bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas, @ 2010-02-27 00:35:00
Who: Aurin Demarc & Bethen Avilla Where: Vigil's Keep When: 14 Molioris, 9:45. Afternoon. Summary: After word of assignments have been passed around, Beth seeks out Aurin for yet another important discussion. They wind up raiding the kitchen. Rating: K/G? And of course, A for possible Angst and Adorable. Status: In-progress
"Bethen Avilla?" a breathless, tentative voice asked. The mage turned to see one of the Keep's servants staring at her, though his expression shifted immediately from puzzled to officious. No, there was nothing odd about finally finding the woman, whom he'd been searching for after an entire hour of running around and poking his head through every corner of the building, leaning over the top of one of the turrets, arms resting against the crenel.
From up here, one could see the entirety of Amaranthine splayed out, with the ocean just beyond; it was the perfect spot for quiet contemplation if that was what one sought. There was plenty of sunlight here, and the wind was warm, carrying the salty scent off the coast. The dark-haired woman waited for the small man to stop panting before she answered, nodding slowly, "Yes, that's me. Can I help--"
She barely had time to respond before he blurted out loudly, shouting over the screeching of the nearby seagulls, "Warden-Commander wanted me to tell you that you're on a team going to Ostagar. There's a briefing tomorrow, you'll be notified of the time later." How could this madwoman possibly find this place, littered in discarded crab shells and bird refuse, relaxing? Nevermind how high up they were -- he'd been born in the alienage in Highever, and though he was used to multi-storied structures, he was not acclimated to heights like some of those psychotic tree-hugging Dalish he'd seen around the castle. He wanted to be away from this place as soon as possible.
"Oh. Thank you," she replied after a beat, and he waited for official dismissal. She was one of his superiors now, wasn't she? A Grey Warden, freshly minted just the evening before. She looked suitably wide-eyed and new to the world, too. This was who they'd picked to defend their nation from the darkspawn? The Commander was losing his mind. The elf keened his head at her, wondering if she was going to say anything further, though she seemed to be thinking very hard about something.
Deciding to take the initiative, he spoke quickly and began to move back to the staircase, "Uh huh. Maker--"
"Um. Actually," said the young woman suddenly, when he was already two steps down and about to take his third. He froze, sighed heavily and turned himself around, where she was looking at him expectantly. There was something puppy like about that expression, and she was biting her bottom lip, either intentionally trying hard to be cute (for a human, he supposed), or she was really that nervous about asking. "Could you tell me who else might be going, please?"
He tried not to roll his eyes at her as he cleared his throat, shrugging, "I've got a long list, ser, and not a lot of time, y'see."
"Oh...um... Could you just..." Was one simple question really that hard for her to ask in one breath? They were doomed, all doomed. Finally, she spat it out, "Is Aurin Demarc one of the people?"
He thought for a second, but shook his head. "No. Got an Alderic Thearre to find, though. Any ideas where he might be?" Perhaps she could be at least a little bit useful, even if she seemed incredibly dull. Come to think of it, most of the people who went into that ceremonial room usually came out the next day a few wits shorter. Some said that others never even came out again. He didn't linger on what didn't concern him for long, though.
"Ah. I see. Um, perhaps the chapel? He's a Templar. He'd be--" For a second, he thought she was about to launch into a full out speech, but she stopped herself, having actually remembered what he'd said about lacking time. She smiled and bowed her head slightly, "Er. Yes. Thank you."
"Have a good day, ser."
Part of her kept thinking I shouldn't be here, but the rational side told her that she now had the liberty to do whatever she wanted. Now that she had changed her status, she had permission to go where she liked, when she wanted, to do things however she thought best. She was...free, essentially. None of the guards stopped her; instead, they bowed to her, called her 'ser' or 'lady', even 'Warden', as peculiar as it sounded to her. In fact, there weren't even any templars around who could tell her what to do (and as soon as she thought it, she regretted it; it was callous to disregard the dead, even if, had Ser Maddock survived, she would have been right and they would have been equals). They certainly didn't have the authority to tell her to leave this region of the quarters that had been assigned to their order.
Two of the doors in this corridor had been left open. As she passed by the empty rooms, she felt a chill wash over her; Bethen had a very good idea of who used to occupy them, even though she had never been down this hallway before. There were a few other closed entryways, though. She wasn't entirely certain which room belonged to Aurin, nor did she know whether or not he was even inside of his room, but it was worth checking. After all, she hadn't seen him in three out of the four places she would have expected him to be: not the chapel, not the courtyard, and not the dining hall. She'd thought she'd seen Alderic in passing earlier, and she figured that Kendric wouldn't be too upset with her if she accidentally knocked on his door instead.
Nevertheless, it was at least half a minute of holding her arm in the air before she had worked up the nerve to actually rap her knuckles against the first wooden portal that she saw closed. And Beth wasn't even sure that picking the wrong room was really what made her feel so anxious, anyway -- half of her almost hoped that she was wrong and that she wouldn't find him, so they didn't have to have this conversation and she didn't have to face the inevitable truth of what laid ahead.