Apostate in Plain Sight

Year One

There were a lot of inscrutable things that Marian had been forced to do while in service to Athenril, but she did what needed doing to protect her family. Aveline had lasted about a week before she stormed off in a huff and joined the city guard. Marian found herself being referred to more and more by her surname during her missions and found that it suited her much better than her given name. As her reputation grew in the undercity, Hawke was a name on a lot of people's lips. It made her both infamous and a little nervous. Luckily she had trained enough with daggers as a child to pass for a rogue and none of the rumors flying about her had anything to do with her being a mage. Her secret was safe for the moment.

She trudged through Lowtown, counting her paces as she found herself having to do every so often to remember her way through the labyrinth of streets. The city had been designed to discourage slaves from gathering and trying to rebel, making it difficult to make your way around. Gamlen had taken them in, allowing them to live with him in his tiny hovel. Hawke passed 'The Hanged Man', the local place to drink in Lowtown, and paused to remember if it was a left or a right back to Gamlen's residence. She took the left and dropped a single copper for the beggar pawing at her feet. She was dressed in fine studded leather armor that Athenril had provided her and she found it easier to give small amounts of coin to the beggars than to ignore them. She had made this particular discovery shortly after her first trip to Darktown when someone had flung actual shit at her for passing by without so much as a glance. Now the reaction was automatic. See a beggar, drop a coin.

Around the corner in a small courtyard in the slums stood Gamlen's 'house'. Hawke used the term loosely because she was convinced that breathing wrong or shifting in her sleep was going to bring the entire roof caving in on them. She heard muffled arguing coming from inside and she sighed as she pushed the door open and stepped inside. Carver and Gamlen were at it again, arguing over a hand of cards. In the seven months they had been in the city, this had happened at least once a week. It was usually on the night after Carver was awarded his earnings for the week and was dumb enough to bet against their uncle who was a nasty cheat.

Alfie jumped up from his place beside the door to the bedroom where they all slept on bunks and bounded across the living area to greet her. She knelt and rubbed his belly as he rolled onto his back, his tongue lolling out and dripping drool on the floor. He followed her into the bedroom as she passed by the arguing men, jumping up and down and sniffing at the pouch she carried at her hip. "Off you great oaf," she grunted, pushing him away as he nearly tripped her, trying to stuff his nose in the pouch after the jerky she had gotten him as a treat. She kicked off her boots and sat on her bunk, stretching her legs and wiggling her toes as he was distracted by the smell of her boots. Then she pulled out the pouch and began to hand feed the jerky to him. "Why yes, Alfie, I have been to Darktown today. How did you know?"

He thumped down on the floor, his butt wagging as he munched his snack and she sat back, leaning against the wall and tucking her feet up under her. "I thought I heard you come in," her mother said, entering the room and breaking her out of her reverie. "How was your day?"

"Oh, the usual. Secret meetings, stolen goods. Oh, and I got to make a lovely trip to the brothel. That was extra special," Hawke rolled her eyes as Leandra chuckled softly.

"I spoke to Aveline today," Leandra informed her. "She is doing well with the guard."

"Good," Hawke said with a smile waiting for the second shoe to drop. Her mother never came to speak with her like this unless she wanted something. Not since Bethany.

Leandra sat down on the edge of the bed and Hawke watched her closely. Her eyes were pinched and the lines around them had deepened since the last time Hawke had truly looked at her while she wasn't paying attention. Sure signs of stress. Hawke sat forward, resting her arms in her lap and cocked her head to show her mother she was listening. "Do you think you might be able to talk to them? I can't stand to listen to them argue anymore..." Leandra said with a deep sigh. "Nothing I ever say matters, but you have such a way with words. Like your father used to."