A secret to share.
The day had begun with Rhiamon flying into the boys' dormitory shouting: "It's the first day of the winter, wake up you lazy arses!" and throwing snowballs at those apprentices who were trying to hide under the blankets.
"Somebody calm her down, please!" shouted Finn, running towards the bathroom to hide from the girl. "Or I'll report about it to Irving!" added he, miraculously dodging another snowball.
"Where did you get the snow?" asked I, catching Rhia by her sleeve.
"I made it, of course, where else?" she replied, giggling. "What, you thought they let me out to gather it, Anders?"
"Considering how much time you spend with that templar…" I frowned.
"You're jealous! Ha! He's following me, what can I do?" she replied with a short laugh.
Well, maybe I was. A little. She was officially in my private club of Chantry-haters, templar-lovers were not allowed.
"Run faster?" I said, letting her go. "And I think right now is the best time to start practicing. Before somebody went to fetch a templar".
"Oh, crap, some boys are not fun!" she pouted, glancing at the bathroom entrance. "Flora, next time I'll freeze water while you'll be bathing!"
"And I'll tell Greagoir to tranquil you because you're a threat to Ferelden!" snarled Finn, still hiding behind the door. He really hated being called "Flora".
Luckily Jowan interfered and dragged Rhia out before she could fulfil her threat. He never needed much time to dress up and he usually didn't bother to brush his hair, but for me it was a ritual I couldn't neglect.
After the breakfast I saved some cheese and decided that it was a perfect time to visit an old friend. I was crossing the library when I heard somebody whimpering and sobbing. There was no Harrowing yesterday, so I was curious who could've been that much upset, besides the voice obviously belonged to a girl, and comforting a crying girl was often rewarding.
I'd found the source of the sound under one of the tables. It was Enid, a little elven apprentice who was brought to the Tower a year ago or so. She was crying, and it was awful. Enid was so adorable and admired by everybody including Greagoir himself, that I had no idea who and why would've driven her to tears.
"Hey, what's up, kitty?" asked I, crouching near her table. We called her that because she loved to wear a cute little hat with cute little kitty ears on it.
She sobbed once more and covered her face with her palms.
"Come on, Eni, tell me who it was and I'll kick his butt for you," promised I. I suspected Carroll, mostly because he was the most annoying bastard among the templars, and kicking him into the lake was my old dream.
"Eadric… Eadric says templars s… sold my mum to evil mages from Tevinter!" she burst into tears.
Ouch, I hadn't expected this to be Eadric. Perhaps Enid accidently spilt ink on one of his beloved books.
"Look, Eni, he lied to you. He made it up, he always had an awful sense of humour. How do you think he would know? He's been in the Tower longer than you. I'm sure your mum is fine."
She removed one hand from her face:
"And how do you know?"
"Why, I leave the Tower… occasionally," said I. "I know all the news and everything."
Her sobs became rare, but she still was sad.
"Eni, can you keep secrets?" asked I suddenly, narrowing my eyes and lowering my voice. "I have a secret. Nobody knows about it, even Rhia and Jowan, my best friends. Will you keep it if I share it with you?"
"Secret?" she whispered, goggling at me with her remarkably green eyes.
"Yes! It will be between you and me, can you keep it?"
She nodded eagerly.
"Good. Then follow me," said I, rising back to my feet.
She paused:
"No."
"Why?" I was surprised.
"Petra says good girls should never go with Anders when he asks them to!"
Perta, red-haired prude!
"Hah, Petra is just jealous… because I don't share my secrets with her."
"Honestly?" Enid asked.
"Of course! I can give you my word of the escapist!" she frowned hearing the unfamiliar word. "It's a branch of Chantry teaching I follow fanatically, but don't tell anybody, it's a secret too".
"I will go," she decided finally, climbing from under the table.
I took her hand in mine and led her to the basement.
"It's scary here," she said. "Do rats live here? I've seen a rat as big as a mabari back in the alienage!"
"Have you ever seen a mabari?"
"No, dad says they are too big to fit in our streets."
I laughed at that.
"Don't worry, my friend is taking care of them," I gave her a wink. "And here he is! Enid, meet Ser Cat, a walking terror to all rats of the Tower!"
My proud tabby friend was sitting near the barrel with soaked apples, licking his paw. He probably smelled some cheese in my pocked or maybe he was really happy to see me, because he neared us and rubbed against my leg with a purr.
Enid gasped admiringly: "Kitty!" as she crouched to cuddle him. She was beaming with delight.
"There it is, my little secret, Eni." said I, sinking to the floor next to them.
"He's so cutie!" she exclaimed. "Why do you call him just "Cat"? He deserves a real name!"
"Really? Never thought about it before," I confessed.
"Of course, silly!" she giggled. "Mister Wiggums! That's a nice name!"
"You're kidding!"
"Why… You don't like the name?" she made a puppy face. "Mr. Wiggums loves it, yes Mr. Wiggums?"
"Mrrrraw!" replied the cat, screwing up his eyes in delight as the girl was scratching behind his ears.
"All right, if Mr. Wiggums likes the name, I don't object," I agreed.
Enid gave me the most adorable smile.
"Thank you for sharing you secret with me! I won't listen to Petra anymore," she giggled, keeping playing with the cat.
I smirked. Take that, Petra! I hope they will choose you to be Enid's tutor. It would be… awesome!