RUSHING AHEAD

The knock on his door was… strange to hear in these human lands. Confident, but polite, with just the right amount of strength to catch attention without catching too much attention. No hint of fear or hesitation. Who in this pathetic mess of a country had control like that?

The Iron Bull lifted his head from another Ben-Hassrath report to look at the door, but it was Hissrad's carefully manipulated voice that called out to the person outside, "Come in!" he boomed loudly. Boisterously. Predictably.

The door opened to reveal a young woman in simple leather armor. Black hair, green eyes, pretty but drawn and tense face. The moment she crossed the treshold, Hissrad noticed the strange way she moved. It was… all wrong. Wearing leather armor like it was her first time in it - uncomfortable and suffocating. Pale, soft hands. Not much muscle definition either. She looked like a lady stuffed in skin not her own. Or maybe a mage… A Vint? His shoulders tensed, preparing for an attack.

Her guarded eyes skipped all over his tavern room before landing on him. Hissrad saw her eyebrow lift in surprise at the sight of him, then her face smoothed into a perfectly polite mask.

'Interesting' he though. Even beyond the mask, there was no disgust, fear or hatred in her eyes. His shoulders relaxed a bit. Not a Vint, then. Still… when most people who didn't want to kill him saw him for the first time, they reacted with either contempt or lust. Sometimes both, he thought with a derisive mental snort.

Yet this girl did neither.

"The Iron Bull, I presume?" she asked politely.

"What? The horns give me away?" he poked at her and was surprised to see a small smile twitch at the corners of her lips. "Yes, that's me. Did you need anything?" If what he thought was right, she could possibly ask to…

She steeled her shoulders and looked him in the eyes, determined, "I want to join the Chargers."

His eye gleamed. Now that was a surprise. Time to see what she's made of, he thought with a barely concealed grin. "And why should I let you join? What can you offer the Chargers?"

Her mouth opened, but she paused before she could say the first thing that popped into her mind. Bull approved.

"Let me join and I'll prove that I'm worth it," she answered at last. Despite the tenseness of her shoulders, she never flinched or dropped her eyes.

So she even knew a bit about the Qunari. This was getting better and better. He just hoped she was not here to spy on them… but then, the Orlesian nobles were too arrogant to ever suspect that a 'stupid brute' of a mercenary could ever pass along vital information about their operations to the Ben-Hassrath. Unless she was a Ben-Hassrath herself and was here to check up on him, to see if he felt tempted to become a true Tal-Vashoth. That would be… unfortunate.

At leat she didn't seem to be a Vint.

He allowed a grin to show on his face. Then he slapped a hand on his thigh and shouted, "Ha! That's what I like to hear!" Her relieved smile put most of his worries at ease… unless she was that good? Ahh, too early to tell. "Alright. You can join for one job. We'll see what you're made of and if you can keep up, you can stay."

She inclined her head gracefully and Bull's grin grew wider. Dressed as she was in cheap, crappy leather armor, it looked decidedly strange on her. "Thank you, Iron Bull."

"Right. Be here tomorrow morning at ten." He dismissed her, waiting to see if she'll offer any explanation about her more than odd behavior.

She cleared her throat nervously. "There is one more thing."

"Yes?"

"…I'm a mage." She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. Probably expecting the worst, considering how mages were treated under the Qun. Hmm, this lady definitely had guts, to reveal her magic on their first meeting, alone in a small room with him. He definitely approved of her honesty.

"Really? You don't look like a mage." Bull said as he leaned back in his chair.

Her eyes briefly skipped down to his exposed chest, before returning to his amused face. Then she lifted an eyebrow, "When you're a mage trying not to be caught, the first thing you should do is stop looking like a mage."

"True. Not many mages figure that out, though." He smiled and gave her another considering look.

The girl smirked. "Not many mages stay on the run for longer than a couple days."

Bull's only response was a good-natured chuckle.

After a moment, the girl stood up. "Very well, I'll see you tomorrow."

Bull only watched, but called after her before she could leave the room. "What's your name?"

She paused at the treshold, turning her head to look back at him with an almost hesitant look.

"Evelyn Trevelyan."

Then the door closed behind her and she was gone.