The blood was off the floor and Jowan went with a slop bucket to dump the water down a sewer drain when he heard armor rustling from the room ahead. For once Jowan was too tired to run away he walked in and was not surprised to see Cullen kneeling over a pile of cloth which he was feeding into the fire. He recognized the tattered remains of Nemmy's robes all bloodstained but on top was a long red ribbon free from any stain but old and worn.
"No!" He snatches the ribbon away the gauntleted fist that was about to fed it to the flames and Cullen is instantly on guard. Anger wells in the mage. A realization that had never dawned on him as he looked at the blond man fueled his outburst, giving him the nerve to lash out even in his exhaustion at the armored man.
"You can't burn this. She would never forgive you." He mindlessly folds it in a way he had seen her do countless times as she would let down her impossibly long hair. The man in armor does not look angry as much as confused and Jowan knew he was right. For their entire secret affair the Templar knew nothing about Nemeria other than she was a beautiful mage.
"This was a gift from her mother. The only thing Nemmy has left of her." He slipped the velvet into his pocket and notes the Templar's nod. "I did not know. Thank you…" Probably the most words Cullen had said to Jowan in years that did not call for his death or dismemberment. The awkward silence between the two was palpable.
"She is resting?" He asked finally.
"Yes, Liliana is with her." The blond man returns to his work.
He dumps his pail and excuses himself. The image of the Templar burning Nemeria's circle robes disturbed him on a deep level and the exhaustion from the ritual and the half day vigil catching up to him at last. He steps out of the stairway and notices the other Templar and the Knight still up talking outside the door to the Arl's study. The knight Sir Gilmore he remembers waves him over.
"The ladies have split rooms in the guest hall and the mages will camp in the court yard. Alistair and Cullen have found a suitable room in the kitchen staffs rooms. That leaves you and I in the Chamberlin's room. I trust that is acceptable?" the redhead gives a small smile. It certainly beat the dungeon he had been expecting to sleep in.
"Right now you could make me sleep in the barn tied to a post and I would say thank you."
"You may still get your wish, the Arl is still sick "The other Templar says but unlike Cullen he seems more sad then hostile. Jowan had heard rumors that the young man had grown up with the family and wore his loyalty to the man on his sleeve. Even the Arlessa who had reacted to the man like a sick dog, had gotten a good word from the other Warden.
The Knight escorts Jowan to the room which was not lavish by any stretch of the imagination but right now he could sleep in a pile of hay for a week so was his exhaustion. Apparently he was still under suspicion but having helped free the boy gave him at least a night's reprieve, which he desperately needed.
Jowan stood awkwardly in the door as Gilmore dropped his sword and pack. The knight had been traveling with Nemmy since Lothering and at least had a bedroll of his own. Noticing that Jowan had none he motions to the bed allowing Jowan to sleep there.
Spirits certainly had a sense of irony he thought; he had betrayed Nemmy, almost gotten her exiled or worse, poisoned one of the most respected men in all the Thedas and was being rewarded by sleeping in one of the man's plush beds.
Roland removed his boots and was watching the mage with more interest than veiled animosity. He had told Nemmy his distaste for blood magic but had accompanied her to the tower to fetch the other mages to save the boy even after the events that had transported the Knight into the fade with all the rest. Unlike the Templars he did not outright hate Jowan because of his abilities, probably the main reason he was bunking up with Ser Gilmore rather than the redhead standing guard over him for another night in the dungeons.
The Knight was watching him, clearly he wanted to say something but was unsure how to begin.
"You know I met Nemeria many years ago, back before you even knew her I think."
"Are you sure?" That surprised him." She came to the circle very young."
The Knight nods. "The story we found out years later went that her family was fleeing the Templars, her father was a Dalish apostate, and her mother had received training as a bard in Orlais They had fled Denerim and traveled north." That made an odd kind of sense based on the last memories Nemmy had of her mother, many she had not spoken about in years.
"I had come to the castle in the spring and her family was hired on as extra hands in the fall. The lady Cousland became fond of Adia quickly because unlike many of the other elves in the area not only was she literate but she could also speak and write Orleasan. I never met her father because he was in hiding, not that we knew that at the time. The Templars had come for him and he was defending her when her own magic first made an appearance. He had been killed rather than his wife or daughter harmed but when they tried to take Nemeria after what they had done to her husband Adaia killed one in front of the girl. "The knight pauses, that was the part Nemmy had told Jowan years ago. The last memory she had of her mother was of her slitting the throat of one of the guards and ordering her to flee. The Knight went on.
"After seeing her father stuck down and her mother captured I imagine turning herself over to the remaining Templars must have seen like a sure death. They fled into the Bannorn to try to evade the remaining Templars, unwilling to put more alienage's in danger before they eventually got her. I'm not sure how but Adaia got away but she was never the same afterward. I'm not surprised Nemmy is as determined as she is. That was a lot for such a young girl to endure even if the Maker had wanted it to be so."
"And what happened to her mother?" Jowan had a strong suspicion he did not really want to know.
"After the winter she came back but didn't stay long for fear of putting the alienage in danger. They had tried to defend her and her family and the Templars might want revenge for their comrades. We heard from another elf that she died a few years later in some uprising in Denerim. Like her daughter Adaia was never one to stand by and not get involved."
Everything the knight told Jowan made sense but he had never heard most of it, how much did Nemeria actually remember and how much did she just never want to speak of again? Wynne had remarked how the elf had arrived half frozen and clearly abused but what Gilmore told him made it fit. The Templar bastards had taken out their anger on a little girl who had defied them because to try to track down the mother would be certain death.
A winter on the run from the people who had killed your father in front of you and took you from your mother. Whatever abuses they had made her to suffer before returning her back to the tower, he had no idea for she had never spoken about it even to her best friend. No wonder she had not spoken to anyone for months. She had probably believed every human there was just waiting to abuse her.
The knight fell asleep quickly and snored heavily. So heavily Jowan didn't hear the knock at first. When it came again a red tangle peered into the darkened room.
"Jowan?" Nemmy of course
"Nemeria, you should be recovering. What are you doing here?"
The elf slips in and sits on the foot of the bed. She is barefoot and wrapped in some borrowed clothes several sizes too big.
"I slept a little." She answers defensively" and everyone is hovering."
"You mean Cullen." He said pointedly.
"Him, Wynne, Irving even the Bann. You'd think they'd believe I'm up to something." She gives a small laugh.
"You were gone a long time." He pushed trying to get her to talk. "We were worried."
"I wanted to send you, but Irwin refused to allow it with the limited resources we have." She said, anger crossing over her features. And the blood of course.
"Me? Why me?" Her confession startled him.
"Because" she gave a mischievous smile" you would have had to face down a demon in the fade. "
"My harrowing." He says softly understanding, she nods.
"But because of the spell I couldn't... I'll make it up to you. "She promises, looking up at him green eyes flashing in the dim room.
"To me? You are always looking out for me. I'm a blood mage and an apostate no one else will give me the benefit of the doubt. The fact you spoke on my behalf to the Bann and Arlessa is more than I could have hoped. "
"No one else knows you like I do. I trusted you to make sure I was safe."
"You have an odd definition of safe Nemmy. Unarmed in the fade. . . ." they both laugh softly so not to wake the slumbering knight.
"What was it like? The fade without the circle guiding where they wanted you to go?"
"Huge, I never would have found my way if not for... "She stops, biting her lower lip a clear tell that she did not want to talk about it.
"Your mother?" He asks gently, she shakes her head looking at her hands before going on.
"My father actually. He came to help me find my way and to apologize." Her long hair obscuring her face as she studies her hands.
"For what?" Considering the man had died when she was six Jowan could not image what the elf had felt the need to apologize for.
"For giving me such a powerful gift but not having the chance to teach me to use it."
"Nemeria where did you learn the blood magic? It has only been a few months since you left the tower." He points to the cuts on her arms that the Arlessa had noticed.
"Avernus" she admits the warden mage from the Keep they had reclaimed.
"Does Cullen know?" She shakes her head. Of course he didn't. One type of forgotten magic would look just as evil as another to a Templar who was wound to tight.
"We will have to make sure he doesn't." He takes her hand and flips it over in his own, exposing the cut veins and healing over marks. With a few muttered arcane words, he heals the worst of them still holding her hand.
"You have to be careful with Cullen, after what you told me about the circle he is loose cannon even for a Templar." He was trying to keep his voice concerned so she did not pull away from him.
"He would never hurt me." But she did not meet his gaze in the darkened room, she could never lie to him.
"He was ready to kill you at your Harrowing. What do you think he will say if he finds out about your new skills. "
"Wardens don't ban blood magic."
He almost told her about the look the Templar had given her right after she had returned from the Fade but he did not have the strength to fight with her now. He sighed and released her hand which he had still been holding, delicate fingers as cool as ice in his own.
"I should go. You must be exhausted." She slides off the bed abruptly." I just wanted to come by and thank you. Even with the circumstances I knew I could trust you." She leans over and kisses his forehead, the moonlight just catching her as she exited.
The next morning Alistair was talking to the Warden's group. Nemeria was nowhere to be seen. The Arl was still sick but Conner seemed to be back to normal according to both his mother and uncle. Out of the fire and into the frying pan for the man who had poisoned the man. Whatever good graces Jowan had earned seemed to have ended last night. Apparently Nemmy was meeting with the Bannn and Arlessa upstairs to discuss their next move and the others were helping the guards and villagers. Liliana told him excitedly that they would be going in search of the urn of sacred ashes, the former initiate was almost buzzing with excitement. A myth that the Arlessa had staked her husband's life on. She had sent away so many of his knights that would have protected the village when Connor's demons had poured through the Fade, but pointing out that little fact would do him no good.
The three emerged each with a different expression. the Arlessa still grief stricken had clearly been crying, the Bann looked tired and disturbed but Nemmy for her pale skin and bags under her eyes was fuming in barely contained rage. She pulled Alistair aside and in hushed tones they discussed random members of their group, Jowan of course not included. Finally Nemeria comes to the head of the table and explains the plan. They would be splitting the group and those who wished to go to seek out the urn would be with Nemmy. Unsure why he had been included in this conversation Nemmy goes on to explain that the Templars will remain behind to oversee the rebuilding efforts in Redcliff as well as observe the two apostates.
Apostates she had said, not malificar. Surely Cullen would not approve but he doubted the Warden much cared looking at her expression. In the few months since leaving the Circle Nemeria had changed much, become more harsh under the responsibilities but Jowan had to admit it suited her. He had seen her angry a few times but now being free from the circle she could actually do something about it.
A/N Welcome and thank you for all the lovely reviews and reads. I have been sitting on this chap for a few days trying to decide how to cut it but decided no one would really mind a longer chapter now would they? Cheers! Raven