"That," he starts with a wry, humourless smirk, "entirely depends upon your definition of resistance."
He knows that he did, though in his mind it's never enough. Despite knowing it would have gotten him ostracized, tied up, banned from the order, even killed, he wishes he'd done more to resist, to speak up, to refrain. But he did not kill, and he reported rooms and buildings empty that were not. He had attempted to persuade the Knight-Commander, even his Seeker fellows, only to be ignored, only to be reminded that their duty is clear. There was no Grand Cleric within Dairsmuid, certainly not one who would have allowed the hedge witches to act so. They could have taken the time to get in contact with another, but despite the time that would have taken, the end would still surely have been the same.
"I noticed little apparent dissent when the Right was invoked, although who would really have wanted to argue with their superior on a matter so clear cut?" Also, those Templar helms really do quite a bit to hide subtle emotional responses. "During? I can only hope that I wasn't alone in my attempts to curtail the damage. There had been...perhaps two Templars in all that I had personally witnessed having difficulty fulfilling their task."
The Templars are trained well, after all. And mages are never to be trusted, of course. They were all taught this. Dangerous magic is to be neutralized without exception, and what was the loss of one mage or ten or a hundred if it meant not one abomination could wreak havoc? This is the Chantry way.
no subject
He knows that he did, though in his mind it's never enough. Despite knowing it would have gotten him ostracized, tied up, banned from the order, even killed, he wishes he'd done more to resist, to speak up, to refrain. But he did not kill, and he reported rooms and buildings empty that were not. He had attempted to persuade the Knight-Commander, even his Seeker fellows, only to be ignored, only to be reminded that their duty is clear. There was no Grand Cleric within Dairsmuid, certainly not one who would have allowed the hedge witches to act so. They could have taken the time to get in contact with another, but despite the time that would have taken, the end would still surely have been the same.
"I noticed little apparent dissent when the Right was invoked, although who would really have wanted to argue with their superior on a matter so clear cut?" Also, those Templar helms really do quite a bit to hide subtle emotional responses. "During? I can only hope that I wasn't alone in my attempts to curtail the damage. There had been...perhaps two Templars in all that I had personally witnessed having difficulty fulfilling their task."
The Templars are trained well, after all. And mages are never to be trusted, of course. They were all taught this. Dangerous magic is to be neutralized without exception, and what was the loss of one mage or ten or a hundred if it meant not one abomination could wreak havoc? This is the Chantry way.