Nothing was stopping her. Nothing. So why didn't she just do the job she was meant to and… leave?

Siara leaned against a tree rather lazily, peeling an apple with her knife while listening to her prospective employer. Clearly this wasn't something they were used to, considering how much they were fidgeting and how much they stammered. She sighed, mildly angrily, and glanced at her brother where he hid in a tree, pulling a disgusted face at him. He just grinned back, adjusting his grip on his bow. The Bow and The Blade, assassins, thieves, mercenaries for hire. Oh, and elves. Not exactly Dalish, but not exactly what you'd call city elves either. Siara had possibly been marked by the ink the Dalish used in Vallaslin, but if she had been then it was a very small mark, hardly visible and easily imagined. She pushed away from the tree and stepped towards the man, throwing her brown hair tied in a ponytail back over her shoulder.

"Just spit it out," she told him. "I haven't got all day, and I'm not here to judge."

She smiled. It was a nice smile, easy going and open, one that said that she was able to be trusted. He took a deep breath and looked her in the eye.

"I need you to go to the conclave where the peace treaty is supposed to be signed and I want you to deal with an old colleague of mine. I don't want him dead, necessarily, but I… I want him to be taught a lesson."

"What's his name and what did you have in mind?"

"Eston. And um… I don't know. Maybe just… rough him up a bit?"

"Is he a mage or a templar?"

"Templar. A pretty good one too. He just…"

"Took something a step too far?"

The man nodded.

"There was this woman… beautiful… kind… best thing that ever happened to me," he explained, "and Eston, he… he…"

Siara frowned.

"Killed?"

"After he did something far worse."

"What do you think the easiest way to get to him will be?" she asked. "Any family? Close friends?"

"I don't really know."

"Where will he be?"

"With the templars headed to the -"

"Yes, yes, I know that," Siara sighed irritably. "Where among the ranks?"

"I don't…"

"You're helpful," again she sighed, glancing around at Jacen, who shrugged. "Now what about our pay?"

She looked back at the man, her purple and white eyes calculating. Her and her brother's eyes were strangely beautiful in a mildly creepy way. The man shifted awkwardly beneath her gaze, now realizing the weight of what he was doing, possibly beginning to change his mind, but Siara smiled easily and his doubts seemed to vanish. From his hiding spot Jacen scoffed, smirking slightly. His sister really had a way with men.

"H-how much do you want?"

"100 gold."

"WHAT?"

"It's cheaper than what many in our position would ask," Siara shrugged, "considering what we are up against. The treaty isn't exactly the best place to attack someone, so many people around. Not to mention my brother and I aren't exactly the most well-liked people in Ferelden. Then there is we have to get from here to Haven and then the conclave, which… that's going to take recourses. And money, if we want to make it in any decent amount of time. 100 gold is… a pretty good deal, I'd say."

"I… 50 gold."

"Trying to haggle, are we? All right, I'll bite. 70 gold."

"50 gold and 50 silver."

"Still trying to make us go broke?" Siara shook her head. "65 gold."

The man growled.

"55 gold."

"60 gold. Final offer. Take it and we deal with your problem. Leave it, you find someone else who will charge much more. Your choice."

He thought for a moment, then held out his hand.

"Deal," he grumbled. Siara threw him one of her best smiles, shaking his hand.

"Deal."

"Half now half later."

"Sounds fine to me. What do you think Jacen?" he dropped down from the tree and crossed over to her. They were very obviously related, same nose, same eyes, same hair (except his was shorter and less well cared for), same skin tone.

"I'm fine with it," he grinned. "Sorry I didn't drop in sooner."

"It… It's quite all right. I… uh… I understand."

Jacen nodded, then looked down at Siara.

"Soon as he pays shall we get going?"

"Yeah, I reckon we should," Jacen turned back to him. Being an elf, he was still shorter, but even with the lack of height he was rather imposing.

"So… pay up now or we meet up again later?"

The man sighed.

"I might have enough here," he dug into his bag and Siara and Jacen shared a look. Who walked around with that much money on them? Not even they did that unless they really needed to. Jacen looked at him again, slightly suspiciously.

"Sooo… what about your name?" he asked. The man glanced up from counting.

"Maric."

"Maric… What?"

"Last names don't matter."

"They do to us," Siara reached up and rested a hand on one of her swords. Unlike many, she didn't fight with a sword and a dagger, but two dual-bladed swords. Jacen half smiled, looking a little worried.

"You don't want to put this one on edge. She seems a little too eager to slice people in half."

Maric watched Siara closely, then slowly nodded agreement.

"Ashwin. Maric Ashwin."

"Merchant?"

"Not quite. He's a blood mage turned merchant," Jacen shook his head. "There'll be quite the pretty sum on his head."

"How pretty?" Siara asked, her hand falling to her side as she eyed the man.

"Mm… depends who wants him most. Some of these guys could get up to 50, 60 gold? If not more."

"That sounds nice. Much less effort than hunting down a templar."

"You wouldn't," Maric looked horrified and Jacen grinned again.

"You're right," he said, "but it's fun giving people the illusion we would."

"You're horrible," he shoved the coins at Jacen, who just shrugged.

"Yes, well… we are sell-swords," then he stepped back and bowed rather extravagantly. "It has been an honour to meet you, Master Maric. We'll send news as soon as we can," he smiled and flopped his arm around his sister's shoulder, turning her around and walking off deeper into the trees.

"Are we sure this is a good idea, Jacen?" Siara asked when they were out of hearing range. "We have no clue what we are walking into, and he is a blood mage."

"Mara was a blood mage, remember? Besides, you seemed eager enough to help him when you heard about his girl."

"You know why."

"Exactly. Which is why we are going to see this through. Together. Just like we always do," he smiled at her reassuringly. "We'll be fine, Namasiara. Like we always are."

"Call me that again and you won't be fine," Siara grumbled, hitting him in the side. He just grinned, pulling her into a headlock and rubbing his knuckles on her head until she managed to wriggle out of his grasp, her nose wrinkled in annoyance as she untied her hair, running her fingers through it to try and neaten it again before tying it up in a ponytail once more. Jacen just laughed.

"You know you look adorable when you scrunch your nose up like that?"

"Shut up!" Siara objected. "I do not!"

"You do."

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"Jacen…"

"Siara," he smiled innocently, but also teasingly, a mildly strange combination and probably not overly easy to smile like. Siara scowled, looking away.

"I. Am not. Adorable."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, sis," he laughed again, "but I have had many a woman comment on how I look, and I hate to tell you this but… if not for the part where we're not the same gender, we would be identical. Or close enough. Therefore, one of the things you are, is adorable."

"You've had a woman call you adorable?"

Now it was Siara's turn to smirk, but Jacen shrugged it off.

"I take what compliments I get," he stretched, his hands behind his head as they walked. "Better than being called Knife-ears all the time."

"Yeah… you might have a point."

"Only might?"

"Yes."

"Siara, I usually have a point. Many, in fact."

"Your arrows don't count."

"Yes, they do."

"No, they don't."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too!"

"Do not."

"You're such a kid," Jacen muttered, Siara smirking.

"You started it."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"Did –" he stopped himself, looking down at Siara, who looked almost too smug, then looked away, scoffing with a small smile on his face. "You win this round, Siara."

"Yay!" she grinned, then started moving on ahead. "Come on. We better hurry if we want to reach Honnleath in any decent time."

"You're so bossy."

"Well one of us has to be responsible," she grinned back at her brother, who smiled, shaking his head. They were hopeless, anyone who passed them acting like this would think so. But they were best friends, family, and would only be separated if one of them was killed. They trusted each other and knew everything about each other. They were as close as two siblings could get. The Bow and the Blade... even if Siara actually fought with two dual curved blades. They hadn't chosen the name. Originally it had been their sister, Mara, who had named them. The Bow, the Blade, and the Blood. She had been a blood mage, and a pretty good one too. And she had been the most normal looking out of the lot of them, brown hair, green eyes, and very beautiful. She had also been their leader, until templars found them, and her. They didn't even wait for a trial. She was killed on sight. And so they became the Bow and the Blade. They never even thought of changing it.

They looked down over the procession, calculating looks in their eyes. Siara scoffed.

"I shoulda asked what this guy looks like."

"Doubt it would make a lot of difference, they're all wearing exactly the same thing and you can't see their faces," Jacen told her, frowning slightly. "How do you want to play this?"

"They're gonna have to stop and rest at some point, right?" Siara asked, looking around. "Find something of value from up there," she pointed at the massive building, "sneak it into whichever tent is his. At the very least it will impact on his career."

"Could work. Except for one thing."

"Hm?"

"How will we figure out which is his tent?"

Siara gave him a nasty look.

"How do you think?"

"Womanly wiles?"

"How did you guess?"

"You always did like flirting."

"Not as much as you do."

"That's because you don't need to work as hard at it as I do. Wonder why."

"Women are smarter than men," Siara scoffed, smiling slightly. "How long do you think it'll take for us to find something of suitable value?"

Jacen shrugged.

"It will take as long as it takes."

"No kidding, genius."

"You asked."

"Yes I did."

"Were you hinting you want to get a move on?"

"Yes I was."

"All right then. Lead the way."

Siara started walking, then paused, looking at Jacen suspiciously. He just smiled back, the image of perfect innocence. After a moment Siara kept walking, still not quite trusting her brother.

Jacen stayed further back while Siara, being the close combat fighter, scouted around corners. They made their way towards the centre, suspecting that there would be where they found the most valuable objects. There weren't too many people around the place, so the going was easy enough, even if it did put the twins on edge. It was almost too easy. But they kept going anyway. Who would think that this place would be attacked or burgled, anyway? They rounded another corner and spotted a reasonably well-furnished room, sharing a look. It was probably the best they were going to get. So they slipped inside and started looking, trying to find something that would get the job done. It wasn't too long after that they were found out.

"Who the hell are you?" someone asked, making both Siara and Jacen look around. They shared a quick glance, then looked back at the newcomer. Talk about sloppiness on their part.

"You're not meant to be here. This is out of bounds to visitors," then he frowned. "You're not visiting, are you?"

"Well, we don't live here, that much is for sure," Jacen looked around the place, scratching the back of his head. "Or at least… I'm pretty sure we don't live here… Hey, sis, do we live here?"

"No, you idiot. We don't," Siara rolled here eyes and smiled apologetically at the man. "I'm sorry about my brother, he can be a bit slow sometimes."

"That doesn't change that you're not meant to be here."

"And we are very sorry about that. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere," the man didn't move as she walked towards him. "You wouldn't mind helping us find our way out, would you?"

He still didn't move.

"Hang on…" he muttered, "You're…"

"Well, shit."

The smile on Siara's face changed to a scowl and she drew her blades, Jacen quickly grabbing his bow from his back and knocking an arrow as the guard started yelling for reinforcements. Siara dealt with him quick enough, Jacen shooting an arrow right past her head into another guard who must have been pretty close by.

"We need to get a move on," Jacen said through clenched teeth.

"No kidding," Siara didn't bother shifting the bodies, just started searching again, faster this time, while Jacen took place somewhere where he could see through the door and lessen the numbers that would get through. It was surprising how quickly people seemed to find their way to them.

"I hate to rush you, but I'm kinda running out of arrows."

"How many did you bring?!" Siara demanded, still searching.

"Uh…"

"Jacen," she warned.

"Around 28? Standard number."

"Dammit, Jacen!"

"I didn't think we'd be getting in this much trouble!" he yelled back, still firing arrows.

"Ugh!" Siara turned her back on him before muttering under her breath. "I wish Mara were here. She could just fry the buggers."

Then her eyes landed on a beautiful gold and sapphire armband. Without pausing to think she grabbed it, turning to face the oncoming guards, twirling her blades in her hands, slipping on the armband to keep better hold of it, pulling her coat sleeve down to cover it.

"You done?" Jacen asked her.

"Yep."

"Well, so am I," he let loose his last arrow and looked at her expectantly. "You're up, sis."

Siara half smiled, heading out into the hall, almost dancing as she disposed of her foes, not necessarily killing, but in many cases severely wounding. Slowly she managed to cut enough of a path through them that Jacen could follow, a couple of daggers now in his hands and his bow on his back once more. Then someone grabbed him.

"Siara!" he called out, causing her to turn around. She took one look at what was happening, at her brother fighting for his life, and started making her way towards him as fast as she could. Then someone came up behind her, getting her in a headlock and forcing her swords from her hands. She stomped on her attacker's foot… then realized he was in metal plated armour. Jacen glanced around, saw the position she was in, and promptly threw one of his daggers, somehow managing to get the man in the throat, causing him to let go of Siara, who fell to her knees for a moment, catching her breath, then starting to move forwards again. She had to reach him. She had to.

"Siara, go!" she froze, confused.

"Jacen -"

"Go!"

"No! Not without you!"

Jacen was about to respond when someone managed to slip their sword past his defences, blood seeping out of the wound now in his side. He looked down, frowning slightly as though wondering what had just happened, when another sword entered his other side, both the swords being twisted nastily as they were drawn out. Siara just watched, her own swords falling to the ground with a loud clang as Jacen collapsed. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, time seeming to freeze. By now someone else had come, forcing Siara's hands behind her back. She shook her head, unable to hear anything. This had happened only once before.

"No…" she felt sick. "No!"

Now she just felt pissed, her eyes flashing with anger. No one had time to register what happened next, but the next thing Siara knew, she was crouching in the middle of a circle of fire and ice, her brother's head in her lap. Not that her explosion mattered. For straight after that there was an even larger explosion.