Re: [Val Royeaux Proper] 3 Frumentum
Lillie stared at Rhone across the table. She didn't like the things he was saying. But despite what he might think, she wasn't naïve. And she wasn't really all that surprised by most of them. Least of all the unspoken threat that sat in the air between them. That she should leave because it was dangerous here. That she should sell herself to the Wardens, become a conscript, because that was the only sort of freedom for people like her.
But that wasn't freedom at all. It was another type of yolk. And it wasn't fair that she should have to wear one simply for the way she'd been born. He could never convince her otherwise.
If Orlais, or Val Royeaux was like this from time to time... if Rhone was not surprised by this, then the things circle mages liked to say... it was not so bad, there were freedoms. Well those were lies. If the rumors were to be believed, people locked in the tower. Noah had never made it sound like his ability to leave had been a special one. And the sheer amount of Templars on the streets? As if they were expecting a holy war at their doorstep. She pressed her lips into a stiff line. Circles were awful everywhere, if this was normal. And there was no way she'd let herself be dragged away to one. Especially not now.
"How strange," she finally said. "To find it so conflicting of what's been said. Perhaps those were all sweet stories meant to lure in those who are resistant to the idea of being jailed." She smiled faintly. "Is Noah staying by choice?" she asked instead, swallowing down all the other things she wanted to say.
She pressed her fingers to her brow, closing her eyes brief as a spell of dizziness washed over her. Reaching for her tea, Lillie sighed. "I had hoped..." she breathed it out, then sipped at the cooling drink to steady herself. "In order to find compromise, reasonable minds must come together on both sides. The state of things... it speaks only of an escalation of conflict."