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"Do you think this is too ae "It seems like what you ould be i’s ireat deal of thought But to succeed, I must have a boy who believes this can happen"

"I believe it," Roden said

I snorted Conner turned to me "You don’t believe it’s possible?"

"Just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s wise"

With arched eyebrows, Conner said, "And you clai, sir"

"That is a good starting place Now, Tobias, stand up" Tobias stood, looking as nervous as if he were about to be asked the one most important question in the world, and he had no answer As it turned out, Conner planned on doing all the talking

Conner said, "You have the right shade of hair The face is a little narrower than I would have expected for the prince, but the reseht is acceptable and build is trim, like the queen’s I like that you have education, but you are not as quick a thinker as I would want If someone were to question you with an answer you did not know, I fear you ht hesitate and spoil the plan"

Tobias reacted to Conner’s assessment like he’d been punched I couldn’t understand why it bothered his Tobias had any control over And it wasn’t like Conner would find anyone he considered a perfect candidate

Next, Conner ordered Roden to stand "Less of a rese resemblance to the queen’s family, so we may convince people of your identity Your ah you often lack confidence when necessary You are completely uneducated, which , which will give you an advantage with the sword and on horseback"

Conner told hi and said, "Sir, now that I knohat it is you’re seeking, I can make myself into this prince"

"Sit," Conner repeated, unimpressed by Roden’s pleas He nodded his head atcolor of hair, though we ht color it over with the proper dyes You show a preference for the left hand when it absolutely ht expect froest of the three boys, though any of you will have to lie about your exact age How are you at learning accents?"

"You ask if I can learn a Carthyan accent in teeks?" I asked

"You cannot clai like an Avenian"

"It doesn’t matter," I said "I don’t want the throne Choose Roden or Tobias, and I’ll leave and go where you’ll never see er "Do you think I care a devil’s inch what you want? You are here because, despite a few physical setbacks, you have seeds of the personality I ht expect for Prince Jaron If we can weed out your bad manners and defiant nature, I suspect you could convince the nobles that you are hi left ofas Tobias or predictable as Roden Why don’t you take their physical siive them a personality?"

It was a rhetorical question I didn’t actually think either of them could adopt a personality

"Prince Jaron was a fighter," Conner said "You’ve done nothing but fight since we met"

"And if you try to use ," I said "You don’t want a prince, you want a puppet You’ve taken on this plan in secret Why? Maybe you can’t sit on the throne, but you plan to rule frouide his arms and feed him with the words he should say next I won’t!"