Christine knows all about mages being "loaned out" to entertain the nobles. She had ignored her instructors who brought up the topic to them, while others were so excited at the prospect of escaping for a night that they would happily act no better than a trained monkey. And the hypocrites who believed mages were dangerous and should be locked away would admire the silly little show of conjured images before telling the mages to get back to their Circle. Christine refused to endure such humiliation on the off chance she could catch someone's eye and become their pet mage.
But the anger and frustration simmering below the surface at thoughts of this dissipate quickly when Yngvi starts to say Asher's name. Her eyes lower and she feels that ache in her chest that refuses to budge. Asher should be here, making fun of her dog and telling her a story about some huge Avvar canine large enough to ride into battle. He should be stroking her hair and telling her about his people and their gods. Her nose starts to sting and she curls her toes tight in her boots, telling herself to stop. And the admonishment works. She collects herself and nods along to what Yngvi is saying. There are some Templars here who have surprised her, but those that hunted down mages after the rebellion were drunk on power and lyrium.
Ponce sniffs at the treat from Christine's arms before reeling back his head to avoid it. She sighs and reaches for the treat. "I will make sure he eats it. He is a picky eater. He would not eat the mabari treat Inessa tried to give him either, but I cannot coddle him with such limited resources here." Basically Ponce will learn to like it or starve, and she's quite sure that he won't take the second option. There is only so much bread and apples she can feed this little nightmare before enough is enough and he needs to start eating what the other dogs here eat.
She shakes her head, trying not to look like that was a good idea of his, but who is she kidding? A smile slips through. "Templars are gullible. Probably even more than mages. We are each locked away and told what to believe, but at least mages are not addicted to lyrium. Say the word 'lyrium' to a Templar, and they will believe anything." Yes, some Templars here are all right. They even came with her to hunt Red Templars. But old wounds run deep and the Templars at Montsimmard liked to sneer that she shouldn't bother training as a healer because no normal person would let her heal them magically anyway. She would never be allowed out of the Circle, so she was wasting her time. Showed them, didn't she?
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But the anger and frustration simmering below the surface at thoughts of this dissipate quickly when Yngvi starts to say Asher's name. Her eyes lower and she feels that ache in her chest that refuses to budge. Asher should be here, making fun of her dog and telling her a story about some huge Avvar canine large enough to ride into battle. He should be stroking her hair and telling her about his people and their gods. Her nose starts to sting and she curls her toes tight in her boots, telling herself to stop. And the admonishment works. She collects herself and nods along to what Yngvi is saying. There are some Templars here who have surprised her, but those that hunted down mages after the rebellion were drunk on power and lyrium.
Ponce sniffs at the treat from Christine's arms before reeling back his head to avoid it. She sighs and reaches for the treat. "I will make sure he eats it. He is a picky eater. He would not eat the mabari treat Inessa tried to give him either, but I cannot coddle him with such limited resources here." Basically Ponce will learn to like it or starve, and she's quite sure that he won't take the second option. There is only so much bread and apples she can feed this little nightmare before enough is enough and he needs to start eating what the other dogs here eat.
She shakes her head, trying not to look like that was a good idea of his, but who is she kidding? A smile slips through. "Templars are gullible. Probably even more than mages. We are each locked away and told what to believe, but at least mages are not addicted to lyrium. Say the word 'lyrium' to a Templar, and they will believe anything." Yes, some Templars here are all right. They even came with her to hunt Red Templars. But old wounds run deep and the Templars at Montsimmard liked to sneer that she shouldn't bother training as a healer because no normal person would let her heal them magically anyway. She would never be allowed out of the Circle, so she was wasting her time. Showed them, didn't she?