Author's Note: I can't believe that so many people are reading this story, and I'm so grateful for all your kind and encouraging comments! Every time I write a chapter they seem to be getting longer, and this trend is rather beginning to amuse me. :P I apologize in advance for the lack of Fenris in this chapter, but I promise to make it up for you in the next one. Hawke wanted to come out and play. :)
Disclaimer: Fenris, Hawke and all other characters in this story are owned by Bioware. I'm just here to play with them.
Wolf Unchained, Chapter 3
The fragrant smell of spirits and strong perfume hit Hawke like a wave as she and Varric stepped into the entrance hall of the Blooming Rose. "Please remind me again what we're doing here, Varric?", she said with a sigh as they walked through the doors into the main area of the brothel. The room was full of customers who mostly seemed to be flocking around the bar, surrounded by whores that cast wistful looks in their direction, throwing the occasional filthy compliment to the passers by.
"We're here to see what improvements we can make to this foul mood of yours, dear lady," Varric said pointedly as he signaled the waitress to come serve them at their table. "I know that you were expecting your smuggler friend to come through for us, but hey, to take a leaf from Carver's book – shit happens. You can't let these things get you down like this, or else we'll never get this expedition off the ground. Now stop moping and order a drink from the pretty waitress," Varric finished with a sly grin as he glanced up at the woman who had approached their table. The waitress, however, seemed to completely ignore Varric's smooth advances by looking blankly ahead of her. She had undoubtedly heard a lot more flattering remarks during her time at the brothel.
"Welcome to the Blooming Rose," she drawled while leaning over to wipe the remains of some spittle off the table with a cloth. "My name is Viveka, what can I get for you this evening?"
Varric, completely unfussed by the rebuke, tilted his head to get a good look at the woman's ample cleavage. Hawke observed this with a mixture of amusement and disgust. "We'll just have two beers please," she said while intently studying her nails. "And perhaps a spittoon for my friend here? Some of his dribble will undoubtedly end up on the table," she looked up at the dwarf with a smirk as the waitress walked away to deal with their order.
"Hawke, I'm insulted! To think that I would ever betray Bianca's trust like that!" Varric chuckled as he removed the crossbow from his back and put it gently on the table, stroking it with immense affection. "You simply must have me mistaken for someone else – I am a one crossbow man."
Hawke grinned and slowly shook her head. This had been a running joke between the two of them ever since they had met a couple of weeks ago and Varric had recruited Hawke and her brother for the Deep Roads expedition. She knew that he was incredibly attached to his crossbow, and she couldn't help but tease him about the fact that he seemed to treat an inanimate object with more love and attention than any human beings. Yet he had become something of a stable rock to Hawke and she had come to appreciate his company, along with all his quirks. She knew that she could always count on Varric for a sly remark at the right moment, as well as a pragmatic attitude toward the kind of jobs they were taking on to earn money for the expedition, and this was something she could no longer expect from her own family.
The rift between her and her brother Carver only seemed to be growing, and she was too worried about her family's finances to discuss it with her mother, let alone her degenerate uncle Gamlen who had gambled away her family's fortunes while Hawke and her family had lived in Ferelden. Hawke glanced around the brothel, half expecting to spot him sitting at his usual place at the bar, but thankfully this night seemed to be one of the rare occasions when Gamlen had decided to stay at home – probably due to lack of coin.
"So now that we've been cheated out of another business deal by my good-for-nothing former employer," Hawke began while taking a cautious sip of her beer, which had been brought by Viveka almost immediately, "Where do you propose we go next, Varric?"
"The Hanged Man," Varric replied almost instantly after taking an appreciative gulp of his beverage and wiping the foam off his upper lip. "There's always work to be found somewhere in Lowtown, and the Hanged Man is the best place to find it. But we're not leaving this fine establishment until we pour some more drinks down your throat and put that smile back on your face. You know I hate seeing you down in the dregs like this. Come on, stop playing around with that beer and finish it off, woman!"
"Why here?" Hawke enquired after emptying her jug in one fell swoop, to which Varric burped in appreciation. "We could just go drinking at the Hanged Man, there's nothing wrong with the-" She stopped herself, suddenly bursting into laughter. "Oh who am I kidding, you've got to be a nug humper to drink what they've got in those kegs," she giggled while moving on to her next drink.
The beer seemed to be doing the trick, Varric thought to himself with amusement as he signaled Viveka for another round. It was good to see Hawke lighten up for a little while, even if it was done through artificial means. He had never seen her drink more than a pint, but something about this last failed job must have unhinged her a little, which he found rather interesting. Perhaps she would be more likely to tell him about her past if he got her through her next couple of beers, and the dwarf had a feeling that if he managed to get her talking he would be in for a most interesting story indeed.
Three hours, many beers, and some Fereldan shanties later
"No Varric, I refuse to play darts with you," Hawke said decisively while pouring herself another pint from the large jug that was now simply left on the table. Some of the liquid missed the glass, but she didn't seem to notice. Her cheeks were flushed with colour and her bright bluegray eyes were filled with a feverish glow. "You've had too much practice with that crossbow and you beat me every time and then steal all my coin in wagers," she continued in a drawling voice, shooting an accusatory look in the dwarf's direction. "And that's simply not fun," she nodded severely, inspecting the wood grain pattern of the table with amusing intensity.
"What else are we going to do for entertainment then, when you refuse to tell me your story?" Varric asked plainly, spreading out his hands in front of him. "I'm left to take desperate measures! You don't even let me buy you a nice time with that whore over there, I swear she's been looking in your direction all evening..."
"No whores!" Hawke declared, perhaps a bit too loudly, as several heads turned in her direction and the brothel's owner, Madam Lusine, pursed her lips and pressed her hands into her sides, looking at both Hawke and Varric with growing annoyance. "You know I don't do that kind of thing Varric, Andraste's tits, why did you even bring me here?"
"I'm beginning to wonder that myself," Varric mumbled under his breath as he shot an apologetic smile in Madam Lusine's direction and gave her a friendly wave. She shook her head and pointed at Hawke, motioning for Varric to get her out. The dwarf sighed and looked back at his new Fereldan accomplice, realising that his grand plan to cheer her up and perhaps find out a bit more about her had not worked out so well. Sure, he had found out that Hawke preferred the apple cider to the regular brew and that the girl actually had a rather lovely singing voice and had a good memory for remembering old Fereldan shanties, but other than that she still remained an almost complete mystery to him; not even all the drink in the Rose seemed to loosen Hawke's tongue about her past. Varric didn't know whether he admired her for it, or whether it annoyed the hell out of him – he figured it was probably a little bit of both.
"Alright Hawke, no whores," he promised her solemnly while pushing the jug of ale away from her grasping hands. "And no more drink for you either, unfortunately, because Madam Lusine is giving us the evil eye and I think we better make ourselves scarce before we're barred from this lovely establishment for life."
"Oh.. right," Hawke said, slowly grasping the meaning of Varric's words. "Well then, I guess we're off to the Hanged Man now, right?" She exclaimed with false enthusiasm, suddenly standing up from her chair and almost falling over, if Varric had not shot out a hand to balance her. "There's more work to be found in this lovely city, and I'll be damned if I'll let Athenril and her crew rob me of those... opportunities," she finished, carefully spelling the last word and then grinning to herself with satisfaction.
"You won't have to wait that long, Hawke!" A low, barking voice suddenly exclaimed, cutting through the chatter of whores and their customers, leaving the Blooming Rose completely silent.
Hawke blinked and looked around for the source of the commotion, grasping the back of her chair for stability; she was unpleasantly surprised to find that her legs were not fully holding her weight anymore. She cleared her throat while scanning the crowd, searching for whoever had called out to her. She did not have to wait long until he appeared. It was a large and muscular man who was slowly going bald, dressed in black leathers and armour, and he was wading through the entrance of the brothel with a company of six strong and threatening men behind him, armed to the teeth.
"Oh shit, here comes trouble," Varric swore and picked up his crossbow from the table. "Meeran, long time no see!" He shouted out jovially while arming Bianca with exceptional speed. "I see you're still as ugly as ever," he added and flashed the mercenary a charming grin.
"Piss off, dwarf," Meeran sneered and turned to face Hawke. "Did you really think you were going to get away with cheating the Red Irons out of profit, wench?" He spat out, his eyes condescendingly wandering over her body, taking in the sorry state she was in. "You can't hide behind Athenril's skirts anymore, especially now that you've drunk yourself to a stupor!"
"Oh Meeran, when will you ever get over the fact that I simply didn't feel like killing people for you that day?" Hawke said lightly while looking around, taking in her surroundings and searching for escape routes, things that she could use to her advantage, anything to get out of this alive. "I felt a lot more comfortable taking a noble's money for sparing his life than taking yours for ending it. Sorry to disappoint you, but shouldn't you just move on already? Brooding is so unhealthy for you, or so I've heard."
Her head began to clear rapidly at the prospect of getting sliced and diced in front of several dozen of Rose customers. She wished she had her staff with her, but using magic so openly would still be far too dangerous; if she started throwing fireballs around her the Rose would burn down to the ground in a matter of hours, and the Templars would be waiting for her at home, ready to take her to the Gallows. Marian had long since learned to take care of herself without the use of magic, and she silently thanked the Maker that she was wearing full body armour under her robes. The alcohol in her blood promised her an easy victory, but she chose to ignore that fleeting promise and focus on what she had at hand.. which was nothing more than the back of a chair.
"I'll cut out your arrogant tongue and feed it to the urchins, you slut! No one crosses the Red Irons and gets away with it!" Meeran howled with anger and withdrew his blade. "On her, boys!"
"Didn't your mother teach you to play nice with girls?" Hawke retorted quickly and gripped the chair behind her, swinging it straight into the path of an oncoming mercenary. It hit the man full in the face and knocked him out cold in an instant. After that, everything seemed to happen in a matter of seconds.
Meeran stared down at the man in disbelief. "You Fereldan bitch!" He cried out in outrage and lunged for her with a sword while three other men were trying to flank her on both sides of the table. Hawke dodged the swing of Meeran's blade while grabbing the half-filled jug of ale from the table. "Here, have a drink!" She laughed and threw its contents in the mercenary's face. While Meeran was wiping the contents off his face, Hawke rolled over on her side, giving the table a sharp kick and breaking off one of its legs. Now equipped with a formidable weapon, she used the table for cover while swinging out and breaking the kneecap of one of Meeran's men, making him slump down to the floor and howl in terrrible pain.
"Watch out Hawke, behind you!" Varric shouted sharply. Hawke turned around, only to see another mercenary falling down with an arrow sticking out of his left eye. Varric cackled with satisfaction.
"Nice one!" Hawke grinned while parrying a dagger attack from her left with the wooden table leg. The blade grazed her skin and a sharp pain travelled through her arm, but Marian had no time to think about it as she kicked her attacker right in the shins, sending him reeling. Meeran had recovered by then and had dropped his sword to the floor, withdrawing a pair of handaxes and throwing one of them sharply at Hawke. She only had a moment to react, grabbing the man to her left, who was still gasping sharply at her unexpected shin attack, and pushing him in front of her as a body shield. The axe hit the man straight in the chest. As Meeran was readying the second axe, Varric whistled sharply and distracted him for only a moment, but that was all Hawke needed. As Meeran turned to look at the dwarf, the leg of the table struck him savagely on the side of his head, connecting with his temples and shattering on impact. He didn't even have a chance to face Hawke before falling to the floor, unconscious.
"Hey Hawke, what about those two?" Varric said, tilting his head in the direction of the two mercenaries that were still alive and not writhing on the floor in pain. "Bianca wants to greet them something awful, you know."
Marian looked at the men, who were still staring at their now-unconscious employer, their weapons half-raised in battle stances. "Is this prick really worth dying for?" She asked them as calmly as she could, her breasts heaving after the heat of the battle. The mercenaries looked at each other and then back at Hawke, slowly shaking their heads. "Didn't think so," Hawke spat out scornfully and bent down to pluck out Bianca's arrow from one of the dead men's eyes. "Now run along and let's hope we don't have to do this again anytime soon, yes?" The mercenaries were already backing out of the Blooming Rose, sheathing their weapons as they went, when they suddenly turned around and escaped through the open doors, pushing an elf out of their way as they ran out into the Hightown night. Hawke's gaze drifted back to Meeran, who had collapsed against the overthrown and damaged table. She frowned as she kicked his body with the toe of her left boot, making him roll over on his back.
"You know, he's only going to be more trouble if you keep him alive," Varric said pointedly and stroked Bianca. "Perhaps we should just-"
"There will be no more killing in this establishment!" A shrill woman's voice interrupted the dwarf's musings, and it belonged to Madam Lusine. The woman's face was pale but calm and collected as she approached them both. "Now, I don't know what that was about, and I don't want to know, but this is a fine and respectable whorehouse, and I will not allow any kind of dangerous behaviour disrupting my clientèle." She looked at them both sternly, her hands pressed into her hips. "Do you understand me?"
"I think we do," Varric said slowly as he pulled Hawke back, beginning his retreat toward the entrance in a very similar fashion to the mercenaries who escaped only a moment ago. "I think what you mean is-"
"OUT!" Madam Lusine shouted, finally losing her calm demeanor. "Get out, both of you! And I hope you never come back!"
"She'll change her mind next week when we come back with some gold coins to pay for the damage, trust me," Varric said lowly to Hawke, advancing their retreat from the brothel hurriedly, the exasperated shouts of Madam Lusine still ringing in their ears. "She really doesn't hold a grudge that long, although the same might not be said about Meeran-"
"Oh I don't know, he might wake up tomorrow.. or in a couple of days.. and find that he's forgotten all about me," Hawke said with a grin and looked at Varric. Both burst into laughter at the same time.