Being able to tell when someone is lying is one of those skills.
And Evengi is lying to me… about his name of all things?
“You never answered my earlier question,” I say before the silence can go on for too long. Even as I speak, my mind is whirling with questions.
“About?” he asks as he slides his four fingers into a pocket in his pants.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, after I got myself situated in the boarding house, I decided to take a stroll through and see the village. That stroll brought me to this doorstep and I thought I’d be friendly and say hi.”
I notice that he only answers as to why he isherein Brom’s front yard, not in Sunder Hollow as a whole.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” I reply with a smile.
This clearly surprises him. He moves back a step. “Oh?”
I think he knows exactly what I mean byhere,and it isn’t Brom’s front yard. But since he refuses to acknowledge the larger scheme of things, so will I. If he will leave me guessing, then I won’t give him the courtesy of being straightforward.
“Indeed, it saves me the trouble of tracking you down. We are holding a ball tonight in the village square. You are invited to come. Indeed, I must insist you come. After all, it will be thrown in your honor.” I lean toward him, tucking my hands behind my back. “After all, it’s so rare that we get visitors here in Sunder Hollow.”
Evengi is not intimidated by my suddenly invading his space, like Brom would have been. He would have broken contact and moved away stammering something idiotic, but instead Evengi just leans toward me until there is hardly an inch of space between the two of us and whispers, “And yet, here we both are.”
Chapter Four
Evengi
The spirits are restless here in Sunder Hollow, and I’m determined to figure out why.
I can hear them crying out, whispers of abominations and injustices. I stroll down the muddy streets of this town that I can only describe asquaint.At least that’s if I am to listen to my mother’s teaching and save my tongue from saying any insults.
Tis never polite to insult, even if it’s deserved.
“And the polite will rule the world,” I whisper smiling slightly at my mother’s adage. Oh, but she is a particular woman and far too prim for any of our gods. It’s been too long since I’ve last visited my family. I will have to remedy that soon as I can, but first the ghosts.
Sunder Hollow may have some things going for it—things I have yet to witness—but its size is not one of them. The population is small, and the people mistrusting. I suppose I cannot blame them, in a town this small and isolated, these people are at risk of a large band of bandits raiding them or something far worse…
There are always the sorcerers who engage in their cultish practices. Many sorcerers choose to live in isolated areas where they can perform their heresies without the threat of a discovery. These are dangerous times, you come across the wrong mill and wind up as a human sacrifice.
Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice…the spirits hiss and I find myself frowning. These spirits are more than restless. They are angry.
I wish that one would materialize in front of me so that I can speak to it, ask it important questions such as who killed it and how long it has been dead.
Spirits don’t have a way of marking the passage of time, and so old wounds still drive them even if the person they wish to avenge may be long dead.
I twist my head, as cold air washes over me. To the people around me it may seem like just the wind, but I know better. It’s the frustrated breath of the spirits.
People go through their lives so blissfully ignorant, not realizing just how many of the spirits have lost their way and now exist somewhere between the world of the living and Skyhold, the realm of the gods and the dead.
They trust that upon their death, Thyre, the head god and guardian of the afterlife, will collect their souls and bring them to him. But those who have died in especially violent ways often remain behind, bound to this world by the nature of their death. And they aren’t the only ones to become trapped spirits.
Those seeking vengeance also lose their way.
Those who are still too connected to Ruskhazar and do not wish to leave.
Heretics.
There are far more ghosts here than anyone would realize. It’s just that most people cannot see them since the ghosts spend most of their time in noncorporeal forms, only taking on visible attributes in extremely rare circumstances.
