So quick thanks to everyone whose reading this, and special thanks to those who take the time to comment with advice (you know who you are). it means a lot and the help is greatly appreciated :)
Dinah found it a strange sensation going back to the tower, she wasn't sure what to feel like. Though she did find herself looking forward to it even if Cadfael wasn't. By now they were on the last stretch leading to Lake Calenhad, the road had made way for soft wet grass. The moon was full and made the water drops on the ground sparkle, it was beautiful and Dinah couldn't help but smile at her surroundings. Looking up she saw Cadfael and Morrigan walking ahead of her, Dinah hadn't made up her mind about Morrigan yet. She seemed quite similar in some ways to Cadfael except the woman didn't have much of a sense of decency considering her clothing which exposed a lot of her chest. Not that long ago Dinah spotted a man so distracted by Morrigan's breasts that he walked into a wall, a woman had then walked over and started yelling at him. Now that Dinah thought about it that might have been his wife, whoops. Dinah sped up a little so she could hear the two's conversation.
"It must have been boring growing up in the circle" Morrigan stated, Dinah frowned at her Morrigan had no right to judge how she and Cadfael grew up, was she using that term the right way?
"Not as much as you'd think, Rotten usually kept me busy. Besides how could you define it as boring when that was the only life you knew? We had nothing to compare our lives to" Cadfael told her "I mean I'm assuming you lived in the Wilds with Flemeth all your life, would you consider it lonely?"
"Not at all. I spent most of my time in the forms of animals and talking to trees"
"I knew I wasn't the only one" Dinah exclaimed happily, before they all got cut down when one of the mages used them to escape Dinah talked to the trees that grew outside the towers windows. Morrigan gave her a look, the one people give her when their getting fed up of Dinah's antics.
"Watch where you're going" Kitty yelped scratching Dinah's legs
"Oww" Dinah complained, she looked down to where Kitty had now been tackled by Reginald
"Get this thing off me" Kitty whined swiping a paw harmlessly at Reginald
"That's enough stop." Cadfael ordered the two creatures they didn't separate "If you don't stop it right now I will throw you into the lake" that worked. "Now we're just about to pass a cart so Kitty shut up and Dinah carry Reginald."
"I don't see why I have too, the people we've passed have been too side-tracked by Morrigan to pay me and Reginald mind" she said picking up Reginald regardless. They drew level with the cart looked like they had problems with the mud, there were three of them two men and one woman. The woman jogged towards them, she was pretty in the simple way not the fancy princess way. Her messy brown hair stuck to her face and her dress was soaked, it must have been raining here not too long ago shame Dinah missed it, it was fun walking in the rain.
"Sorry to bother you but we're a little stuck. Can you help us?"
"Must we help strangers for no reason?" Morrigan asked no one in particular as she made to move past them. Dinah made a stubborn noise and marched towards the cart, one of the men was sitting in the cart he looked like a mage but something felt off about him. It looked like it was just the back wheel that was stuck.
"Care to step out of the cart" Cadfael said to the man,
"Very well" the man said in an emotionless voice, he moved to stand with his travel companions
"He's like Owain isn't he?" Dinah asked
"I believe so. Look I'll lift the back of this, you'll need to harden the ground." Cadfael ducked under the cart bracing it on his shoulders "Ready?"
"Yes" Dinah said enthusiastically. With a grunt Cadfael straightened himself, the cart wheel making a squelchy noise as it went. Dinah jumped heavily on the ground and the surrounding earth lost all its moisture, on setting the cart down it moved easily on the ground. Cadfael climbed out from under the cart rubbing his shoulders.
"Head that way. It will take you to the road." Cadfael told them
"Oh thank you, we've been stuck here for hours. There's been trouble down near the tower and we hadn't been able to get anyone along, thank the Maker this nice family came along right dear?" the woman said in a rush, some women do that its annoying, Dinah assumed the last statement was to the man that wasn't tranquil.
"We're not family" Morrigan said. She looked bored, Kitty was perched on her shoulder tapping Morrigan's new staff with her paw.
"What's happening at the tower?" Cadfael demanded
"I have no idea they wouldn't tell us, well we should get going tight schedule and all. Thank you so much" The woman climbed into the cart along with the men and the three set off into the night.
"Something bad happening isn't it? It usually is" Dinah said leaning against Cadfael's arm, Reginald twisted round in her arms snuggling into her chest.
"Don't worry about it, worst case scenario you get to rush in and be a hero" Cadfael told her reassuringly stroking her hair.
"The correct term is heroine" Dinah told him. He cracked a small smile before,
"How much longer is it going to take to actually get to our destination?" Morrigan asked sounding exasperated,
"It's just around the corner, terribly sorry for the inconvenience of us having a conversation" Cadfael snapped back eyes instantly becoming guarded again. Here Dinah thought he was making progress with Morrigan. Morrigan for her part turned sharply stalking off shoving Kitty back to the floor, her dark clothing making her nearly invisible the further away she went. Cadfael wrapped an arm round Dinah's shoulders and they followed, as they passed Kitty Cadfael scooped her up setting her on his shoulders.
"This is demeaning" the cat complained but she didn't jump down
"Can I have the next go?" Dinah asked. Taking the turn past the tree Dinah could see the lake and on that the tower. The lake was a blacky-blue colour the full white moon reflected perfectly on its surface, the tower even from a distance looked dark and imposing. Strange considering it looked nice in the day. From the top of the slope Dinah could see the docks straight ahead and a tavern to her left, by the docks there was a man in Templar armour. They slid down the slope, Cadfael said she could roll down since she'd get covered in mud, and walked towards the tavern. Dinah recognised the ferryman who had brought her and Cadfael away from the tower the first time.
"Ah I remember you two, what brings you back?" he asked
"Hey Kester, can we ask a huge favour please? We need to get to the tower can you help?" Dinah asked him, Kester shuffled a bit
"I can't I'm afraid, something big's happening over there. Greigor came by a few days ago saying that I wasn't to ferry anyone across the lake and then he goes handing my boat over to that Templar Carroll up at the docks" Kester said moving his arms in a funny manner, some people did that when they were annoyed Dinah had noticed.
"So you have no idea what's going on?" Cadfael asked, Kester shook his head.
"Why would they tell me anything?" he countered. Dinah looked up to Cadfael but his expression didn't give anything away.
"We'll just convince Carroll to get us across. It was good to see you Kester"
"You too." Kester gave them a nod before walking into the tavern, a man in a funny hat came out of the shadows behind where Kester had been standing he looked like he wanted to talk. Cadfael gently shoved Dinah away so he could talk to the man himself. Dinah skipped down to the lakes edge dipping her feet into the waters, the chill spread through her whole body making her jerk involuntarily. If there were more people around, Dinah thought, they would defiantly think something was wrong with her. She remembered how the circle used to let them go swimming for exercise until Anders used that as a chance to escape, ruined things for everyone because they couldn't go swimming anymore. When Cadfael told her the news she had sworn vengeance on that mage. A few minutes passed when she heard footsteps behind her, it appeared Cadfael was done talking to the strange man. He didn't get too close to the water though, probably didn't want to get his coat wet which was understandable wet clothes are not a nice sensation. It made Dinah happy that he wore it at all since it was a birthday present that she spent ages making, she kept stabbing herself with the needle but she felt it was worth it.
"Do you plan on paddling all night or shall we go?" Cadfael asked her
"What were you talking to the strange man about?" Dinah asked him as she walked with him towards the dock
"He's a representative of the mages collective. Basically we help them we'll get a financial reward."
"And apparently that's worth the risk of getting caught by Templars" Kitty said from her place on Cadfael's shoulders. Morrigan was already waiting by the dock when they got over there, her entire posture came across as being very bored and impatient. Dinah was starting to wonder why the woman had come along, the whole journey she had switched between sociable and ignoring them it was getting annoying. Cadfael approached Templar Carroll who was hunched over the boat.
"We need to get across the lake. Official grey warden business" Cadfael told him
"No access to the tower, please move along" Carroll said in a nasally voice
"But we need to get over there" Dinah complained
"No can do. Strict orders not to let anyone across now move along" Dinah briefly wondered if they could swim across the lake, she knew she could but Morrigan? And she had never tried putting Reginald in water for extended periods of time.
"Can we make a deal? Favour for a favour?" Dinah asked the Templar, Carroll seemed to consider this for a moment
"Well it gets lonely here so maybe you could stay and keep me company" Carroll suggested, Dinah didn't like the look he was giving her. Neither did Cadfael, lightning sparked through his hair making it spike like a hedgehog.
"How about you let us pass and in return you don't get in trouble for interfering in important official business and for making inappropriate suggestions towards my friend."
"I wasn't…" Carroll stuttered
"Three against one. Who will they believe?"
"Alright, alright I'll take you across no need to get aggressive" Carroll said. As he untied the boat Cadfael, Dinah and Morrigan stepped into the boat, Kitty just stood stubbornly on the dock.
"Get in." Cadfael ordered her, Kitty hissed before jumping down. Carroll kicked off the dock and the boat gently glided across the water's surface towards the tower. The closer they drew to the tower the darker it seemed to get, along with it a clear sense of dread. Dinah was sure that whatever was going on wasn't going to be solved easily. When they reached the tower Carroll was very eager to get them off the boat, he was just short of shoving them actually.
"Can we be dramatic?" Dinah asked, Cadfael nodded before striding towards the door he raised his arms pushing them out in front of him. The doors burst open, inside the entrance hall were several Templars some looked hunched over in pain others scared. What was going on here? She saw Greigor with a Templar, he like nearly everyone else had turned towards them when the doors open. Cadfael marched over, despite her grey warden status Dinah still went with the instinct to hide behind him and hold Reginald extra close to herself. Greigor's scary. Greigor looked unimpressed to be seeing them again.
"Ah the new wardens return. So glad to see you're still alive" he said with a strained smile
"It's good to see you again Greigor" Cadfael said
"Is it opposite day and no-one thought to tell me?" Dinah whispered
"No Dinah we're being ironic" Cadfael told her while reaching behind him forcing Dinah to stand level with him instead of at his back. "What's going on?" Cadfael asked the Templar
"We got careless, first with Jowan now this. The towers been overrun with demons and abominations, I've sent word to Denerim asking for reinforcements and the Right of Annulment. Now we just have to wait and hope the door holds"
"Hope the door holds? There could still be mages in there that you are condemning"
"Cullen's not here either" Dinah muttered to herself, she knew how many Templars worked in the tower and she knew that several were missing.
"What else can we do? We can't risk the demons spreading." Dinah flinched at Greigor's harsh tone
"You allow the Right of Annulment you will end up killing innocent mages. It is only meant to be used as a last resort when you know for sure the circle is lost, not when you're too cowardly to check." Cadfael shouted at him. The room grew quiet as everyone just stared at the two
"And are you willing to go in there and look for survivors where there are potentially none?" Greigor countered
"We are" Dinah said surprising herself for suddenly being able to talk outright to this man
"Let us look, if there is nothing to be saved then fine use the Right of Annulment. But if we can prove order has been restored you'll allow the circle to continue, and also allow the mages to help the grey wardens against the blight. Deal?" Cadfael asked holding out his hand.
"Alright fine you have a deal. However I must warn you that once you pass through those doors only the first enchanters words saying the tower is safe will open them again" Greigor said shaking Cadfael's hand. "Just tell the man at the door when you're ready." Greigor turned and walked away from them, probably to talk to other Templars about how much trouble mages cause them and regretting their choice of work. Dinah looked towards the door into the apprentice quarters, she remembered how she, Jowan, Anders and Cadfael talked of being able to walk straight out those doors and out the tower. That felt like such a long time ago, it sort of had been but still.
"Don't get your hopes up." Cadfael advised her "Ready?" he asked.
"Yeah" Dinah breathed out holding Reginald with one hand and twiddling the chain of her necklace nervously with the other. Cadfael nodded to the Templar guarding the door and he opened the door.
"This is going to prove an interesting experience" Morrigan remarked as the doors slammed shut with a heavy bang.