Dragon Age: The Ferelden Chronicles

Chapter Four

Varia felt an acute uneasiness as she followed Jowan down the hallway. He was acting very strange, and somehow she had a feeling that this situation he was in was something far more serious than just being worried about the fact that he hadn't been called yet to take his Harrowing. The two of them passed a couple of templars along the way and she noticed him visibly stiffen when they walked by, despite the fact they were two of the nicer ones and even uttered a friendly greeting upon their approach. Varia returned the sentiment to the two men – Ungar and Moran, she remembered Cullen saying their names were – and gave them an apologetic smile for her friend's cold behavior.

"Before we go in," Jowan stated as he stopped just outside of the Circle's small chapel, turning to her and wringing his hands nervously in front of him, "I just want you to promise me you won't repeat a single word of what you are about to hear."

"Jowan, what is going on?" Varia asked him, reaching out to take one of his hands in her own in an attempt to calm its shaking.

"I just... Promise me," he requested once more, his fingers grasping at hers and squeezing them almost desperately. "I need help and you're the only person I can turn to, but I cannot tell you what's troubling me unless I have your word that you will breathe none of this to anyone else within these tower walls."

"You have my word," Varia swore, squeezing his hand back. "You know you can trust me with anything."

"Good," Jowan said with a relieved sigh. He then released her hand and waved her along, continuing into the room past her and over to the corner farthest away from the door, where one of the Chantry sisters who looked over the chapel was praying.

"I've brought her," he said to the young woman, who had dark auburn hair partially pulled back into a bun. The woman stood and turned to them, smiling at Varia and holding out a hand to Jowan, who took it in his own and joined her at her side.

"Jowan... What's going on, here?" Varia asked once more, her gaze traveling back and forth between them. The young woman blushed, casting her hazel eyes downward for a moment before looking to Jowan to explain the situation.

"A few months ago, I told you that I met a girl," Jowan informed her, then gestured to the girl at his side with his free hand. "This is Lily."

"An initiate?" Varia blurted out, then looked around to make sure she hadn't been overheard before lowering her voice and continuing. "Jowan, that's forbidden!"

"So you can see why we wish to keep it a secret," Lily said, her grip tightening on Jowan's hand at her side.

"Lily's been given to the Chantry, and isn't allowed to have... relations with men," Jowan further explained. The two of them shared a look and Lily's cheeks turned a darker shade of pink. Varia could only gape at the two of them. How had they managed to keep something like that a secret from everyone? She hadn't even had the slightest idea that her best friend had been sneaking around with a Chantry girl, let alone bedding one. Then again, her mind had been preoccupied for over a year with how to keep her own indiscretions from being discovered by everyone else in the tower.