Plans

"It's not what it looks like!" Jowan stuttered in embarrassment, straightening his robes. His female companion was keeping her eyes to the ground, trying to look busy by re-adjusting her cloak.

"Really?" Neria drawled, crossing her arms. "Because to me, it looked like somebody was locked in a very compromising and intimate embrace with a chantry sister."

Jowan paled. "W-well…maybe it is what it looks like. Surana, please don't…"

Neria interrupted his pleas by holding up her hand to his face. "Don't worry, Jowan. I have absolutely no intention on telling anybody about your little…affair. I feel little love for both the Circle and the Chantry at the moment."

Jowan and the red-headed girl let out a sigh of relief in unison. "That's good to hear. Thank you, Surana." He gratefully bowed his head to her.

"Actually, Jowan." Neria bent down to their level. "I came looking for you because I am in need of a favor."

Jowan gave a perplexed look. "A favor from me? What is it that you need?"

"Do not tell anyone of this…but I am to take my harrowing very shortly. I have a couple days at most."

Jowan and the red-headed girl exchanged glances. He turned back to Neria with a nod. "I assumed that would be the case. I warned you about it, Surana. Greagoir is intent to see you fail."

"Failing is no concern to me." Neria waved her hand. "However, I am wondering why exactly Greagoir is pushing so hard to have it done so soon. I asked Wynne, but she has no idea herself."

Jowan rubbed his chin. "Unfortunately, I don't know the reasoning behind it myself. All I know is what I told you…the Knight Commander has been very insistent on making you go through the trial. It's difficult for even First Enchanter Irving to decline such a direct request."

"This is why I require your help." Neria nodded at Jowan. "If you can, please try to find out what exactly is the reasoning behind Greagoir's involvement. I would like to know how he would benefit from my harrowing."

"If that is all you're asking, then I will do my best." Jowan agreed. "It shouldn't be too difficult. I'll put my ear to the ground and see what I hear."

"I too, will assist you." The red-headed girl spoke up. "Even though I am still a sister-in-training, I am privy to many conversations the Chantry mother has with the Knight Commander. I will let Jowan know if I hear any information concerning your harrowing."

Neria's eyes widened in surprise at the girl's offered aide. "That's quite kind of you…er…"

"My name is Lily." She turned to Jowan and they both exchanged a small smile. "And it is the very least I can do for your…silence…in this matter."

Neria grinned at them both. "Please let me know if you hear anything. I'm in your debt."

Jowan gave a wry smile in response. "It's the least I can do. And perhaps we'll ask you for a favor as well later on down the road, Surana."

The next morning, Solona woke up to find Neria already up and gone. She scratched at her head, wondering where her friend had wandered off to. It was a rare occurrence when Neria would rise before she did.

As Solona changed into her robes, she glanced at Anders' tunic, which was neatly folded upon her bed stand. She had washed it the night before, even though he claimed she didn't have to. It felt like the polite thing to do when she returned it to him later today.

She felt the heat rise to her face as she thought about seeing him again. How would she be able to look at him properly after they shared that kiss in his chambers? Every time she replayed that moment in her mind, her heart began to race and the butterflies would flutter crazily in her stomach. Solona wished she was more experienced in such matters.

Solona paused as her thoughts drifted towards Cullen as well. She was still in shock over Cullen's sudden confession. She always believed him to be friendly, if not, a well disciplined templar. She didn't know how to respond to him…she never thought such a scenario could happen. Neria had seduced a few templars, but how could those men resist such an alluring and beautiful mage? Solona could not think of any redeeming qualities about herself that would attract any male…let alone a templar.

She placed the tunic in a small linen bag along with an ice elemental spell book she wanted Anders to go over with her. As she opened her chamber door, rather than being greeted by Cullen's friendly face, there was a grumpy elder templar who stood before her quarters.

"Good morning." Solona said as cheerfully as she could. "Where would Cullen be this morning?"

"Cullen has been re-assigned to a different post in the next few days." The templar replied in a monotone voice. "I will be escorting you to your morning meal and then to your mentor session with the Maleficar."

"That's…nice." Solona nodded, uneasy with her new templar escort.

"Let us hurry on before the entire day is wasted away." The man gruffly ordered and stiffly walked towards the dining hall.

"Y-yes!" Solona stepped briskly, trying to keep up with the templar's long strides.

Cullen stood before Greagoir in his study, his back perfectly ramrod straight and his gaze was straight forward. Right before he was about to go to Solona's quarters to apologize and escort her to the prison wards, he was gruffly ordered by one of the senior templars to go to the Knight Commander's study for his newest assignment.

He didn't get a moment's sleep last night. All he could think of was how he would be able to apologize to Solona for his behavior. The thought of her with another man drove him mad with rage…it was no excuse, but he was repentant.

And perhaps he cared for her more than he liked to believe.

Cullen wondered why Greagoir would call him to his study. Was it possible that Greagoir had found out what he had done to Solona the day before? Cullen stood with his hands clasped behind his back, awaiting his Knight Commander's orders.

Greagoir was browsing through a parchment with the latest list of guard assignments in the Tower. "Ah, yes…thank you for coming, Cullen. I have a new assignment for you."

"Ser." Cullen acknowledged, his stance flawless.

"You will be the templar on guard during Neria Surana's harrowing." Greagoir simply stated, his eyes still on the parchment in his hand.

Cullen caught himself before he let the waver into his voice. "Neria Surana, the apprentice mage…Ser?"

"Correct." Greagoir replied. "It is a big responsibility but I trust you to do your best, Cullen. It will be your duty to execute her if she fails at her trial and ends up being possessed by a demon. The harrowing will be coming up in two days. Until then, I trust you will use this time wisely to prepare yourself for such an event."

Cullen couldn't believe his ears. He knew about Neria Surana very well…she was Solona's roommate and most trusted friend. It was much too early for her to take her harrowing. Why did the First Enchanter make such a decision? Did Solona know about it as well?

"Do you have any questions, Cullen?" Greagoir lifted his eyes to his subordinate, looking for any reaction to his assignment.

"No, Ser." Cullen inclined his head. "I am grateful for the opportunity. Thank you, Ser."

Anders found himself doing what he never thought he would have done as a prisoner inside the Tower.

He was pacing.

He paced up and down, left and right, all around his tiny chamber. How long had he been walking around the little space? He couldn't think of any other outlet for his anxious energy. Ever since the templar dragged Solona away the day before, he was beside himself with worry. He barely got any sleep because his head was tormented with thoughts of Solona being confined in solitary over his stupid joke.

He could picture it so easily…Solona, cold and alone, curled up in a corner of a claustrophobic cage, completely deprived of light and sound. Anders could recall the experience almost too perfectly, the second time he had escaped from the Tower, the templars had placed him in solitary confinement for two weeks and it had almost drove him to the breaking point of his sanity.

Anders was fuming, plagued with the thoughts of Solona being tortured so inhumanely. As he paced, he was plotting like a mad man, thinking of a way to break out of his prison cell and rescue Solona from whatever cruel punishment the templars were inflicting upon her.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the iron door's locks slowly grinding open. He spun around on his heels, his mind racing with an instant escape plan. Would it be possible if he stunned the templar guards long enough for a few moments so he could run out and find Solona?

As the door opened, he almost felt the bright aura flood into his chambers like the dawn breaking through the night.

"Anders!" Solona stepped into the chambers, hugging a linen bag to her chest.

Anders almost fell to his knees in relief. "Solona…you're okay!"

Solona's old templar escort gave a small grunt. "You only get a few hours." He grumbled and slammed the door shut, leaving the two mages alone.

Solona and Anders awkwardly stood in place, unable to look each other in the eye. She lifted the bag in her hands and brought out Anders' sleeping tunic. "I want to thank you for lending this to me, I'm sorry that I ran away with it." She said shyly, holding it out to him.

Anders gave a slight jump at her words. "Oh, my tunic. I had completely forgotten about it. No thanks are necessary, I still have your robes over here…"

As he reached out to take back his tunic, their fingers touched for a brief second, causing them both to snap their hands back in reaction, as if they both placed their hands on a piece of hot coal. The tunic fell to the floor between them.

Anders scratched his head nervously. "This is ridiculous. I feel like I'm going through my teenage years again." He gave Solona a frank stare. "Are you okay, Solona?"

"I-I'm fine." She avoided his gaze and bent down to pick the clothing off the floor. "I washed it last night so it's clea…"

"Andraste's brazen boots, I'm not talking about the shirt. I'm asking if you're feeling okay around me." Anders stepped up and took hold of her elbow gently. Solona slowly met his eyes and saw his apprehensive expression. "If you are going to act this uneasy around me, then we can both pretend that the kiss never happened."

"I'm sorry." Solona apologized, her fingers already wringing the tunic in her hands. "I don't mean to be so inept about this. I've never experienced such a thing before. I don't know how to react."

Anders smiled and placed his hand on top of her head. "Just act normally. When you're this jittery, it makes me think that you don't want to be around me anymore. That would just shatter my self-esteem and my manly pride."

Solona rewarded Anders' joking tone with a laugh. "I guess we can't have that can we? You are my mentor after all…you can't get away from your teaching duties that easily."

Anders laughed with her and bent down to place a kiss on her forehead. Solona's heart almost jumped into her throat with the affectionate gesture. Anders drew her head into his shoulder and nuzzled her hair. "I was so worried for you." He murmured. "I thought they would lock you away as they did with me…I spent all night thinking of a way to rescue you."

Anders' embrace melted away the fluttering in her stomach. She felt secure in his arms, almost protected. Solona couldn't help wondering if all men shared the same strength in their bodies, the confident touch that made her feel completely safe.

She slowly leaned herself into his neck. "I was fine. I simply went straight to my quarters."

Anders arms tightened around her. "The way that templar dragged you out…I thought he would punish you for sure."

"Cullen?" Solona lifted her head, her expression confused. "Why would he punish me?"

"Is that his name?" Anders lifted an eyebrow. "When he barged in here the day before, he looked like he was being possessed by a fade demon. He looked like he was one step away from throttling me to death."

Solona shook her head. "Cullen isn't like that, he's…different from the other templars."

Anders caught Solona's hesitation. "This…Cullen…he has feelings for you, doesn't he?"

The memory of yesterday's surprise kiss in the stairwell sprang before Solona's eyes. She flushed a deep red. "I…I don't think so."

Anders rolled his eyes. "Solona, you may be an innocent, but I surely am not. A man doesn't look that furious unless he…one, he was in a jealous rage…or two, somebody had insulted his mother…and I'm pretty certain I didn't say anything bad about his mother…well, nothing out loud at least."

Solona didn't reply to Anders' remark. She didn't want him to know about Cullen's sudden confession the day before. She was never much of a liar…but she knew how to keep her mouth shut in a situation like this. Even if she was an innocent, she knew there would be dire circumstances if Anders found out about her kiss with the templar. He would be outraged and disgusted…and he would never want to come near her again, let alone speak to her.

Anders took Solona's silence as bashfulness and dropped the topic. He stepped away and took his tunic back from her hands. "Thank you for going through the trouble of washing this."

Solona let out a small sigh of relief. "You're very welcome."

Anders went to his dresser and retrieved the robe that Solona had left behind. "Here's your clothing. Did your roommate get suspicious about how you were only dressed in my sleeping tunic?"

"Neria? No…she wasn't suspicious at all actually…" Solona answered slowly as she placed the robe inside her linen bag. Neria was too furious after rescuing her from Cullen that she was unable to notice her dress.

Anders sat down on the rug and patted the space beside him. Solona obliged and joined him on the floor. It felt as amicable as it did on the day she first met him. Solona found herself relaxing comfortably again.

"Did you want to get in some practice with your elemental spells again?" He asked, leaning his arms back.

Solona shook her head. "I'll give myself a bit of time to recover on that." Wanting to keep the subject completely off of yesterday's craziness, she thought of another topic. "If anything, I'd like to hear more about your experience with the harrowing."

"Bah, I have much more interesting stories than that one." Anders waved her off.

Solona smiled and nudged at his arm. "You just tell me bits and pieces. I'd really like to know the whole story."

He gave a sad grin. "It's not much of a tale, to be honest. It won't be much help to your own harrowing."

"I would still like to know." Solona insisted, placing her hands on her lap and giving him her utmost attention. She was glad to get his train of thought towards a different direction.

Anders sighed and scratched his head. "I guess I can't refuse my pupil, can I? Well, to make a short story even shorter, my harrowing story begins right after I was brought back to the Tower after my fourth escape attempt."

"I was only around seventeen at the time…got caught by the templars in Denerim of all places. I thought it would be easy to hide in the most populated city in Ferelden…ha! They sure proved me wrong." Anders laughed derisively at himself. "As soon as I was brought back, Irving came into my cell and told me I would have to go through my harrowing."

Solona's eyes widened. "So soon? Did you assigned any mentors to advise you about the trial?"

"That was the point, I think. I was still an apprentice mage, but I never got a chance to receive any advice or guidance from one of the senior mages. They pretty much picked me up and took me into some Maker forsaken chamber and told me I was to go through the harrowing."

Anders rubbed his neck. "I don't remember much, to be honest. It was very hazy…as I said, it was like being in a dream. I can only recall bits and pieces. I remember being attacked by some awful looking demon who was ten times my size and looked as though his flesh was falling off. Ugh." He shuddered. "I've heard from other mages that they see scantily clad succubus demons while in the fade…I sure didn't get that."

"Anyway, I defeated the demon, came back safely. The templar guarding my unconscious body literally had a sword to my throat when I awoke. Boy, were they unpleasantly surprised when I woke up." He laughed at the memory. "The Knight Commander made me go through the harrowing because they were betting on me either getting lost in the fade or getting possessed by some demon. Bet they all regret that decision to make me go through it now. They can't make you into a tranquil once you pass…so of course they would try to label me as a Maleficar to get me executed."

Solona was shocked at his casual admission. "Why would the Knight Commander want you to fail at your harrowing?

Anders shrugged. "Didn't like me showing up the holes in his defense, I suppose. I'm quite proud to say that I am very talented at escaping from this place. Not so good at avoiding capture though. The Knight Commander is not a forgiving man."

"Why do you keep escaping then?" Solona asked softly.

Anders turned to her with a wistful smile. "You've been in here most of your life, so you probably don't recall the little things. Freedom is one of those things that once you experience, you can never go back to being happy while being trapped in this Tower."

Solona unconsciously reached up and took hold of Anders' sleeve. "Are you…planning on escaping in the near future?"

Anders gave an wry grin. "Absolutely. Can't let my reputation go to waste, can I? Sooner or later, the templars are going to find a way to brand me as a Maleficar and chop my head off if I don't get out of here."

Solona shook her head furiously. "They can't do that! Irving wouldn't let them do such an awful thing!"

Anders placed his hand on her cheek. "I didn't mean to upset you, Solona. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get executed in the next few weeks…who else would be able to mentor you with your harrowing?"

Tears sprang into Solona's eyes. The thought of Anders being executed terrified her. "Do not joke about such things so easily…I don't even want to think about having you gone from my life."

Anders' expression softened and he slowly leaned towards Solona. "Does the thought of life without me make you sad?"

"Awful." Solona replied, her voice cracking.

Once again, Anders was taken aback by Solona's words. As he watched her wipe away a tear that strayed down her cheek, he realized that her concern for his welfare was truly genuine. He wondered why the circle and the templars had blessed him with such a lovely woman to keep him company. Perhaps they were truly preparing to execute him and decided to grant him a bit of happiness before they sent him to his death.

Either way, it was true that Anders was planning on escaping from the Tower very soon. But he felt an unusual tug at his heartstrings when he thought of Solona. How would he be able to leave her behind...to rot away in the depressing prison for mages? And more importantly...how would he be able to live outside the Tower without her?

"Ah, Solona…" Anders sighed and cupped her face in his hands. "How will I ever be able to escape from this place? I am growing too attached to you."

As Anders gently pressed his lips on hers, Solona found herself melting away in his arms once more.