I gnaw on my thumbnail. Rock back and forth, quietly. I watch the trap-door above me without blinking once. If they find me, they'll take me to the tower. And they won't hurt me. And cousin Neria will be there. And she'll look after me. But they won't find me. I just have to be very quiet, and then they'll leave, and Shianni will come and get me. If they find me, they'll take me to the tower. And they won't hurt me. And cousin Neria will be there. And—Deep voices. Clanking metal. A thin blanket flung away.

The trap-door opens, and a big shadow stares down at me. I can barely see the templar's eyes through the gaps in the helmet. "Found her!" He calls out. His metal gloves grip too tight as he hauls me out of my hiding spot by my arms. The sound of glass breaking on steel makes him loosen his hold, for a moment.

Shianni's thrown an empty bottle at his head.

"You can't have her! Haven't you taken enough?! She's just a child you can't take her from her family—!" Shianni continues to screech at the templars who are already leading me away as cousin Soris holds her back.

I want to call back to them, anything. I'll be alright! I'll find Neria! Don't let them take me! I'm scared! But I don't, I just struggle in the templar's hard steel grasp, and I keep glancing back until the alienage doors close on us. At the city gates the templars get on horses and seat me in the front of one. They tell me to hold onto its saddle, and the tears finally flow because even with the templar's steel arms on either side of me, it's too high, it's too bumpy, I'm going to fall off. One of the other templars coos reassuringly at me from their horse, but I can't hear what they're saying over the sound of my own heartbeat.

We ride for a long time, I think, until we approach the edge of a massive lake; the tower is on an island in the middle. There's an inn where they stable their horses, and I am relieved to stand on my own two feet again, until they march me into an empty barn next to the stables. I start crying again when one of them draws a knife; why would they bring me all the way here, so close to the tower, just to kill me now? But they don't kill me, they cut my palm with the knife and I hiss in pain. I try to pull my hand away, but the one who cut me curls my hand into a fist while another holds a vial underneath to catch the blood. The vial fills quickly, and when it is finished a third templar bandages my hand. By now the tears have stopped, mostly out of confusion.

The templar who bandaged my hand leads me into the inn and has the barmaid bring a bowl of mysterious chunky soup, and a plate of bread. I'm hungry, and I try to eat it all as quickly as I can, in case they decide it's time to leave already, but the templar is surprised, says I'll make myself sick, so she confiscates the bread plate and only gives me a piece at a time between spoonfuls of soup. She lets me finish it all, though, which is nice of her. When we leave the inn, we pass by the stables and the barn, and walk right down to the lake's dock. There's a small rowboat waiting with a grey-haired man at the helm, and he smiles at me as the lady templar helps me in.

"Alright, little rabbit?" He says.

"Kester," the lady templar warns, mildly exasperated.

"Alright, alright, don't get your armour in a twist, I'm just being friendly."

The two chat easily as the boat crosses the lake, and I realise the tower is much, much bigger up close. The lady templar, Flo, as Kester called her, helps me out of the boat when we reach the tower dock, which lies just inside a small cavern near the rocky shore. She holds my uninjured hand in her steel-clad one as we approach the door leading up into the tower. She exchanges brief greetings with the templars on guard, and leads me through. The sun has long since set, and both the entrance and hallways are lit with candles, casting shadows everywhere and making everything look bigger and scarier. We go up a set of stairs, and then another, and stop outside a door. Flo tells me to wait there a moment, before she knocks on the door and enters.

"How has she fared?" I hear an older man's voice ask softly.

"About as well as we could hope for, I think," Flo answers just as quietly. I'm not supposed to be listening to their conversation, I know, but I can't not hear them, and there's nothing else for me to do while I wait.

"She hasn't said a word since we found her, but that's not uncommon. Timid as a lamb. Didn't help that Ser Thomas handled her like a sack of potatoes, either."

"There are far less gentle templars than Ser Thomas, my dear."

"True enough, Maker help us. Shall I bring her in?"

"Yes, please."

The door opens again, and I try my best not to look guilty for eavesdropping.

"Come in, child." The old man says. He has a long grey beard, and a many-layered green robe. He looks exactly like how I imagined the wizard in one of Shianni's tales would look.

I shuffle in, hovering closer to Flo.

"What's your name, my dear?"

"Fae—" I clear my throat, and try again. "Faellathi," I answer, focusing on the gold thread on the sleeve of his robes.

"Just Faellathi?"

"Faellathi… Tabris. Ser."

"Tabris?" He sounds surprised, and I spare a glance at his face to see his raise eyebrow. I nod quickly.

He seems to shake off his surprise momentarily, and his eyes soften. He gently takes my hands in his.

"It is very good to meet you, Faellathi Tabris. I am First Enchanter Irving. You have nothing to fear. This tower is your home now. You are safe," he says firmly.

I look up at him quizzically, and put my hand on his cheek the way Shianni does when I ask her a question that she finds sweet, but foolish. "We are never safe," I remind him. He's a mage, an important one too, I can tell. Surely, he knows this much.

Flo laughs.