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I winced at that Conner didn’t notice He never had before, either

"The announceents have known this froh rumors to confirm the likelihood in their ents who traveled to Avenia to seek any news as to the life or death of Prince Jaron They will report a confirmation that he’s dead"

"How do you know?" I asked

"Because he is dead!" Conner snapped "Who do you think hired the pirates so o?"

The news knocked the wind fros It overwhelmed any sense of pretense I’d been able tohie that I still wanted hiht

"Why?" My voice was hoarse I didn’t trust ht it’d force us into ith Avenia Eckbert stood by and did nothing year after year while Avenia inched its way deeper into Carthyan lands But if Avenian pirates killed his son, he’d be forced to act Unfortunately, despite the pirates’ assurances to me that everyone on that ship went down, Jaron’s body was never found Eckbert was able to appease his critics by saying he wouldn’t go to war until he had Jaron’s body as evidence in the attack However, Avenia has backed off since their suspected involvement in Jaron’s death, so in a way, my plan worked better than I could have hoped for Our borders are safer and no as needed"

Conner paused as if he expected ratulations? He seemed to sense my discomfort, then added, "I know this secret is safe with you because you can’t reveal it without betraying your own true identity"

"No," I mumbled "I can’t betray ether as if the ents report that Prince Jaron is dead, this will be the tih cha must be chosen However, before he stands, I will co about Jaron’s death That’s when I will introduce you to the court There will be a bit of coht to him There will be several questions, a careful examination of you It will take some time, and no matter what they say, you must answer calue under control And you le mistake Can you do it?"

"I can"

That pleased Conner "Good We’ll work on your answers throughto say, and of course, I’ll be there to assist should you get into any trouble"

I pushedelse Conner pushed it back to y today"

I shoved my chair behind me and stood "You said you have proof I can offer them What is it?"

"Later," Conner said "You don’t get that unless I’ht You have only a few hours to learn everything else you et started?"

I closedMy heart raced at the prospect of all that lay ahead of me that day Nowas certain I was not, nor would I ever be, ready But that wasn’t what he wanted to hear So I looked at hiin"

Conner drilled me nonstop for four hours He refused to answer any knock on the door with more than an order of "Go away," and denied my requests for a break to step outside and clear my head I didn’t care about most of what he told me, but I had to remember it for noord for word, in order to repeat it back to him

Finally, in the late afternoon, Conner announced I was ready to go before the court He declared himself an excellent teacher due to the fact that I had learned so uess how s I did not know Things I had been too young to understand when I left there as a child Conner had provided me with details of Jaron’s early life with such intimacy that I had asked him how he could know so much