bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas,
The Library of Vigil's Keep was a relatively solitary place, perhaps more traditional than the one that Bethen had grown up in. It was actually quiet in here, since it seemed that there were few people in the fortress who took interest in reading over other tasks, and there was no chance of accidentally being lit on fire -- at least, not by young apprentices practicing their primal spells for the first time. Surely an errant sleeve into a candelabra would do the trick, but thus far, the mage had gone free of trouble. The only problem she was having was with finding specific books; not that she should have realistically expected to memorize things already, though she couldn't help but feel just a little frustrated at having to learn a new system when it had been her life's work to set the one in the Circle Tower.
Beth had taken to the task of attempting to memorize the order and titles once more when she heard voices and footsteps for the first time in roughly an hour. She hadn't meant at all to eavesdrop, though it was difficult to block out the snippets of conversation when they were making the only sounds in the room. Curious, the mage stepped around the corner of the bookshelf that obscured her from their view and vice versa, taking only a few seconds to study the source of the voices. She recognized the man as one of the guests of the Wardens; she couldn't recall if they had been formally introduced and didn't know his name, but she remembered seeing him the day that her group arrived from the Circle. She had waved, though there wasn't much time to make a response. It wasn't the last she'd seen of the soldier, but the Keep was a surprisingly sprawling structure, and they hadn't really crossed paths long enough to speak.
The other arrival was a stranger, and while Beth had yet to actually meet her, she knew right away just who the young dwarven girl was. Coan spoke of her with enthusiasm and endearment, and just the day before, the mage had helped the young Lord Rhocanth gather a birthday present for her. This cute brunette just had to be Falina, even if there was no mabari or large man around her as Rhocanth had said as another descriptor. Beth's expression had brightened unconsciously; she'd been quite excited at the prospect of meeting all of the dwarven recruits before the Joining. It was a moment before she realized that she had been blatantly staring at both of them, and by now they ought to have noticed her presence. She must have seemed extremely odd and unmannerly for lurking behind the stacks and just peering at them, if not seeming to be listening in, when she barely heard a word or knew who they were discussing.
In order to salvage this meeting, Bethen stepped out from behind the shelf, hands idly straightening out her canary robes as she did so. "Uh... Hello," she said awkwardly, attempting to smile, in spite of how discourteous she thought she had been. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to...er... I didn't expect anyone else to be in here. Were you-- Can I help either of you?" Not that it was her place to show anyone around, but it was instinct to ask the question at this point, regardless of the fact that this wasn't her library.