"Finally. Enough with this pile of…dragon…droppings, shit of the last few weeks." Isra sighed as she put her legs up on the wall next to her. It was extremely late and she was lying on the floor of a narrow, dark corridor commonly used by the Tranquil as they went about their business, unnoticed. The tedium of constant study during the last few days was finally catching up with her, making her feel perpetually drained of all energy.

The only reason she was up and about this late at night, hiding in some dank, secret corridor, was due to the fact that it was her birthday. She would completely forget about it, if it weren't for Mica to remind her of that fact. According to him little celebration was necessary and quite beneficial to one's health and she was not about to dispute it, especially not after she felt so desperately in need of a short break to replenish her energies.

"Mmmm. This is so good!" Mica's voice floated towards her in the darkness.

"I know, right?" Raja's laugh floated back in response. "Want to try some, Isra?"

Isra grunted as she propped herself up enough so she could reach for the bottle Raja was offering her. The dim glow from a small wisp Mica conjured gave off just enough light so they could tell each other apart from the shadows surrounding them.

Raja was here as her duty dictated – she was not supposed to leave her charge unprotected or unguarded. Luckily she was friendly enough to allow this little gathering in Isra's honour and Isra liked her enough to invite her to join in the revelry. She was also one of the main reasons Isra decided to host her little party here, instead of the Cove. Isra liked Raja well enough, but she was still a Templar. The last thing Isra wanted was to reveal the knowledge or the existence of the Cove to any Templar, no matter how friendly or likable they were.

Another downside to this arrangement and the Templar's presence was the fact that she could not discuss anything even remotely related to Silani or her strange encounter with Uldred from a few days ago with Mica. But more importantly he could not procure any bottle of what could be considered illegal contraband, or in simplest terms – they were left without alcoholic beverages. Luckily Raja unknowingly resolved the issue as she provided with some sort of chocolate liquor as her own little gift for Isra.

Taking a sip, Isra had to concur with Mica. "This is very good." The liquor was sweet, chocolatey, with only a hint of alcohol, but still strong enough to warm her from the inside.

"Be careful, though. It's stronger than you'd think. Delicious, so it goes down easy, until it hits you and you wake up in the common room, without your small clothes and no recollection of the night before whatsoever."

Isra giggled at Raja's colourful warning. "Speaking from experience, I see? Or is this a common known side effect?"

"A little bit of both. I wasn't the only one to have this happen to." Raja replied with an amused laugh.

Mica cackled quietly, motioning to Isra for the bottle. "Oh? Is this a common type of occurrence in the Templars' quarters?"

"More common than you'd think." Raja replied with a wide grin, visible for a few short moments in the flicker of the light, causing Mica to nearly choke on the liquor and Isra to burst out laughing at his wide eyed look. She knew what went through his mind almost the moment Raja had said those words, because it had crossed her mind also.

"I can't imagine someone like Cullen being involved in that sort of … behaviour." Isra asked politely, trying to mask her own interest in the matter. She heard Mica's silent giggle in the darkness, casting a shadow of a doubt on the innocence of her inquiry. Lucky for her, the sound revealed his exact location, allowing her to kick him generously. Hearing a pained grunt, covered quickly by a feigned cough confirmed she managed to hit her target successfully.

Raja snorted in response, clearly oblivious to the little exchange between them. "Not likely. He's a real stickler for rules."

Isra wasn't really surprised at the answer, what surprised her was that she felt a little relieved, but at the same time disappointed with it. A part of her was hoping Cullen would be daring enough to indulge in breaking the rules now and then, while the other, more surprising, part of her was a little jealous at the thought that other women, Templars or even Raja, would have seen him in that state. Daring, relaxed, undressed. Isra felt herself blushing at the thought and thanked the Maker for the little bit of privacy the darkened corridor offered. The little bit of possessiveness over Cullen felt completely unexpected and it caught her off guard. He really wasn't that pretty after all, she tried to reason with her thoughts.

"You're lucky I'm on duty tonight. He would've never have allowed you to indulge this little celebration. Or procured this little birthday gift, for that matter." Raja continued, toasting with the bottle, before taking another sip herself.

Isra smiled to herself in response to Raja's commentary. Cullen wasn't such a stickler for rules after all. He caught her in the middle of the night sneaking about and he let her go. Now that she knew him a little better he didn't strike her as gullible enough to do that on faith alone. Perhaps she knew him a little better than Raja did, after all. Isra shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts of Cullen. The alcohol was clearly starting to affect her feelings on the matter.

"And how is that duty of yours treating you at the moment?" Mica commented, a sardonic note to his voice.

"At the moment?" Raja countered with a chuckle, taking a dip gulp from the bottle. "Just fine."

"I'll bet." Mica replied with a grin and a wink towards Isra, barely visible in the dim light. "We are an excellent company."

"We are, indeed." Isra grinned back, motioning for the bottle. So long as nobody uncovers our true rakish nature, she added to herself, gently caressing her new ring, hanging from Silani's necklace which was safely hidden under her robes.

Mica gave it to her earlier today as her birthday present. It looked innocent enough, a slight silver band, covered with interlacing pattern of vines, a small blue stone embedded among them, but it thrummed with magic, more potent than on any other similar ring she had encountered before. To remind her of the power of her own magic, he said when he gave it to her with an enigmatic smile. It certainly did, she thought as she touched it. Ice and lightning and resolve. It had to be one of those magic rings that also increased the wearer's willpower. There was also something else, offering her an insight as if a door of some kind was opened to everything around her, increasing her awareness. Probably it influenced the wearer's cunning also, Isra added in her mind. She knew it was a rare ring, extremely valuable or even custom made. Mica's smile hadn't revealed anything regarding its origin and Isra hadn't asked, had no desire to.

"That you are. You're probably the only mages in the history of the Circle having a Templar diligently performing her duty, while attending a little, secret and highly unapproved birthday celebration in your honour." Raja added with a wide smile. "Happy Birthday, little apprentice." She finished with a warm smile, offering the bottle to Isra.

Isra couldn't help but smile back as she accepted it, taking a sip. She had never heard a Templar call her an apprentice in a way that was not outright dismissive or insulting.

"Yes. Happy seventeen, Isra. Now you're one year closer to the grand finale of your apprenticeship. May it be fun and less eventful than the last year." Mica added with a slight smile.

"I have a feeling it will be the exact opposite, but thank you." Isra commented, a wry smile on her face. "Yey. Go me! I'm seventeen." She added, toasting to herself, to the general applause coming from both of her companions. Any year that she managed live through in one piece was a good year, as far as she was concerned.

For all that it was lacking, this little celebration felt perfect. She didn't know Raja that long, and if someone stepped up to her a couple of months ago and said to her that she would be getting wasted with a Templar for her Birthday, she'd probably proclaim them mad or completely insane.

A lot of things had happened, that she would never had imagined a few months ago, she thought to herself as she remembered Silani. Offering a quiet prayer to the Maker, to help her bring some justice to her friend and a peace of mind to her in the next year, she concluded her quiet musings with another generous sip.

- o . O . o –

Isra felt Cullen's breath on her neck. The library seemed to disappear as his hands still lingered on the book about a famous Nevarran dragon hunter, barely touching her fingers, the touch still sending sparks of electricity down her spine as she accepted it into her own hands.

She swallowed heavily, standing completely still. She didn't want to interrupt the fragile connection between them. His breath on her skin, caressing her as he slowly lowered his lips towards her neck. Isra felt her breath hitch as he gently ran his lips over her neck, running them up towards her ear. The trace he left behind left her skin on fire, making her knees week and barely able to stand up. She closed her eyes, biting her lip in anticipation.

"Isra." His voice sent tiny little tremors cascading all over her body. "Isra." His hand gently grabbed her shoulder and started shaking her. Well that wasn't sexy at all, Isra thought. "Isra." His voice also sounded a little more agitated than it was expected, losing its silky, seductive quality. "Isra." That's it, he completely ruined the moment.

"What!?" she opened her eyes, her voice croaking with annoyance. Cullen's face was only a few inches away from her own, causing her to let out a startled yelp.

"Morning." He replied, a look of equal annoyance quickly crossing his features as he backed away.

Her dormitory, her bed. He was standing next to her bed in full armour. Isra almost catapulted herself from her bed at the realisation, barely stopping herself as another realisation struck home, with a massive headache in tow. She was in her bed, her hair untied and her thin nightshift the only thing covering her nakedness. Quickly throwing herself back on the bed, dragging the quilt over her head, Isra groaned as the sudden movement caused the world to take a few spins. "What are you doing here!?"

"Waking you up. I'll wait for you outside." He clearly deemed this insufficient explanation sufficient enough as it was quickly followed by a pair of heavy steps retreating from her present location.

Taking a deep breath Isra tried to focus the world back into perspective, stopping it from spinning. Slowly and gently, she peered out from under her covers, finding him truly gone. She let out a deep sigh of relief, which was quickly interrupted as a wave of nausea hit her in full force, causing her to stumble as quickly as she could out from her warm refuge in a desperate race towards the nearest cleaning bucket.

Nothing like a morning throw up session to shift one's personal priorities, pushing dignity and modesty at the very bottom of that list, Isra thought as she wiped her mouth, feeling like a little pile of lifeless misery. She slowly dragged herself up and headed towards the lavatories to get herself as clean and as ready for the day as possible in her current condition.

She was already running extremely late, by the time she emerged from the privy closet after her last throw up session. She had already sworn never to touch Raja's liquor ever again. From her current perspective it was sneaky and evil, its deliciousness successfully masking its true and vile nature. She sincerely hoped Raja and Mica were in the state similar to hers. It would be more than embarrassing and not a little hurtful to her pride, if she was the only one in such state, especially since she drank less than either of them.

"You!" Isra stopped in her tracks immediately, wincing at the loud noise and slowly turning towards the call. She grimaced, hoping that she didn't do anything untoward under the influence of her alcoholic buzz from last night. Her memory was still a little fuzzy and she had no recollection whatsoever as to how she got back to her dormitory or when. The only thing that was certain in her mind currently was the consistent presence of her hangover, accompanied by a deep sense of regret. She really shouldn't drink that much.

"Tell your Templar boyfriend to stay out of the dormitories, you hear me!" It was one of the prettier older girls Isra recognised as one of her co-habitants, her face screwed up in a righteous rage as she berated her.

Flinching with every word the girl said, Isra felt her wits leave for the greener pastures as the headache reinserted itself in full force. "What?" she croaked, desperately trying to will her headache out of existence.

"I said…"

"For the love of Andraste keep it down, the people at the top of the tower can hear your screeching."

"Isra!" She sighed, grateful for the interruption. She really wasn't feeling up to bickering in the state she was in.

She turned to see Jowan approach her, from the entrance of the dormitory, a surprisingly red-looking Cullen was standing in. Isra quickly turned away, before she could burst out laughing at his funny facial expression.

"Well. You look like… not really that good. Are you all right?"Jowan commented as he noticed her slightly ghoulish appearance.

"Nice save." Isra smiled slightly. "No, not really. And you? I haven't seen you in quite a while."

He dismissed the question with his hand. "Oh you know. I've been busy studying and stuff." He sniffed, scratching his head innocently. Busy attending to your secret lover, you mean, Isra commented to herself, glad to see her wits make a return. He always was a bad liar. "Anyway I just wanted to check up on you, seeing that you've missed the morning lesson with enchanter Hayes."

"Oh. You were there, were you?" she cautiously inquired, as she realised what day it was. Hayes will not be pleased about this.

Jowan nodded, offering her a lopsided grin. "Don't worry. He is not that angry. Just worried."

"That's not really that much better." Isra commented quietly. Hayes was like a father to her and she knew that after he realised nothing was wrong with her, besides suffering through a massive hangover, she was in for a long lecture on risky behaviour and shirking responsibility. Sadly, she had no choice of avoiding it, due to the fact that her practice with Karl was also later today. "He sent you to check up on me, did he?"

Jowan shook his head. "Well, no. Or I should say yes, but I was coming to see you anyway."

"Oh? Why?" They hadn't talked to each other in nearly over two months. She wasn't sure what could he possibly want with her.

"To wish you happy birthday of course." Jowan said with a smile, presenting her a small packaged gift.

"Oh. You remembered. Thank you." Accepting his gift, she felt more than a little guilty at not inviting him to her little soiree the night before and for completely forgetting about him in the last few weeks.

Jowan didn't seem to mind, his smile still there as he nodded in response. "You're my friend of course I remembered. Anyway your Templar bodyguard is looking quite cross out there, you should probably get going."

"Right. Thank you again Jowan. I really appreciate it." He nodded again and waved her goodbye as he left the dormitory. Opening the gift she found it was a small stuffed toy in the shape of a nug, causing her heart to melt. They had always joked about what kind of strange pets would they have one day, with him being obsessed with dragons and her having an equal obsession with nugs after she had read about them in the books.

"Wonderful." Isra sighed dejectedly. Nothing like a massive amount of guilt for being a shitty friend, coupled together with a massive hangover from the day before. She really needed to make up to him somehow.

- o . O . o -

A couple of hours and gallons of water later, Isra found herself dragging along squinty eyed and barely able of coherent thought to her practice with enchanter Hayes, her grumpy looking bodyguard in tow.

Raja hadn't showed up yet to relieve Cullen of his duties and that fact gave her a perverse kind of pleasure. While she felt bad for Cullen, Raja's absence spoke volumes of the massive hangover she was probably nursing somewhere in her Templar's quarters, and that realisation served as a huge ego boost to Isra and her own capabilities of surviving the same affliction. The fact that Raja actually drank more than her, felt like a minor detail, unworthy of notice. The important thing at the moment was the fact that she felt like a winner of some sort of contest of endurance and that gave her a little more – albeit desperately needed - will to live through this next ordeal.

"Where is Karl?" Isra spent her day trying to come up with a sufficient excuse for not finishing up the books he gave her to study, and even though part of her breathed a sigh of relief at the fact of his absence, excusing her of lying to cover her own failings, another part found it worrying. He didn't say anything about not being able to attend their next practice.

"Ah! There you are. You missed the morning lesson. Are you alright?" Enchanter Hayes was coming towards her to greet her, an embodiment of compassion. It was a trap, clearly.

"I'm fine." Isra replied gruffly, his inquiry. She wasn't about to go into the details of last night with him and she desperately needed to take his attention off of her dishevelled appearance if she was to survive this lesson without a single lecture. "Where is Karl?"

He ignored her question and raised an eyebrow, offering her his best disapproving and unconvinced look, fit for inspiring guilt in the receiver of said look.

Isra sighed, but didn't capitulate. "I had a rough night. Studying. Where is Karl?"

Hayes' next expression successfully conveyed his scepticism of her claim, but he didn't pursue the matter further. "I am sorry to say, but Karl will not be joining us anymore."

"What?" That news certainly served as a good sobriety cure. "But I have all this books he gave me." Isra placed the books in question on the table, with a little less care than she should, the resulting thump making her wince. She should probably find a mage who specialised in curing hangovers. Or at least learn the necessary spell herself.

"Have you read through them?"

Isra sighed yet again, there was no way she could have pretended or lied otherwise. Let the chips fall where they may, she thought philosophically, squaring her shoulders. "Of course not. Look at the size of these things. I've read this one though." Isra pointed out the small book, Karl gave her the week before.

After she gave up somewhere in the middle of one of the bigger books, Isra chose to turn to the smallest one, but as she quickly found out, its size was misleading. The book itself was written in the tiniest writ she had ever seen and was written in a terribly boring and lengthy style she had ever encountered. If there were no notes or casual remarks from Karl scribbled here and there around the corners, she would never have gotten through it, or understand the subject for that matter.

"But I don't really understand the half of it. I really hoped Karl would help me sort through all this wordy mess."

Hayes picked up the book in question, a wry smile showing on his face. "Permutations of the entropic spells and their relevance to the Chantry doctrine according to enchanter Slavshek. Well this is quite…a philosophic volume, from what I remember."

"Volume? You mean to say there is more?"

He nodded, wry smile still on his face. "Oh yes. I believe there are at least three more. According to enchanter Slavshek, there are a lot of ways those permutations could be relevant to the different religious and ritual practices around Thedas. Riveting stuff."

"Truly." She commented sarcastically, offering him her own version of a dark look.

Hayes' smile remained on his face, unperturbed. "Do you know why he gave you these books to read?"

"I have no idea." Isra sighed yet again, slumping her shoulders. "I had every intention of asking him the same very question today. Do you know where I could reach him, so I could pester him about it in person?"

His expression finally sobered. "I'm afraid not. However, I do know that we've wasted enough time talking. Let's see how your paralysis spell is working out, shall we…" Hayes added as he motioned to the stuffed dummy in the corner of the classroom, already prepared to take its daily punishment.

Isra sighed audibly. Her head was still inhabited by a pounding headache, and she was starting to feel a little queasy from the exertion of walking about. There was no way she could perform a single successful spell today and from the devious grin Hayes offered her, as he pointed to the dummy, it was more than apparent, he knew it too.

So this was her punishment, Isra thought. Instead of a lecture I get exertion, she thought dejectedly, sincerely hoping she could avoid throwing up during it.

- o . O . o -

Isra could barely stand at the end of the lesson. There were only a couple of times she thought she might throw up, but she managed to survive them without incident.

Regardless, Hayes seemed pleased with himself, as he offered her a giant pitcher of water. "That would teach you, to get drunk the night before."

"You knew?" Isra was too tired to hide her own shock at his revelation.

"Oh you young, inexperienced little cub. I've done enough drinking in my days to know the symptoms of a hangover when I see one." He replied, his wry smile back in place. "I also know that drink and spells don't mix well together. And now, you know that too."

"You cruel, vicious, old geezer." Isra replied from above her glass of water, sending him a scalding look. "It was my birthday."

Hayes laughed loudly at her reply. "Good one puppy." He was not really that old, being somewhere in his late thirties and one of the youngest enchanters in the Circle, but to Isra's standards he seemed ancient. "However I do know that." He reached into the pocked of his robes and procured a small wrapped parcel from it, placing it in her lap. "Happy birthday, little one."

Isra stared at her gift in surprise, immediately forgiving him for the harsh lesion. Life was too short to hold grudges, and birthday gifts were too few and far between to hold grudges against people who gave them, she thought pragmatically. Placing down her glass, she quickly opened the parcel, exclaiming in surprise. It was the tiniest book she had ever seen, its cover filled with rich patterns, which changed colour as she turned it in her hands. Opening it, her breath hitched, as she was greeted by the sight of Silani's handwriting. It was a short birthday wish, signed by her friend and it nearly dissolved her into tears.

Trying to prevent herself from crying, Isra quickly shuffled through the rest of the little book, finding it mostly empty, with the exception of the first few pages, which were also covered in Silani's writing. She didn't dare to read them all, for fear of ending up in tears. She would read the whole thing once she was back in her dorm room. Closing the little book and holding it close to her chest, Isra turned towards Hayes. "Thank you."

He nodded gently in reply. "I had placed a few wards on the book itself, protecting it from anyone else. Meaning it can be opened only by you and nobody else. She also asked me to give you this. If I could manage" He leaned behind the desk, giving her a small package of sweets. Isra couldn't help but grin widely. Those were Orlesian spiced candy, extremely hard to come by, especially for a Circle mage. "Of course I did manage." Hayes added with a self-pleased grin. "And this little thing is from me."

Isra exclaimed in joy, as she saw the new volume from her favourite book series The Pirates of the Frozen seas. She hugged him, forgiving him absolutely everything in advance. She'd never received so many precious gifts in her life. "Thank you." She whispered with heart felt sincerity, her nausea completely forgotten.

- o . O . o -

By the time she returned from her lesion, she was almost glowing, even though her nausea was starting to return again, along with her headache. On Hayes' suggestion, she took Karl's books and now she was trudging them back, with a little help from Cullen, but she couldn't get rid of the bad feeling Karl's sudden decision to stop attending her practice left her with. She had spoken to him only a week ago. If he would have wanted to inform her that something has changed, he would have.

As soon as she relieved herself and Cullen of their burdens, she had reached a conclusion to look into the matter. Ironically her massive and persistent hangover offered her the perfect opportunity to visit Anders and see if he could cure it or knew of a spell which could lessen its deliberating effects, and while she was there, she could ask Karl himself on the reason behind his decision to stop helping her.

Reaching a decision, she turned and purposefully marched down the hallways toward Karl's quarters, a confused-looking Cullen in tow.