Chapter 3:
Over the next few months, Sylina was practically Jowan's shadow. She kept her head down and avoided going anywhere alone. She still felt the templars' eyes on her, but nothing happened. She learned that the templar she had run into was a new recruit from Redcliffe, that his name was Cullen, and that he was sympathetic to mages, as the apprentices soon found out. The story that went around about Cullen was that he had found two young apprentices out of bed at night and had let them off with a warning. This was a rarity among the templars in Kinloch Hold and whenever a new templar showed kindness to mages, the story soon found it's way throughout the tower. Of course, Sylina knew that the templars had probably heard the story too and that Ser Cullen had probably been reprimanded, but the story still existed and that gave mages hope.
Sylina was practicing a simple frost spell in the library, under the jurisdiction of Petra, who had recently passed her harrowing and had shown a knack for teaching apprentices. She was supposed to be making her cone of cold larger to encompass the table, which had been cleared for the occasion. Sylina concentrated and started to weave her spell. Then, she sensed movement in the corner of her eye. She felt drawn to it and turned her head. There was Cullen, standing guard of the library. Sylina didn't know why, but seeing him made her shiver and then she heard a curt, "Pay attention Sylina!" She quickly turned back to her spell which had gone slightly out of control and was extending to some of the bookshelves. She quickly dropped it and looked down at her hands.
"I'm sorry Petra," she said meekly.
"If you had been paying attention this wouldn't have happened." Petra walked over to the bookshelf and grabbed a pile of books that had been damaged by the frost. "Come now help me dry everything off before it's ruined."
"Of course." Sylina quickly used her magic to restore the table to its original condition. She then walked to the bookshelf and started to grab frost bitten books. She was reaching for one of the books on the higher shelves that had taken damage when an armored arm appeared and grabbed the book. Sylina gasped and recoiled.
"I...I'm sorry." She turned to see Ser Cullen holding out the book. He was blushing red and looked like he wanted to sink into the floor. "I didn't mean to...um...to startle you." He handed her the book and Sylina grabbed it.
Sylina had specifically avoided Cullen since the day she ran into him. He had been kind to her and had warm eyes, but she didn't believe for a second that he wasn't like every other templar. And that he had shown such interest in her the first day made her even more wary of him. "Thank you, but I did not require assistance," she said curtly, turning to the table to continue drying the books. She saw Petra give her a glance, but didn't say anything.
"Oh...uh...of course. I apologize. I simply...I just wanted to help." She heard Cullen shift his feet. "I'll..um...be over at my post then." Sylina ignored him as she continued to dry the books and heard him walk off.
Petra sighed. "Well that was rude," she said not looking up from her book drying.
"Did you expect me to be nice? He is a templar. I am a mage. And I did not ask for his help. He just butted in where he was not wanted." Sylina made an annoyed sound in her throat and gathered the last of the books off the shelf that had frost damage.
Petra looked up at her. "Sylina, don't burn bridges just because there are templars on them. We need templars as much as they need us..."
"So not much then." Sylina shot at her. Petra rolled her eyes.
"All I am saying is that Ser Cullen is one of the few decent templars I have ever met. And it would be in your benefit to be nice to him."
"In my benefit? What do you mean?"
Petra raised her eyebrows. "I mean that it has not escaped my notice that you took my advice a few months ago to heart and that it hasn't escaped the templars' notice either." She sighed and touched Sylina's hand. Sylina stopped drying books and looked at her. "You are beautiful Sylina. You can not escape that. And as much as a blessing as it is, it is also a curse. Jowan can only protect you so far. Eventually..." she stopped and looked down at the books. "I have always admired your strong will. You entered the tower as a mere baby and yet you have never tried to be other than you are. You are a mage, and a good mage at that. There are not many in this tower with the potential you have. I would hate to see that ripped away because of a man." Petra got up and came over to Sylina. She put her hands on her shoulders and looked into Sylina's eyes. "I wish there was a way to protect you. To make sure that evil never touched your life. But it will and you must be ready for that. Arm yourself with what you have. And make allies where you can. Sometimes they will be the only thing standing between you and defeat."
Petra squeezed Sylina's shoulders and dropped her hands. "I think you have had enough lessons for today. We will resume tomorrow." Sylina nodded and watched Petra make her way to the stairs and head to the mages quarters. She sat down at the table and buried her head in her hands.
Every day, Sylina had worried that the templars would find her alone and hurt her. Every day, she had hung onto Jowan or anyone else to make sure she wasn't alone. At night, she had nightmares of unknown men forcing her down and doing countless horrors. She didn't understand why. She knew she was beautiful, but that didn't mean anything to her. Her beauty had never helped her before. It had never helped her practice her spells or succeed at lessons. She knew some of the apprentices her age resented her for it and that some of the older male and female mages looked at her admiringly, but it had not affected her until Petra's warning came a few months ago. Now everywhere she went she worried that a templar would corner her and that she would be powerless to stop them. It was never far from her mind and she wondered whether she would ever go back to the careless daydreaming she had done as a child.
Sylina stood up and started putting the books back on the shelf. But now Petra was telling her she could have allies? And from the sound of it, this templar Cullen could be one. Why? Sylina thought. Why would he be an ally? Just because he is nice? He is still a templar and he is still a man. Everything she had found out since Petra's warning had affirmed that templars were not friends and that men were a worry to any woman. She sighed. So she should be nice to templars? And hope that by doing so they will be less likely to hurt her? Sylina shook her head. It made no sense to her, but it was worth a try.
She finished putting the books away and looked around. It was the first time in months she had been without Jowan. He was no doubt happy about this. Sylina saw Cullen standing at his post by the library doors. She took a deep breath to steady herself and walked over to him.
"Hello Ser Cullen," she said, forcing a smile on her face. Cullen immediately stiffened and blushed. Standing near him she realized he was much taller and bigger than her and her heart started beating faster. She suddenly became nervous, slightly regretting her idea. Sylina decided to finish what she wanted to say before she lost her nerve. "I wanted to thank you for earlier. I am sorry if I seemed rude," Sylina quickly said and started backing away almost if by reflex.
Cullen simply stared at her. His mouth opened but no sound came out and Sylina wondered if she was even allowed to talk to templars while they were on duty.
"I'm sorry. I'll just go now now." She quickly turned and walked away. Maker, what was wrong with her. Just because the man had helped her grab a book did not mean she had the right to talk to him. He is a templar, Sylina, remember this! Her heart was in her throat and she practically stumbled out of the library. She was an idiot. He could be no ally, she thought.
She came out of the library and headed for the girl's dormitory. She walked quickly down the hallway and saw a templar walking toward her. She lowered her head and went to walk by him. Suddenly she felt a gauntleted hand grab her arm. Her heart beat rapidly and she turned toward the templar to look up into his face. It was a man she knew patrolled the apprentices quarters regularly. His name was Pod. He leered at her. "Well, well what's this? Finally decided to come visit me have you?" He dragged her closer to him and Sylina froze.
She should've screamed, should've run. Her arm was hurting where he was grabbing her. She should have gotten angry and yelled at him, but instead all she could muster was a whispered plea. "Please," she muttered, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp. He laughed and moved her against the wall. He glanced up and down the hall then blocked her in.
"Mmm I like it when you say that," he whispered in her ear. She was mortified. How could she be so stupid as to leave the library without anyone? His hand trailed up her side while his other hand rested on the wall at her head. She couldn't look at him. She felt tears forming in her eyes. If I shout, would anyone even come? she thought.
His hand at her side moved down to her hip. He grabbed her hip and pushed her further back into the wall, his body inches from her. She could feel him smiling at her, but she continued to stare down at the Templar sign on his armor. Would Andraste approve of this treatment of mages? Sylina had always thought Andraste was sympathetic to mages, but if her templars treated mages this way and went unpunished then maybe this was the Maker's will. Pod grabbed her skirt and started to pull up, his other hand moving to stroke her hair. She let out strangled cry from her throat and moved her hand to grab his. She tried to push his hand down, but it was stronger and continued to lift her skirts. "Please," she whispered again. "Please...don't."
His body was against her and his hand grabbed her chin pulling her up to look at him. He was lowering his head when Sylina heard the clink of armor. Pod snapped his head in the direction of where the noise came from. Sylina's heart was in her throat and she wondered if she would be saved.
"Oh...I didn't mean to disturb." Sylina heard Cullen's voice and she stopped breathing. Pod moved back a bit and she turned to see him. He was standing in the hallway and he was blushing red, but as soon as his eyes caught hers they went wide in shock and his mouth opened. Then he snapped his head back to Pod and his eyes hardened. "What are you doing with that apprentice!?" He shouted moving toward them.
Pod stepped back and faced Cullen, "Nothing you wouldn't want to do yourself. Why don't you leave us be, boy?"
Cullen stammered and glanced at Sylina. She imagined her tear stricken face told him that she didn't want to be there. Pod stepped in front of her. "Now move along before I get angry," Pod threatened.
A sob broke through Sylina's lips at the thought that Cullen might just leave. She heard a sword leaving its scabbard. "I am not going anywhere. Let the girl go and the Chantry will judge your crimes against the Order." Cullen's voice was barely containing his anger. Pod moved, and Sylina saw him reach for his sword.
"It's going to be this way then, boy? You want the tramp for yourself, not willing to share? Well it's about time someone showed you what the Order stands for."
Pod rushed Cullen and their swords met. Sylina should have ran but she felt rooted to the spot. She was frozen as she watched the two men fight. Pod and Cullen were the same size, but Pod obviously had more experience. Sylina knew nothing of sword fighting and to her it looked like the two men were dancing. Each trying to move where the other wasn't expecting them. Finally Cullen kicked out, foot meeting torso, and Pod went down to his knees. "Surender." Cullen slanted his sword at the man's throat. Pod spit out blood and nodded, his sword dropping. Cullen kicked the man's sword away from him and stepped back.
Sylina felt relief spill through her and she sank to the ground. Cullen looked over her and worry crossed his face. She closed her eyes, her breath finally coming back. She hadn't realized that she had been holding it throughout the whole fight. When she opened her eyes, Cullen was leaning down in front of her. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Cullen's hand came up to her face and she looked into his eyes. They were full of concern for her. She nodded absently and then saw a flicker of motion. She turned and saw Pod getting up a dagger in his hand. A scream formed on her lips. Pod's face was murderous. He was running towards them and Sylina reacted. She brought her hands up and a fireball formed. Cullen jumped back and the fireball hit Pod square in the chest. He fell to the floor, dead.