(*ninjas online for post*)
Oh, Lalin. Matthew's heart ached for the traps his girls had wound themselves in - Lalin, Azabeth, even Lelahai to some extent, though that last student had warped and twisted herself so out of true that Matt didn't even recognize her anymore. If only Lalin had gone to him for help; if only he had listened to his instincts and intervened even when she didn't want him to. Talin was formidable, but they both knew who would win in a struggle between her and Black Matthew. But if there was one thing Matt had learned growing up on the street, it was that help given unasked for was likely to be thrown back in your face, and what trust you had ruined forever. Matt had prayed Lalin had the wisdom to make the right decisions on her own. Which.... technically, she had, although long after he had hoped those decisions would come. Lalin Adain, a Warden. He would never have guessed.
Back to business, of course. Such conversations always swung that way eventually, and he gusted out a breath between his teeth, making his shaggy hair blow upwards briefly. "I wasn't the only one, sad to say. Az, she's a clever little minx, but she has her tells." Matt taught her how to play cards, and she was smart enough not to play Wicked Grace with him even as an adult; he knew all her twitches, all the little cues, and exploited them ruthlessly. "I caught up with her a mile or so outside the city, rooking travelers in a little inn. Thank the Maker I found her before the bounty hunter on her tail did."
No happy memory, that, but from the way the subtle tension in Matthew's frame did not change, it hadn't ended badly. His black eyes roved out over the bar patrons, habitually scanning the crowd for marks and coppers alike. "Since then I've taken pains to stay away from her. As far as possible without leaving Denerim entirely. But if I know Az? She'll spook a little, run as far as she thinks she can get away with, and then when she's safe she'll be back to her old tricks again." He shook his head, then met her eyes with his own black ones. "It won't work."