A/N 2020: Yet again this story has gotten an overhaul, not much has changed minus some wording.

1: Status and Coin

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Not for him and certainly not for her. They came from different worlds, never mind the subtle similarities or slight factors that seemed to give them common ground. He was an apostate mage; and a former Grey Warden to boot. Well, there was no former, once a Warden always a Warden, he just said he was no longer an active Warden. She was a refugee from Ferelden who had sought shelter in Kirkwall, where her family had originated as nobility.

They should never have happened at all…

Isabeau Hawke had spent her first year in Kirkwall basically working for free. Well, not really for free, but it seemed like it sometimes. She and her sister, Bethany, had been repaying a loan that had gotten them –them being their mother Leandra, friend Aveline, and themselves- into Kirkwall. A loan that would never have been offered if not for their uncle Gamlen's dubious contacts. A loan that had been repaid for the duration of the year with them acting as mercenaries.

It had been something their mother had positively hated, especially considering that Bethany had had no choice but to be involved. Leandra had hated that her homecoming had not been the one she had expected. She had expected to return to Kirkwall and live in both safety and luxury, something they all had been denied ever since… well, ever. At least for Beau and Bethany, they had grown up in a life lived on the run and knowing that the bad, poor times tended to outweigh the better moments. At least until Lothering, they had been doing very well there.

Leandra had hated the idea of them being mercenaries, being forced to work even harder just to survive than before, especially after Lothering. They had fled Lothering, like many others had, to escape the Blight, more importantly they had been trying to outrun the darkspawn that had overrun their picturesque village. The Blight had been on its way, the darkspawn had already been there. It was in Lothering that they had lost Carver, Leandra's youngest and her baby.

So really, Beau couldn't blame her mother for hating it all. Life here had sucked so far, at least for Leandra. She had to worry about Bethany winding up dead, or worse, apprehended by the templars and she was living in squalor.

For Hawke, working as a mercenary hadn't been anything out of the ordinary for her. She had been a soldier in King Cailan's army back in Ferelden, so she was used to taking orders and as used to killing people as one ever got. It had been a preferable alternative to the smuggling route she had been offered. Smuggling had seemed, on the outside, to be a cleaner sort of task, but Hawke wasn't about to risk getting involved in smuggling people, children especially.

Working for Meeran, the leader of the mercenary group they had signed on with, had presented them with some benefits. Benefits Beau was more likely to exploit then Bethany. Benefits such as being able to build a name for herself as opposed to becoming just another Fereldan dog-loving vagrant like many of her countrymen had become known as. Pulling herself out of the gutter she had unwittingly placed herself, and her family into, had been necessary. She wanted to provide her family with something stable, something closer to whatever it was Leandra had been convinced was waiting for them here. Another reason, the most important one was that Bethany needed to be safe.

Bethany was a mage, an apostate, just like their father had been. Magic had run in Malcolm's family line and in the Amell line, something Leandra tended to gloss over whenever reminiscing about being from one of the most prominent families in Kirkwall. Anywhere one went, outside of the Tevinter Imperium, if he or she were a mage, they were expected to be a Circle mage and under the care of a templar, doing business that had been approved by the powers that be for mages. Mages who operated outside the Circle were known as apostates and were considered dangerous. They were to either be brought under the circle, and therefore Chantry, rule or executed. Neither option was meant for Bethany, not if Beau and Leandra had their way.

Another thing about working for Meeran, and that fell under both building up her name and protecting Bethany had been that she had made contacts. Meeran's clients and contacts had become hers and some of these people she had forged connections with remained friendly with her. She was hoping that when the need for a job arose, they would remember her. Given that when out seeking employment and away into Kirkwall for them, Gamlen had not bothered to hide the fact that Bethany was a mage but instead bandied it about, Beau was hoping these contacts would not remember Beth.

Kirkwall was no place for an apostate mage, let alone one trapped in the circle. That had been made abundantly clear from the moment they had arrived. Kirkwall housed a very large contingent of templars, led by Knight-Commander Meredith, whom Beau had never had the pleasure of meeting, fortunately. It was well known that Meredith had next to zero patience, or tolerance, for mages within the Circle. For apostates there was absolutely no mercy from the woman. It had been stories of Meredith that had put the Hawke family even more on edge when they had arrived.

In Ferelden, mages had lived in the circle tower, which was quite literally built in an upwards circle. Here in Kirkwall, the mages circle was the Gallows. The Gallows had originally been a prison, a place for slaves to be sold and bought, a place of death and torture. It seemed only fitting that it now housed Kirkwall's Circle of Magi, who were treated little better than prisoners themselves.

For the last year, Meeran's protection and influence had kept them under the radar but the year was over and as much as Beau liked Meeran, she just wasn't interested in being a mercenary. At least, not for him, she'd prefer to keep a bigger chunk of the coin in her own pockets thank you. Now they were on their own which meant the templars were becoming more of a problem every day. They needed two things in order to remain free and get themselves out of the slums of Lowtown: money and status. Obviously, money would buy status. Sadly, Beau did not have money.

Leandra had thought she was coming home to money. Even though she had all but thrown away the name of, and therefore any rights regarding, the Amell family, she still had expected Gamlen to welcome them home in comfort and style. As it turned out, Gamlen had lost everything, and he had lost everything. The money, the family home, ruined the family name; he had made the Amell's nothing more than beggars and laughingstocks. Leandra had been devastated.

Isabeau and Bethany, not so much disappointed but upset for their mother. They had never had all that much to begin, just what they needed, and they had always been content with that. Now, all they wanted, was space to call their own and some relative peace and safety. They had discussed it all at night, huddled together in the tiny bedroom on the even tinier bed they shared. There were various ways of making money, of gathering coin, it was a matter of how far they were willing to go and what they were willing to sacrifice morality wise.

Given that they had one measly blanket and tended to sleep with all their clothes on, literally every piece they each owned, when it got cold and the food tended to settle poorly or was not enough. Beau figured she had yet to reach a point she wasn't willing to cross, outside of selling people into slavery, though if things got any worse, she might have to reconsider that. It was worse on nights when they could hear their mother crying from her own room. The house they now lived in, Gamlen's little shack, wasn't as large as their home in Lothering had been, not by any stretch of the imagination and that home hadn't been overly large either. So, with space being cramped, almost any noise could be heard in any part of the 'house'. Gamlen slept wherever he passed out, which was sometimes in one of their beds, or in the main room. Beau had come home one night and found him curled up under their table.

They had heard rumors of a dwarf planning an expedition into the Deep Roads, which promised to be eventful if not prosperous. An expedition other mercenaries and refugees were trying to join with, for the very same reasons Bethany and Beau needed too. Status and money.

"We must be in the right place." Beau said under her breath as she glanced to her right, where just beside her walked Bethany. As usual, Bethany's dark brown eyes were darting all over the place, always on the lookout for templars. Beau also watched, not about to let those clanking righteous bastards drag her sister off to the Gallows or execute her, she was just less obvious about the watching.

Isabeau –though she generally went by just Beau, pronounced the same as bow- was now unofficially head of the Hawke family, something she had never wanted but found it imposed upon her. When their father, Malcolm, had died three years before the Blight, she had had the duty of caring for the family resting on her shoulders. She was the eldest child, her younger siblings –Bethany and Carver- had been fraternal twins and Carver had been considered the baby of the family. Bethany had had to remain in the shadows because of being a mage while Carver had thrown himself into forging his own identity, rather making a name of himself around Lothering as something of a jackass.

Carver had definitely been a jackass.

He had died after throwing himself at an ogre when they had fled Lothering, like a fool.

Beau had found herself in an unwanted position, with an unwanted burden, and beneath it she had apparently flourished because she had found herself quite capable of making decisions and doing what needed to be done and there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep them safe.

Well, nothing so far, she had yet to reach a point that made her stop and think twice. Fortunately, when they had been offered a way into Kirkwall, there had been more than one option. She wasn't sure how it would have panned out if she would have had to be a smuggler.

She hadn't even really questioned it when Flemeth had offered them a way out of the death trap they had basically wandered into when running from darkspawn. She had accepted the deal, pocketed the amulet, and now… well, it had been over a year, she probably needed to get around to finishing up with her end of that bargain.

Now that the Blight over they could someday return to Ferelden, maybe. They had heard that Lothering had been totally destroyed and the land tainted, so maybe they didn't have a home to return to anymore. Maybe she was stuck with making Kirkwall home. Beau hated that idea because she was not overly fond of Kirkwall.

"You hear that the qunari have been given their own…" Beau ignored the gossiping shoppers she was trying to wind her way through on the way to the dwarves quarter. She had no use for the qunari, and they were the Viscount's problem anyway. During one of the seasonal storms, a ship had struck the rocks that surrounded Kirkwall with the result of hundreds of qunari being stranded.

"That must be Bartrand." Bethany wasn't ignoring anyone but if it wasn't something relating to her, she really didn't need to know, it just got filed away. She gestured towards a dwarf that was breaking free of a crowd, shaking his head in visible frustration.

When Bethany moved towards the dwarf, Beau reached out to stop her. "Wait… let's get him alone, without distractions." She suggested, eyeballing the unfamiliar faces before her, many of them at waist level. That was a little awkward.

"Beau," Bethany whispered, moving to stand back against a wall as they waited, feeling her sister leaning into her. "What if… what if this doesn't work out, what will we do then?"

"Trust me, Bethie, he's going to take us on. We've got this."

"No!" Andraste's tits, human!" Bartrand shouted, exasperation lacing his tone though he didn't turn around, instead choosing to pick up his speed. "Do you have any idea how many people want to hire into this expedition?"

"Too many I daresay." Beau said, sharing a look with Bethany.

"But we heard you're going into the Deep Roads," Bethany's calm and gentle voice was a bit hard to pick up and she realized it, so she cleared her throat, speaking louder. "Surely, you'll need all the help you can-"

Halting, Bartrand whirled around to face them, both women stopping so they didn't collide with him. "No, you're too late. I've already hired on as many people as I'll need." He snorted, looking them over from top to bottom. "This is the sort of deal that can make a man for like, I'm not about to take a chance and hire random humans, female humans at that!"

Beau was sorely tempted to break out a dagger and show him just what a random, female human could do when properly motivated but Bethany's hand on her forearm stayed her. Instead, she took a deep, calming breath and reminded herself just what was at stake here, which meant she couldn't kick him over. Plastering a friendly smile on her face, she tried to keep the sarcasm from showing in her eyes as she said: "I'll buy you a drink before we head into the Deep Roads, everyone wins."

Bethany silently groaned, trying not to shake her head. Beau's approach with people always varied and she never knew what to expect with her sister, though generally sarcasm was a safe bet. Today apparently, it was sarcasm and Beau's slightly twisted sense of humor.

Bartrand didn't seem to find it amusing either. "Get in line, human. Half of Kirkwall wants to be my best friend right now." He gave them another once over, this one a bit longer than the last and decidedly more focused, especially on their clothes and gear. "You're looking for a quick way to get out of the slums."

Personally, Beau thought she looked nice in her forest green, padded armor. It really brought out the green in her eyes and went with her raven hair quite well. She would, however, be the first to say that the peasant blouse Bethany was wearing, along with her ankle-length skirt, emphasized her bosom just a bit too much.

"Find another meal ticket." He turned and strode away, not bothering to look back.

"Well," Beau said after a moment and trying to grin at her sister, her eyes guarded so Bethany wouldn't see the desperation that was beginning to settle in. "I think that went alright, how about you?"

"Are you mad?" Bethany demanded, her face displaying everything she felt, unable to hide it the way Beau did. Currently anger and desperation were vying for control. "What are we supposed to do now, Beau? We've got nothing to stop the next person who tries to sell us out, no money, nothing!" Her voice was beginning to break from struggling not to cry, tears welling in her dark brown eyes. "This expedition was our last chance."

Knowing this wasn't the time to spout off a witty one-liner or crack an inappropriate joke, Beau stepped forward and hesitantly wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders, trying to be reassuring. "Bethie, we've made a name for ourselves over the last year." She said softly, meeting Bethany's troubled gaze with what she was hoping was a confident look. "We will find something, trust me."

"I do trust you, Beau." Bethany said after a moment, managing a watery smile with an accompanying hiccup. She stepped back when Isabeau pulled away, wiping the wetness off her face. When Beau started walking again, she fell into step. "We need coin, status, something we can hide behind."

They both knew why; it went without say. As long as they were refugees, they were nobodies. They were easy pickings for the templars, the gangs, anyone looking to make a quick coin or just feeling uncharitable and, in the mood, to cause trouble. They needed a way to pull themselves out of the mire and into safety.

"Maybe Gamlen knows someone who can talk to Bartrand for us."

Now that was just idiotic. Gamlen might have gotten them into Kirkwall, but even that had been at the expense of selling off their services for a year's time. It had also put him back in somewhat good grace with some people he owed money too. Beau shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"It can't hurt to ask Beau, it's not like we have a lot of options right now."

Sadly, Bethany was right.