The next morning found his Chargers ready to take on the mission of the day - clearing out a noble's estate of giant spiders. Sounds like fun, Bull thought as he grinned to himself, especially since we'll be so well paid for it. The fact that it will serve as a good measure of their newest potential member was an added bonus.

Yesterday has been a busy day. The moment the girl left, he had Krem check for any records of one 'Evelyn Trevelyan', then he went to his own obscure sources to find out even more about her. It was surprisingly easy to get info once he asked.

Last child of a minor noble family in the Free Marches, all but abandoned at the Chantry the moment her parents discovered she had magical powers. A powerful and popular mage of the Ostwick Circle of Magi, bright and shining example of everything a mage should be, candidate for the next First Enchanter.

Until a mysterious incident, when she burned a templar and ran away from her Circle almost a year ago.

Bull smelled a story there. Especially since it seemed that the Templar in question did not give up the chase yet.

What was interesting, though, was that despite the clamor and the number of people hunting her, she evaded capture for several months without killing anyone - despite the fact they still had her phylactery at the time. It was only after Kirkwall's Chantry blew up and all the Circles rebelled that the Templar Order's full attention turned elsewhere.

And now she wanted to become a mercenary. His mercenary. He wondered what her game was; leaving… wherever it was that she managed to successfully hide at for so long, to join a band of mercs travelling all over Orlais.

At least she was not Ben-Hassrath. Spy training took far longer than a couple months. Still, it did say a lot about her, for him to even have suspicions like that. If she turned out to be just as good a fighter as she was interesting as a person, she'll be an excellent addition to their group.

Bull noticed her the moment she opened the tavern's door.

Cautious eyes checked the whole room before settling on him. And his Chargers, of course. She looked just as uncomfortable in her armor today as she did yesterday. Not a new disguise then, or she'd be a bit more comfortable today. If she stayed with them, he'll have to teach her how to wear it properly.

"Good morning," she greeted them all politely, trying for confidence and mostly succeeding. She got different responses from his Chargers, from growls to a chirpy 'good morning', courtesy of Dalish.

"Now there we're all here, let's get started. The spiders won't kill themselves," Bull grinned at their collective groans of disgust. "Two teams: Krem with Dalish, Skinner and Grim; then me, Rocky, Stitches and the new girl…" He looked at her.

"…Evie," she added stoically, though the note of disgust in her voice suggested she didn't like her name much. Hmm. If she stayed, he'd have to give her a nickname. Hell, he would have given her a new name anyways - it was a Charger's tradition at this point.

"Alright, Chargers. Horns up!" Their answering shouts put a smile on his face, as usual.

He noticed the new girl was giving him a curious look, but since she didn't comment, neither did he.

The estate was a mess. That was the first thing Bull noticed about it. Bright and pompous Orlesian crap covered in spider webs and who knew what else. But at least they'll be well paid for this. That reminded him…

"One more thing before we get on with it. Try not to damage anything besides the spiders - we're paid for clearing this place, not for destroying it." Two grunts of agreement from his boys and a polite nod from the girl and they entered through the main gate.

The girl was alert but did not seem too scared of facing giant spiders. Good, Bull smiled to himself. But then, at this point he didn't really expect her to be terrified; she seemed too proper, too controlled to show anything as 'common' as fear. Now the only real concern he had was if the girl would be willing to get drunk with the rest of them once they were done here or not.

Bull watched her as she stayed close to him. He'd have to have a word with her later; mages should stay back, so they don't hurt their teammates with fireballs or whatever magical weirdness they threw at their enemies and also that they won't get underfoot while the men were fighting. It wouldn't do to…

The moment they heard the tell-tale clicking of approaching spiders, the girl cast an almost silent, invisible barrier around all of the party and… pulled out daggers?

Bull watched with incredulous eye as she charged the spiders in her ill-fitting armor, slashing at them with her second-rate daggers. Then he realized that she was… not that bad at it, actually. He narrowed his eye at her; she was a bit too fast, too strong, too skilled with a dagger for a magic user, for someone who did not have proper agility and speed training. Had he not felt the barrier snap around him, he would have doubted her claims of being a mage.

How did she do that?

"Some help over here, if you please!" she shouted at them and the men snapped out of their shock to join her. Bull grinned. Couldn't let her have all the fun, after all.

Once the last spider fell, Bull turned towards her. "What was that?"

She raised confused eyes to look at him.

"You are a mage. Why don't you fight like it?" he checked her over. Despite her fighting style, there was not a scratch on her. Not even blood splatters. Courtesy of her barrier, no doubt. Bull felt his respect for her raise once again.

"Like what? Why don't I cast spells?" She gave him a small sardonic smile, "When you're a mage trying not to be caught, the second thing you should do is to stop casting spells where people can see you."

Bull laughed and dropped a hand on her slender shoulder. "Good job on being a 'not-mage', then. Maybe you can give Dalish some tips over drinks tonight… Charger."

She gave him a radiant smile; the first bit of honest, unguarded emotion he saw on her face, he thought with some satisfaction. If this was what she looked like when she let her guard down, she'll fit in well with the others. Now he only needed to get her drunk…

The estate was clear of spiders in no time at all, then both groups met by the front gates.

"Krem! Report." He barked at his lieutenant.

"Couple scratches, nothing serious." Krem said in a disinterested voice, but Bull could see the sideway look he gave their party. Compared to Krem's group, bloodied and covered in spider guts as they were, Bull's men looked ridiculously clean, thanks to the new charger's barrier spell. "What, couldn't find the spiders?"

"Ha! No, it seems our new Charger has some nice tricks up her sleeve." Bull pointed at her and noticed the faint blush on her cheeks. Not used to praise? Interesting.

Krem took a good look at the girl and Bull was gratified to see her straighten up. She kept looking at Krem like she couldn't figure him out. They will probably have to mention Krem's 'special circumstances' before she starts suspecting him for all the wrong reasons. Tonight. Will be good to see how she'll react, too.

But for now…

"Good job, men. Wrap up here and let's go drink! Hope the spiders didn't scare you so much you forgot how," he grinned at Krem.

"Never, Chief," Krem grinned back at him.

The party exchanged playful barbs all the way back to the tavern. Dalish kept looking at the new girl, no doubt curious about the second mage in their company. Bull had no doubt they'd get along; Dalish was desperate for a mage tutor, while the newbie liked praise. They'd make good team-mates.

Now just to figure out a name for the girl.