and i still find pieces of you in the back of my mind

[paperwing]

WHO: Sabriel and semi-open.
WHAT: Sabriel goes about her business. Probably feelings. Probably talking.
WHEN: Latter Wintermarch, after she returns from Warden training with Felix and Kaidan.
WHERE: Skyhold.
NOTES: Catch-all, starters below for interested parties. If you'd like to do something, PM me or see this plurk right here and we can figure something out!

Comments

[ungovernable]

"I did."

A simple answer that isn't to a question that feels more like an explanation; Benevenuta isn't so much older than Sabriel, less than a decade, but Terciel Abhorsen was before her time, and although such things are her business to know ... there have been more pressing things than scrutinizing what disgrace means specifically in this one particular instance of a man long since gone to the Grey Wardens. And gone, now.

"He was once of my Order, I know. My mother may have been acquainted."

Ayse is a woman who sticks in the memory, and she herself forgets little.

[paperwing]

Sabriel had not expected her to know him. But Terciel's reputation had remained long after he cut his ties; he had been an eyesore, an insult to tradition when she was sent to Perendale and not given freely. If nothing else was, that had been the final blow.

She would not be surprised if her father had known a Thevenet, but his life with that order was one he never really spoke of. Occasionally in passing, when he had something to teach, words to impart, what to do if a spirit passed through the veil, how to protect herself. But nothing of the internal politics, or the people he worked alongside. His life and his time in the Wardens meant a great many things to different people; but his life as a Mortalitasi was a greater mystery to Sabriel.

Still, it helps that Benevenuta recognises the name, as that makes the next admission simpler.

"He was wary of raising the dead, of beckoning to spirits across the Veil. Even to wisps," she says, quietly. "Terciel Abhorsen was my father. He told me a great deal about such things. But he allowed me to form my own opinions."

That being, necromancy is not something she can condone, nor accept. The dead should rest. Spirits should remain in the Fade, as they should be. Nothing more.

[ungovernable]

It isn't an alien perspective.

Well, it is; Benevenuta, for what are presumably obvious reasons, will never entirely grasp the difficulties so many other people have grasping her work, or accepting it. What it isn't is anything she hasn't encountered before - the Mortalitasi reputation is an alarming one outside of Nevarra, but the Abhorsens are clear enough indication that even within it, there are those who have their misgivings.

She doesn't begrudge them their opinions. They are wrong, obviously, and have no right to impede her with their objections, but the world has room in it for a great many people to hold a great many opinions. They can't all be correct, and if she defends only the opinions and people she likes best, she defends nothing at all. It is simple, if sometimes frustrating and difficult. Many things are.

"And so you have," she says, not unkindly. "Yes, I see."

Husband lifts her head a little as Benevenuta scratches her absently under the chin, and then reaches with care to lift her from Sabriel's lap into her arms. She's just large enough to make it awkward, but not so large as to mean she isn't absolutely accustomed to being carried around by noblewomen and expects this state of affairs to continue into her dotage.

Preparing to rise, she says, "I take no offense - and I will not press any on you. It is good that we are able to work together, even so."

She's had no complaint for Sabriel's professionalism in the Council. So long as that continues, that, she thinks, is what matters.

[paperwing]

Her replying nod is solemn. She has gaps in that knowledge, she knows; she's heard of the good, and so much more of the bad, but what to think was never forced upon her. She has the knowledge, the tools, to banish spirits back unto the Veil. She could bind a spirit to a corpse if that was what she wished, and it would be a lie to say that she hadn't wondered; but that was all the temptation she had ever had to explore it.

Death was final. That was the way of things.

"I had hoped I would not have to tell you." Despite her misgivings and discomfort, Sabriel did respect her, which had led to the quick and naive option of avoidance. She wouldn't confront her. But, with her knowing, and taking it on board, accepting it and understanding - it helped, helps now, adds to the respect. "For the better of the Council and those it protects in the future, I hope."