Omg so cute!! ;A;

She so cute! qwq

"Back then I was young, naïve and overconfident. Though, I guess the 'overconfident' part still stays."

They all laughed. It was a pleasant evening. Calm, and more or less carefree.

For now.

Vasco laughed. "Well, 'tried your best' isn't an argument among Crows. You need to *be* the best - or die. And, well, *now* I would try to take him down without killing and then turn the situation to my benefit somehow, but yeah..."

Then, his lips curled into an unusually warm smile.

"Yet, later he gave me the full payment for the job, even if I myself knew I didn't deserve it."

"But you tried your best!" Bellara exclaimed. "What else could you do, if the First tried to kill you, umm, well, *first*?"

"Mierda," there was a hint of amusement in Lucanis' voice.

"Can't say it better," Vasco scoffed. "In the end, I had to quickly kill him and escape, without finding the heirloom. Viago was *furious*. We received only half of the payment for that contract, and obviously he wasn't happy..."

"Apparently, the Keeper was so impressed with my magic abilities, that started to consider making me his new First. Even was choosing a vallaslin for me, heh. *Of course* the current First didn't take it well, and that was expected. What I *didn't expect* was that he'll actually try to kill me."

"Buuuuut?" Bellara's voice almost fell to a whisper - she obviously was completely entranced with the story.

"But things got rather awkward half-way," Rook chuckled helplessly.

"Well, killing the First was only one half of contract. Another was to return a heirloom that Keeper took from patron son's body. So before the assassination I needed to find that heirloom first, buuuut..."

For a moment there was an awkward silence.

"Though," he added, "I have to admit, playing a role of an obedient student wasn't that easy."

"I heard of that contract," Lucanis suddenly spoke thoughtfully. "Though, I also heard it wasn't *fully* completed?" He raised an eyebrow, and Vasco winced.

"I have no idea," Vasco scoffed. "I wasn't paid to learn such details. I was just glad that things were going rather smooth. I was a mage, and the Keeper eagerly jumped into teaching me some Dalish culture - and language, and if you say I'm good at it, then he did a good job at it, it seems."

"How big was that clan? Maybe they were just very, very desperate to get new people?" Bellara asked. She pulled her chair closer to Rook's table and rested her chin on her crossed arms, staring at him, almost holding her breath.

"Aaaanyway," he continued. "Crows accepted the contract, and Viago thought that it might be a *perfect* opportunity for me to practice my undercover work. So, I went to the clan, told that I'm sick of city life and want to join them - and they took me in, surprisingly easily."

Rook shrugged. "I heard only few details. Something about that Keeper killing patron's son who accidently entered Dalish territories while hunting. I guess, the patron wanted for him to experience the same pain of loosing someone dear as he did. Revenge, old as the world."