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Defensively, Tobias arched his head "If she doesn’t talk, then it won’t matter what Conner did"

"It always ree with me, but his head was buried in the book in front of hiertip

We all fell into silence as Mistress Havala returned Tobias lapsed into a sort of daydream until Roden and I failed to answer her next question, which he then answered without hesitation

Mistress Havala was an excellent tutor, and by the end of the class session, we could all name the major Carthyan cities and describe their contributions to the country Fortunately for us, few cities in Carthya can be considered major, so it was easy to learn them Unfortunately for Carthya, their contributions to the country are equally unimpressive The new prince would need to work hard to build up production of our natural resources Predictably, Tobias announced he was up to the challenge Mistress Havala raised an eyebrow at his words but said nothing

There was a knock at the door, and two servants entered, carrying what I guessed was our lunch I didn’t know the first girl who entered, but the second servant was Iave her usual frown, then lowered her eyes They set the trays down and left

Mistress Havala placed the book she’d been teaching us from on her desk, then handed us each a meat pie wrapped in a thick pastry I ate mine in four bites and turned to Tobias, as only halfway through his "Can I have the rest of yours?"

Tobias laughed, but I hadn’t been joking He finished the rest of his pie without answering me while Mistress Havala continued on

After our history lessons, Mott returned and escorted us to Conner’s stables Cregan aiting for us there His arhtly as we approached, I briefly wondered if they were knotted "That’s right," he said gruone, he pointed to a saddle balanced on the top of a fence "Let’s start here This is what you sit on to ride a horse"

"You can’t be serious," I said "Are you really going to treat us like it’s the first time we’ve seen a horse? We can all ride"

"I don’t knohat your skills are --" Cregan said

"My skills are better than yours," I said "I can outride you with my eyes closed Probably so can Tobias and Roden"

Cregan’s eyes narrowed "Better than my skills? I’m not just a rider I’m a trainer I break wild horses and I can break you"

I ignored that last part and said, "I can ride anything you can ride"

Cregan smiled "You won’t bait me so easily, boy"

"Why not?" Tobias said "If he says he can ride, why not test his skills?"

Cregan stared at Tobias, then ht Wait here" And walked back into the stalls

"Thanks," I said to Tobias

Tobias glanced sideways at e Hopefully, this will teach you a lesson"

Our attention was diverted by a crashing sound in the stables Slowly, I shook my head and mumbled to Tobias, "You don’t think he has an untrained horse in there, do you?"

"Sounds like it," Tobias said

"Can you ride?" Roden asked ?"