Chapter 10:

Upon leaving Duncan's room, Sylina ran into Jowan. "I'm glad I caught you. Can you speak now?" Sylina nodded and Jowan's voice dropped to a whisper. "I need to talk to you about what we discussed this morning. Can we go somewhere more private?"

Sylina's eyebrows rose. "Why are you whispering Jowan? It is suspicious."

"I've been troubled...I'll explain. Come with me, please." He started walking away and Sylina followed him. They walked down the hall to the Chantry. Sylina looked suspiciously at Jowan, but he just shook his head.

Jowan walked to the corner of the Chantry where one of the sisters was. He turned to Sylina. "We should be safe here," he said.

"Yes," Sylina said. "The one place in the tower the templars frequent most. This seems like a good idea." She was puzzled by Jowan's behavior. Before her Harrowing, he had all but ignored her and had been broody for days. In fact, over the last year, Jowan had been acting differently. They were still friends, but they barely hung out as much as they had when they were children.

The sister spoke up. "We can see the door from here. If anyone comes, we'll change the subject." Now Sylina was completely confused. She wouldn't say she was a devout Andrastian, mostly because she was a little resentful about their treatment of mages. But still, she had never thought Jowan would trust a Chantry sister.

"Jowan, what is going on?" She turned to him.

"You remember how I told you I met a girl a few months ago? This is Lily." Sylina almost hit herself. Now that he mentioned it she did remember, but she had been so caught up in her Harrowing she had completely forgotten about it.

"Jowan, are you crazy?" was her first reaction. "She is an initiate. It's forbidden by the Chantry. Even I know that." She stepped back from the two of them shaking her head. They must've both been crazy. She turned to Lily. This woman must be crazy. Not only was she in the Chantry, but she was having an affair with a mage.

Jowan raised his voice. "I won't give Lily up for anything."

Sylina was shaking her head. She needed to get out of here. This was bad. Why would Jowan pull her into this? She was already on thin ice. She had killed a templar! No one would ever forget that. "Jowan, why are you telling me this?"

He looked at the ground. "Remember how I said that the templars don't want to put me through my Harrowing? I know why. They're...going to make me tranquil, Sylina. They'll take my dreams, hopes, fears...my love for Lily away from me. All gone... Sylina, I need to escape. I need to destroy my phylactery. Without it, they can't track me down. We need your help. Lily and I can't do this on our own."

"Give us your word that you will help and we will tell you what we intend," Lily said, looking at Sylina with earnest.

Sylina couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you crazy? No, scratch that. You are both obviously crazy. No. Jowan, you know I can't help. If I get caught helping you, they won't make me tranquil they will kill me. That is what Greagoir told me three years ago. I can't help you." She turned to go. "I'm sorry."

Jowan's voice cracked. "You're just..just walking away?"

She heard Lily's voice. "It's all right Jowan. There's always a way. We must have faith." Sylina hurried away.

She felt sick to her stomach after leaving the Chantry. How could Jowan involve her in this? He was crazy. Crazy to try and escape the Circle. Crazy to try and destroy his phylactery. She had only just gone through her Harrowing. She shook her head and headed to the apprentice's dormitories. She grabbed her few belongings and walked them back up to the mage's quarters. She saw Cullen standing close to the door of her new room. She smiled, thinking about the whispers she had heard this morning.

"Hello Cullen," she said as she approached him. She had always known that he stood guard during the day in the mage's quarters. She wondered if this meant they would see each other more often. That thought made her a little giddy inside.

Cullen blushed. "Oh, um hello." She smiled. He seemed more nervous than usual. "I am...I am glad to see your Harrowing went smoothly."

"I saw you at my Harrowing." She couldn't keep the twinkle out of her eye.

He looked at the ground shifting his feet. "I..um…I was picked as the templar to strike the killing blow if...if you became an abomination."

Sylina's eyes went wide and she dropped her bag of things. Cullen instinctively reached out and grabbed them. He succeeded in grabbing the bag of clothes and bent to pick up her other personal belongings. Sylina just stood still. When he was done he held the bag and items in his hands and looked at her.

"It's nothing personal Sylina, I swear," he said with a slight desperation in his voice as he looked into her eyes. Sylina felt breathless. The idea that Cullen would have delivered the killing blow should she have failed made her stomach turn in knots and she felt the need to empty her stomach. All she could think of was why Greagoir would have picked Cullen? Then she realized that she knew why. She looked into his amber eyes, trying to see if he would have actually delivered the killing blow. He shifted his gaze down. "I am...uh...I'm just glad that you succeeded and are alright." He blushed. She took a step toward him. Would he? She might never know and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Instead of asking she took another step toward him. She could feel his gaze on her and his closeness. She smiled up at him. "Cullen, I was never going to fail." He froze as he looked into her eyes. She saw want in them. Then he shook his head.

"You have always been so confident," he said with a small smile.

She motioned to her room. "Will you help me carry my things to my room?"

Cullen gulped, but nodded. "Of...of course." They walked the few steps to her new room and she motioned for where Cullen should put the bag down. "I have heard of failed Harrowings, and the results are unpleasant." Cullen said as he set down the bag, Sylina nodded.

"Have you ever witnessed a failed Harrowing?" She asked him as she began unpacking the bag.

"No, but I am sure something must happen for the templars to know that a mage has become an abomination."

Sylina chuckled. "I wouldn't count on that Cullen." She started putting her clothes away.

Suddenly she heard Cullen shuffle his feet and she looked up from where she was putting her things. "Oh, I'm sorry Cullen. I am distracting you from your duties. I should be fine now. Thank you."

"Oh, no you're not distracting me." He seemed to realize where he was and blushed, "Well, I mean, you are, but...you're not." He buried his head in his hands as if that would give him courage and Sylina instinctively moved closer to him. "What I mean to say is that you can talk to me anytime you want." He put down his hands and realized how close she was. He froze and Sylina did as well.

Will Cullen finally make a move? she wondered.

"Perhaps we should speak another time," he said and nearly sprinted out of her room.

Sylina couldn't keep herself from chuckling. She had found that she enjoyed making Cullen blush and she was hoping that living on this floor she would get to see more of that.