She grinned upon seeing Bethen's choice, seeing the faint shimmer of the afternoon sun wink from the end of the rough-hewn crystal. "Excellent choice...they're not usually expensive," Deidre remarked in an encouraging fashion, halting the conversation for now as she watched the person ahead of them ease away from the stand with his marble slab. She took a step to the side, lingering nearby so that her companion could approach the merchant and purchase the stone for herself. As far as prices go, amethysts were relatively common and therefore cheaper than rarer stones such as sapphires, rubies, and diamonds. Most of the coin, the archaeologist knew, would be spent in the actual labor that went in fashioning the stone into a stone wolf -- however purchasing the materials beforehand before turning them over to a craftsman would alleviate the cost that went into the final product.
"Chain or chord?" she asked Bethen, pointing towards the row displaying different kinds of chains, and several lengths of leather twine.
The merchant, an aging man that went by Master Elwyn, was friendly enough, nodding in approval to Bethen's choice and clearly surmised that he was purchasing the striking stone for herself. He charged her a few pieces of silver -- if the crystal had been larger, she would have had to spend more. Bryan, the stand-owner's son, assisted other customers with the heavier purchases, though his eyes strayed towards the raven-haired Grey Warden on occasion. He did little to call attention to himself, however, and should the mage ever look in his direction, he turned away quickly under the guise of keeping busy. A knowing look crossed over the initiate's face as she watched, amusement simmering in the depths of her hazel irises.
Whenever the purchases were made, the priest-to-be took a step to the side, waving for Bethen to follow her as she moved towards a direction due east. The smells of the market were more evident here, close to the stalls selling all manner of street food; candied fruit, roasted meat on sticks, and various arrays of fruit. There was even a small stand that sold fresh artisan bread, its owner ultimately the most popular person around that area as a line appeared to curl around the block for a chance to purchase some of the best baked goods in Amaranthine. Dee and her bottomless pit of a stomach paused and eyed it for a moment speculatively, but opted to move to their next destination.
It was in this moment in time when Deidre answered Bethen's question and comprehending the reasons why the Grey Warden would like to know. After all, the reasons were self-evident. "It's no trouble. I was on an expedition, to hunt for ruins in the Korcari Wilds. I expected a sizeable group to come with me...the Wilds were dangerous, after all, and I deemed the potential find important enough to take the risk. However, the Denerim chantry had a rough season fiscally that year....it didn't help that one of the foundations of the building that housed its archives collapsed. Repairing it was sordidly expensive. Anyway, the Revered Mother wrote Kinloch Hold, to spare me some backup. Knight-Commander Greagoir was kind enough to send me Rick and Dustin, one of your junior enchanters, to accompany me."
There was a twitch at the corner of her mouth, the beginnings of a broad and impish smile hinted upon the dewy line. What had started to make her laugh, however, remained unvoiced.