bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas,
All the logic in her brain was screaming against what he was saying, but her bleeding heart couldn't help but buy every word. It didn't make sense -- yes, Templars could be vindictive, but one going so far as to carve up an apprentice? Beth had never heard of such an incident happening within the Tower walls (then again, it's not as if such an event wouldn't have been swept under a very dusty rug), and it certainly wasn't something that shouldn't have been reported to the superiors of both factions, anyway. If she told the Knight-Commander, surely there would be proper reprimands and punishments made for misconduct, unnecessary use of force, not to mention making death threats. Of course, that latter threat of murder had her raising a brow, but he seemed so honestly frightened that she wasn't sure what to believe. She had known Aurin a long time, they even shared an experience that only a handful of people in the world did -- but this was Constans, and why would he lie to her?
But if she said something to Greagoir, she would also have to say something to the First Enchanter, and that had its own consequences. Not that it justified Constans' continued antagonism, but getting sliced up seemed like a fairly substantial lesson already learned, and he didn't need further reason not to keep from doing it again. On top of what official handling there would be of the situation, if one Templar got in trouble, the rest were surely not going to allow it to happen without seeking revenge against the person responsible. It wouldn't be her they blamed, though; it would all come back to fueling their hatred of Constans. He hadn't done the right thing by trying to provoke them again, but he didn't deserve to be mistreated further.
And he now he was begging her to keep quiet, and all the will in her to do what was proper dissipated. Blindly, stupidly, she wanted to believe in and protect him more than she wanted to set things right. With a heavy sigh, Bethen stood up, "Well, we need to get you out of here before anyone comes around. I'll pick this mess up later. Say it was a really nasty paper cut if anyone asks." If she was any less honest most of the time, no one would believe her, given the amount of blood spatter seemed disproportionate to her lie.
It was odd for her to be so calculating, but here she was, staging a cover-up and charting out an escape route. Beth found herself lamenting the fact that the rules of magic excluded any ability for teleportation. "We'll go to my room, it's closer and fewer people will see you. Not to mention any raging Templars aren't about to go barging into a mage's quarters without good cause. You can clean yourself off and I can change my robes. Then I'll get your real clothes from downstairs. We'll have to...I don't know, burn these? That sounds excessive. Hmm, I guess I could look up a good stain removing spell." Now she was rambling. She shook her head, moving toward the exit, "We'll solve that problem later. Come on, only a few minutes until the halls are swarming."