I was so conflicted as to whether to do Tabris, Hawke in Hightown, or Amell for this. But user Tequila se'lai asked nicely for Surana, and as I couldn't fit the name in, I went with Amell. Hope this is okay!
Belle (Beauty & The Beast) – Amell and the Circle of Magi
The sun trickled through the tiny slit window in the attic room as the teenage girl inside closed her book. Amell smoothed the creases from the skirts of her robe, and stood, stretching. She'd enjoyed the book immensely. There were only a limited amount of properly fictional books in the Circle library, and she had a distinct feeling this may have been the last one she hadn't read.
She heaved the door open, as quietly as she could. The Templar Garrick had allowed her to use it. He was brash, and self-important, and never took his duties seriously, despite being a good templar. But he was sweet to her. She wasn't sure what to make of him. Some girls in her classes liked to whisper and giggle over him, but, still…
"In the tower, it's a quiet morning," she whispered to herself as she crept down the stairs. She loved to narrate the world around her, just like she was living in one of her books, rather than the suffocating tower. "Every day like the one before…This tower, full of all these people," she sighed, anticipating the unavoidable, "waking up to say…"
A door clanged open somewhere beneath the staircase, and the peaceful early morning quiet was shattered by the tower beginning to wake up.
"Good morning!" came a cry.
"Good morning!"
"Good morning!"
"Good morning!"
Amell got to the main floor just as the bustling began – robes and armour of blue, yellow, green, red, silver battled against each other in the corridors. Out of the corner of her eye, Amell spotted a balding man stacked with crates, and she chuckled. "There goes poor Owain with his tray like always," she noted, "the same old stock he has each day." She was nearing him and his train of apprentices. "Every morning just the same," she sighed, "since the morning that I came to this isolated place –"
A sleepy voice echoed in her ear. "Good morning Amell," greeted the tranquil, placidly.
"Good morning Owain," chuckled Amell.
"Where you off to?" he asked, looking around for the apprentices carrying crates for him.
Amell's eyes widened. "The library," she responded, eagerly. "I just finished the most wonderful story, about a beanstalk and an ogre and a –"
"That's nice," Owain interrupted her, before raising his voice to a figure behind her. "Marie! The potions! Hurry up!" He nodded carefully before bustling off, leaving Amell mid-sentence. She shrugged, and shuffled away.
She carefully avoided the pin-like stares of the yellow-clad mages across the hall. "Look, there she goes," she heard a harsh whisper say. "That girl is strange, no question.Dazed and distracted – can't you tell?"
"Never part of any crowd," agreed one eagerly.
"'Cause her head's up on some cloud," tutted another.
"No denying she's a funny girl, Amell!" they agreed, almost in unison.
Amell moved on, with her head down. She didn't care what they said.
"Good morning!" she heard a tutor greet his student.
"Good day!"
"How are your studies?"
Along the corridor, in a narrow alcove, a woman winked saucily at a Templar. "Good morning!" she called, slyly.
"Good day," the templar mumbled in response.
"How is your rash?"
Amell stifled a giggle as the young man hastily shuffled away.
Another templar was motioning wildly to his companion in the shadows. "I need some dust!" he was yelping.
His friend tried desperately to quieten him. "This isn't the place," he whispered anxiously.
Amell rolled her eyes at the all too familiar scenes. "There must be more than this isolation," she huffed as she flopped by the library desk.
"Ah!" exclaimed the old mage behind the desk. "Amell!" He beamed at her.
Amell smiled back. She did like him. He appreciated stories the way she did – a rare thing in the tower. "Good Morning! I've come to return the book I've borrowed," she said, thumping it down on the desk before him.
The clerk chuckled. "Finished already?" he asked, somewhat incredulously.
"Oh I couldn't put it down," she gushed. "Got anything new?"
He laughed loudly, and rolled his eyes. "Not until the council updates the stock!"
"That's alright," she shrugged. "I'll borrow...this one!" She pulled a slim leather volume from the shelf nearest.
"That one?"
She nodded.
"But you've read it twice!"
Amell chuckled ruefully. "Well it's my favourite," she explained, clutching it to her chest. "Far off places, daring swordfights, magic spells, a prince in disguise…!"
The clerk shook his head, chuckling. "Well if you like it all that much, it's yours," he sighed, wiping his glasses with his sleeve.
"But, sir…"
"Just don't let them see," murmured the clerk, motioning his head toward the Templars at the doors.
Amell nodded. "Well, thank you!" she whispered, beaming, "thank you very much!"
And she hurried away from the library. As soon as she was out of the templars' eyesight, out came the book, and in her nose went. She didn't even hear the sly comments around her.
A group of young male apprentices watched her appreciatively as she waltzed down the corridor. "Look, there she goes," they pointed out. "That girl is so peculiar… I wonder if she's feeling well."
"With a dreamy, far off look," chuckled an older woman in red robes as Amell carefully skirted around her.
"And her nose stuck in a book," huffed the woman's companion, shaking his head.
"What a puzzle to the rest of us, Amell!"
"Oh! Isn't this amazing?" Amell announced to no one in particular, smiling wistfully at the book. "It's my favourite part, because – you'll see…" She pointed to her page excitedly. "Here's where she meets Prince Charming!" She looked up to see a young apprentice staring confusedly at her, and she winked. "But she won't discoverthat it's him," she said conspiratorially, "till chapter three!"
"I'd bet you all she's aristocracy," gossiped a woman with a rather large nose on the stairs as Amell passed. "Oh," she gushed, "her looks have got no parallel!"
"But behind that fair facade," sighed her friend, "I'm afraid she's rather odd.Very different from the rest of us –"
"She's nothing like the rest of us," they agreed.
"Yes, different from the rest of us, Amell!"
In the templars' quarters, a lightly armoured young man was shooting arrows into a straw dummy as his friend watched. The sandy haired young man whistled as he strapped his sword to his back. "Wow," he gasped, "you didn't miss a shot, Garrick!" His eyes were wide with admiration. "You're the greatest templar in the whole world…"
"I know," replied Garrick, shoulders swaggering as he retrieved his arrows.
"No mage alive stands a chance against you," continued the young man as they made their way into the main tower. He chuckled. "And no girl for that matter…"
Garrick smirked. "It's true, Cullen," he sighed. "And I've got my sights set on that one." He pointed across the hall.
Cullen spluttered in shock as he caught his superior's gaze. "The Amell girl?" he gasped in horror.
"She's the one!" Garrick grinned wolfishly. "The lucky girl I'm taking as mine!"
Cullen frowned. "But, she's..."
"The most beautiful girl in the tower."
"I, I know, but –"
"That makes her the best!" announced Garrick, looking straight at the young Templar whose eyes went so wide at the sight of his intended. "And don't I deserve the best!?" he growled.
Cullen seemed to deflate. "Well, of course… I mean you do… I mean –"
Garrick punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Right from the moment when I met her, saw her," he said, watching Amell's dark head above her book closely. "I said she's gorgeous, and I fell... In this tower, there's only she, who is asbeautifulas me." He chuckled at his own joke. "So I'm making plans to have the mage Amell."
A gaggle of young female apprentices burst into giggles as the two Templars passed. "Look, there he goes," they breathed, "isn't he dreamy? Captain Garrick, oh he's so cute!" They were even fanning their hands about their faces. Cullen shook his head in disgust, despite Garrick's preening. "Be still my heart," a few swooned, "I'm hardly breathing! He's such a tall, dark, strong and handsome brute!"
"Morning!" called a scholar as Cullen and Garrick passed.
"Pardon," muttered Garrick, while Cullen smiled cheerily.
The same such mundane chatter got louder and louder around Amell until she couldn't stand it any longer. She stood up from her bench, her hands clutched around her book, and exclaimed, "There must be more than this isolation!"
Almost simultaneously, Garrick grabbed Cullen's arm, pointed at Amell, and declared, "Just watch, I'm going to have that mage girl!"
But as Garrick made to move toward Amell, the crowd of apprentices, enchanters and servants converged around her, blocking his way. "Look there she goes, the girl is strange but special!" went the whispers following her. "A most peculiar apprentice!"
"It's a pity and a sin," they agreed, "she doesn't quite fit in."
Amell finally reached her class, and put her book away into her bag.
"'Cause she really is a funny girl," her classmates muttered. "A beauty but a funny girl – she really is a funny girl… Amell!"
Amell looked up, wondering what all the ruckus was about, as the apprentices suddenly busied themselves with their belongings. She shrugged, and settled down into another day of the same old lectures.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Was that okay? It was probably one of the longest I've done for a while.
The question of Captain Garrick: I made him up. You can decide if he's just an unwanted admirer or something more sinister. I just thought it might be a little… out of character for Origins Cullen to have Gaston's confidence, haha.
Hope you enjoyed!
(Apollo - I'm looking into it. How would you feel about Hunchback 2?)
(Sakura –I'm definitely doing the song! I'll PM you soon :L)
(Vain Hydra – Aw, thank you! Glad you're enjoying! I'm really looking forward to doing Frozen songs!)
A.N.
Help me decide Frozen songs to do :D
Do You Wanna Build A Snowman - ?
For The First Time in Forever – Bethany Hawke? Any other ideas?
Love Is An Open Door – Alistair/Warden? Any other dorky couples?
Let It Go – So I was thinking Anders but I JUST DON'T KNOW
Up Next: An unlikely mother consoles her newborn.