bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas,
Alderic's answer had been more than she anticipated; a simple "yes" or "no" from him or any other Templar was what she expected, and though it would not exactly sate her curiosity, Bethen was generally good about not pushing too hard for information. But he delivered a detailed response in a few short sentences and she couldn't have asked for more. It was another thing Beth appreciated about him -- unsurprising given his scholarly tendencies, he understood the value of words, and didn't waste them on saying anything other than what he meant. There was deliberation, intent and caution in his speech, without being too slow, hostile or secretive. Others didn't think nearly so much as they should have about what came out of their mouths.
And then his attention shifted, and though she was trying very hard not to seem like she was staring, she could see it in his eyes that his mind was somewhere else. His distant expression, almost haunted, gave her pause, and she suddenly felt terrible for bringing on whatever memory he seemed to be recalling at that moment. But she didn't stop him -- Bethen remained silent and still, listening carefully and hesitating to move so as to avoid startling him. She remembered the Mage he spoke of -- not his name, because by then, the Circle had been renewed and flooded with life again and she could barely keep track of all the other apprentices -- but she knew the story, even if she hadn't known the elf in question all that well herself. Little went on in the Circle that wouldn't eventually reach all ears in the Tower, whether it was meant to or not.
Her attention darted immediately back to the books in her hands as soon as he stopped speaking, pretending that she hadn't just let him go on about an event that had obviously affected him greatly, even if it wasn't what she'd originally asked about. She could handle a brooding apprentice, and did plenty of consoling of other students over the years, but a brooding Templar? That situation was something else completely, best handled delicately, or by someone else altogether. The Mage quickly scanned the cover of the next volume; Tales of the Destruction of Thedas, another for the Genetivi group. To her relief, upon looking up at him again, he was actually smiling again as he approached. Beth almost apologized for having said anything, but thought better of it. If he was ready to change the subject completely, she'd go along with it.
"Oh, I doubt he could keep me away from them even if he wanted to," she replied quite cheekily, grinning back at Alderic before giving him a slightly more serious answer. "I'm a bit too new to have any Apprentices of my own, of course, so I'm to sit in on lessons and assist the Enchanters over the next few months. I suppose eventually they'll make me spend more time with the children and less with the books, but for now, I've been left with an even schedule. Guess they realized they probably won't find anyone else who'd willingly spend so much time cleaning up after other people." Not that she minded, honestly -- another one of Beth's great skills, aside from being a human database for finding references, was her innate need for order and tidiness. Everything in its place.
"Actually," Bethen began slowly and quietly, deciding to make a confession of her own, "I do have...other, bigger plans." Before he could give her any kind of suspicious look that came standard with him being a Templar and her being a Mage with a very ominous tone of voice, she added in quickly, "Nothing bad, you know! I'm...working on trying to get permission to travel to Cumberland for study. You're the first person I've told about this, actually. I didn't want to get my hopes up too high about the idea before I actually became a Mage." That, and she wasn't sure how some of her friends would take to the idea of her leaving them behind. But Alderic seemed like as good a pick as any to hear it first, as he'd been fairly encouraging and supportive of her so far. Not to mention she felt like she owed him some kind of private information in exchange for what he'd told her, even if it wasn't intentional.