"Anything," Lisa remarked, relief rushing over her.
"Careful…I haven't told you the errand yet," the stranger cackled. "This amulet," she pulled a necklace from her belt, "it must be brought to a Dalish camp just outside the city of Kirkwall. Promise to do this and I will lead you safely to a boat that will take you to Kirkwall." Lisa rolled her lips, glancing back at her family before nodding at the woman.
"I promise."
"Lisa…" Bethany whispered, "we don't even know who…or what she is," the woman's sister remarked, shifting her eyes between the two women.
"I know who she is," Aveline announced, "the Witch of the Wilds." The witch simply laughed and shook her head.
"To some, yes. I am also Flemeth, Asha 'Belenar, 'an old hag who talks too much,'" she laughed as Lisa raised a curious brow. It all sort of made sense to her, the age, the power, the strange understanding of the strangers she was dealing with. Flemeth smirked, seeming to see that Lisa was still on board with her desire. She glanced over the woman's shoulder and frowned, "But before we leave…there is something we must deal with."
She spoke of Wesley who had apparently been corrupted before Lisa and her family had run into the pair. And after all of their travels it had spread through his body and was slowly starting to kill him. Flemeth explain that the only chance that Wesley would have of living was become a Grey Warden. Unfortunately the majority of the famous warriors were killed at Ostegar and the rest were where no one could reach them. So the sad decision was made that Aveline was to end his life. It made for a very sober walk to the coast.
The boat ride wasn't very enjoyable either. It allowed everyone to be alone with his or her thoughts. Lisa tried to ignore the pain in her heart and the tears that would trickle from the corners of her eyes when she tried to sleep, but it was no good. She felt like everything was her fault. Maybe if she had been home sooner, if she'd convinced Carver to come back sooner that their father would've been able to come with them. Maybe if she had been paying attention she would've been able to stop Carver before he charged into his death. But she hadn't…and it was her fault.
As they arrived at Kirkwall they came to the sad realization that they weren't the only refugees looking for a place of haven. And even worse news came when they were informed that Uncle Gamlen had lost the estate, the name, and the money that their mother's family had worked so hard for.
The only good thing he was able to do was get them into the actual city. Unfortunately, that meant sending Lisa and Bethany into indentured servitude for a year. Aveline was fortunate enough to get taken in as one of the city's guards.
But at least they were away from the Blight.
There was an obvious difference between Kirkwall and Lothering. First, the place just seemed much more uptight. Lisa couldn't exactly see what it was, maybe because the majority of people that lived in Lothering were poor, but she'd never seen so many social statuses. It was all so foreign to her. Sure, she knew there were rich and poor people in the world, but she'd never felt poor when she was in Lothering. Now she felt worse than dirt itself.
Another thing she missed was when it rained. Lothering didn't have any paved roads except for the massive bridge that somewhat cut through their town for traders. So when it rained – really rained – the town seemed to stop all together. The roads would get too muddy for carts to be able to make their way through, workers therefore couldn't get the materials they needed, and in the case of her father than meant he got to spend the day home. And when she was little they would run outside with the rest of the kids, jump in the puddles, and slide down the muddy hills till their clothes were permanently ruined. When she got older Lisa found the joy of just staying in with a good book. And the one thing none of the children grew out of was when their father pulled out a big book in front of the fire and they all huddled up to listen to him read. Their mother would be in the kitchen making dinner but Lisa would every so often catch her stopping to listen or chuckling at a funny part.
Kirkwall just didn't have that.
Rain hardly stopped the city and it normally meant that her work didn't stop either. She couldn't exactly complain, she was basically doing the same work she'd done when she was in Lothering…although there was no pay involved. But Lisa forced herself to just be happy that she was in the city. That's what she had done the whole year; force herself happy, force herself to ignore the sad look her mother would give her and Bethany whenever father or Carver came up in conversation. The worst part was that Lisa had to try and force herself to ignore the fact that her mother blamed her for all of it.
Lisa hadn't told anyone about having her father's wedding ring. She didn't know why other than she was afraid they would take it from her. It was the last thing she had of him, the last physical memory of better days when there were five of them rather than the strained three. Maybe someday she would tell her mother, but now wasn't the time.
When the year passed and Lisa walked away from her boss in a flurry of angry shouts about being treated unfairly, the young Hawke suddenly realized something: she had nothing to do. She was always working, always had a schedule, but now she was free. And sadly that wasn't good. They were sharing their uncle's house, which he didn't exactly appreciate and none of them were really bringing in any kind of money to help with rent. So it was time they looked for work.