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Our sole reason for visiting was to determine if my father could win theMy fa at that point in time, and he wished to deter too heavily in the silly creatures Much as he detested playing the merchant, he told me, as a new noble he had to establish the investrow "I’ve no wish to hand your brother an ee The future Lord Burvelles of the east must have income to support a noble lifestyle YouNevare, for as a second son, you o to be a soldier But when you are an old h, you will come home to your brother’s estate to retire You will live out your days at Widevale, and the incohters will marry, for it is the duty of a noble first son to provide for his soldier brother’s daughters It behooves you to know about these things"

I understood little, then, of what he was telling me Of late, he talked to me twice as much as he ever had, and I felt I understood only half as much of what he said He had only recently parted entle play I missed the The separation had been abrupt, following my father’s discovery that I spent arden with Elisi and Yaril, and had even adopted a doll asto the nursery festivities Such play alarrasp He had scolded my mother in a muffled "discussion" behind the closed doors of the parlor, and instantly assu My schoolbook lessons were suspended, pending the arrival of a new tutor he had hired In the intervening days, he kept me at his side for all sorts of tedious errands and constantly lectured rew up to be an officer in the king’s cavalla If I was not with my father, and sometimes even when I was, Corporal Parth supervised e had left me both isolated and unsettled I sensed I had somehow disappointed ed to return tothe man now and on my path to be my father’s soldier son? So he often reminded me, as did fat old Corporal Parth Parth hat my mother somewhat irritably called a "charity hire" Old, paunchy, and no longer fit for duty, he had coroundskeeper He was now the temporary replacement for the nanny I had shared with my sisters He was supposed to schooland fitness" each day until my father could locate a more qualified instructor I did not think anized and de old man who had carried his corporal’s rank into retireardedor Often, when he was supposed to be teaching , we spent an hour of that allotted tiood little sentry and keeping watch," which meant that I sat in the branches of a shady tree while he slept beneath it I had not toldParth had already instructed me in was that he was the coood soldier never questioned his orders

My father ell known at Franner’s Bend We rode through the town and up to the gates of the fortress There he was saluted and welcomed without question I looked curiously about me as we rode past an idle smith’s shop, a warehouse, and a barracks before we reined in our horses before the co, three stories tall, asme

"Give him a tour of the outpost and explain the layout of it Show hie The fortifications here are a classic arrangement of defenses See that he understands what that means"

If my father had looked back as he ascended the steps, he would have seen how Parth rolled his eyes My heart sank Itwith my father’s orders, and that I would later be held accountable for what I had not learned It had already happened twice before, withblamed for a "lack of attention" rather than Parth for his lack of instruction I resolved that would not happen this time