost exclusively about domestic affairs or her mother's plans for Orana: something about buying her a proper wardrobe—with a specific concern for good undergarments— teaching her etiquette and the logistics of running a well-stocked kitchen. Her mother was quite determined and Hawke felt a twinge of sympathy for the girl.
Well, I certainly do know from where I get this impulse to fix things for others, she realized.
She found Aveline kneeling in the foyer, scratching a happy Ursol behind the ears.
"Aveline, you know we don't stand on ceremony here," she declared. "Besides, mother has a plate holding a small mountain of food awaiting you inside."
"Thank you, Hawke," she smiled warmly. "But I did not come by on a personal errand."
Direct and concise. I should run off with you, Aveline. It would spare me much heartache.
"What can I do for you?" she asked.
Ursol was sprawled on his back, his tongue contentedly hanging out of his mouth.
"I need your help," she said apologetically.
They had their routine down pat. She would ask why she couldn't take care of it with her guard, Aveline would riposte with something along the need for discretion, then she would curse a bit, and Aveline would try to appear undaunted, but her face would be red. That night, she did not feel like any of it.
"Just tell me where to go," she mumbled.
"Aren't you?…"
"No."
Aveline frowned.
"Are you alright?" she tilted her head and stared at her. "Did you get hurt the other night?"
"I am fine. A bit bruised but healing well."
"That's not what I meant."
She did not reply and Aveline, mercifully, did not insist.
They went to the docks where Aveline wanted them to observe a man she suspected was smuggling lyrium to Templars. Her hunch was right, of course. Aveline is always right about these things. Matters became more complicated when it appeared that a few rogue members of the Coterie were involved and abruptly matched up to collect their earnings. Just as she and Aveline were about to burst out of the alley they had huddled in to to ambush the smugglers, three members of the Coterie emerged from a house nearby, accusing the other members of betrayal and attempting to blackmail their way into a share of the profits. A fight soon erupted and Hawke blocked Aveline from rushing in.
"Let them thin out the crowd. We'll get what's left."
Once the last three men were standing, Aveline drew her sword and rushed out. The men nearly jumped out of their skins at the sight of the tall and muscular redhead running towards them. Two fled the opposite direction and one lunged at Aveline. Hawke chased the other two, downing one with a dagger sent soaring into his back and cornering the last one by a set of stairs. She dragged the cowering smuggler to Aveline, who by this time had managed to summon a patrol to assist with the scene.
"Thank you, Hawke. We apprehended the criminals and disrupted the ring."
"There will be more, you know, now that there is a nice vacancy just waiting to be filled," Hawke warned her.
"I know," Aveline said with a frown. "We'll be ready, though. I am sure the Order will appreciate the details not getting out in the open."
"May I be excused now?" Hawke asked with mock politeness.
"Yes. Thank you— again."
Hawke began to make her way towards the steps. She heard Aveline follow her.
"Forgive me for prying, but have you seen Fenris at all since that night?"
Hawke shook her head.
"Have you checked at his estate?"
She sighed deeply.
"Don't think I haven't wanted to. But I imagine the last thing he wants is me, hovering and fretting over him. He made that very clear."
"I don't know that he is able to think clearly about anything right now. I just hope he hasn't gone off to do something stupid."
Hawke felt a pang in her chest.
"If Fenris has decided to go off on his own, to do Maker knows what…What can I say? Honestly. He is a free man," she said quietly. One of the guards called out for Aveline.
"In a moment!" she called back. She turned to Hawke again. "Do you want an escort back?"
"No. It'll be fine." She noticed the skeptical look in her friend's eyes but took her leave regardless.