Candy
Hawke wandered the open market stalls as the shopkeepers left for the evening. They left their wares out under the stars and had bragged to her that they had never had a problem with thieves. No, that didn’t happen in Amarathine. She chuckled to herself as she picked up an ornate dagger, eyeing the gold work and gemstones. “Too easy.”
She cleared every stall by midnight, dropping sack after sack to the drop point over the wall. The gate was down for the night but payment came sailing up and over on an arrow’s song. She waved to her contact and headed to the inn and its bar. She had earned herself a whiskey and a soft bed with all that hard work. A guard passed her on her way and she gave him a winsome smile and wink, her smile widening when he flushed. His shout went up as she came to the corner of the inn and booted feet ran toward the market as she entered feeling secure in a job well done.
The morning was bright as Hawke left the city. With the coin she had made, she wouldn’t need to work anymore jobs this summer unless she wanted to, even with the Templars breathing down their necks. She whistled while she strutted through the gate and when the guard called to her, she kept smiling. “Hey, you! That’s my dagger.”
“What?”
“That’s mine!” He blustered into her face. “I was having it specially made and was going to pick it up today after my shift. To the guard captain with you.”
She sighed, letting him drag her along. She could slip him but it was an easy haul. She wanted to be able to come back as she pleased to clean them out again. The guard captain looked her up and down as they came in, the guardsman still bellowing. He went back to the paper. “She’s not the Rose.”
“I don’t care! She has my dagger.”
A thought shot across her mind. “A woman gave it to me as I was walking back from the market last night. I am a traveler from Lothering and she told me she would return for it but that it was a gift for her husband.”
He shook her arm. “I ain’t married.”
The captain chuckled. “No woman could stand you that long. Just take it and leave.” Hawke turned to go and he stopped her. “Not you, young lady.” The guardsman left. “I know you are a thief. One of the urchins ratted you out for stealing bread and giving it them.”
She sighed. “No honor at all then amongst the little brats.”
He shrugged. “They are only urchins by their clothes. They are in my employ.” He smiled. “And my children. I appreciate your concern. But the King wants every petty thief who is caught sent to Ostagar to be trained up in the army. The only reason we caught you is because that idiot noticed something shiny on your belt. If we brought in the Rose, we would have the King a new spymistress.”
Hawke smiled with a soft tilt of her head. “What makes you think she would agree to that?”
“She wouldn’t want to be executed.” Hawke nodded. “After I got her to sign something for the kids though. They adore her.” He stood, his bulk dwarfing the room. “Now come on, I have to keep you in a cell until the army comes to get you. You get to keep everything you have on you and I’ll make sure word gets to your family.”
Later that night, Hawke picked the lock on her cell. She looked longingly at the door, escape would be so easy. But the money for the next two years would be good and she would have access to armories and treasuries which would get her even more. Only a fool would turn away that kind of opportunity, not with Templars hounding your sister’s every move. She smiled as she slid a paper across the desk and began sketching a rose, some hard training with her daggers wouldn’t be amiss either. They may even teach her some new tricks. She signed it with a flourish, carefully arranging everything on the desk and headed back to her cell and settled in for the night.
She was woken in the morning when her cell door rattled. “The Rose was here! Did you see her?”
The young boy was screeching with excitement and Hawke grinned. “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”
He shook her bars again. “I’m glad I’m not a lady. Mom’s bringing you breakfast. Bye! Moooom! The Rose was here! She left us a picture!” She rolled over on her cot and laughed into her pillow.