"Fifty gold?" Isabeau arched a blow brow, staring across the table at the dwarf who had just laid out a proposition for her, a rather pricey one. "Where exactly do you propose I get that kind of coin? Actually, no, if I had that kind of coin lying about, do you think I'd even be trying to get in on this?" Yes, yes she would because fifty gold wasn't going to grant them the life they were reaching for.

"I'm sure you can find an odd job or two, or four."

"Or a hundred." Bethany scowled, not looking overly pleased herself. The dwarfs name was Varric and he had introduced himself as Bartrand's younger brother. He was unlike any dwarf either Bethany or Beau had ever seen. He did not keep a beard like the others, for one, and he wore a shirt that revealed a lot of chest hair. All of which he kept neatly combed. It was… odd. Varric was definitely a different mold of dwarf, an odd but refreshing, if not slightly suspicious mold.

After their brief but unpleasantly memorable encounter with Bartrand, a man had pickpocketed Isabeau. He had lifted and then took off running with her pouch of coins, which coincidentally contained all the money they had in the world. It wasn't much but it was theirs. Immediately the girls had chased after him, their hearts lodged firmly in their throats.

Just when Beau thought they would never manage to catch the thief; he was suddenly pinned to a nearby building by an arrow through his shoulder. Which was how they had met Varric. He had greeted them by giving them back their coin and introducing himself as Varric Tethras. They had only stared at him, a bit startled at the generosity and also a bit wary. When he had apologized for Bartrand and insulted him at the same time, Beau had been amused but suspicious.

They had then listened to him as he discussed the venture and explained his own interest in it, finally coming around to the point where he explained why he wanted them to join the expedition. It seemed shady given that he knew nothing of them. Granted, they wanted to join up, but this just seemed a little too smooth.

It was then Varric had smiled and said: "On the contrary, I know all about you. You two have made quite the name for yourselves over the past year. The Coterie has been squeezing out all the other mercenary operations and the only one still standing owes its thanks to you both. The name 'Hawke' has been on many lips these days. Not bad for Fereldan's fresh off the boat."

From there it had led to here. Varric offered to buy them drinks, something neither Hawke was about to turn down and then had discussed his proposition.

Beau was brought back to the present by Bethany's elbow being driven into her side, glancing over at her sister to find her leaning forward in her chair, staring at Beau expectantly. To buy herself more time to think -fifty gold indeed- she finished her pint, quaffing the last of the bitter ale. Slowly, she set the pewter mug down, looking around. Varric had brought them to the very back of the Hanged Man pub in Lowtown, where he apparently resided. Now Lowtown but in the actual pub. She knew there were rooms for rent but they were usually used and paid for by the hour. He did, however, have himself a very nice set-up back here, she would admit it, albeit jealously.

They were sitting at a large table before a merrily crackling fire that was perhaps a bit unseasonal as it was fairly warm in Kirkwall this time of year, but nice, nonetheless. The floors and walls were the same as the rest of the Hanged Man, dirt floors and rough wooden slats but Varric had given the otherwise dreary room a bit of life with wall tapestries, the likes of which she had never seen before. She assumed that they were of dwarven make by the scenes depicted on them, or perhaps he had been nostalgic and had had them commissioned.

Off to the side of this room was a smaller one and she could very easily see that it was his bedroom thanks to the lack of a door. The bed was almost too large for the room; it was a human-sized bed. It definitely was larger and looked more comfortable than the bed she shared with Bethany.

"Yes, that is my bedroom and no, you may not jump on the bed." Varric said, having been watching her eyeballing his room the entire time.

"I-" Beau was flustered, wondering if he was serious.

"I'm just shitting you, Isabeau. If you want, you can give it one jump."

"No, thank you, and I prefer Beau."

"Why?" He sounded genuinely curious and appalled. "Isabeau is a romantic name."

Bethany choked on her ale.

"Romanticism aside," Beau said quickly, needing to get this conversation back on track. "Let's discuss this partnership, and all this money I'm supposed to come up with."

"What do you think of Varric?" Bethany whispered later that night as they huddled together for warmth under their ragged blanket on their hard, lumpy bed. She was really missing that unnecessary fire Varric had had going on in his rooms right now. She was also a bit jealous of the idea of him having that delicious looking bed, especially when she felt straw poking through their already lumpy and tattered mattress.

Beau frowned, keeping her eyes closed, knowing that Bethany was probably watching her. Her suspicions were confirmed when something sparked before her, able to see the flash of light from behind her eyelids. "Bethie, you are not doing magic while I'm trying to sleep, are you?"

"I might be, now answer my question."

"I trust him more than I trust Bartrand, that's for damn sure," Beau snorted, reluctantly opening her eyes, not at all surprised to find a small, greenish wisp of light dancing between them. "I don't get a bad feeling off of him, if that helps."

"Me either," Bethany chewed on her bottom lip for a moment and when she spoke next, it was in an even lower whisper that Beau had to strain to catch. "Should we tell Mother?"

Beau automatically shook her head. "Of course not! Not a word to her about it. You know how she gets." Leandra would lose her mind if she knew they were plotting on going down to the Deep Roads, anything Blight or darkspawn related was off the table for conversation with their mother.

They both knew only too well how Leandra could get. After the death of Carver, she had become fiercely protective of her two remaining children, more so when it came to Bethany. While she worried about Isabeau, more specifically what Beau was likely to get up too, she also knew her oldest could take care of herself. Thinking of all that, and Carver, made Beau feel a lot of guilt, usually not aided by the fact that she could still hear her mother's words of 'Why didn't you stop him? Why didn't you do anything?' screaming at her in her mind from that fateful day.

"What about Gamlen? You know he always seemed to hear about everything." Bethany pointed out next, unaware of the rather depressing direction her sister's thoughts had gone in. "What'll keep him from telling Mother? It definitely won't be his sense of kindness."

"Then it'll have to be me."

According to Varric, they needed fifty gold to become partners in Bartrand's expedition. He also told them that Bartrand wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon as he was gathering all the needed supplies, charting a route, and whatever else went into planning an expedition. That gave them some breathing room, but not much.

"You could sell your magic." Beau suggested as they walked through Lowtown, both of them keeping their eyes out for thieves as well as templars. "Like for parties or something."

"Sure, and while the templars are hauling me off to the Gallows, you can sell yourself for money to go into hiding for harboring an apostate." Bethany shot back, rolling her eyes when Beau stopped to examine some wares. "Don't even think about it."

"We don't have the money."

"That's not what I meant."

Beau knew exactly what she meant. Bethie meant to not have a sudden case of 'sticky fingers' and steal a few of those delicious looking pieces of dried meat. Her stomach growled and she stepped back, ignoring the sudden appearance of the seller and the dirty looks he was giving her. "Maker, I'm starving."

Bethany was used to going hungry, which was sad. She also knew Beau was the more active of the two, she definitely had more muscle on her frame, and she tended to eat like two starving men under normal conditions. She sighed, glancing back at the stall as they walked away. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Beau had every intention of coming back later, when Bethany wasn't with her. "I could sell myself for a few pieces of bread. Want lunch, my treat?"

"Isabeau, can't you be serious for once?"

"I was being serious!" Her smile said otherwise and when Bethany looked like she might crack her own grin, Beau laughed. Not paying attention caused her to collide with someone, her victim stumbled but remained and she went falling back onto her butt. "Ow…"

A pair of rough, calloused hands found hers and pulled her back into her original vertical position. Beau got a glimpse of nondescript clothing and a pair of cautious but warm brown eyes. "Sorry," he, it was a man, said quickly.

"No prob-" Beau trailed off when he skirted around her and hightailed it away, disappearing easily in the crowd of people out doing their shopping. "Huh."

"Must have been something you said."

"Shut up, Bethie."

"A letter came for you, it's on the desk." Gamlen said the minute his niece trudged through the door, glancing up from his bowl of gruel. "I'm not your bleedin' errand boy, you know! I got a life of my own outside of being your mailman, business to handle…"

Beau snorted derisively, wondering just who he thought he was fooling. "Business at the Blooming Rose, uncle?" She asked sweetly, dropping down onto the floor alongside her Mabari war hound: Loghain. Loghain had actually come with them on the journey to Kirkwall, he had been a major part in their escape from Lothering when they had fled the Blight.

She knew that the actual Loghain her hound had been named for had died in a duel with the new king of Ferelden, King Alistair Theirin, who had made his fellow Grey Warden his Queen. Briar Cousland, well, now Theirin, was also the Warden-Commander of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden, if the news they occasionally heard held any truth to it. Apparently, Loghain had lost his nut and wound up dead.

She wasn't about to try piecing together all the information she had heard, preferring to think of it this way. Loghain had been named after the Hero of River Dance and not the mad-man usurper who had been done in at a Landsmeet, he was simply a dog with an interesting name.

Sighing and ignoring her uncle's mutterings as he pushed away from the crudely constructed table, she leaned back against Loghain, smiling tiredly when he licked the side of her face. "I bet you had a better day than I did," she muttered, groaning when he stood up and moved away, in turn causing her to fall flat back onto the floor. "Thanks, mutt."

He whined, cocking his head at her.

She didn't bother moving, feeling like every part of her was aching, which it was. She was also fairly certain that her left side was still bleeding from a slice she had taken. It could have been worse though; the pretender guard could have actually landed the blow he had been aiming for. Finding honest work had become quite the trial and Mother must have known she and Bethany were up to something because she had begun keeping Bethany home more and more these days. That left Beau to her own devices, and on her own in battles, which she didn't mind too much as it opened a few doors that would have remained closed if her sister had been present.

Yesterday, however, her persistence had finally paid off. She had gone to see Aveline, sort of as a last resort, preferring not to rely on her terribly honest and law-abiding friend for tidbits or jobs. But her being a refugee and all, there weren't that many people looking to employ her for something that was above board anyway and she had almost gone back to Meeran to beg for work. But, Aveline first, THEN she'd consider beginning.

Aveline had come to Kirkwall with them, fleeing Lothering with her husband, just like they had. Like the Hawke family, Aveline had lost someone that fateful day, her templar husband who she had had to mercy kill due to his being infected with the taint. She had also been a soldier in King Cailan's army and one of the few who had managed not to get slaughtered at Ostagar. Beau and Carver had been at Ostagar as well, both serving for the king, though Beau had never seen Aveline prior to their chance, rushed meeting.

After the mercy kill, Beau had worried for Aveline, her unlikely friend. After easing Wesley, her husband, into what was definitely a preferable death, Aveline had stayed with them. Throughout everything, she had been with them, saying 'where else am I to go?'. She had had a hard time in Kirkwall, attempting to deal with the new life of being a worthless refugee on top of dealing with her loss and then factoring in trying to pull her own as not to be a burden on the Hawke's. No, not easy at all and when she had been presented with an opportunity to join the guard, she had grabbed it with both hands. It had been good to see Aveline with purpose again. That and Gamlen's house had been quite crowded with five adults and one large dog.

So, she had paid Aveline a visit in the barracks and left feeling both pleased and miffed. She had found work, but she had also been abruptly dismissed by her friend. From what Aveline had had to say, there were some issues with gangs thieving and causing general mayhem in Hightown, mainly at night. If someone were to deal with the problem, they would find themselves rewarded for it. not to mention whatever could be scavenged from the thugs would not be missed and could be sold. That right there had been enough to pique Beau's interest because she liked coin and she liked scavenging off of people who were better supplied than she.

It had, however, seemed suspicious that Aveline would drop this information when it was clearly a matter for the guards but when Beau had said as much, Aveline had given her a look and said: "There is coin to be made here, Hawke, and I know you're looking to make some. That and the captain of the guard is worthless and refuses to waste his time on this."

From that, Beau gathered that Aveline had tried broaching this topic with the said captain of the guard -Jeven- and gotten blown off. Not surprising, Beau had seen Jeven a few times over the year and he had seemed to her a bit of a squirrely bastard. She had then gotten the details, aggravated Aveline for a brief while or two just for the amusement of it, and then played the waiting game until nightfall. She had spent her night in Hightown, clearing out those imbeciles. They had had loot and some coin, all in all, not a bad night's work, even with the minor wounds she should eventually attend too.

She was beginning to doze right there on the floor alongside Loghain who had lain back down in a more comfortable, less pillow-like position. It seemed like she had just closed her eyes when she heard the arguing, blearily popping open a lid. Mother and Gamlen were having their weekly go-round, with Bethany trying to play peacekeeper.

"All I'm saying Leandra, is that maybe you could help out a bit. You know, maybe buy some food or-"

Leandra was staring at her bother out of disbelieving, wide eyes; ugly splotches of red appearing high on her cheeks. "You sold my children into servitude for a year and now you're asking me to pay rent?" she demanded shrilly.

Beau personally would have gone with the obvious: Leandra kept the damn hovel as clean as it could be and cleaning up after Gamlen was no picnic. She also did all the cooking and washing, her hands raw and red from the horrid lye soap they were relatively lucky to have.

"Now Lele, no need to ah, get tetchy," Gamlen said hesitantly, already rethinking this. "All I'm saying is that I can't support-"

The snort that came from Beau seemed to echo around the rooms and she was too amused to care. "Should've just stuffed it," she yawned.

"Support?" Leandra interrupted again, anger changing her voice from shrill to an almost growl. "My daughters support us all! Isabeau spends more time trying to bring in coin than even you at the gambling tables and whore houses!"

"Speaking of," Beau spoke up from her spot on the floor, reaching down for her coin purse at her waist. She held it up with a bit of an arrogant smirk and shook it, letting them all hear the jingling of the coins and smiled faintly when Bethany moved to silently take it. She didn't look at Bethie because she knew she'd be getting a stern look for exacerbating the situation but… she didn't want to forget. she kept two punches, one for the house and one for the expedition. She had divvied the monies she had made from last night into the pouches, dividing evenly between the two separate funds. It meant not reaching her goal of fifty gold as soon as possible but she wasn't going to let her family starve either.

That was not the thing to do in front of Gamlen, who was now turning a brilliant shade of red as he watched Leandra accept the pouch and turn out a piece of gold and several bits of silver into her palm before quickly shoving it all back. He knew that would buy the bread and some cheap vegetables, which they would all eat and he was feeling a curious mixture of shame and anger. "This is my house and if it weren't for me, you and your girls would have been on the first ship out of here!"

"We wouldn't be a burden on your… hospitality if you hadn't lost our home!"

"And finally, the meat and potatoes…" Beau sighed, folding her hands beneath her head while crossing one knee over the other as she openly eavesdropped, letting her eyes close again.

Gamlen scoffed, this was nothing he hadn't heard before already.

"I can't believe Mother left me with nothing." Leandra's voice came out a sad whisper, the anger fading.

"Well, what did you expect? You ran off to Ferelden with your apostate mage! You don't get to stay the favorite, and in the will, when you throw away your family and their name for someone like that!"

"My children were in servitude… servitude for a year! They should be nobility, Gamlen!"

His scowl only deepened.