Standard Disclaimer: Bioware owns all! (Enough said) ^_^
A/N: This story is a prequel to Outgrown, but there's no need to read it to enjoy my Anders fluff =D As usual, many thanks to all my readers and their sweet comments. You guys are awesome!
Assignments
The sound of the morning bells awakened her. She slowly sat up from her warm bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The soft chiming of the breakfast bells was the only signal that announced the dawn. Her room was pitch black, as it was every morning and every night. There were no windows in the Mage Tower, located in the center of Lake Callenhad. Windows are unnecessary to those who must be isolated from the rest of the world, and the Circle was anythingbut unnecessary.
She stretched out her arms and felt her knuckles brush up against the railings of the bunk above her. She heard her roommate's light snoring from above and smiled to herself. In the darkness, she slowly climbed out of her mats and pulled herself up to the bed above hers.
"Rise and shine!" She sang loudly.
"Ugh…wha…?" Her roommate mumbled, still buried under all her blankets. "Solona…?"
"Who else were you expecting, Neria?" Solona asked, reaching over to poke at her backside.
Neria crossly swat Solona's hand away. "Go away. Leave me alone."
Solona hopped off the bed and headed to the small end table on the other side of the room. Even in the complete dark, habit made it easy for her to find the candles that were placed about the chamber. As she lifted the candle stand, she focused on a minor fire spell to light the wick. As Solona snapped her fingers, a small flame appeared but quickly dissipated. Annoyed, she snapped her fingers again, barely getting a fizzle of smoke the second time.
Suddenly a snap from behind instantaneously lit up every candle in the chamber, including the one she held in her hand. The room instantly lit up, causing Solona to squint from the abrupt change from dark to light. She looked behind her to see Neria, still half-asleep, looking at her with a grouchy expression.
"Thank you." Solona grinned and placed the candle stand back on the table.
Neria groaned and placed her hand above her eyes to shield them from the candle lights. "Your fire spells need work…as usual." She muttered.
Solona gave a sheepish laugh. "I concentrate a bit too much on the healing arts, I'm afraid."
Solona Amell always did her best keep a cheerful disposition. From whence she was young, her mother had always told her to find the good in everything. Even as the children of her village had thrown rocks at her, calling her a cursed witch, Solona always tried to remember that there had to be bad things in life in order to have the good.
You are different from them. You have been blessed with a wonderful gift. They cannot understand. Her mother would croon those words to her softly as she comforted Solona.
When the templars came to bring her to Tower at the tender age of five, Solona did her best to look at everything positively. Yes, she was being taken away from her village, but there would no longer anyone to bully her. Yes, she lost her mother, but in return she had gained many new friends in the Tower.
At the tender age of eighteen, Solona has grown to be just as merry and uplifting as she was when she was a child. Her straight black hair was long and lustrous; she always had it tied up with a red silk ribbon which was given to her by First Enchanter Irving on her thirteenth birthday. Her eyes were a striking color of green. Many older mages had mentioned that her eyes were the color of the grassy hills of Callenhad in the summertime. Her heart-shaped face and her large eyes held no beguile, just a naïvete that came with her sunny temperament.
Neria stretched out her limbs while lying back in her sheets. She yawned unenthusiastically. "I wish I could just stay in bed today. I've been dreading this day for so long."
Solona opened the dresser to retrieve her robes. "Why would you be dreading this? Today's the day when we are assigned mentors to prepare us for our harrowing."
Neria dramatically rolled her eyes as she sat up in her bed. She dangled her long legs over the side of the top bunk. "I have absolutely no desire to be paired up with some mage who simply got lucky on their trip to the fade. As long as you are well prepared, you should be fine. No need to waste time listening to someone drone on about their 'experiences'."
"It's not important to you because you are already one of the most talented mages in the Tower as is, Neria." Solona quickly took off her sleeping tunic and pulled on her mage robes. "I'm grateful that they offer me such assistance. I can use whatever help I can get."
Neria smiled indulgently at her roommate. In many ways, Solona was not only her friend, but her other half. Neria did not have a rosy outlook on life as Solona did. She was kidnapped from the Dalish elves when she was a child. She vividly remembered the horrors she had witnessed as the slave traders pawned her and the other stolen children off to the highest bidder. Even when the templars had taken her away as soon as her powers began to emerge, she felt no reprieve. She saw the Tower as nothing more than a prison.
She was very well aware she was Solona's opposite in appearance as well. Neria's short hair was a brilliant white-blond in contrast to Solona's lustrous black. She had a pixie face with sharp silver eyes that were as observant as they were attractive. Neria also had seductive curves and knew how to use them to her advantage; as opposed to Solona's feminine softness that radiated innocence.
"You don't give yourself enough credit." Neria commented, pulling up the strap of her sleeping chemise that fell off her slender shoulder. "You are ridiculously talented at healing magic. I wish I had such aptitude in that area."
Solona blushed at the compliment. "I don't think healing magic would be useful in the harrowing."
Neria cocked her head and smiled. "You'll be fine. Who knows? Maybe you will receive a mentor who can assist you in practicing other spells."
"I hope so." Solona nodded her head as she tied up her hair in her usual ponytail. "And you never know…You may be paired up with someone who can teach you a thing or two about the harrowing." Solona paused and her eyes saddened. "I don't ever wish to see you fail at such a thing. I don't want to lose you."
Neria's expression softened. "Don't worry about me, Solona. I'll be perfectly fine."
Their conversation was interrupted at the loud banging on their door. "Get up, mages! You will need to get to the dining hall for your morning meal and immediately report to the library for your mentor assignments! Hurry on now!" The templar's voice boomed outside as he went on to relay the same message to the next chamber.
"Bloody templars." Neria muttered, resisting the urge to spit on the floor.
Solona did not notice Neria's acid tone. "We'd best hurry and get some breakfast while we can! The morning before I got there so late that I couldn't even take a bite of my porridge!"
Neria sighed. "You know it's never a good thing when we are being rushed. Throw me up a robe, will you?"
Solona and Neria ended up with only a few scant moments to eat their morning meals before a troop of templars marched into the dining hall. "All apprentice mages are to report to the library at once!" One of the older templars yelled.
Several mages let out low groans of protest but reluctantly obeyed the orders. Neria swore under her breath and drank down her goblet of water in great haste. "Come on, Solona. It's time to be herded in with the rest of the cattle."
"Mmph!" Solona was biting down on her roll of bread as Neria grabbed hold of her hand and dragged her away from her meal.
They hurried down the halls with the rest of the apprentices who kept their heads down low. Several of the templar escorts walked alongside them to make sure everyone stayed submissive. Neria glanced up and saw one of the younger templars staring towards their direction. Neria arched her brow when she realized the templar's eyes were fixated on the person beside her.
She quickly glanced at Solona and stifled a frustrated sigh. Solona still had the roll of bread in her mouth as she tried to walk as upright as possible. "Solona! Throw that stupid roll away. You look like a nug roasting over a pit fire with an apple shoved in its mouth." Neria whispered.
"Ahm stilf hungfwy." Solona answered with the roll of bread still between her lips.
"That templar over there is staring at you. Hurry up and finish that thing before he pulls you to the side for disorderly conduct."
Solona looked over at the templar in question. As soon as she met his gaze, the soldier immediately straightened and looked away. Solona took the roll from her mouth and swallowed the bite she had been chewing. "Oh, that's just Cullen. He won't do anything to us. He's very nice."
Neria glared at her friend. "'Nice', you say? What does he do? Put a mage in solitary confinement for a mere two days rather than three?"
Solona frowned at Neria's sharp words. "He is nice. He is somewhat new. He has been the guard at my study sessions several times. He's quiet but very polite."
"Whatever you say, Solona. Hurry up and finish that roll." Neria muttered, unwilling to hear any more details about a 'nice' templar.
First Enchanter Irving was present with two other Senior Enchanters. A group of twenty apprentices were gathered around the west wing of the library, surrounded by several templars acting as guards. Neria drummed her fingers impatiently against her arm. She wished they would get the announcement done with so she could go off to study on her own. She saw one of the boys, Jowan, fidget nervously on the side.
Irving stepped up and smiled at the young mages before him. "My dear young ones…" He began, extending his arms. "Thank you very much for joining me. As you know, today we will be pairing you off with several mages who have already passed their harrowing. These mentors will assist you with your trial…that is to say, if you decide to take it in the near future. Please do not hesitate to ask as many questions as you can. I guarantee that any advice that your mentors provide to you will be very useful for your preparation of the fade."
"Get on with it…" Neria mumbled under her breath. She glanced at Solona who was stuffing the last bit of bread into her mouth.
One of the Senior Enchanters handed Irving a thin page of parchment. The First Enchanter cleared his throat and began to read off his list. "First…we have Kasandra Tandem. Your mentor will be Niall. He is currently residing in the third floor at the archive room."
Everyone could not help but to nod in consideration for the first pairing. It was well known that Kasandra needed advice on versed spells and Niall was very knowledgeable in that field of expertise. The Senior Mages were matching up the apprentices with the mentor most fitting to what they needed assistance on.
They called upon everyone on the list; then Solona and Neria were the last to have their mentors announced. Solona nervously gripped her fingers together while Neria could not help feeling bored to tears, profusely wishing that there was something more productive she could be doing at the moment.
"Neria Surana." Irving read out, his old eyes scanned the group until they landed on her. "Your mentor will be...Senior Enchanter Wynne."
The apprentices all turned to Neria, gawking in awe. Neria's expression of boredom quickly turned to one of confusion. "I'm sorry, First Enchanter…did you say my mentor was to be Senior Enchanter Wynne?"
"Indeed." Irving smiled, his eyes twinkling.
"But…I am merely an apprentice. Senior Enchanters normally help guide those who have already passed the harrowing!" Neria stuttered.
"We are not so inflexible that we do not make exceptions once in a while." Irving explained pleasantly. "You may speak with Wynne if you would like further details. You will find her in the children's ward."
Neria was shocked into silence. It truly was a rare occasion when a mere apprentice is assigned a Senior Enchanter as a mentor. Neria knew she was somewhat gifted at several offensive spells - but she did not think her skills were so great that it would call upon the attentions of the elder mages.
Solona was ecstatic for Neria's pairing. "I can't believe Senior Enchanter Wynne is your mentor! You are so talented!" She whispered excitedly, lightly shaking Neria's arm.
"Last but not least…" Irving announced. "Solona Amell. Your mentor will be…Anders."
Several small gasps spread throughout the group as everyone turned to Solona with wide eyes. Even the templars seemed to be taken by surprise by the announcement and began to murmur amongst themselves. Irving and the Senior Enchanters kept their faces void of any reaction to the name. Neria felt her face pale and quickly looked over at her friend.
Solona appeared to be unaffected from the announcement. She looked around and saw all eyes were upon her. She cleared her throat and raised her hand timidly.
"Yes, my dear?" Irving called out.
"Um…uh…" Solona gave an uncomfortable grin with a slight shrug. "Who is Anders?"
The entire room stumbled at her question. Several people slapped their faces with the palms of their hands, followed by a wave of disbelieving groans. Even the façade of the Senior Enchanters cracked as they looked at each other with bewilderment.
Neria pulled her friend closely and put her lips to Solona's ears. "Anders is that infamous mage who has escaped the tower six times!"
"Oh? That's quite an accomplishment." Solona said, genuinely impressed.
Neria shook her head at her impractical response and pulled Solona closer, lowering her voice. "Listen closely, Solona. Anders is also rumored to be a…Maleficar."
"A Maleficar?" Solona shouted her reply, her voice boomed loudly throughout the library.