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We marched soddenly to our breakfast and filed into an uncharacteristically quiet mess We served ourselves a breakfast that was typical of every breakfast we had eaten at the Acadeht’s fast, I had quickly had enough We spoke little at the table, but exchanged leaders" and disather ourtexts, we had the answer Three trunks, already packed, waited in our study roo them, and the relief I felt shamed me Jared stared at his dully; I think they had overdosed him with the sedative, and he could not quite comprehend the full depth of his misfortune Trent went over and sat down on his and buried his face silently in his hands Lofert, a gangly dim lad who seldom spoke, did now "It’s not fair," he said hopelessly He looked round at all of us for confirmation "It’s not fair!" he said more loudly "What did I do that was any more than any of you did? Why me?"

We had no answer Rory looked stricken, and I think we all secretly wondered why he had not been sent packing Corporal Dent carily to roust us out He callously told Jared, Trent, and Lofert that they’d be es had already been sent to their fathers detailing their disgrace It felt horrible for the nine of us to form up where there had been twelve just yesterday Dent marched us double-time to our first class and left us at the door Trist spoke quietly as we entered the classroo, I suppose"

"Yah," Rory agreed stoically "And all I can say is, dalad it wasn’t me"

I felt the same, and it shamed me

CHAPTER 12

Letters from Home

Life at the Acade wound, and after a time the empty bunks in our quarters and our sn Outwardly, little changed, but inwardly, all s about the Acade seeranted, no honor or fellowship assumed In the space of a day I had seen three boys have all their dreams dashed I now had to believe that it could just as easily befallhad been intended to build a fire in le-minded concentration, I poured myself into my acadee at how the old nobles’ sons were treated in comparison to us We soon learned that none of therace On even flimsier excuses, four of the first-years froham House received demerits to march off, as did a number of the second-years Our own Corporal Dent had dark circles under his eyes for a e his punishment But that was the worst that befell any of them And in ti, "We were set up for that culling We were chue part was that once the culling faded in our an to enjoy , and yet uncomplicated All elements of my day were predetermined; I rose when told to do so, marched to my classes, did hts were extinguished As my father had foretold, my friendships deepened I still felt a divide between Spink and Trist I liked them both, Spink for his ethics and earnestness and Trist for his elegance and sophistication If I could have, I would have been friends with both of them, yet neither seemed inclined to allow that to happen

I think the differences between the two showedCaulder (as we all came to call him), for the commander’s son became very much a part of our lives I recall the first time the boy showed up in our common room, uninvited and unannounced It was at the end of our secondour proctor had left our study roo in town It was the first ti and a welco ourselves to our lessons to be ready when classes resumed on the morrow Certainly Spink ith faithful Gord at his elbow as he labored through page upon page ofclass I had finished raular verb forms As my father had intended, I was ahead of the column in most of my classes and fully resolved to retain that lead