5

"We got a bit off track the last time I saw you, sweet thing. The conversation started off about pretty girls, and somewhere along the line, we got stuck on dead boys. Shall we pick up where we left off?" Isabela was walking in step with Hawke and her younger brother, Carver.

He immediately grimaced. "Please don't tell me you've been hitting on my sister, whore."

"Carver!" Hawke cut in sternly, "Don't you ever let me hear you call a woman that word again. Unless she works at that brothel in Hightown that you visit so frequently."

Carver blushed furiously, and Isabela was impressed by her young companion finally baring her teeth. "Thank you, sweet thing, but I can handle myself. I've been called that name more times than I care to count."

Hawke frowned. "Well you shouldn't be. It's not true. If you were a man, people would call you a stud and be impressed by your prowess. But because you're a woman, intimidated little boys like my brother, call you that name."

Isabela looked at the girl beside her in a whole new light. She'd tag along with Hawke and her obnoxious brother more often, if this was the side of Hawke that he brought out.

Carver was a handsome boy. At 19, he was just a touch too young for Isabela's tastes. He had the same black hair and piercing blue eyes as his sister, but apart from that, they were opposites. Where he was tall, broad chested and strapping, she was short, curvy and pretty. Going out with them was like a bisexual buffet, everything that anyone could find attractive in a partner, was personified by the Hawke siblings. While Isabela may have been tempted to straddle the angry boy and ride him until he became a happy man, she found the older sister and her innocent, shy demeanour, to be much more enticing.

"That is very true, Hawke. I'm impressed. Maybe you will be worthy of a duel, after all."

"Ugh…" Carver let out a disgusted groan.

"A duel? I don't think that would be a good idea. I'm no good at knife wielding, and I don't think that matching magic against blades is a very fair fight. I'd set you on fire before you got within striking distance of me."

Isabela searched Hawke's face for any signs of jest. She found none, and let out a loud giggle. "Oh you sweet, sweet, thing. That isn't the type of duel I had in mind."

Hawke paused for an impossibly long time, before her eyes widened. "Ohh…"

Isabela giggled again. "Now she gets it! I know you've only had the one lover, so if you ever want any lessons, you know where my room is."

Carver stuck his fingers in his ears, "I'm not hearing this! I am not hearing this!"

"That's… uh… that's very kind of you to offer, Isabela" the mage said politely, her face blushing darkly.

Isabela shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a giver!"

Hawke never did take her up on her offer, but Isabela noticed a distinct jump in the amount of visits that the teetotaler made to The Hanged Man, from that point on.