Last night, after Cullen had dragged them to the basement, Drass had appeared and ushered Uldred and Cullen away. That was the last Niall had seen of anyone until dawn, when another templar he didn't recognised had shaken him awake and marched him to Irving's office.

A sharp pain shot through Niall's back as he took a seat – he was getting to old to spend nights laying on the stone floor of a cell.

From across the desk, Irving regarded him with sympathy – which pissed Niall off. The man had no right to look anything except guilty when he knew very well those cells were down there and yet raised no objections.

Before anything could be said, Greagoir entered.

"Ah good, you're here," he addressed Niall, "I'd like to apologise for the unfortunate misunderstanding."

That was not even close to what he'd been expecting. Niall had lived in the Tower for decades and as far as he could remember that was the first time he'd heard a templar apologise for anything.

The opened his mouth to respond but he couldn't think of a single thing to say. He had no idea what Uldred could have said to explain the situation away. He stayed silent, lest he inadvertently contract whatever tale Uldred had spun.

Greagoir continued,

"Ser Cullen has been informed of his mistake. He is new to the job."

Niall wasn't sure inexperience made up for the dull pain running from his shoulder to his wrist - the result of being held in a poorly executed wrist-lock for so long.

"Where is Uldred?"

"He left for Ostagar with the other mages this morning, as planned." said Irving.

There went Niall's chance of having anything explained to him.

"Where's the li- the scroll I had?"

"The what?" Greagoir asked but at the same time Irving said,

"- Safely back in the stockroom. Owain has already logged it."

Irving shot him a knowing glance but Niall had no idea what the man knew, or thought he knew.

Apparently satisfied that the matter was concluded, Greagoir left, leaving Irving and Niall alone.

"So –" Irving began, "You were working with Uldred."

It was a statement, not a question – so Niall decided to treat it like one and offer no reply. But the silence stretched on too long and forced him to relent.

"He's been helping me with my research, yes."

Irving was trying to read him – both men unsure how much the other knew. It was one of the problems with being so accustomed to leaving so much unsaid. Did Irving know about Uldred's nightmares? Niall doubted it – there was too high of a risk of the First Enchanter reporting it Greagoir. But if Irving didn't know the truth, then what did he think he knew?

Or maybe it was Niall who had been lied to. Even though everything Uldred said last night had added up – that didn't mean it was the whole truth. He felt a headache coming on just trying to keep track of all the secrets and agendas. He had never been more certain of his decision to recent developments aside, of course, stay completely outside of Circle politics. Maybe he should see if the isolationists had any pamphlets of their own.

"It goes without saying that you should not discuss any of this with anyone else in the tower." Irving warned.

Niall decided going along with whatever Irving said was the fastest way to get out the office without incriminating himself.

"Of course."

"Uldred made his full report to me yesterday afternoon. Rest assured the matter is in hand. However, I do not want to act with undue haste. For the time being, we will feign ignorance until a plan can be put in place."

"Of course."

"Good. I trust your discretion, Enchanter. Good morning."

Niall took that as his cue to leave, which he did as swiftly as possible before Irving could figure out he had no idea what their conversation had been about.

-o0o-

He left Irving's office in a daze. All he wanted to do was fall into bed and ignore everything, pretend there wasn't so much going on that he didn't understand. Should he go to Owain and try to check out the Litany? Or would that look too suspicious – like he was desperate? Or – if Irving and the templars believed it was part of his research – would it look too strange if he didn't go to retrieve it?

Then, it occurred to him that there was one person in the Tower who might be able to shed some light on things - Jowan.

Before he could overthink or talk himself out it – Niall set off to find the apprentice. He asked around a few people and eventually found someone who told him Jowan was in the apprentice dormitories.

Stepping into those dormitories was like going back in time. He couldn't remember ever being back in there since he'd become a mage but it looked as though nothing had changed. They had the same tattered bunk-beds held together by wood riddled with rot, the same row of communal dressers and baths where they were expected to wash and dress practically on top of each other.

Jowan was sitting in front of one of the mirrors, meticulously shaving along his jawline. Before Niall had a chance to approach, he realised Jowan was listening to someone else – though he couldn't see who from the angle he was at.

"I know he left this morning." said a girl's voice.

"You're sure?" Jowan said but without breaking the staring competition he seemed to be having with his own reflection. "Ow, shit." he nicked himself with the razor and a single drop of blood trailed down his neck and pooled at his collar bone.

"I'm sure – I saw them go. Not that it makes much difference -,"

" – If he's on the way to Ostagar, he's hardly going to be scrying to watch your every move."

"Well that's what it feels like." snapped the girl.

Jowan paused,

"Yeah – yeah I know." he lowered his voice, "But you're in this now, you've got to let it play out."

Jowan's voice was barely above a whisper now and Niall, instinctively, took a step closer to try and hear – unfortunately, that meant his own reflection appearing in the mirror behind Jowan's.

"Why is it every time I turn around lately, I find you lurking there?"

Niall threw him an apologetic glance before saying,

"I need to talk to you."

"I'd better go." said the girl. As she scurried away she kept her eyes to the ground, but Niall recognised her as the elf from last night, Uldred's new apprentice.

"Well – I have somewhere to be. So, whatever you want to say, say it."

Even though Niall understood why he wasn't Jowan's favourite person, there was still something jarring about being spoken to like that by an apprentice. The vast majority of them were timid, especially around the senior mages, which, as an Enchanter, he now was. Although, now that he thought about it, Jowan looked quite a bit older than the majority of apprentices.

"I need to talk about-,"

"-Oh, I think I can guess who you're here to discuss."

"Right, yes, of course. Well – it's that, last night, he told me-,"

Jowan held up his hand for Niall to stop, then went ahead rinsing the remained shaving cream and blood off his face and neck. He grabbed a flannel and patted it along his chin. He didn't bother to turn around, he carried on talking to Niall's reflection instead.

"The thing is," he finally said, "Uldred's made it pretty clear he wants nothing more to do with me. So, whatever he's got planned – I don't know a thing. And anything I did know – it's forgotten.

"He told me he'd been having nightmares."

Jowan went pale.

"I definitely don't know anything about that."

Niall felt helpless, he didn't even know what it was he was trying to ask exactly. All he was doing was reaching out blindly to someone who might be able to shed some light on all the weirdness he felt like he was drowning in. His wrist throbbed again. He rubbed it and Jowan clocked the bruise.

"Look – if Uldred started inviting you into his world then it would have been because he needed something. If he's gone and he hasn't left any instructions – he's done with you."

"He's done with me? Just like that?"

Jowan nodded.

It couldn't be that simple though. Maybe it was. If all he needed was access to Niall's research, which he'd gotten?

"Is that what happened with you – you'd served your purpose?"

"No." he turned to look at Niall, "No – I was replaced. He thinks he can't trust me anymore." he sounded genuinely sadden by that.

"Because of Lily?"

"She's a chantry initiate." he explained, "He thinks – Maker, I don't even know what he thinks – that she's softened me? That she can't be trusted, so I can't either? That I wouldn't go through with-"

He cut himself off abruptly, the panic stricken look in his eyes told Niall Jowan thought he'd said too much.

"What?"

"Nothing. I love Lily. And Uldred may be half-mad – but none of that means I've stopped believing in liberty."

Jowan sighed then continued,

"If you want my advice – forget you ever had anything to do with Uldred. I trusted that bastard and look where it got me. He promised to get me safely through my harrowing – but he's been delaying it now for nearly a year."

"Why?"

"I honestly don't know. And Uldred has his own, very particular, curriculum – I can cast some spells most Enchanters can't but I haven't taken any basic elemental magic classes in two years."

"You need a new tutor."

Jowan scoffed,

"I had worked that much out on my own."

"I could recommend you Senior Enchanter Torrin?"

Jowan looked suspicious,

"Really?"

"He's strict. He'll catch you up in no time."

"Maker, I – thank you."

Jowan stood, looking a Niall with a much softer expression now.

"I really do have somewhere to be, but thank you again, Niall. And I meant it, if you want to stay out of trouble, forget anything Uldred told you."

With that, Jowan left. Niall lingered for a moment, mulling over the interaction. Taking Jowan's advice, and trying to forget everything that had happened the last week, sounded like a very appealing option.

-o0o-

Niall had every intention of keeping his word to Jowan about recommending him to Torrin – the only problem was that it would mean talking to Torrin, which would mean explaining his bruises, which he couldn't do without filling him in on a whole lot of context. And Torrin got flustered if Niall so much as returned a library book late.

Fortunately, he had a solution – Anders. Niall knew next to nothing about healing magic but there had to be something to bring the swelling down and vanish the bruises.

However, on his way to Anders' room he was waylaid by a little boy. The apprentice, who looked about seven years old – came barrelling out of a classroom and collided directly with Niall's legs, which were swept out from under him – sending them both flying.

"Clemence! Get back here now-" Petra's teacher-voice dissolved into laughter at the sight of Niall on the floor. She recovered herself quickly, though.

The little boy – Clemence – scrambled to his feet and shuffled back over to his teacher. He clung on to the bottom of Petra's robe and murmured,

"Sorry."

Petra held out her hand and pulled Niall upright.

"Say sorry to Enchanter Niall too, please."

It was very odd hearing his friend sound so stern.

"Sorry, Enchanter."

"That's okay, kid. Just where were you going in such a rush?"

"Someone," Petra said, "Didn't feel like practising his arcane shield."

"It's haaaard." he whined.

"That's why you need to practice." Petra folded her arms then pointed to the classroom door. The little boy marched back inside.

"See you later, Niall." Petra waved absent-mindedly as she followed him back inside and slammed the door a little too forcefully behind her.

Niall had to laugh to himself, firstly because it was nice to have a little perspective – no matter how bad his day had been, at least he wasn't in Petra's place. Secondly, the fall would have made the perfect excuse for his bruises. Still, he decided to find Anders' anyway. Torrin could always tell when he was lying, so the only way to keep quiet about everything was to make sure he didn't ask any questions in the first place.

As he made his way to Anders' room, Niall's thoughts turned to his relationship with Torrin. At first, Niall's only motivation for sleeping with him – despite just generally finding him attractive – was the challenge. Torrin was always so tightly wound, Niall had wanted to see if he could get him to let his guard down. It had only recently started to occur to him that on the days they didn't see each other – Niall missed him. That realisation had been a surprise.

And now he was lying to him, or lying by omission at least. He didn't like he thought of that. Which was daft in itself. He didn't owe Torrin anything, they weren't a couple. The only mages naïve enough to try anything like that were the likes of Jowan, those too young to know any better. Sex was fine - getting too attached was dangerous.

His ruminations were cut short when he reached Anders' door and knocked as loudly as he could – figuring there was a good chance the healer would still be sleeping off his hangover.

Anders' opened a thin crack in the door and peered through. He looked about as bad as Niall had expected, his eyes were bloodshot and he was still in last night's robes.

Niall held up his swollen, purple wrist,

"I could use a healing spell."

Anders looked thoughtful for a moment,

"It's only Niall." he declared.

Anders swung open the door to reveal Jowan perched on the end of the bed.

"I'm going to tell Irving you're stalking me." said Jowan, although he at least sounded amused this time.

"What're you doing here?" Niall asked as he sat down next to him.

Jowan raised his eyebrow, pulling an expression that was eerily similar to his former mentor's.

"If you're planning to stay out of trouble, you're going to have to stop asking questions you didn't want to know the answers to."

Niall held up his hands,

"Point taken."

Anders was hunched over his draw, rummaging around in his draw for some healing poultice. When he found it, he stood up a little too quickly and groaned as a wave of nausea hit him.

"You look like shit." Niall said.

"Oi! Do you want your wrist healing or not?"

"It's not my fault you can't hold your dwarven liquor." Niall teased.

"Dwarven? Ah -," Jowan understood, "So, Uldred had a leaving party. You know - I think the main downside of being excommunicated will be the lack of party invites."

Anders groaned again as he knelt down beside Niall and began applying a heated salve.

Once his wrist had cleared up, he pulled down the collar of his robe and Anders set to work on his shoulder. They stayed silent as Anders worked. Clearly, whatever conversation they'd been having previously couldn't be continued while Niall was listening. Nor did either of them ask just how he'd hurt himself in the first place.

"Did you have chance to see Torrin?" Jowan asked.

"Not yet – I'll probably see him later though. I'll ask then."

"Ask what?" Anders waggled his eyebrows, "You and Torrin after bringing a third person into your little arrangement?"

Niall and Jowan both looked equally scandalised and Anders laughed. Niall couldn't remember ever telling Anders about Torrin - although clearly he must have done at some point.

"You're sleeping with your tutor?" Jowan sounded slightly concerned.

"Ah we've all been there." Anders shrugged.

"Wait, you've - ?" Niall shook his head in disbelief, "You've slept with Wynne?"

This time it was Anders' turn to look scandalised,

"Maker's breath – I, no, it was – before her."

Anders went quiet again as he set about tidying up his healing supplies. Niall pulled his robe back on properly, the pain in his shoulder was mostly still there, but the bruises had cleared up.

"Thanks for that."

"No worries."

"Right well – I'll be going then."

"We were just heading out too actually when you knocked." Jowan turned to Anders, "Are we still?"

"Sure."

"Where are you going?"

"Niall – seriously? It's like a sickness with you, isn't it?" Jowan laughed.

"Right, right, sorry. None of my business."

The three of them left Anders' room together. As they did, the templar posted in the corridor made a mental note of it.