Six Escape Attempts (Part 4)
The Six Escape Attempts (and Single Escape) of Anders
Mulit-Chapter, a bit long.
Rating: PG at max
Some implied pairings, but only Anders/Karl stands out. A few OC Wardens, who don't conflict with each other and don't play much role.
Ch. 4 - The Templar Attempt
8 Firstfall, 9:19 Dragon
If there was any one thing that Anders hated about aging, it was not being able to get away with as much as he used to. When Ser Maron had caught him on the outskirts of Lothering, Anders had come quietly as an apostate who had never been part of the circle. Playing ignorant had been surprisingly easy. Ser Maron had led him as an equal and talked kindly to him during the whole day and a half’s journey back to the circle, but he hadn’t let Anders keep any of the animals he had been taking care of, not even Fluffypaws and Fuzzball. It wasn’t until the doors of the tower were opened by Knight Commander Greagoir, who barely took one look at Anders before shouting “You! My office, now, apprentice!”, that Ser Maron had any idea that Anders hadn’t been living in the little camp he had set up all his life. That had been just over a year ago now.
Greagoir had shouted at him how lucky he was that no one had been seriously hurt (although Ser Carroll had developed an overwhelming fear of cats and they’d had to get rid of all the ones in the tower) and that Ser Maron vouched that there had been no incidents of Blood Magic in the area where he had been staying, and threatened him with the Rite of Tranquility at least four times. However, Irving was also present at this particular meeting and, his eyes bright with amusement, told Greagoir that Anders was harmless, that there was no proof that he could possibly have put a demon in the cat, nor dropped that lyrium dust everywhere and that none of the templars had seen him outside the tower that night. He also said that if Torrin didn’t want his apprentice back that Irving himself would take Anders on. Torrin dearly wanted his apprentice back.
“You must tell me all about Lothering!” He said “It’s been years since I was there. Well, quite a bit longer than that even, now I suppose, but I used to have the best friend out that way. Did you ever hear of a man called Malcolm? No? What a pity. Perhaps he moved on…”
The other apprentices had heartily welcomed him back with a hundred questions about the outside world. It was the longest stretch of words not containing an insult that he had ever heard Keres speak. He also discovered that they had managed to save one of the kittens by keeping it under his old bed. They called it Anderfels.
“The templars came in with Kinnon over there about six months after you left. Asked if your bed was free for him,” Karl told him, “But Finn and I had been keeping our things on it, so we told him that someone was sleeping there. The templars know us all by face, but only a few know our names, so this one just believed us.”
“But you don’t live here anymore,” Anders said, “You’re upstairs now, aren’t you? Full circle mage and all-“
“That doesn’t mean I can’t keep some things down here. And my old bed was empty, so that made the math work out for him. In any case, I’m still not close with many of the mages up there. I knew Godwin, of course, and Niall’s been Harrowed since you left, but I didn’t grow up with the rest of them. I don’t feel like I much fit in with them yet. But you know what our lives have been like. Not much changes around here. Tell me all about Thedas.”
And then it was just life at the tower again. Now more than ever before, Anders hated the walls, the constant watching, and the aura of fear and worry that clouded everything anyone did. He hadn’t used a lot of magic around Lothering, just what was necessary to hide, to cook, to travel and the like. He suspected that was why it had taken the templars so long to find him. Greagoir had certainly made it sound as though he had sent out several templars as soon as they knew Anders was gone (although that may have even taken a full twenty four hours), but Anders had never encountered them. Perhaps they had assumed that he would go back to the Frostback Mountains. He had wanted to, desperately, but had known that that would be the first place they would look for him. It would have been like walking into a trap, only getting there a little before the trap was ready. Fortunately, he had met Teagrin on the road and had been able to talk him out of a little fried nug.
There were surprisingly few new faces in the tower, considering that Anders had been gone for nearly a year. Life in the tower really didn’t change very often. There were two new female apprentices and Kinnon, and Niall had moved upstairs, but beyond that the circle was just as Anders remembered it. His robes were even properly singed again after only a few days’ lessons with Torrin.
But now, over a year after returning, everything was about to change again. Torrin had been very pleased with how much Anders’ concentration had improved since his return, and had been giving increasingly difficult lessons.
“That is excellent, really excellent,” Torrin shouted after Anders had successfully resisted the full blast of two fireballs and then managed to winter’s grasp the room back to a stable temperature, all without getting burned. “You know, I think you may be almost ready, my boy. We can’t put forth apprentices for another month, you understand, but still, I think I might feel good about putting your name in now.”
“Ser?” Anders said, although he had a sinking feeling that he already knew what Torrin was talking about.
“Your Harrowing, boy. You’re still a little young yet, I suppose, but I daresay that younger than you have gone through just fine, and age doesn’t really make much difference. It’s all about inner strength and between you, me and the First Enchanter, you’ve got quite enough of that to keep our Knight Commander on his toes.”
Anders bit back a laugh. He had never stopped calling the Knight Commander “Tightwad” in his mind. Torrin must have seen his smile.
“Excellent! Now, this is no promise, you understand. I’m only able to put you in as a candidate at this stage, but not too many others will be ready. Irving usually waits quite some time with his apprentices, Wynne and Uldred just put their best through a few months ago, pity that one girl of Uldred’s didn’t make it, and Sweeney’s just taken on the new boy, so he shouldn’t be putting anyone forth for a year at least. You may even be the only candidate. The only task left would be to convince the Knight Commander that you’re ready.”
Anders held back two snorts at once, one of laughter and one of disbelief. Torrin was going to have to convince Tightwad that he was a responsible mage? That wasn’t going to happen in the next decade.
“Ah, boy, some less prepared than you have gone through, and some have even made it unharmed. Greagoir knows that he’s not going to like or trust every mage that goes through the Harrowing, but he also understands that it is a rite of passage that every mage will go through and that many will mature to his standards after this test. No, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about him as much as you think. Go on downstairs, you’re done for the day. I have some paperwork to find.”
-
Anders would never have guessed that Torrin was serious. He also wouldn’t have believed that Knight Commander Greagoir would agree to the proposition had he not heard it from Greagoir himself.
“Maybe having some responsibility on your shoulders will keep you out of further trouble. You’re lucky we haven’t noticed any dangerous behavior. Disrespectful, certainly. Immature, oh yes. But the First Enchanter and Senior Enchanter Torrin both assure me that you are a spirit healer, and despite your flaunting of all that the chantry stands for, you are ready to go through this test.” Greagoir sighed. “Well, I won’t deny that you’re willful enough.”
And so Anders was to be the next in line to be Harrowed. The circle needed three months to prepare the tower for the weakening of the veil and to get the necessary materials for the Harrowing itself. Anders was not told what exactly this entailed, but Torrin assured him that he would be grateful for the time to prepare and adjust to the idea.
“You’ll start getting nervous the closer it gets. It’s better that you have some time to prepare yourself emotionally. Talk to some of the other mages. They won’t be able to tell you about the Harrowing itself, of course, but they can give you tips on how to prepare and, well, you’ll understand. Besides, you’ll want to know some of them when you move upstairs.”
Anders hadn’t known what to expect when he told the other apprentices, but found that as soon as he let the matter slip their reactions were perfectly obvious.
“You haven’t been in training any longer than I have!” Keres whined, “What makes you special, then?”
“Obviously Irving and Greagoir think that this will keep him in the tower,” Finn (who Anders had yet to stop thinking of as Flora, and only called Finn because most everyone else did now) huffed back, “Really we’re all pretty young for this. Karl and Niall are several years older than any of us. They’re being a little rash with you, aren’t they? I’ll bet Torrin was asked to put your name in.”
“He seemed to come up with the idea on his own,” Anders said.
“Well, we are talking about Senior Enchanter Fireball, here. He isn’t exactly known for forethought or thinking things through all the way,” Keres replied, laughing.
“This is a big deal, though! This is the Harrowing! Surely he doesn’t just throw his apprentices to the vultures like this. They say if you twitch too much they have a jumpy templar cut your head off!” Finn squeaked.
“Godwin made it through, didn’t he?” Anders said.
“Yeah, but he twitches so much when he’s awake that they had to give him some leeway,” Eadric sneered.
“Look, Torrin said that there’s really nothing special about your age or how much training you have and it’s all to do with the mage themselves. He also said that Irving keeps his mages a little longer than most, so Keres I’m not beating you or anything. I already know I’m not as powerful as you. Besides, if Godwin and Niall made it through alright, we already know it doesn’t have anything to do with the amount of power you have. Torrin made it sound like it has something to do with willpower or choices…”
“Well he can’t really tell you anything can he? This could be a plot to turn you tranquil.”
“Or a plot to keep him from having to become Tranquil. I heard Greagoir was all ready with the rite after you escaped and Irving had to talk him out of it,” Jowan said.
“How you get all this gossip, I’ll never know,” Eadric sighed, “What are you having an affair with a templar or something?”
“No!” Jowan squeaked much too quickly and much too loudly, “What could make you think that I’m just good at picking things up I swear and I spend time in the chapel and that’s all shut up okay?!”
“Don’t have a heart attack, Jowan, or the templars will say we killed you,” Anders sniggered.
Only Karl had anything to say that Anders hadn’t first thought of himself, “They can’t make you tranquil after you’ve been through your Harrowing. It’s against templar code.”
Anders had gone to Karl first of all the circle mages. He didn’t think Karl was more likely than any other mage to drop him helpful hints, but he knew Karl, and having a friend helped as much as anything.
“Torrin’s right, you’re plenty trained to go through. I think most of the apprentices are, really, but you’re Harrowing isn’t much about your training. At least not the individual spells. And you do have something of a habit of getting into trouble, Anderfels. It could be that he’s trying to protect you. Torrin’s more of a libertarian than he lets on to the apprentices. There are all kinds of politics up on the third and fourth floors. It’s possible he thinks you’ll go apostate again and would rather that if you came back you did so already Harrowed so they would have to accept you back into the circle and not make you tranquil. I think you’ll be okay in the Harrowing. If you were alright on your own for a year… you’ll be okay.”
-
20 Guardian, 9:20 Dragon
Anders took several breaks as he walked up to the Harrowing Chamber on the top floor, less to catch his breath and more to catch his thoughts. Be calm, Karl had said, be calm and sure of yourself and nothing can touch you. He had even given Anders a small silver ring (to remember that you’re ready for this). Anders had joked that this was a very strange time to propose, but had been grateful nevertheless. It gave him something to concentrate on other than the fact that his heart was pounding everywhere from his ears to his feet.
Torrin and Greagoir would meet him in the chamber. No one else would be there. He’d said all his goodbyes and tried his best not to let any of them get morbid. Finn had barely said a word to him all yesterday, and Jowan had started sniveling last night and hadn’t stopped by morning. Only Varrun retained his calm demeanor enough to say “Good luck” and make it sound like he was wishing it for a difficult class rather than a fight to the death with a bronto.
He wished he’d seen Karl again this morning.
Anders wasn’t late, but it was a close call. If he’d stood frozen outside the door any longer, Torrin would have opened it in his face. As it was, he stepped in, just as Torrin was walking towards it.
“Ah, good, you did find us, then. Silly how no one tells you how to get here until the day of your test. Just extra unnecessary stress if you ask me.”
“Precautions must be taken, Senior Enchanter, if-“
“I’m aware of that, Knight Commander, I’m only trying to lighten the boy’s spirits,” Torrin said, laughing. “You ready then? The answer is yes. I’ll give you that one, so you can at least say you got part of this right. Greagoir, he’s all yours.”
“Right,” the Knight Commander said stepping forward form a line of templars, most of whom had their helmets on. The one at the end of the line didn’t, however, and Anders didn’t recognize her.
“’Magic exists to serve man and never to rule over him’. Thus spoke the prophet Andraste as she cast down the Tevinter Imperium, ruled by mages who had brought the world to the edge of ruin. Your magic is a gift, but it is also a curse - for demons of the dream world, the Fade, are drawn to you and seek to use you as a gateway into this world.”
“You do know that we teach the apprentices this in our classes, yes, Knight Commander?” Torrin teased, and Anders felt himself laugh though he wasn’t sure why.
“Just say your part, Torrin.”
“This is why the Harrowing exists, my boy,” Torrin said, more softly and kindly than Anders knew he could speak, “The ritual sends you into the Fade, and there you will face a demon, armed only with your will.”
Anders wanted to scream ‘WHAT?!’ but couldn’t seem to breathe correctly. This was the Harrowing? They were going to force him to do the things they warned all mages to avoid from the moment they stepped into the tower. Never take on a demon, they said, only trust yourself and do not listen to any voices from the fade. Of course he still wasn’t supposed to converse with the demon he would face, but it still seemed a lot like dangerous hypocrisy. Greagoir must have seen some inkling of his horror on Anders’ face.
“Know that if you fail we templars will perform our duty. You will die,” he said.
“And my only other option is to become tranquil?” Anders choked, finding his voice again.
“You aren’t considering that as an option, are you?” Torrin said, sounding shocked and just a little hurt.
“No, no ser,” Anders said, ‘I just- my options- I understand. I’ll do it. I will go through the Harrowing.”
Torrin nodded and he smiled, the relief in his face stretching all the way to his shoulders. Greagoir waved Anders to the center of the chamber where a small basin stood in on a thin platform.
“I trust you recognize lyrium. This will send you conscious into the fade, where you will face the demon that has been prepared for you. Are you ready?”
“Yes, Knight Commander,” Anders bit his tongue before he could say “Tightwad”.
“Then on you go,” Greagoir said, and he stepped back to stand next to Torrin. Anders stopped, then moved, and haltingly dropped his fingers into the basin. The lyrium glowed and twisted around his hand, and the chamber went black, then white.
Ah, the Fade.
-
The next Anders knew of the waking world, he was vomiting in it.
“Oh, someone get the other bucket, he’s going to mess up the whole floor again. Jowan, you’re closest.” There was a little scurrying, a thud, and then the sound of footsteps running up the hall.
“Welcome back, Anderfels. Did you have a good night’s rest?” Finn teased.
“Did I pass?” Anders said dazedly.
“You’d be dead if you hadn’t, wouldn’t you?” Finn retorted.
“That’s what he’s asking, Flora” Keres’ voice came from his bed against the back wall, “He wakes up and the first thing he hears is your voice. He wants to know if he’s gone to hell.”
“Then your voice isn’t doing much to help him disprove that, is it?” Finn snapped back. “They already took most of your things upstairs. I think you might be rooming next to Karl again. Imagine! Your own private space with walls and everything.”
“It’s not all that private,” Anders said, sitting up in his bed. “They’re more like dividers than walls.”
“Still, you won’t have to wake up to Flora’s pretty face every morning, so that will be a nice change of pace, won’t it” Keres called over again. Jowan returned with the second bucket.
“Oh, you’re really awake this time. Congratulations! Was it hard? Can you tell us anything?” he said.
“No one can talk about the Harrowing, Jowan. You know the rules,” Finn sighed.
“Well it’s not like Anders ever put much stock in templar or circle rules. It’s not a stupid question,” Jowan said, “So, can you?”
“I can only tell you that I still have no idea how Godwin passed, but it makes a lot more sense that Niall did now. Also, I never want to do that again,” Anders said, “Anyone know where I can get some water? My jug’s disappeared.”
There was a soft clunk on the trunk behind him and Anders turned to see Varrun putting a jug of water that may have been his own there. Varrun nodded, and Anders could have sworn he saw the Rivaini smile.
“We’re all really glad you passed,” Kinnon said, “Even Eadric - he’s in class now - but he said that it feels good when someone passes. Gives you hope, you know. Do people fail often?”
“You’ll learn about this soon enough from Sweeney, Kinnon,” Finn said, “Look, Torrin and Karl both came down. They said they wanted to see you when you woke up. Separately, of course. Stop looking at me like that. That would be weird.”
Anders tried to stand up, but fell back onto the bed before he got half way there. He took a drink of water, then tried again and succeeded.
“I’ll try not to pass out on the stairs as I go, then. And Finn,” Anders said, “thanks. Really.”
Finn flushed and stuttered as Anders closed the door on the apprentice quarters for the last time.
He went to Karl first, under the excuse that he wanted to see his new quarters. He stepped though the open wooden door on the third floor, where he could see one of his robes draped partly on the floor around a corner.
“Hello, Anderfels” he heard Karl say.
“Let me just tell you that I hate desire demons more than anything in this world and you saved my maker-forsaken life with that ring, and-”
“Anders! Hello! I was talking to the cat and didn’t hear you-“
They both fell backward on the bed with the force of Anders’ kiss.
-
2 Bloomingtide, 9:20 Dragon
Life at the circle settled down again quickly. Anders’ Harrowing had caused no rips in the veil and no possessions of any kind, much to everyone’s gratitude, and the circle had been practicing regular magic again within a week.
Anders was more surprised than he liked to admit at how similar life as a fully Harrowed circle mage was to life as an apprentice. The templars paid you no more notice (and often couldn’t tell which you were when pressed), and as Anders was living near both Karl and Niall, his group of friends didn’t change drastically either. The only real differences were that he had now met all of the senior enchanters and his classes were mostly independent study.
Somehow, this only increased his desire to leave. Karl seemed to know this, although he never discussed it. Anders guessed that he wasn’t alone in this. He hadn’t made a secret of how much he had loved the Frostback Mountains or Lothering upon his subsequent returns from both places. The ideas of sky and forest and mountains and life outside continued to enthrall him, and he would ask templars and new apprentices all about their former lives whenever he got a chance. Many didn’t have much to say or didn’t want to talk about it, but every now and then an alienage elf would open up about home or tales of the Dalish, a templar would talk about the family they loved and left, and once a priestess took an entire afternoon to describe the garden she kept as a girl in Redcliffe. Anders never once felt the desire to stop her rambling. He had to get out and see flowers again.
This particular morning, he was working on a new plan. The one real brilliance of being a fully Harrowed mage was that looking for ways to escape the tower seemed to an outsider exactly the same as any other sort of careful study. It involved a little practice magic, a lot of reading, a lot of wandering about muttering to yourself, and many hours of watching others do their work. Anders’ work was only slightly more illegal than what most of the other mages were practicing, and no one knew what exactly anyone else was doing anyway.
Anders shut the book he was looking at (well, really doodling in. The next cat he owned would be named Ser Pounce-A-Lot. That was a stroke of brilliance), and stood to put it away before going down to dinner. The tranquil had finished a batch of ale the previous night and he hoped there would be plenty on the table this evening. He was just reaching for the door handle when it opened in front of him. A templar, trying her hardest to walk through purposefully nearly ran into him before she noticed that her path was blocked.
‘Pardon me, mage,” she said gruffly and not looking at him.
“After you, ser,” Anders replied, just managing to keep most of the sarcasm from his voice as he waved her past. Not many female templars existed - most devoted chantry women became priestesses - and those that did exist tended, for one reason or another, not to be stationed at the circle. She pushed past him.
“Hey, wait a minute,” Anders called, “You were at my Harrowing, weren’t you? But you probably don’t remember, that was months ago, now-“
“Yes,” she said, though she didn’t turn around to look at him. “I had just taken my vows. I was supposed to strike you down if you…”
“Didn’t make it?” Anders finished for her, “You were supposed to do that right after your vows? Isn’t that a little harsh?”
“Consider it as something of a Harrowing for templars,” she said, with a laugh that told Anders she didn’t think the joke very funny.
“Well, let me just say that I’m glad you aren’t as jumpy as some of the other templars around here. I wouldn’t be standing here if someone like Carroll had been in charge of that. So, thanks. I’m Anders,” he said.
“My name is Rylock,” she replied, and the corners of her mouth twitched a little as she looked at him for the first time, “and I’m terribly late, so maybe we can talk some other time.”
“Ok, sure-“ Anders started, but she was already walking away. “Social types, those templars. Always ready to make new friends,” he said to himself, and left the library.
Two more templars walked past him, talking to each other loudly in the hall.
“-and they actually stopped him. Can you believe that? Just because he had his helmet on.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Could be a mage under there, he said, hiding, you know? How would a mage get their hands on templar armor, I ask you?”
Anders kept walking the same direction with a massive burst of willpower. All plans of escape by tunneling out the lower chambers with a rod of fire and mana enhancer long gone. And how would he get a Templar’s armor? Well, he’d just have to know where one lived, wouldn’t he?
-
The next evening after dinner, Anders stayed on the fifth floor for the longest stretch of time he had ever managed. The templar quarters were naturally unwelcoming to a mage, if for no other reason than the staring, questioning templars that came with it. As far as Anders could tell, the armor was essentially one-size-fits-all, not unlike most of the mage robes worn by non-Senior Enchanters. It took him maybe half an hour to find where Rylock lived and another two hours for her to actually come back to her quarters.
“Did you want something, mage?” she said when she saw him.
“I wanted to talk to you. I’m curious about what the Harrowing is like for the templars, and what goes on while the apprentice is in the Fade. I have no idea how long it took, really, as time in the Fade is so different from time in the waking world and I thought, since I know you were there, I might be able to talk to you about it?” Anders had planned this conversation out several times the night before, and hoped he could keep her talking long enough to do what he had to do.
“It’s late mage-“ she started to say.
“Anders,” he cut in.
“Yes, well, I’m actually rather tired, and I’m probably not the person to talk to. Wasn’t your tutor there, the Senior Enchanter, whats-his-name,” she sighed. She did sound very tired as she pulled out the key to her quarters and put it in the door handle.
“Fireball,” Anders said automatically, “I mean Torrin.”
“Yes, him,” she laughed a little as she pushed the door open, “Did the mages come up with that one or did we? Anyway, he’s probably a better-“
“But,” Anders said quickly, and he reached forward to put his hand over hers, still resting on the door handle, “Well, I mean. Of course there’s Torrin. There’s Greagoir even, but, well, Rylock.” She flushed all over, but her cheeks especially went bright red, and her hand twitched under his. “I wanted to talk to you.”
He let that sink in a little as she spluttered and struggled to collect her thoughts and words, but Anders never let her finish.
“But I understand it’s late. I’d been here for hours hoping to catch you earlier. I’ll come by tomorrow morning and you can give me your schedule if you’d like and then, maybe,” he paused and looked at her. She didn’t seem to be breathing. “Maybe we could find time to talk.” He took the door handle from her hand and shut the door on her very gently. “Goodnight.”
He had done what he needed to do. Quickly, he took the key from the lock where she’d left it, and left the dazed and flustered templar to her business. She would think she’d already put the key away for the night, if he had any luck, and would then be going to sleep very soon. Anders had chosen Rylock for two reasons - first he had talked to her earlier about the Harrowing, so there was a better chance that she wouldn’t connect him with her missing armor in the morning, and second she was female, which meant that she would be alone in her quarters, and he wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking past a room full of templars who could easily recognize him. Now all there was to do was wait.
He went down to his own quarters to wait for a few hours, just in case she took a while to fall asleep. Karl was already downstairs and changing for the night when he got there.
“Evening, Anders,” he said, “The cat’s been crying all day and won’t leave your bed. Think something’s wrong?”
“No, they get like this sometimes for different reasons,” Anders said, “Don’t worry, kitty, everything will be alright. I’m here. Karl’s here. We won’t let the mean old templars get you. Do you want some milk? I took a glass from dinner. Karl?”
Karl had gone suddenly quiet and still, as though he were very lost in thought. Then he smiled and came to sit on Anders bed. He pet the cat once, twice, then smiled again.
“Karl? What are you doing?” Anders asked, suddenly a little worried.
“Whatever you’re doing tonight, be careful,” Karl whispered, “It’s true they can’t make you tranquil anymore, but that doesn’t mean they can’t kill you.”
“What are you talking ab-?“
“They were like this the last time you left,” Karl said, “The cats. It was a nightmare the way they all clung to your bed and howled that night. We all knew you were gone right away because of it, we just didn’t tell the templars. I only just remembered.” Karl looked up and caught Ander’s gaze. “So just be careful. And tell me not to worry because Maker knows I will until I hear from you again.”
“Don’t worry then, Karl” Anders said, “I promise not to get killed this time.”
“Well, now that you’ve promised let’s see how you go about keeping that,” he said. He reached across the bed and hugged Anders tightly. “And next time you plan something like this, plan on taking me with you.”
-
Just past midnight, Anders crept back up the stairs, careful not to stay too much in the light, but also not to look too suspicious. He wasn’t sure he was striking the balance very well, but he didn’t run into anyone. When he heard voices ahead, he would duck into a classroom or closet and let the speakers pass before moving onward. When he got to Rylock’s room, he cast a light sleep charm as a precaution before slipping the key back into the lock and stepping quietly into her room. He need not have bothered. Her snores easily covered any sound he would make. As quietly as he could, Anders shut the door behind himself and walked over to where her armor lay splayed on the floor. The woman was certainly no neat-freak. The templar armor, even for Rylock was bulky enough to be put on over his robes without any robe showing through, so he lifted the breastplate as quietly as he could and began to dress.
It took him an extra minute to find the helmet, and he didn’t put on the shoes just yet, hoping to cut down on any clanking while he could still be caught half-dressed. Then he left the key on the dresser beside her bed, put on the helmet, slipped back out into the hallway, clicked the door shut as quietly as he could behind himself and put on her shoes. They were only a little tight, and he could still walk in them without looking any more awkward than most of the other templars. He had a great deal more respect for their graceless movements now, however.
Fully dressed, he could walk around calmly now, and went quickly back down the stairs. He ran into only a few people, all of them templars with their helmets on as well, who nodded at him. He nodded back, too scared to say hello.
He made no detours going down the steps all the way to the main lobby area and out into the night.
“Oi, what are you doing? Who’s under there?” Anders recognized Carroll’s voice and breathed easier.
“I’m here to relieve you for the night, Carroll. Tightwad wants you to get some sleep tonight,” Anders said trying to deepen his voice just enough so it wouldn’t be recognizable, though the helmet muffled it nicely.
“Really? He couldn’t have told me that himself at dinner?” Carroll said. He sounded hopeful rather than disbelieving.
“Told me only an hour ago. Maybe he just decided then? Who’s to say? I’m up and dressed, though, so if you’re going in, do so now before I change my mind.”
“Right away, ser!” Carroll said eagerly, “And have a good night, ser!”
Anders waited maybe ten minutes after Carroll had run inside to make sure that he hadn’t gone for confirmation to Greagoir or any of the other templars. When it seemed certain that he hadn’t, Anders climbed into the boat and prepared to do the same trick on whoever was at the other end of the docks.
Four.
Mulit-Chapter, a bit long.
Rating: PG at max
Some implied pairings, but only Anders/Karl stands out. A few OC Wardens, who don't conflict with each other and don't play much role.
Ch. 4 - The Templar Attempt
8 Firstfall, 9:19 Dragon
If there was any one thing that Anders hated about aging, it was not being able to get away with as much as he used to. When Ser Maron had caught him on the outskirts of Lothering, Anders had come quietly as an apostate who had never been part of the circle. Playing ignorant had been surprisingly easy. Ser Maron had led him as an equal and talked kindly to him during the whole day and a half’s journey back to the circle, but he hadn’t let Anders keep any of the animals he had been taking care of, not even Fluffypaws and Fuzzball. It wasn’t until the doors of the tower were opened by Knight Commander Greagoir, who barely took one look at Anders before shouting “You! My office, now, apprentice!”, that Ser Maron had any idea that Anders hadn’t been living in the little camp he had set up all his life. That had been just over a year ago now.
Greagoir had shouted at him how lucky he was that no one had been seriously hurt (although Ser Carroll had developed an overwhelming fear of cats and they’d had to get rid of all the ones in the tower) and that Ser Maron vouched that there had been no incidents of Blood Magic in the area where he had been staying, and threatened him with the Rite of Tranquility at least four times. However, Irving was also present at this particular meeting and, his eyes bright with amusement, told Greagoir that Anders was harmless, that there was no proof that he could possibly have put a demon in the cat, nor dropped that lyrium dust everywhere and that none of the templars had seen him outside the tower that night. He also said that if Torrin didn’t want his apprentice back that Irving himself would take Anders on. Torrin dearly wanted his apprentice back.
“You must tell me all about Lothering!” He said “It’s been years since I was there. Well, quite a bit longer than that even, now I suppose, but I used to have the best friend out that way. Did you ever hear of a man called Malcolm? No? What a pity. Perhaps he moved on…”
The other apprentices had heartily welcomed him back with a hundred questions about the outside world. It was the longest stretch of words not containing an insult that he had ever heard Keres speak. He also discovered that they had managed to save one of the kittens by keeping it under his old bed. They called it Anderfels.
“The templars came in with Kinnon over there about six months after you left. Asked if your bed was free for him,” Karl told him, “But Finn and I had been keeping our things on it, so we told him that someone was sleeping there. The templars know us all by face, but only a few know our names, so this one just believed us.”
“But you don’t live here anymore,” Anders said, “You’re upstairs now, aren’t you? Full circle mage and all-“
“That doesn’t mean I can’t keep some things down here. And my old bed was empty, so that made the math work out for him. In any case, I’m still not close with many of the mages up there. I knew Godwin, of course, and Niall’s been Harrowed since you left, but I didn’t grow up with the rest of them. I don’t feel like I much fit in with them yet. But you know what our lives have been like. Not much changes around here. Tell me all about Thedas.”
And then it was just life at the tower again. Now more than ever before, Anders hated the walls, the constant watching, and the aura of fear and worry that clouded everything anyone did. He hadn’t used a lot of magic around Lothering, just what was necessary to hide, to cook, to travel and the like. He suspected that was why it had taken the templars so long to find him. Greagoir had certainly made it sound as though he had sent out several templars as soon as they knew Anders was gone (although that may have even taken a full twenty four hours), but Anders had never encountered them. Perhaps they had assumed that he would go back to the Frostback Mountains. He had wanted to, desperately, but had known that that would be the first place they would look for him. It would have been like walking into a trap, only getting there a little before the trap was ready. Fortunately, he had met Teagrin on the road and had been able to talk him out of a little fried nug.
There were surprisingly few new faces in the tower, considering that Anders had been gone for nearly a year. Life in the tower really didn’t change very often. There were two new female apprentices and Kinnon, and Niall had moved upstairs, but beyond that the circle was just as Anders remembered it. His robes were even properly singed again after only a few days’ lessons with Torrin.
But now, over a year after returning, everything was about to change again. Torrin had been very pleased with how much Anders’ concentration had improved since his return, and had been giving increasingly difficult lessons.
“That is excellent, really excellent,” Torrin shouted after Anders had successfully resisted the full blast of two fireballs and then managed to winter’s grasp the room back to a stable temperature, all without getting burned. “You know, I think you may be almost ready, my boy. We can’t put forth apprentices for another month, you understand, but still, I think I might feel good about putting your name in now.”
“Ser?” Anders said, although he had a sinking feeling that he already knew what Torrin was talking about.
“Your Harrowing, boy. You’re still a little young yet, I suppose, but I daresay that younger than you have gone through just fine, and age doesn’t really make much difference. It’s all about inner strength and between you, me and the First Enchanter, you’ve got quite enough of that to keep our Knight Commander on his toes.”
Anders bit back a laugh. He had never stopped calling the Knight Commander “Tightwad” in his mind. Torrin must have seen his smile.
“Excellent! Now, this is no promise, you understand. I’m only able to put you in as a candidate at this stage, but not too many others will be ready. Irving usually waits quite some time with his apprentices, Wynne and Uldred just put their best through a few months ago, pity that one girl of Uldred’s didn’t make it, and Sweeney’s just taken on the new boy, so he shouldn’t be putting anyone forth for a year at least. You may even be the only candidate. The only task left would be to convince the Knight Commander that you’re ready.”
Anders held back two snorts at once, one of laughter and one of disbelief. Torrin was going to have to convince Tightwad that he was a responsible mage? That wasn’t going to happen in the next decade.
“Ah, boy, some less prepared than you have gone through, and some have even made it unharmed. Greagoir knows that he’s not going to like or trust every mage that goes through the Harrowing, but he also understands that it is a rite of passage that every mage will go through and that many will mature to his standards after this test. No, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about him as much as you think. Go on downstairs, you’re done for the day. I have some paperwork to find.”
-
Anders would never have guessed that Torrin was serious. He also wouldn’t have believed that Knight Commander Greagoir would agree to the proposition had he not heard it from Greagoir himself.
“Maybe having some responsibility on your shoulders will keep you out of further trouble. You’re lucky we haven’t noticed any dangerous behavior. Disrespectful, certainly. Immature, oh yes. But the First Enchanter and Senior Enchanter Torrin both assure me that you are a spirit healer, and despite your flaunting of all that the chantry stands for, you are ready to go through this test.” Greagoir sighed. “Well, I won’t deny that you’re willful enough.”
And so Anders was to be the next in line to be Harrowed. The circle needed three months to prepare the tower for the weakening of the veil and to get the necessary materials for the Harrowing itself. Anders was not told what exactly this entailed, but Torrin assured him that he would be grateful for the time to prepare and adjust to the idea.
“You’ll start getting nervous the closer it gets. It’s better that you have some time to prepare yourself emotionally. Talk to some of the other mages. They won’t be able to tell you about the Harrowing itself, of course, but they can give you tips on how to prepare and, well, you’ll understand. Besides, you’ll want to know some of them when you move upstairs.”
Anders hadn’t known what to expect when he told the other apprentices, but found that as soon as he let the matter slip their reactions were perfectly obvious.
“You haven’t been in training any longer than I have!” Keres whined, “What makes you special, then?”
“Obviously Irving and Greagoir think that this will keep him in the tower,” Finn (who Anders had yet to stop thinking of as Flora, and only called Finn because most everyone else did now) huffed back, “Really we’re all pretty young for this. Karl and Niall are several years older than any of us. They’re being a little rash with you, aren’t they? I’ll bet Torrin was asked to put your name in.”
“He seemed to come up with the idea on his own,” Anders said.
“Well, we are talking about Senior Enchanter Fireball, here. He isn’t exactly known for forethought or thinking things through all the way,” Keres replied, laughing.
“This is a big deal, though! This is the Harrowing! Surely he doesn’t just throw his apprentices to the vultures like this. They say if you twitch too much they have a jumpy templar cut your head off!” Finn squeaked.
“Godwin made it through, didn’t he?” Anders said.
“Yeah, but he twitches so much when he’s awake that they had to give him some leeway,” Eadric sneered.
“Look, Torrin said that there’s really nothing special about your age or how much training you have and it’s all to do with the mage themselves. He also said that Irving keeps his mages a little longer than most, so Keres I’m not beating you or anything. I already know I’m not as powerful as you. Besides, if Godwin and Niall made it through alright, we already know it doesn’t have anything to do with the amount of power you have. Torrin made it sound like it has something to do with willpower or choices…”
“Well he can’t really tell you anything can he? This could be a plot to turn you tranquil.”
“Or a plot to keep him from having to become Tranquil. I heard Greagoir was all ready with the rite after you escaped and Irving had to talk him out of it,” Jowan said.
“How you get all this gossip, I’ll never know,” Eadric sighed, “What are you having an affair with a templar or something?”
“No!” Jowan squeaked much too quickly and much too loudly, “What could make you think that I’m just good at picking things up I swear and I spend time in the chapel and that’s all shut up okay?!”
“Don’t have a heart attack, Jowan, or the templars will say we killed you,” Anders sniggered.
Only Karl had anything to say that Anders hadn’t first thought of himself, “They can’t make you tranquil after you’ve been through your Harrowing. It’s against templar code.”
Anders had gone to Karl first of all the circle mages. He didn’t think Karl was more likely than any other mage to drop him helpful hints, but he knew Karl, and having a friend helped as much as anything.
“Torrin’s right, you’re plenty trained to go through. I think most of the apprentices are, really, but you’re Harrowing isn’t much about your training. At least not the individual spells. And you do have something of a habit of getting into trouble, Anderfels. It could be that he’s trying to protect you. Torrin’s more of a libertarian than he lets on to the apprentices. There are all kinds of politics up on the third and fourth floors. It’s possible he thinks you’ll go apostate again and would rather that if you came back you did so already Harrowed so they would have to accept you back into the circle and not make you tranquil. I think you’ll be okay in the Harrowing. If you were alright on your own for a year… you’ll be okay.”
-
20 Guardian, 9:20 Dragon
Anders took several breaks as he walked up to the Harrowing Chamber on the top floor, less to catch his breath and more to catch his thoughts. Be calm, Karl had said, be calm and sure of yourself and nothing can touch you. He had even given Anders a small silver ring (to remember that you’re ready for this). Anders had joked that this was a very strange time to propose, but had been grateful nevertheless. It gave him something to concentrate on other than the fact that his heart was pounding everywhere from his ears to his feet.
Torrin and Greagoir would meet him in the chamber. No one else would be there. He’d said all his goodbyes and tried his best not to let any of them get morbid. Finn had barely said a word to him all yesterday, and Jowan had started sniveling last night and hadn’t stopped by morning. Only Varrun retained his calm demeanor enough to say “Good luck” and make it sound like he was wishing it for a difficult class rather than a fight to the death with a bronto.
He wished he’d seen Karl again this morning.
Anders wasn’t late, but it was a close call. If he’d stood frozen outside the door any longer, Torrin would have opened it in his face. As it was, he stepped in, just as Torrin was walking towards it.
“Ah, good, you did find us, then. Silly how no one tells you how to get here until the day of your test. Just extra unnecessary stress if you ask me.”
“Precautions must be taken, Senior Enchanter, if-“
“I’m aware of that, Knight Commander, I’m only trying to lighten the boy’s spirits,” Torrin said, laughing. “You ready then? The answer is yes. I’ll give you that one, so you can at least say you got part of this right. Greagoir, he’s all yours.”
“Right,” the Knight Commander said stepping forward form a line of templars, most of whom had their helmets on. The one at the end of the line didn’t, however, and Anders didn’t recognize her.
“’Magic exists to serve man and never to rule over him’. Thus spoke the prophet Andraste as she cast down the Tevinter Imperium, ruled by mages who had brought the world to the edge of ruin. Your magic is a gift, but it is also a curse - for demons of the dream world, the Fade, are drawn to you and seek to use you as a gateway into this world.”
“You do know that we teach the apprentices this in our classes, yes, Knight Commander?” Torrin teased, and Anders felt himself laugh though he wasn’t sure why.
“Just say your part, Torrin.”
“This is why the Harrowing exists, my boy,” Torrin said, more softly and kindly than Anders knew he could speak, “The ritual sends you into the Fade, and there you will face a demon, armed only with your will.”
Anders wanted to scream ‘WHAT?!’ but couldn’t seem to breathe correctly. This was the Harrowing? They were going to force him to do the things they warned all mages to avoid from the moment they stepped into the tower. Never take on a demon, they said, only trust yourself and do not listen to any voices from the fade. Of course he still wasn’t supposed to converse with the demon he would face, but it still seemed a lot like dangerous hypocrisy. Greagoir must have seen some inkling of his horror on Anders’ face.
“Know that if you fail we templars will perform our duty. You will die,” he said.
“And my only other option is to become tranquil?” Anders choked, finding his voice again.
“You aren’t considering that as an option, are you?” Torrin said, sounding shocked and just a little hurt.
“No, no ser,” Anders said, ‘I just- my options- I understand. I’ll do it. I will go through the Harrowing.”
Torrin nodded and he smiled, the relief in his face stretching all the way to his shoulders. Greagoir waved Anders to the center of the chamber where a small basin stood in on a thin platform.
“I trust you recognize lyrium. This will send you conscious into the fade, where you will face the demon that has been prepared for you. Are you ready?”
“Yes, Knight Commander,” Anders bit his tongue before he could say “Tightwad”.
“Then on you go,” Greagoir said, and he stepped back to stand next to Torrin. Anders stopped, then moved, and haltingly dropped his fingers into the basin. The lyrium glowed and twisted around his hand, and the chamber went black, then white.
Ah, the Fade.
-
The next Anders knew of the waking world, he was vomiting in it.
“Oh, someone get the other bucket, he’s going to mess up the whole floor again. Jowan, you’re closest.” There was a little scurrying, a thud, and then the sound of footsteps running up the hall.
“Welcome back, Anderfels. Did you have a good night’s rest?” Finn teased.
“Did I pass?” Anders said dazedly.
“You’d be dead if you hadn’t, wouldn’t you?” Finn retorted.
“That’s what he’s asking, Flora” Keres’ voice came from his bed against the back wall, “He wakes up and the first thing he hears is your voice. He wants to know if he’s gone to hell.”
“Then your voice isn’t doing much to help him disprove that, is it?” Finn snapped back. “They already took most of your things upstairs. I think you might be rooming next to Karl again. Imagine! Your own private space with walls and everything.”
“It’s not all that private,” Anders said, sitting up in his bed. “They’re more like dividers than walls.”
“Still, you won’t have to wake up to Flora’s pretty face every morning, so that will be a nice change of pace, won’t it” Keres called over again. Jowan returned with the second bucket.
“Oh, you’re really awake this time. Congratulations! Was it hard? Can you tell us anything?” he said.
“No one can talk about the Harrowing, Jowan. You know the rules,” Finn sighed.
“Well it’s not like Anders ever put much stock in templar or circle rules. It’s not a stupid question,” Jowan said, “So, can you?”
“I can only tell you that I still have no idea how Godwin passed, but it makes a lot more sense that Niall did now. Also, I never want to do that again,” Anders said, “Anyone know where I can get some water? My jug’s disappeared.”
There was a soft clunk on the trunk behind him and Anders turned to see Varrun putting a jug of water that may have been his own there. Varrun nodded, and Anders could have sworn he saw the Rivaini smile.
“We’re all really glad you passed,” Kinnon said, “Even Eadric - he’s in class now - but he said that it feels good when someone passes. Gives you hope, you know. Do people fail often?”
“You’ll learn about this soon enough from Sweeney, Kinnon,” Finn said, “Look, Torrin and Karl both came down. They said they wanted to see you when you woke up. Separately, of course. Stop looking at me like that. That would be weird.”
Anders tried to stand up, but fell back onto the bed before he got half way there. He took a drink of water, then tried again and succeeded.
“I’ll try not to pass out on the stairs as I go, then. And Finn,” Anders said, “thanks. Really.”
Finn flushed and stuttered as Anders closed the door on the apprentice quarters for the last time.
He went to Karl first, under the excuse that he wanted to see his new quarters. He stepped though the open wooden door on the third floor, where he could see one of his robes draped partly on the floor around a corner.
“Hello, Anderfels” he heard Karl say.
“Let me just tell you that I hate desire demons more than anything in this world and you saved my maker-forsaken life with that ring, and-”
“Anders! Hello! I was talking to the cat and didn’t hear you-“
They both fell backward on the bed with the force of Anders’ kiss.
-
2 Bloomingtide, 9:20 Dragon
Life at the circle settled down again quickly. Anders’ Harrowing had caused no rips in the veil and no possessions of any kind, much to everyone’s gratitude, and the circle had been practicing regular magic again within a week.
Anders was more surprised than he liked to admit at how similar life as a fully Harrowed circle mage was to life as an apprentice. The templars paid you no more notice (and often couldn’t tell which you were when pressed), and as Anders was living near both Karl and Niall, his group of friends didn’t change drastically either. The only real differences were that he had now met all of the senior enchanters and his classes were mostly independent study.
Somehow, this only increased his desire to leave. Karl seemed to know this, although he never discussed it. Anders guessed that he wasn’t alone in this. He hadn’t made a secret of how much he had loved the Frostback Mountains or Lothering upon his subsequent returns from both places. The ideas of sky and forest and mountains and life outside continued to enthrall him, and he would ask templars and new apprentices all about their former lives whenever he got a chance. Many didn’t have much to say or didn’t want to talk about it, but every now and then an alienage elf would open up about home or tales of the Dalish, a templar would talk about the family they loved and left, and once a priestess took an entire afternoon to describe the garden she kept as a girl in Redcliffe. Anders never once felt the desire to stop her rambling. He had to get out and see flowers again.
This particular morning, he was working on a new plan. The one real brilliance of being a fully Harrowed mage was that looking for ways to escape the tower seemed to an outsider exactly the same as any other sort of careful study. It involved a little practice magic, a lot of reading, a lot of wandering about muttering to yourself, and many hours of watching others do their work. Anders’ work was only slightly more illegal than what most of the other mages were practicing, and no one knew what exactly anyone else was doing anyway.
Anders shut the book he was looking at (well, really doodling in. The next cat he owned would be named Ser Pounce-A-Lot. That was a stroke of brilliance), and stood to put it away before going down to dinner. The tranquil had finished a batch of ale the previous night and he hoped there would be plenty on the table this evening. He was just reaching for the door handle when it opened in front of him. A templar, trying her hardest to walk through purposefully nearly ran into him before she noticed that her path was blocked.
‘Pardon me, mage,” she said gruffly and not looking at him.
“After you, ser,” Anders replied, just managing to keep most of the sarcasm from his voice as he waved her past. Not many female templars existed - most devoted chantry women became priestesses - and those that did exist tended, for one reason or another, not to be stationed at the circle. She pushed past him.
“Hey, wait a minute,” Anders called, “You were at my Harrowing, weren’t you? But you probably don’t remember, that was months ago, now-“
“Yes,” she said, though she didn’t turn around to look at him. “I had just taken my vows. I was supposed to strike you down if you…”
“Didn’t make it?” Anders finished for her, “You were supposed to do that right after your vows? Isn’t that a little harsh?”
“Consider it as something of a Harrowing for templars,” she said, with a laugh that told Anders she didn’t think the joke very funny.
“Well, let me just say that I’m glad you aren’t as jumpy as some of the other templars around here. I wouldn’t be standing here if someone like Carroll had been in charge of that. So, thanks. I’m Anders,” he said.
“My name is Rylock,” she replied, and the corners of her mouth twitched a little as she looked at him for the first time, “and I’m terribly late, so maybe we can talk some other time.”
“Ok, sure-“ Anders started, but she was already walking away. “Social types, those templars. Always ready to make new friends,” he said to himself, and left the library.
Two more templars walked past him, talking to each other loudly in the hall.
“-and they actually stopped him. Can you believe that? Just because he had his helmet on.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Could be a mage under there, he said, hiding, you know? How would a mage get their hands on templar armor, I ask you?”
Anders kept walking the same direction with a massive burst of willpower. All plans of escape by tunneling out the lower chambers with a rod of fire and mana enhancer long gone. And how would he get a Templar’s armor? Well, he’d just have to know where one lived, wouldn’t he?
-
The next evening after dinner, Anders stayed on the fifth floor for the longest stretch of time he had ever managed. The templar quarters were naturally unwelcoming to a mage, if for no other reason than the staring, questioning templars that came with it. As far as Anders could tell, the armor was essentially one-size-fits-all, not unlike most of the mage robes worn by non-Senior Enchanters. It took him maybe half an hour to find where Rylock lived and another two hours for her to actually come back to her quarters.
“Did you want something, mage?” she said when she saw him.
“I wanted to talk to you. I’m curious about what the Harrowing is like for the templars, and what goes on while the apprentice is in the Fade. I have no idea how long it took, really, as time in the Fade is so different from time in the waking world and I thought, since I know you were there, I might be able to talk to you about it?” Anders had planned this conversation out several times the night before, and hoped he could keep her talking long enough to do what he had to do.
“It’s late mage-“ she started to say.
“Anders,” he cut in.
“Yes, well, I’m actually rather tired, and I’m probably not the person to talk to. Wasn’t your tutor there, the Senior Enchanter, whats-his-name,” she sighed. She did sound very tired as she pulled out the key to her quarters and put it in the door handle.
“Fireball,” Anders said automatically, “I mean Torrin.”
“Yes, him,” she laughed a little as she pushed the door open, “Did the mages come up with that one or did we? Anyway, he’s probably a better-“
“But,” Anders said quickly, and he reached forward to put his hand over hers, still resting on the door handle, “Well, I mean. Of course there’s Torrin. There’s Greagoir even, but, well, Rylock.” She flushed all over, but her cheeks especially went bright red, and her hand twitched under his. “I wanted to talk to you.”
He let that sink in a little as she spluttered and struggled to collect her thoughts and words, but Anders never let her finish.
“But I understand it’s late. I’d been here for hours hoping to catch you earlier. I’ll come by tomorrow morning and you can give me your schedule if you’d like and then, maybe,” he paused and looked at her. She didn’t seem to be breathing. “Maybe we could find time to talk.” He took the door handle from her hand and shut the door on her very gently. “Goodnight.”
He had done what he needed to do. Quickly, he took the key from the lock where she’d left it, and left the dazed and flustered templar to her business. She would think she’d already put the key away for the night, if he had any luck, and would then be going to sleep very soon. Anders had chosen Rylock for two reasons - first he had talked to her earlier about the Harrowing, so there was a better chance that she wouldn’t connect him with her missing armor in the morning, and second she was female, which meant that she would be alone in her quarters, and he wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking past a room full of templars who could easily recognize him. Now all there was to do was wait.
He went down to his own quarters to wait for a few hours, just in case she took a while to fall asleep. Karl was already downstairs and changing for the night when he got there.
“Evening, Anders,” he said, “The cat’s been crying all day and won’t leave your bed. Think something’s wrong?”
“No, they get like this sometimes for different reasons,” Anders said, “Don’t worry, kitty, everything will be alright. I’m here. Karl’s here. We won’t let the mean old templars get you. Do you want some milk? I took a glass from dinner. Karl?”
Karl had gone suddenly quiet and still, as though he were very lost in thought. Then he smiled and came to sit on Anders bed. He pet the cat once, twice, then smiled again.
“Karl? What are you doing?” Anders asked, suddenly a little worried.
“Whatever you’re doing tonight, be careful,” Karl whispered, “It’s true they can’t make you tranquil anymore, but that doesn’t mean they can’t kill you.”
“What are you talking ab-?“
“They were like this the last time you left,” Karl said, “The cats. It was a nightmare the way they all clung to your bed and howled that night. We all knew you were gone right away because of it, we just didn’t tell the templars. I only just remembered.” Karl looked up and caught Ander’s gaze. “So just be careful. And tell me not to worry because Maker knows I will until I hear from you again.”
“Don’t worry then, Karl” Anders said, “I promise not to get killed this time.”
“Well, now that you’ve promised let’s see how you go about keeping that,” he said. He reached across the bed and hugged Anders tightly. “And next time you plan something like this, plan on taking me with you.”
-
Just past midnight, Anders crept back up the stairs, careful not to stay too much in the light, but also not to look too suspicious. He wasn’t sure he was striking the balance very well, but he didn’t run into anyone. When he heard voices ahead, he would duck into a classroom or closet and let the speakers pass before moving onward. When he got to Rylock’s room, he cast a light sleep charm as a precaution before slipping the key back into the lock and stepping quietly into her room. He need not have bothered. Her snores easily covered any sound he would make. As quietly as he could, Anders shut the door behind himself and walked over to where her armor lay splayed on the floor. The woman was certainly no neat-freak. The templar armor, even for Rylock was bulky enough to be put on over his robes without any robe showing through, so he lifted the breastplate as quietly as he could and began to dress.
It took him an extra minute to find the helmet, and he didn’t put on the shoes just yet, hoping to cut down on any clanking while he could still be caught half-dressed. Then he left the key on the dresser beside her bed, put on the helmet, slipped back out into the hallway, clicked the door shut as quietly as he could behind himself and put on her shoes. They were only a little tight, and he could still walk in them without looking any more awkward than most of the other templars. He had a great deal more respect for their graceless movements now, however.
Fully dressed, he could walk around calmly now, and went quickly back down the stairs. He ran into only a few people, all of them templars with their helmets on as well, who nodded at him. He nodded back, too scared to say hello.
He made no detours going down the steps all the way to the main lobby area and out into the night.
“Oi, what are you doing? Who’s under there?” Anders recognized Carroll’s voice and breathed easier.
“I’m here to relieve you for the night, Carroll. Tightwad wants you to get some sleep tonight,” Anders said trying to deepen his voice just enough so it wouldn’t be recognizable, though the helmet muffled it nicely.
“Really? He couldn’t have told me that himself at dinner?” Carroll said. He sounded hopeful rather than disbelieving.
“Told me only an hour ago. Maybe he just decided then? Who’s to say? I’m up and dressed, though, so if you’re going in, do so now before I change my mind.”
“Right away, ser!” Carroll said eagerly, “And have a good night, ser!”
Anders waited maybe ten minutes after Carroll had run inside to make sure that he hadn’t gone for confirmation to Greagoir or any of the other templars. When it seemed certain that he hadn’t, Anders climbed into the boat and prepared to do the same trick on whoever was at the other end of the docks.
Four.