I don't see Neria at lunchtime, but I expect she is busy moving rooms and doing whatever else she has to do as a brand-new qualified mage. I don't see her in the library that afternoon either, or Jowan, so I decide to look for them before dinner. Neither of them are in their dormitory room, so I go to check mine in case they're looking for me too, but they're not there either. Finally, I spot Neria walking with a big, armoured shem I'd never seen before. It's not templar armour, so who is he?

"Neria!" I call out, running over. She looks up, startled. I freeze in my tracks. Her eyes are red and puffy like she's cried recently, and her expression is solemn.

I shake off my momentary surprise and go in for the hug. "What happened, Neria? Who is this man? Where are you going?" They're not going to hurt her after all, are they?

Neria pulls me back and puts her hands on my shoulders at arm-length. "I'm so sorry, da'len, I have to go now, ok? I'm so sorry,"

"Go? Go where?"

The big shem clears his throat. "Neria is with the Grey Wardens now, child. We must make haste, I am sorry," he rumbles.

Neria gives me a final kiss on the cheek, and then turns away. Ser Bran opens the door to the tower's entrance, and both she and the armoured man walk through it and out of sight. I want to run after her, beg the armoured shem to take me to the Grey Wardens too, whoever they were. But my feet were rooted to the ground, my mouth dry.

I don't know how long I stood there, frozen, but it's only the appearance of Orla that jolts me back into the present. "Fae! Are you ok? Did you hear what happened?" she begins, rapid-firing questions as she tends to do.

I shake my head numbly. "She's gone… to the Grey Wardens, he said…"

"You don't look so good, Fae… I'll go get Miss Filia," Orla decides, turning on her heel.

"Wait."

Orla turns back to me.

"Can you go find Jowan?"

Orla hesitates. "Um, I don't know… where… let me just get Miss Filia first," she rambles, already darting away.

People have really been listening to those blood magic rumours if she doesn't even want to speak to him, I ponder distractedly, feet still glued to the floor.

Miss Filia arrives within a few minutes, Orla in tow. "Orla, dear, could you give us a minute?" she asks, looking particularly harried. Orla does a salute and wanders off as requested. Miss Filia gingerly puts an arm around my shoulder. "Come along, dear, let's talk."

Miss Filia guides me upstairs and into an unoccupied classroom. She pulls up two chairs and gestures for me to sit, which I do. She looks like she's about to say something, then reconsiders. "Fae, obviously a lot has happened today, but I'll try to explain as best I can," she begins. I stare blankly at her, and she continues.

"From what First Enchanter Irving has told me, one of the older apprentices, I believe you know him; Jowan?"

I nod.

"Yes, well as it turns out, Jowan was… in love, with one of the chantry sisters in residence here. I know, the relationship would not have been allowed by the Circle," she confirms when I frown, confused.

"Anyway, the sister found the form signed by First Enchanter Irving that gives the templar order permission to perform the Rite of Tranquillity on Jowan." So his suspicions were correct, after all. "The two of them decided to try and elope the Circle together, and they asked Neria for her help in doing so. She helped them reach the phylactery chamber where Jowan's phylactery was stored, and they destroyed it."

I'd learned not long after arriving at the Circle that the blood they'd taken from me before had been used to create a phylactery, which would be used to track me down in the event that I ever turned apostate and escaped the Circle. If Jowan and this girl were planning to run away, the first thing they'd have to do would be to destroy the templars' way of finding him. But why did he have to get my cousin involved?

"The destruction of the phylactery triggered an alarm in First Enchanter Irving's office. Jowan, the chantry sister, and Neria, were caught out. And then… Jowan used blood magic to attack First Enchanter Irving, Knight-Commander Greagoir, and the other templars who were with him." My jaw dropped. He was a blood mage, after all? Seeing my expression, Miss Filia frowns. "Do you know what blood magic is, Faellathi?"

"It's evil magic. It turns mages bad."

"That's right dear, although I'm saddened to learn you know of it at all, at your age."

"Then what happened?" I whisper.

"Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, but Jowan managed to escape. The chantry sister, whom I take it did not know about Jowan's blood magic, did not argue against her arrest. Neria is quite adept at healing already, so to her credit she made efforts to revive those Jowan attacked."

I nod, still dumbfounded by what I'm hearing.

"Fortunately for Neria, the Grey Warden Duncan turned up at the right time. He recruited Neria into the Grey Wardens, and the Knight-Commander had to accept this. He's still furious, by all accounts, I hear," Miss Filia sighs.

"I thought the Grey Wardens existed a long time ago? Why was he here, now?"

"The Grey Wardens serve to fight darkspawn, even when there is no Blight, like the last one 400 years ago. You've heard Sister Hettie's sermon on how darkspawn came to exist?"

"Yes." Three times already, actually, and I've only been here a couple of months.

"The Chantry teaches us that it is the hubris of men which brought the darkspawn into our world. The mages had sought to usurp Heaven. But instead, they destroyed it. They were cast out, twisted and cursed by their own corruption,"

Blah blah blah, et cetera et cetera.

"Good. So, at the moment there have been some darkspawn spotted above-ground, and King Cailan is mustering forces to wipe them out again. Duncan came here on His Majesty's behalf to request further support from the Circle. However, Grey Wardens are also allowed to recruit civilians into their ranks regardless of the circumstances, even criminals and the like. In fact, they have a bit of a reputation for doing so. Grey Wardens abide by their own laws; once someone is under their protection, no one can move against them, even Knight-Commander Greagoir."

So Duncan saved Neria? I hate him a little bit less now, even if he did take her away.

"Will she ever come back?" I ask, hopefully.

Miss Filia shakes her head, smiling sadly. "I don't think so, dear. Grey Wardens are Wardens for life, I'm afraid, and after what's happened, I'm not sure she'd be welcome at this Circle again."

So that's it, then. No more Neria, no more Jowan.