A/N: Some of you have asked about Sten, and I apologize for not answering your questions sooner. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against him, but I just don't think Cecilia would go to such great lengths to save a mage-hating qunari guilty of murder. Feel free to review and tell me that I'm wrong.

)O(

Most non-mages understand very little about magic aside from what the Chantry tells them, thus they live in fear of it. When children begin to show signs, they practice the form of magic that comes naturally to them. For most people it is Primal spells: fire, ice, earth, and sometimes lightning. Thsi is what the templars and all new parents look for. But when Cecilia was very young, she could move things without touching them and see things that weren't there. She was smart enough to know that she was different from other children, and so she told no one.

Her dreams became more and more vivid, almost as real to her as the waking world. As she grew more and more isolated, her parents grew more and more concerned. Eventually, they took Cecilia to talk to someone: the Revered Mother of their local chantry. The entire time she spoke with the priestess, templars were listening intently, for they feared that any abnormality could somehow point to the arcane, or worse, the demonic.

"My daughter…a mage? But that's impossible! She hasn't set anything on fire or..."

"Not all magic is so obvious, Mr. Amell." The man in plate armor Cecilia had seen in the chantry was talking to her father, while she eavesdropped on the conversation from the top of the stairs. "Spirit magic, for example, is often found in those who are more connected to the Fade than the rest of us, even more so than other mages. They may experience: clairvoyance, telekinesis, and lucid dreams. It is rare that one shows these abilities without proper training. So rare, in fact, that few suspect anything. Even the Spirit mage themselves could remain completely unaware that they are doing magic for years, sometimes decades."

Cecilia's parents sat in stunned silence for some time after that. The little girl cautiously took a half step down the staircase towards them. She stopped when her father began to speak again.

"Are you suggesting...?" he trailed off, unable to even form the words.

The templar nodded. "The Revered Mother certainly seemed to think so." he said. "But why don't you ask Cecilia yourself?"

Suddenly all eyes turned in her direction. She felt like she had done something wrong and now thye were angry with her. What had she done to upset them? Her father asked if she had been truthful when talking to the priestess and she insisted that she had. Then her mother started crying and Cecilia didn't understand why.

"Do you know why I'm here?" the templar asked. She didn't. "I am here to take you to a place where you will learn to read and write and develop your...talents. There are people just like you in the Tower. You won't be alone anymore."

That sounded nice, but... "Am I in trouble? Why is Mommy so sad and why is Daddy so angry? Will I ever see them again? How long will I be away for?"

He frowned. "You shouldn't ask so many questions. All I can say is that you will understand in time, and you are not in trouble. None of this is your fault."

She believed him.

The kind templar led her outside where another man in matching plate armor waited. He looked more stern and spoke much less. Cecilia heard him scold the other templar for being too soft, to which he replied that someone had to be.

Cecilia's mother just cried as she left the village in the company of the templars. Her father for whatever reason couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes. Ironically, this was one of the few memories she still had of them, but the picture faded more and more each day.

She had never seen anything quite so grand as the Circle Tower. The ferryman, Kester, took them across Lake Calenhad to the small island where it stood, waiting.

A man who spoke in a flat voice showed Cecilia to the Apprentice Dormitory. There was something unnerving about it. It wasn't the way he looked at her with such cold, absolute indifference in his eyes. No, it was the fact that she felt nothing when he was near. There was no bright energy about him. He performed tasks methodically, almost mechanically, and without question nor complaint. In short, this man was the opposite of everything she knew a person was supposed to be.

"I can heal that for you." someone announced proudly.

She met a girl who was more than she ever imagined a person could be. She smiled and took Cecilia's hand and a blue light flashed briefly between their clasped hands. The Spirit mage blinked when she realized that the paper cut that had been there a moment ago was gone.

"How did you...?"

"Magic, of course!" the girl said, grinning. "I'm gonna be a great healer. Well, that's what my mentor says anyways. I'm guessin' you're not studying Creation then. Primal spells? Entropy…?"

"Uh...Spirit magic."

"Ohh, you're a Fade-walker. That's rare!" There was a short pause. "My name's Petra." she said.

"I'm Cecilia."

And just like that, she had made her frist friend at six years old. In time she would meet a boy named Joawn who quickly became her best friend, while Petra was something more. The rest is history, as they say.

)O(

It had been a day since they had left the Tower with Irving's word that the mages would aid them against the Blight. A day since she had felt strong enough to do anything after mending the torn Veil. Two days since she and Petra had ended their relationship.

She still wasn't speaking to Leliana, on principle if nothing else. Currently the Orlesian's aura hovered somewhere on the edge of camp, as far away from Cecilia as possible. Wynne was resting in her tent, Morrigan was eagerly perusing Flemeth's grimoire Cecilia had found in Irving's office, and Alistair was out collecting firewood.

Redcliffe was to be their next stop. Rumor had it the arl there was gravely ill and Alistair said that he was a good man whose assistance could be invaluable. And he was a noble. It would be useful to have such an influential voice on their side.

"Cecilia..." Leliana had managed to sneak up on her yet again. She ignored her. "Fine, you don't have to talk, just listen. I lied to you about why I left Orlais. It wasn't because I wanted a change of scenery...I was being hunted."

Cecilia knew at that moment that she would have to say something.

"Who was hunting you?" she asked quietly.

"In Orlais, not all minstrels are just storytellers and musicians. Some of them are what we call bards. They work as spies and sometimes even assassins for the nobility. I got caught up in that life when I was very young, because it was exciting, and it felt good to be doing something important for someone else. I didn't like some of the things I was asked to do, but I did them anyway because...well...

"My mentor's name was Marjolaine. She taught me everything I know and would have done anything for her, because I loved her and I thought she loved me. I was framed. Marjolaine had been selling information about Orlais to other countries. This was treason, and I did not wish to see her harmed. I begged her to change her plans and she did...Marjolaine altered the documents to make me look the traitor."

"Why would she do that?" Cecilia wondered.

"If only I had an answer. Obviously she didn't care about me the way I cared about her. I was tortured...but I managed to escape and flee to Ferelden. I like to think the Maker brought me here, and that He wants me to follow you now on your journey. The reason I'm telling you this is because I want you to know that I trust you, even if you have no reason right now to trust me."

"Leliana, you're not the only one whose ever been betrayed by someone you thought you could trust. Compared to that, listening in on my private conversations doesn't even matter." the mage smiled. "I do trust you, and thank you for telling me this." She stood up and offered a hand to Leliana. "Now, you and I are on first watch. You can be my eyes. I'll be able to sense any darkspawn you can't see before they can catch us off guard."

And so the two remained under the stars, talking of mundane things until one of them fell asleep, usually Leliana.