Thanks to super speedy beta Suilven for all your help! You rock the house!

Voices were raised in song, their solemn melody filling the common areas of Kinloch Hold, including one of the libraries just down the hall from where services took place. Lhiannon sat at one of the long tables in the library, studying a tome of medicinal plants; or rather, attempting to study the tome. The melody, though familiar and quite enchanting, was an incredible distraction that easily disrupted her concentration. She knew that there was no way she would be able to focus with the melody of the Chant of Light assaulting her ears, no matter how pleasant it sounded. With a melodramatic scoff, Lhiannon stood and shoved her loose pieces of vellum inside the book, slamming the hard cover shut on them. Pieces of vellum stuck out of the book at odd angles as she huffed and stomped through the maze of tall bookcases, choosing to study her lessons in her raucous room rather than in the noisy library. At least the noise in her room was gossip and chatter with the three girls she was quickly becoming friends with: Rigana, Vivian, and Tallia. The noise there was far more interesting than the Chant of Light that was currently filling the hallways.

The melody increased in volume as Lhiannon approached the common area that held the evening's chantry services. While the singing itself was pleasant to her ears, the words did not move her. It was strange to attend the mandatory chantry services that spoke of the Maker's love for Andraste and her devotion to her divine husband; all the services she had attended in the past spoke of the evil of mages, their demon compatriots, and the magisters of the past and present. Fire and brimstone from her past clashed with the hope of love and forgiveness.

Her heart was not moved. It felt empty, devoid.

Before Ser Otto left for Denerim, he came to say goodbye to her, as he had promised. They spoke for a short while and Lhiannon found herself opening up to the kind templar. Lhiannon knew then that the so-called unquenchable flame the Maker set into the hearts of his second-born was fading within her. What was once a bright flame was nothing more than a dying ember now.

"Faith is rarely a roaring cacophony in the heart," Otto had said as they walked the halls of Kinloch Hold. "More often, it is a gentle whisper, so low that you must often strain to hear it."

"But how will I know that it is the Maker speaking to me? Or Andraste for that matter?"

"Your heart will know, young Lhiannon," Otto said as the approached the great double doors near the entrance of the tower. Pulling off one of his gauntlets, Otto placed a calloused hand on Lhiannon's cheek, giving her a warm smile. "Listen to your heart, young one. It will not lead you astray."

Before she knew what she was doing, Lhiannon had flung her arms around the cool metal of Ser Otto's waist, hugging him tight despite the cool, hard armor between them. Ser Otto was unlike any templar Lhiannon had met. She quickly grew to like him and was saddened to see him leave so soon. The templar gave a hearty chuckle before extracating himself from Lhiannon's grasp. He reached out and tousled her unbound hair before replacing his gauntlet. "Maker watch over you, young Lhiannon."

"You too, Ser Otto."

Coming out of her thoughts, Lhiannon found herself standing outside the common room where services were taking place. A sense of curiosity gripped her and she peeked into the room for a brief moment. Inside she saw a number of mages, clerics, templars, and even Tranquil contemplating the mysteries of the Maker and His divine bride. Several of the mages were on their knees or prostrating themselves at the foot of Andraste's statue, praying fervently to her likeness.

In her time at Kinloch Hold, Lhiannon had witnessed a number of mages who spent much of their free time in almost desperate prayer, begging the Maker to take away their magical abilities. They felt their abilities not only ostracized them, but cursed them as well. They begged for the Maker's forgiveness, asking what they had done to be given such a punishment and what they could do to have it taken away. Lhiannon sighed softly to herself as she watched them pray. They would, in a way, fit right in in Greenwood Vale.

As time passed and she learned more and more about her talents, Lhiannon saw her magical abilities as something that was simply a part of her, indistinguishable from the rest of her. It was a critical and vital part of her being, not unlike an arm or a leg. It simply was; denying it made no sense, nor was begging to have it taken away.

There were several of the Tranquil sitting at the back of the chamber, watching the services with their impassive stares. Lhiannon felt herself shiver slightly. The Tranquil were creepy to her, all blank expressions and emotionless speaking. Nothing fazed them; not even when one of the younger mages accidentally singed one of the Tranquil's robes. The man had calmly shrugged out of it and smothered the small flame as if it were second nature. Even standing in his smallclothes with the gaping stares and snickers of apprentices around him, he was unfazed. Lhiannon knew that if it were her robes on fire, she would likely run about the room screaming like a banshee and fanning the flames in the process.

The severing of one's magical abilities seemed so... wrong… to her. It was like cutting off the arm of a smith, or severing the fingers of a weaver. Both could certainly survive after such a trauma, but how would they live? The Tranquil seemed to just exist after the rite was completed; they did not live. No laughter, no anger, no love…

Sighing, she moved her gaze from the Tranquil to the statue of Andraste. What kind of omnipotent being simply turned His back on his first children for his second, then promptly turned his back on them? She thought the Maker sounded a lot like an unruly child having a temper tantrum when He did not get what He wanted. Was He a jealous god or simply an intolerant one?

Lhiannon watched the services for several more moments before moving off toward her bunk in the Circle's dormitories. When Lhiannon entered the part of the room that was her small piece of home, she found Rigana, Vivian, and Tallia sitting on Vivian's bed, chattering quietly amongst themselves.

"Lhiannon, come here," Rigana said, waving her hand impatiently, "we have a question for you."

"What's that?" Lhiannon asked, unceremoniously dropping her book on the bunk and quickly straightening the haphazard vellum inside. She groaned to herself when she saw the ink smeared on several pieces of vellum. Evidently, in her haste to leave the library, she had forgotten about the still damp ink on the pages. They would require a rewrite before she entirely forgot what she had been writing. After seeing her pages as a near lost cause, she turned toward Vivian's bunk, perching herself on the edge next to Tallia.

Rigana waited until Lhiannon was settled before continuing. "What's your favorite cuss word?"

Lhiannon snickered, a hand coming up to her face. "I … I don't really know. I wasn't allowed to cuss in Greenwood Vale. My brother had to chew on soap for it."

"Oh, come on, Lhiannon," Tallia said, nearly nudging Lhiannon off the edge of the bed with her elbow. "There has to be one that you like to use. You've been here long enough to pick up some colorful metaphors."

"Mine is 'Andraste's scorched knickers'," Rigana said, giggling into her hands. "Get it? Scorched knickers? You know, burned at the stake?" The girls snickered quietly, not wanting to attract the attention of the templars that were no doubt patrolling the halls. They would all get extra duties for sure—as well as a firm scolding from Knight Commander Greagoir—if their saucy language was discovered.

Vivian looked about the room before lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "'Andraste's flaming cunt'."

Lhiannon, Tallia, and Rigana stared wide eyed at Vivian, mouths opened in surprise before they all fell into gales of giggles. A templar poked his armored head into the room and glared at them for several moments before stalking away.

"That's so nasty," Tallia said, snorting in laughter once the templar had resumed his rounds. Her snorts only increased the volume of the other giggling girls. Rigana tried to hush them so as not to bring the templar about again. "But it's so you coming from the girl that screwed a Grey Warden."

Lhiannon looked to the door for a moment, making sure they were not being observed before lowering her head toward the center of the circle of girls. She looked to each one, a hand coming up to rest close to her mouth. "'Andraste's flaming arse'," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You're such a potty mouth, Lhiannon," Tallia said, giggling lightly.

"I learned it from you."

The girls quieted as multiple heavy footsteps were heard in the hallway approaching their door. They all exchanged wary glances before turning toward the open doorway of their room. As they watched, two templars in ornate armor with full helmets passed their doorway. Unlike the full helmets worn by the templars that normally made the rounds at Kinloch Hold, these templars had helmets that were rough approximations of a human face, the expressions blank except for where the real eyes of the templars peered through the small eyeholes of the mask.

Lhiannon watched as Tallia wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "Those new templars are creepy, especially with those masks they wear on their faces."

"Even creepier than the Tranquil? I didn't think that was possible," Lhiannon said.

Vivian nodded her agreement. "And have you noticed that there are more of them here ever since the Grey Wardens left with King Maric? It's like there's more every day."

"You mean ever since Duncan left?" Rigana asked, chortling lightly. She made an 'O' shape with the index finger and thumb of her left hand and moved the index finger of her right hand back and forth through the circle. Vivian leaned over and slapped at her hands, scoffing in the process. Lhiannon and Tallia giggled into their hands.

"Even Senior Enchanter Sweeny sees them and he can't see his hand in front of his face," Tallia said, her giggles fading and bright elven eyes watching the doorway warily. "These templars are mean. I mean, they make the normal templars look nice."

Lhiannon snorted lightly. "Maybe we can put them in Sweeny's freezy chair. He's always saying the templars are giving him the stink-eye. Maybe that will teach them to be nice."

Leaning forward, Vivian beckoned the other girls to move in closer. When she spoke, her voice was low and Lhiannon thought she heard a small twinge of mystery there. "They say First Enchanter Remille spends his days in his office with the door bolted and warded."

"Bolted and warded?" Tallia asked, slashing her hand through the air. "The templars never allow any mage to have their door both bolted and warded."

"I heard Ol' Remmie tell one of the senior enchanters that he has colleagues here from the University of Orlais and the Orlesian Circle of Magi," Rigana said. She glanced toward the door warily once more. "I heard that they're sharing knowledge."

"But why would Remille have his door bolted and warded?" Lhiannon asked, her brows bunching as she thought. "Does he have some sort of secret?"

"Duh, he must," Vivian said, rolling her eyes at her friends. "I saw Duncan coming from Remmie's office the day we met …"

"Oooh … Duncan," Rigana said, gesturing with her fingers once more. Lhiannon and Tallia snickered while Vivian slapped at Rigana's hands again.

"'Oooh … Duncan'," Vivian said, mimicking Rigana's speech. "Regardless, why would Ol' Remmie keep his mage friends in his office behind locked and warded doors unless he was keeping a secret?"

"Maybe they're having sex," Tallia said, giggling madly once more. "All of them."

"Mages and templars? Together? I doubt it," Lhiannon said, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "The templars wouldn't want to defile themselves."

Vivian ignored them. "At any rate, why would Remmie be bringing more of his friends here?"

Tallia shrugged. "Maybe he really does have friends visiting. I know I get lonely for other elves from time to time. Maybe he misses Orlais."

Rigana scoffed. "Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt."

Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway again, drawing closer to the room in which the girls sat. They all turned toward the door and observed the Orlesian templars pass by once more, one of them giving the apprentices a look through the dark eyes of his human-like mask. Lhiannon felt a nervous prickle run up her spine.

Creepy.

"Lhi! Hey, Lhi, wait up!"

Lhiannon turned from where she stood in the hallway outside the great library; her arms would normally be laden with tomes regarding spells and magical theory, but they were strangely empty at the moment. The senior enchanters had been called into a mandatory meeting with First Enchanter Remille earlier in the day, leaving the apprentices in the hands of the visiting Orlesian mages. They had watched over the apprentices for several hours, sternly ordering the apprentices to be silent when they asked questions about their lessons.

"Your normal classes will resume shortly," the Orlesian mage overseeing Lhiannon's creations class had insisted. After several hours of watching over the ever more fidgety apprentices, the mage overseeing them was greeted by yet another Orlesian mage. They spoke for several minutes in their language, either glancing nervously at the apprentices or into the hallway. Lhiannon watched them over the edge of her book, curious as to what they could be discussing. She could sense magical energies at work in the tower—more so than usual—but thought that perhaps other classes were busy casting spells as part of their lessons. The energies in Kinloch Hold often became erratic and chaotic when a great many mages were casting.

After what seemed like most of the day, an Orlesian templar stuck his head into the library, gesturing toward the apprentices and speaking with an angry tone toward the two Orlesian mages at the head of the class. The mages nodded and then turned to the young apprentices.

"Classes are dismissed for the rest of the day today. You will go to your rooms. Now. Leave your books behind. Do not delay or you shall be punished."

Lhiannon quickly closed her books, following the other apprentices out into the hallway. She had hardly taken a step when she heard Anders call out to her. She turned to look behind her, lifting up on her toes to try and see where he might be. Over the sea of heads, she saw Anders bobbing and weaving his way through the crowd, his strawberry blond mop of hair flowing around him as he pushed through the apprentices. He was admonished by one of the Orlesian mages for running in the halls as he closed the distance between them. With a hasty apology thrown over his shoulder, he moved to Lhiannon' side, grasping her hand in his and leading her through the crowd. As they walked, Lhiannon caught a strange odor in the hallway. It smelled like rotting meat. Her nose involuntarily wrinkled in disgust.

"Andy, what's got you all worked up?"

"Do you know what's going on? Did you have Orlesian mages in your class today?"

They passed several glowering Orlesian templars in the hallway. Lhiannon nodded as Anders steered her to the stairs leading up to the next level of the tower. "Yeah, they've been in there for most of the day. Are they Ol' Remmie's friends?"

"Shh! Not so loud," Anders said, quietly admonishing her. He looked about warily, making sure none of the surly Orlesian templars were within earshot. They were everywhere now, their numbers steadily increasing of late. He pulled her quickly up the stairs, passing a number of younger and slower apprentices as they climbed higher into the tower. They finally came to the floor where Anders' own bunk was stationed, his room near the far end of the hallway. He pulled Lhiannon inside and boosted her up onto his top bunk. They sat on his bed, legs dangling off the sides as they watched other apprentices—and the occasional Orlesian mage and templar—pass by the open door.

"I've never seen this many Orlesian mages or templars here before, Lhi. It's very, very weird."

Lhiannon swung her legs back and forth as they hung over the edge of Anders' bunk. "You've been here longer than me. Have you ever seen Remmie's friends here before?"

Anders shrugged lightly. "Sure, he occasionally has colleagues visit from other Circles and since Orlais isn't too terribly far away, a lot come from there. " Anders paused, dipping and shaking his head. "But there have never been this many before. And the feel of magic in the tower is stronger than ever. Like every mage in the Circle was trying to cast a spell at once."

"Could it just be apprentices practicing?"

Anders shrugged. "Maybe, but this felt like a lot of magic."

Suddenly, an older apprentice rushed into the room, quickly moving to stand in front of Lhiannon and Anders. His eyes were wide and hands were shaking as if he had taken a fright.

"Liam, what is it?" Anders asked, his eyes narrowing at the apprentice. "What's wrong?"

"Andy! Lhi! The templars have closed one of the mage doors leading to the lower floors! Some say there are monsters in the tower!"

"Monsters?" Lhiannon asked, gasping and bringing a hand up to her mouth. "How could there be monsters in the tower? We're in the middle of a lake! Did they swim here?"

"I don't know. That's just what I heard one of the senior mages say before the templars closed the mage doors."

Anders looked down at Liam, his head cocked at an angle. "Did you see them close the doors, Liam?"

The apprentice nodded frantically. "I was trying to sneak down there to see what was going on. One of the newly Harrowed mages pulled me away and told me to go up to my room. I saw a fireball just before the doors closed. I smelled things burning."

Lhiannon turned and looked at Anders, her brows furrowing in confusion. "What's going on here, Andy?"

"I wish I knew, Lhi."

I think the next chapter will be from a different character's point of view (that's the plan for the moment, anyway).

I wanted to have some sort of silly conversation between the girls to show their growing friendship. I went to a random topic generator online and found the topic of cuss words. I figured it was perfect; besides, Lhi had to learn to be a potty mouth from somewhere.

Thanks to reviewers Suilven, Aura of Darkness Night, Wyl, Dante Alighieri, cloud1004, Arsinoe, and Gene Dark. I love seeing your names in my inbox!

Thanks to all of you following along.