Chapter Eight
The first thing Solona learns about being a mage is that it's not all that different than being an apprentice. She still has her magic, after all. Being a mage does not exclude her from having to consistently work on her skills. She finds texts from the Free Marches; power rooted in the faith of the Maker. She thinks that she would like to learn these spells and many times she can be found in a spare training room.
Free time is in abundance, however. She finds one of the best benefits of her new found down time is that she is free to wander the gardens. Previously off limits as an apprentice, she spends hours in the sunlight and cool breeze. Some days she reads. Sometimes she just sits and stares out across the lake. It has been so long since she's been able to just watch the world. She had not realized how much she missed it.
It's the gardens where Irving finds her, the week after her Harrowing. She is twelve chapters into a book when he sits next to her on her bench. She glances over at him, notes the contemplative look on his face, and marks her page. He doesn't say anything, even as she sets her book aside.
His gaze is fixed to the south east. He's frowning. Solona turns her eyes to the same direction and sees nothing of import. It is a beautiful day, however. Barely past noon, the sun is warm on her face. She can see the ferry, tied to the dock, and the small building sitting away from the shore. She wants to know when she'll be able to explore, to discover the world. It's too soon, she figures, for her to really go anywhere but the thought makes her smile.
"What have you learned about Darkspawn?"
All happiness drains from her at Irving's words. "First Enchanter?" She wants him to be testing her, just to see if she actually learns things in the library.
Irving sighs and seems to sink down into himself. His energy, consistent and even at every other moment of her recollection, seems to be fluctuating. Not very significantly, at least not by her standards, but enough to make her very worried.
"There's a Blight coming, so we hear from the capital. I received a message from Denerim just this morning. The King wants to build an army to face the threat. We expect to send a group from the Tower to assist." He turns sad eyes at her. "If you've found anything interesting that I might not know, I'd like to hear it."
This is the first time anyone has shown any serious interest in what she's been doing with her time outside of classes. It surprises her, a bit, that Irving knows about her tendency to research. "Um. Well." She can't find her words. She can't assemble any thoughts to put into words.
"Anything at all Solona."
The breath she takes is clean and calming, she thinks. She could live out here, in this garden. "Well, the Chantry suggests that the first Darkspawn were Tevinter Magistrates. I've been reading some texts from the Imperium. It's possible I've stumbled across a few spells that are rarely used that might help ward against the type of magic they've been recorded to use. As I've never seen a Darkspawn I wouldn't really know for sure." She hopes this is what he's looking for.
He falls into another round of silence, just thinking. Perhaps there's something else. She digs into her memory, trying to remember what else the texts she'd found had said.
"We were worried about you, you know. From the moment you arrived here."
Now this is a conversation she never really wanted to have. Fourteen years in this tower have given her insight to the way mage children who are discovered through the deaths of others are treated. She knows she's a special case; she should have been killed when she'd been taken to the Chantry. There was no precedence for actually transporting a 'family killer' back for training, at least not in Ferelden.
"The templar standing guard over you had his sword to your throat when you were in the Fade. You were shaking, violently. You almost did his job for him you jerked so hard at one point." Her hand raises and cups her throat. The wound there is closed now, thanks to some magic from Wynne, but she will not forget it any time soon.
"You were speaking while you were under, as well." At this, Solona's body seems to freeze. She can feel her heartbeat pounding in her ears and she cannot move. "It happens so rarely and usually nothing specific is said, but I want you to know that you spoke of your friend Jowan." Her blood thunders. She wants to run; there would be nowhere to go. "You are close to him. I know. I do not like the idea of asking you to betray his confidence, but he's broken the rules Solona."
He puts his hand on her shoulder and she can't help but look at him. He really does look remiss at his line of questioning. "Is he engaged in an affair with a lay sister?"
She feels his fingers squeeze, very lightly but meaningfully. She nods, miserable.
Irving sighs and drops his hand. She thinks he's honed his skills at manipulating younger mages for years. "Sadly, this is not the worst for Jowan. We suspect he's a blood mage as well."
Blood mage? Jowan? She thinks back to the last classes they had together. He always excelled at lessons; he would have no reason to resort to blood magic, surely. She tells the First Enchanter as much.
"You're a good friend to support him like this. But, we have some evidence. Not enough to formally accuse him, but some."
She finds her voice, finally. "Jowan couldn't be. I've known him for years. If he was dabbling in blood magic he would have told me."
"Would you tell him, if it were you?"
The man has a point. She wouldn't tell anyone. Not even her best friends. But . . . blood magic? Why? "What are you going to do to him?"
Irving stands; his long robs flowing around him in the slight breeze. She catches a faint whiff of spindle weed from the fabric. "I won't accuse him before I know for sure. If I am wrong, and I truly hope I am, than the worst that'll happen is a slap on the wrist for consorting with the lay sister. If he reveals himself as a blood mage however . . . well, I'm sure you can guess."
Solona tries to tell herself that the shivering in her body is from the wind. That it's not fear for her friend, of her friend. "What I've told you is dangerous, Solona. I feel it is in your best interest, and that of the Circle really, for you to stay away from him. I'm sending you to war; you're going to Ostagar to join the forces that the King has already started to build. You leave in two days."
The sunlight seems to dim as Irving walks back to the tower, his gait purposeful and his back straight.