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Tobias releasedwith me I’ll keep this knife ready if you do"

I stu to try in here? You know that if you’re this paranoid as king, it’ll eat you alive"

"Maybe King Eckbert should’ve been ht now"

I stopped and grabbed on to the wall for support It took every bit of my concentration not to be sick all over him

"You okay?" Tobias asked Not that he cared When I began walking again, he followed, adding, "What’s the point of wandering around here every night?"

The sting gradually eased It was still fierce, but the whipping had hurt worse Maybe he hadn’t cut ht

"Conner has you and Roden in his control," I said "Not me"

"Not me either," Tobias quickly said, but from the tone of his voice, it was obvious that even he didn’t believe it

"I’d like to go to our room now," I said "I’izing for that I’d rather keep you weak"

"What a person of honor you are"

Tobias snorted "A stateht a faint smile to my face "Then let’s hope Conner chooses Roden, so that Carthya has so"

Tobias didn’t like that and he strutted ahead of eneration, with or without Conner’s lead He has no thought that someone else hasn’t put there I shudder to think either of you has any chance of being chosen"

"If Conner’s choice was that obvious, ht now"

"My warning is real," Tobias said "And if you try to tell anyone about this, I’ll see that Roden takes the blame I kno to persuade Conner"

"You have no control over Conner You "

"I’ll let hiet rid of him Where are we?"

Despite the pain I still felt, I couldn’t help but smile wickedly "Conner’s room is on the other side of this wall Pray he is a deep sleeper, or else he heard every word you just said"

Tobias made a sound in his throat and put his ear to the wall, to see if he could hear Conner on the other side I used the rab his arm and twist it behind his back, and then withdrew my own knife from inside my clothes

"Where’d that come from?"

"You’re not the only one who stole from the kitchen" I withdrew his knife from his belt and whispered in his ear, "You’re in a lot of trouble, Tobias Conner knows about the notes you et rid of hi to kill you"

Then I hit him over the back of the head with the butt of my knife and he fell unconscious

Tobias was asleep in bed when I woke up, so he ht The idea that I’d slept through his walking freely around the rooht sleeper, and I didn’t like the idea of wondering what he ht have been tempted to do to me in my sleep

Roden was already awake and still working on the book he’d taken off Tobias’s desk the night before "I can figure out a lot of these words," he said "You should’ve paid more attention to Master Graves I think he could’ve helped you"

"I can’t pretend to be interested in so," I muttered