Anders didn't see the Templar for the rest of the week. Maybe she had other things to do, or she had decided to finally leave him alone. He wouldn't complain about it. Only to remember how she looked like while wearing that damned armor…
Today, he had his hands work cut out. There had been a collapse in one of the old mines, and many miners were injured – and these were just the lucky ones. He barely found some rest between fixing bones and closing bone deep cuts, and if he found some, he had to pound ingredients or mix potions to ease the pains.
He felt strained until half the day had passed, barely able to concentrate on the healings, but the cries of the wounded didn't allow him any rest. Fortunately, they were the only ones who needed his help today, so he was able to focus completely on them.
Laying his hands on another injured miner's arm, he used his magic to close the deepest wounds and treated the other ones with a salve. Anders noticed his hands shaking when he stepped back and took a deep breath, but it didn't help very much. His mana was almost spent.
He turned to the next patient, a young miner, more boy than man, whose shoulder was utterly slashed. He used his last reserves to close the worst cuts and…
From one moment to another, the room whirled around him. He stumbled, his knees suddenly waxen.
A grip at his shoulder prevented him from falling.
"You need some rest", he heard a voice say, female and familiar.
He was too strained to protest, so he allowed her to bring him to a chair. He sat down and closed his eyes in exhaustion. A warm hand touched his forehead and his cheeks.
"Totally spent. Wait a moment…"
He heard her steps leaving, then her murmur from behind, but he was too spent to do anything, like stopping her from searching his property, or get up and taking care of the other patients who needed healing. The only thing preventing him from falling asleep was the knowledge what he was still needed.
"Where is it…? Where…?" he heard her murmur behind his back, then her steps came nearer.
He heard a faint plop, like something was uncorked in front of him, and then something cool and smooth was pressed against his lips.
"Drink that. It will help."
Anders lied back and emptied the phial at one gulp. The fluid was cool and tasted electrifying, refreshing his strained mind almost immediately. He tore his eyes open.
He looked right into a pair of grey eyes, their iris filled with a wisp of light green. Gray greenish eyes in a slightly tanned face, oval shaped and attractive. He wouldn't call her a perfect beauty, but something about her drew his eyes.
She!
Calm down, my friend. She wouldn't have restored my mana if she wanted to detract it and take us with her…
Right this moment, he couldn't feel any anger for her. She had taken care of him while he was about to collapse. Something, she had not needed to do…
"Thank you."
Catelyn smiled at him. "Not angry at me anymore?"
"I was on the verge of fainting. Thanks to you, I'm not longer." He shrugged. "Not this time, Templar." His eye's run over her and suddenly, he noticed… something else. Something, which relieved him a little more. "You're not wearing that damned armor."
"Yes, just my sword and this…" She grabbed at her cleavage and pulled something off it. It was a pendant, showing the Templar insignia. "I thought, it would ease things if he would look less Templar like to you."
That surprised him. She surprised him. Yes, she was still a Templar, but he hadn't met a Templar before who had willingly done such a thing. Just to make it easier and more comfortable. Who had taken care of the ones was obliged to watch.
Maybe she was right, as for herself at least.
Don't trust her! She might look nice, but she is still the enemy! Her kind enslaves and oppresses us, and so does she!
Anders suppressed a moaning. He didn't want to argue with himself – or Justice or both of them – again. His clinic was crowded with injured needing his help, and he had to take care of them first, before he could focus on other things. Like the Templar in front of him.
He got up and passed Catelyn, coming nearer to another miner's cot. It took just a look to see that the man's leg was horrible smashed – bone fragments were jutting out of his mauled flesh.
"Hold on!" he called upon the miner. "I will take care of-"
"I will die, will I?" the man gasped. "The pains… I cannot work at the mines with my leg amputated…"
"I will try to save it, alright? Just hold on…"
He miner nodded, his face distorted with pain.
Anders begun to inspect the wound and suppressed his sign. Thanks to the Lyrium Catelyn had given to him, he felt refreshed again, but this… He doubted he could cure the leg without collapsing again after he had healed it. But maybe, with some help…
"Templar?" He turned his face towards her, waving her nearer. "How familiar are you with first aid?"
"Familiar enough, I think. Do you need some help?"
He nodded. "Can you hold him while I'll try to fix his bones? You're probably stronger than me… and I know more of healing."
"Yes, I guess I could use my muscles for than fighting… Where shall I hold him?"
He showed her, and then concentrated his attention on the miner's leg. Out of the corner off his eye, he could see that Catelyn was already doing like he told her. It was hard work to fix the bones – they were shattered and he had to work carefully, using his magic where it was needed. The miner cried and tried to rebel, but Catelyn was really a strong woman. She did her part without a complaint – or big effort.
Once it was done, Anders sighed in relief, bandaging the miner's wound and turning at the next patient. This time, it was a young woman with a broken wrist and a large and bloody abrasion.
"Is there something else I can do?" he heard Catelyn ask behind his back.
"Yes. At my desk – the ointment in the large, blue dish. Would you bring it to me?" he answered while he inquired the girl's wrist, calling to his connection to the Fade and used his healing magic to fix the broken bones then.
Catelyn returned sooner than he had anticipated.
"Is this what you need?" she asked, handing him over a light blue jar.
"Yes, it is! Thank you…" He started to treat the girl's abrasion with the salve.
The next patient was an elder man with a huge cut at his side, which Anders had to stich up. He ordered Catelyn to bring him a bandage, and she did it without questioning.
"You said, you're familiar with first aid. So you can dress his wound, I take it?"
She nodded. "I think so. And if you need me…"
He could help but give her a little smile. At the moment, it didn't matter that she was a Templar. She helped him, and with these many patients, it was more than appreciated.
As long as you don't forget what she really is. She is only helping because it is easier to her to watch us this way.
He concentrated his attention on the next patient, a middle-aged woman whose whole side was covered with bruises. After he had examined her closely, he found out that she had some broken rips too and started to heal them first.
"I'm done…" Catelyn's voice, next to him.
"She needs the black vial, on my desk."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Catelyn nodding and approaching his desk. It felt strange how easy it was to work with her. She didn't ask stupid questions, but took his orders quickly and efficiently. What a shame she was a Templar! Help like hers was badly needed down here… and he was always without assistance at his clinic.
"Here!" She gave him the vial he had asked for.
He uncorked the vial and applied some of its content on a clean cloth, to dab the wound.
"That's a decongestant lotion, out of elfroot and distilled alcohol." He didn't know why he was telling her that. Most likely, she didn't care…
With her help, he was able to pace himself, until the last patient was treated and the ones who could still move and walk had left the clinic. He felt still strained and exhausted, but at least he wasn't on the verge of fainting anymore.
He sat down and took a deep breath. Relief was washing through him – the worst was over, finally. Tomorrow, he had to gather new ingredients for his remedies, but today… For today, he was done, and able to relax a little.
His eyes flickered over to Catelyn, and parts of him immediately warned him before her. She was still a Templar; he should not become lax only because she had helped him today! But, on the other hand, without her he would be unconscious and thus not able to help the people he had helped before…
He was far away from being ungrateful.
"Thank you again. For your help."
She smiled, a little tired. "Never mind. It was obvious that it was needed."
"You knew I had Lyrium around."
"You're a mage. Mages use Lyrium." She shrugged.
"An apostate mage. Just as well, I could have had nothing."
"Apostates usually buy it underhandedly."
"Like some of your fellow Templars?"
Her eyes narrowed a little. "Maybe. Where is that different from what you're doing? I doubt you bought your Lyrium vials from the chantry."
"Lyrium has no negative side effects on mages, at least not in refined state. You Templars, on the other hand… I've met some of your, suffering from delusions and more, because of the stuff. Is it worth it?"
"You mean, to hunt apostates? It is necessary, to counter magic, yes. To protect your kind."
"That's so sick. They willingly become addicts!" He shook his head. They? She's a Templar, too!
"Anyway, I'm glad I could help you out." Catelyn smiled again, changing the topic suddenly. "It was… quite fascinating. You know much of healing, even without use of magic. Where did you learn all of that?"
Well, maybe it wasn't the worst idea to speak about something else. He didn't feel the urge to reproach her, not yet. It was obvious that she didn't want to talk about Lyrium and its side effects – maybe, because she knew them all too well – or about mages and Templars, and he didn't want to think about her like one of them. Not yet. Not while she was wearing a light leather cuirass and looked like a young woman, who could as much be a mercenary or some of the kind. Not after they had worked together so well.
You're a fool! Armor or not, she stays a Templar! Don't forget about that! She will enchain or even kill you if you become unvigilant!
Anders pushed the thoughts to the side. His thoughts, or Justice', he didn't want to listen to them right now. He was too strained and Catelyn was not only a Templar. It didn't define her whole character. And since when was he only a mage?
"I had a tutor once, back in the Circle. I believe, to teach me was not an easy thing." He grinned. "I had too much other things in mind. Mainly girls, mischief and escape dreams."
"Dreams that came true, I see."
He nodded, surprised that she didn't sound disapproving. Maybe she was different from the other Templars he met… Maybe she was willing to consider other options than the Circle... She does already. I'm still free!
"But somehow… they succeeded in teaching me nonetheless." Anders shrugged. "It became quit useful during my escapes and later here, at Darktown. Thy would be utterly surprised to see me now."
"And proud of you, I think. You're helping people."
Was she really saying that? Maybe she is different. Maybe she understands.
"Could be… When I arrived here, I had no intention to run a clinic at the sewers. It just so happened, that… But today, it feels like the right thing to do."
"It is. They have plenty of clinics at Hightowns, and the rich have even access to the Circles spirit healers, but the people down here…" She shook her head. "Maybe I'm really too soft. Letting an apostate go because I'm too sympathetic!" She rose and prepared to leave. "Maybe Alrik is right about me…"
Alrik? She knew him? The bastard who had made Karl tranquil, against every chantry law? He wanted to stop her and ask her about it, but she had already left.
Next time. She will return, that much is sure. We will ask her next time.