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The convening of the Council of Lords, scheduled for that month, was a double disappointment to me All the patrols, new and old alike, competed in horse drill to see ould be in the honor parade that welcomed the nobles to Old Thares The Carneston House Riders were not chosen Since ere first-years, our chances had been slim, but we had hoped for that distinction A second disappointment was the news that my father would not make the journey to the Council of Lords this year, for he had pressing proble cattle frorasp why that was unacceptable to my father My father had to stay and sort it out, with both our Plainsmen and the irate cattleman

I envied the other cadets ould enjoy visits fro to Old Thares for the gathering We were to be given several days off to leave the Academy and visit with relatives But not all of us had invitations to go anywhere Gord would be so favored, as would Rory Nate’s and Kort’s fathers were journeying together, and bringing their faht-headed at the thought of seeing their sweethearts, no ht be Trist’s uncle lived in Old Thares and he saw hiht of his father and elder brother sitting at table with them Trist’s family had invited Nate’s and Kort’s fathers to accept their hospitality for a dinner, and the three cadets were looking forward to a convivial Sevday dinner Oron’s and Caleb’s fathers did not expect to co, but Oron’s aunt lived in Old Thares, and she had invited him and Caleb to come and spend their extra days off with her Nobly born, she still led e regarded as an eccentric lifestyle She had est son, a hout Old Thares for the s they hosted Oron and Caleb both looked forward to a lively break fro anyone from his family; the journey was too arduous and expensive So he and I co abandoned and anticipated a couple of days on our own in the doret leave to visit soood on my promise of buttons and lace forday drew closer and nobles both new and old flocked to Old Thares, their political differences came to the fore in the press and on our campus The friction between old and new nobles’ sons that had died down stirred again in small, unpleasant ways There were several thistly decisions facing the Council of Lords at this gathering I refused to bother my head with them, and only by a forced osmosis of overheard discussions did I know that one had to do with how the king would raise funds for his road building and his forts in the far east I was also vaguely aware that there was a large disagreement about soed to theh politics were not discussed in most of our classes, there were plenty of hallway debates and some of them became heated The issues see to do with soldiering, I ignored them The sons of old nobles, however, seemed to consider such issues as personal affronts, and said such things as, "The king will beggar our fa his road to nowhere!" or "He will use his pet battle lords to vote in a law allowing him to siphon our income away" None of us liked to hear our fathers referred to as "pets," and so the discord akened between us again It grew as the end of the week approached, for ht away from the dormitory since we had arrived The fortunate ones would be allowed to leave the campus on Fiveday afternoon and could be aith their fa break was on everyone’s mind as we queued up for the midday meal that Threeday The mess had always been "first come, first served" in the sense that as each patrol arrived, it was allowed to join the line for entry As we had to enter in an orderly and quiet manner, it could so men Worst were the days when chill rain fell on us as aited A cadet could not even hunch his shoulders, but must stand with correct posture That day, a chill as blowing and the sleet that pelted us was trying to turn into wet snow Thus ere not pleased when Corporal Dent abruptly ordered us to move aside of the runtled as ere, we still had the sense to keep quiet, except for Gord "Sir, why do they have priority over us?" he asked almost plaintively from the ranks