Hawke plopped two sovereigns down on the table. "Deal me in, I'm feeling lucky."
Varric leaned over to steal a kiss from her as she settled into her seat. "It's Rivaini's game tonight."
Bela pulled the cards, a mischievous gleam in her dark eyes. "And since you're late, you have to pay a price."
Hawke grinned. "Name it, pirate."
She handed over the cards. "One story about the Rose of Ferelden."
Hawke eyed the cards, her nose scrunching before laying them face down on the table. She drummed her fingers against the wood a moment before she spoke. "I broke into the Arl of Redcliffe's estate in Denerim."
"That's not a story."
She chuckled. "I'm getting there, if you want some fancy shit you should have asked him." She checked her cards again and tossed in a card. "I took the job for a local gang. The Arl had executed one of their men and confiscated his weapons. High value, and they were willing to pay handsomely for their return."
Varric took a card. "Must have been special weapons."
Hawke shrugged. "Family heirlooms, I think, they lacked rune work, gold work, and stones so I had no problem handing them over for the agreed upon price instead of hawking them to a vendor. The problem was the Arl took security very seriously. So I had this huge bulky bag of supplies that weighed as much as I did that I chucked over the wall in the middle of the night. Grappling hook, cheese, rope to tie up any guards, and a couple of smoke bottles." She pulled a card, gave a heavy sigh, and set her cards back down.
"So much for your luck." Varric grinned.
She grumbled at him before continuing. "I slipped past the first few guards and tossed-."
Bela interrupted her with a shake of her drink in Hawke's face. "I understand the part with the grappling hook, but why was there cheese?"
"Originally, in case I got hungry waiting for a change in the guard or something." She grinned. "I ended up using it bribe off the rats in the sewer tunnel I used to escape." Bela's face contorted in distaste.
"What? Did you ask them nicely to not bite you while giving them little crumbs?" Varric chuckled.
Hawke's whole face scrunched up with her nose as she shook her head violently. "No. It was more shrieking and throwing." She shuddered. "I hate rats." She checked her cards again. "Can you have mercy and let me win?"
"You used all your luck escaping rats, songbird." Bela smirked. "And no mercy for thieves."
Hawke rolled her eyes. “Luck is what got me to the sewer tunnel.” She smirked. “And a very pretty serving girl.”
Varric stared at her, absentmindedly drawing a card. “Oh?”
“The armory and the treasury are right next to each other, so I made a slight detour. I loaded up every pocket in my cloak and filled my bag. I sounded like a dragon dancing a jig on its hoard as I crept back to the kitchens to make my escape.” Hawke pulled a card and her smile widened. “She was the bread maker and all alone in the kitchen. She picked up a cleaver and threatened to cut my hand off before dragging me to the Arl.” She sighed wistfully. “She had the arms to do it, she could have arm wrestled Aveline into submission, and short blonde hair that stood straight out from her head like the divine light from Andraste in those Chantry paintings.”
Bela chuckled softly. “And just what did you do?”
“I told her she didn’t have to cut me to disarm me with a face as pretty as hers.” Hawke grinned as they laughed. “She then accused me of trying to sweeten her up so I could escape and that it wouldn’t work because she didn’t like men. So I took off my mask and proved that I was very much a woman. The Arl’s bread was ruined for the day, and I was almost caught, but I left with a safe passage in and out of the estate with a kiss for payment to use it.” She chuckled tapping her cards on the table. “And every time she tasted like cinnamon. It was good deal.”
Varric stared at his cards, his good hand suddenly gone. “Well, I know where the weird thing with food comes from now.” Hawke snorted and kissed his cheek.
“You should tell stories more often, songbird, but not when we are playing.” She folded her cards.
Hawke smiled brightly and scraped the winnings into her lap. “She’s still my lucky charm it seems.”