Song of the Piper

::11:: Saint of the Fountain

Music is Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts from the Dragon Age: Inquisition OST. Play it!

Lovely banner above is by _-Artist-_!

******

The next day passed by uneventfully enough. No lessons from Elise, so I decided to walk around the garden while playing my flute. Just a few lonesome tunes. Nothing magical.

Then evening came. I paced in my room, unable to sit down despite the ache in my bad leg. My whole body was wrought with nerves. I was going to talk to a saint—a saint. Heavens above, how was I going to manage this? I was just a girl. I hadn't even received magic training for a year. What right did I have to demand for an Affinity? Would I even be able to offer something substantial in return?

"What are you doing in that? Go take a bath and change into your ritual clothes!" snapped a voice from behind.

I wheeled around, jumping slightly. Elise. Strange. I didn't hear her come in, and the door was closed. But she was a Magus; I shouldn't question her sudden appearance. Automatically, I ducked into the antechamber and did as she said.

When I emerged in the dress I'd worn during the binding ceremony—minus the irritating headdress—I saw that Elise had my flute in her hands. I froze. She held the instrument up for inspection, a curious gleam in her eyes. "What are you doing?"

She raised her brows at my voice. "I'm just looking at your flute, my dear Klaudia," she said. "The workmanship seems...poor, if you beg my pardon."

"You're not using it," I snapped. I knew that my flute wasn't of ideal quality, but it was mine.

"No need to be so defensive, girl. I know that you treasure it greatly."

"Josef said that you gave my flute to him," I blurted before I could stop myself. "Why?"

For the first time, she seemed to be truly caught off guard. She set the flute on the table and smoothed her perfectly starched skirts. "Because I thought I would be doing you a favour. I could sense your energy attached to your flute, intertwined so tightly with it that it should be considered a part of your soul. It would be rather heartless of me to just throw it away."

"Why tell me that you destroyed everything?"

"You have your flute. Why all the questions?"

An excellent retort. Problem was, I didn't know if I could entirely trust Elise. Or Josef, for that matter.

"Aren't you supposed to escort me to the Fountain?" I gave in. Elise's expression was immobile, but I could tell that she was relieved that I had stopped asking such blunt questions. She spun on her heel, beckoning me to follow her out.

It was hard to believe that I'd been at the Fountain just over a week ago. It seemed so different now—where the Tinkers had stood in place, were Seekers, regal and radiating holiness in their robes. Soft, silver moonlight washed over the area. It lent an unearthly effect to them. Their heads were crowned with woven circlets of dead flowers layered with gold leaf. They looked like the saints themselves, rather than the medium between worlds. Rumour was that the Seekers were extremely sensitive to the energy threads binding the world together. So sensitive, they could tell the personality of one by looking into the eyes, and it was because of that that they were so elusive: they never came out of their special chambers unless necessary.

As we neared the Fountain, one Seeker came out to greet us. It was clear that she was the leader, from the heavy medallion resting on her chest and the air of superiority. The Seeker's grey eyes crinkled at the corners. "Welcome, my sister."