It was wrong. The lady Cousland knew that as surely as she knew her own name, or that of the man laying at her side, quiet, but not asleep.
He heard it too, she knew that. But it was too soon. The Call was always going take them eventually--that was, perhaps, the only thing about which Duncan had been open from the start. (Well, after the Joining, at least. No sense in telling recruits they were doomed to an eventful, short, and painful life until they were hopelessly committed, after all. And it wasn't as if she'd had much choice to begin with.) But it wasn't supposed to be happening now.
It sounded like... a song. Except that wasn't quite the right word, because it wasn't music she could hear so much as feel. And it was a haunting melody which she could almost understand, but true comprehension danced ever out of reach.
Was that what eventually drove Wardens to the Deep Roads, and to their deaths, in the absence of a Blight? This desperate need to know just what was being sung, why it resonated with their tainted souls?
"You're still awake," Alistair said--a statement, not a question. He knew as well as she the futility of sleep with that whisper at the edge of the mind.
She heard him sit up in there tent, and she turned to meet his gaze--the one thing, she thought, keeping her from following that Calling straight to the depths of the world. But they wouldn't be able to keep resisting--not for long. The rest of the Wardens had already begun to disappear. Vigil's Keep stood empty, and Andraste herself couldn't say what the Orlesian Wardens were up to. Something had to be done.
"...You're going to leave again, aren't you."
Cousland gave a deep sigh. "I have to," she said at length, looking back at him. "I need to find out why this is happening--and how to stop it."
"You know I'd follow you anywhere."
"I know. But I can't take you with me." The look on his face said he'd suspected as much. "I need someone here I know I can still trust--if all else fails, that fledgling Inquisition might even be of use. But I... it has to stop. There has to be a way. We didn't defeat the Blight just to let it claim us before our time."
Her conviction did not waver, even as the song swelled within her.
She'd beaten the forces of evil before. She could damn well do it again.
Lady Cousland/Alistair, the Calling
He heard it too, she knew that. But it was too soon. The Call was always going take them eventually--that was, perhaps, the only thing about which Duncan had been open from the start. (Well, after the Joining, at least. No sense in telling recruits they were doomed to an eventful, short, and painful life until they were hopelessly committed, after all. And it wasn't as if she'd had much choice to begin with.) But it wasn't supposed to be happening now.
It sounded like... a song. Except that wasn't quite the right word, because it wasn't music she could hear so much as feel. And it was a haunting melody which she could almost understand, but true comprehension danced ever out of reach.
Was that what eventually drove Wardens to the Deep Roads, and to their deaths, in the absence of a Blight? This desperate need to know just what was being sung, why it resonated with their tainted souls?
"You're still awake," Alistair said--a statement, not a question. He knew as well as she the futility of sleep with that whisper at the edge of the mind.
She heard him sit up in there tent, and she turned to meet his gaze--the one thing, she thought, keeping her from following that Calling straight to the depths of the world. But they wouldn't be able to keep resisting--not for long. The rest of the Wardens had already begun to disappear. Vigil's Keep stood empty, and Andraste herself couldn't say what the Orlesian Wardens were up to. Something had to be done.
"...You're going to leave again, aren't you."
Cousland gave a deep sigh. "I have to," she said at length, looking back at him. "I need to find out why this is happening--and how to stop it."
"You know I'd follow you anywhere."
"I know. But I can't take you with me." The look on his face said he'd suspected as much. "I need someone here I know I can still trust--if all else fails, that fledgling Inquisition might even be of use. But I... it has to stop. There has to be a way. We didn't defeat the Blight just to let it claim us before our time."
Her conviction did not waver, even as the song swelled within her.
She'd beaten the forces of evil before. She could damn well do it again.