iceintheblood | [Bound in Blood and Magic] Prologue

Bound In Blood and Magic
Prologue

The Tower of Magi stood proud in the middle of Lake Calenhad, named for the king who had united the warring tribes of Ferelden into one nation. At so late an hour, the ferry was closed, the inn dark, and the water still. Only a few windows of the tower had light in them, the rooms of Senior Enchanters mostly.

Every apprentice was asleep, or they were supposed to be. The quiet but distinctive clinking of plate armor caused no rustling of blankets as a large man entered the dormitory for the female apprentices, so the templar charged with keeping watch over the wing felt satisfied that they were all sleeping. He approached the proper bunk.

Carefully, he touched the girl’s should before placing his hand over her mouth. One had to be cautious when waking a mage, even an apprentice. She woke with a start and thrashed for a moment before she saw clearly. He removed his hand.

“Ser?” she whispered.

“Get dressed.” Even though he kept his voice down, its power could not be denied.

As the apprentice rose and fetched her robes, the man watched. He sometimes forgot, surrounded as he was by priests and his fellow templars and even human magi, how very small elves actually were. This girl had to be nearly a foot shorter than the smallest female initiate and half her size. Still, he reminded himself, the magi had magic at their disposal. What did size matter to them?

When the girl had her blue robe fastened over her white nightgown, she looked at him again with wide, pale eyes. He knew she’d figured out his purpose, but she still waited to hear it. She wouldn’t believe it until he said it.

So he spoke. “The Harrowing waits.”