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"I don’t think that was fakery, Nevare," Spink said firmly, as if I had asserted it was He still held my cousin in his ar out sharply on his face "Whatever happened here ell, not real but…not pretend, either" He finished his sentence la up, Nevare! What did we allow her to do? I should have listened to you I know that now, I should have listened to you Epiny? Nevare, I’m so sorry Epiny! Please, wake up!"
I looked away from the misery on his face Spink, likethat h her, well, where would that belief carry us? Yet if we did not believe it, we must decide that either she was insane, or an unrepentant liarfools of us I stubbornly rejected every theory, and turned nore ely I think Spink took it as a rebuke to hiun to ti her around He looked frightened, almost as if he wanted to cry
I went and wet my handkerchief in the river and came back to dab at her wrists and temples Epiny roused quite slowly Even when she could sit up by herself, she still seeo hoht our horses and helped my cousin to mount Our ride back was far more sedate than our journey there I did not speak at all Spink essayed several bland pleasantries, and after his third effort Epiny said she would like to listen to the birds sing for the rest of the ride There were no birds that I saw or heard I think she knew Spink was unnerved by our experience and was trying to y to reward him I wanted to diset Spink’s attention I could not It if had all been a pretense, why didn’t she take advantage of his concern now? Instead she looked straight ahead, unspeaking, and I wondered how much of the seance, if any, she remembered She dismounted at the door, and I allowed Spink to escort her inside while I took the horses around to the stable
When I came in, Spink toldus for luncheon Whene, he nodded calued with headaches He see odd about it, and turned the talk to plans for e ht next come to visit Spink could not seem to find a response or an appetite He pushed his food about on his plate, and when I said we had been warned that our studies would soon become more difficult and that we should save our free time for our books, Spink nodded unhappily
CHAPTER 17
Tiber
The carriage ride back to the Academy was a quiet one It see so Both Spink and I were subdued, and htful The bizarre seance and Epiny’s abrupt withdrawal after it filled led hether it was my duty to tell my uncle of all that had transpired The worst was that I could not in good conscience talk about it without revealing to him my subjective experience of it I dissected the "seance," trying to recall every word Epiny had said to an to see that it was my interpretation of her words that was so otherworldly and strange She had never said, "I a for you from your past!" I had supplied all those connections e expression on her face and ic and "keep fast" charms
I felt swept by a tide of revelation I had created it all inhad really happened Charitably, I decided that Epiny did believe that spirits were invading her s She was not a conscious fraud I had been drawn in by her playacting or delusion, and I had provided the unspoken details that hadIf, as a rational and modern man, I looked at what she had said and done, there was really very little to it I drew in a deep breath, and with great relief, rejected , the penalty I ame of seance The next time, I would know better I was older and aI would not ain
Spink, too, was silent and withdrawn, staring out the ordlessly at the passing scenery I think looates, he took a deep breath and then warned us that he had sent a , to request "an hour of the co what your honesty ht down upon you and your fellows If Colonel Stiet is any kind of true officer, then he will appreciate knowing that there are abuses going on within his command Lieutenant Tiber deserves to be treated fairly, as do all first-years of any parentage Stiet should take steps to assure equity, and I intend to ask hi with the offenders If what I hear does not satisfy o directly to the board that oversees the Academy If it comes to that, you both o that far, but I want to be honest with you Through no fault of your own, you have entered difficult waters Nevare, I want you to write to me daily and with honesty If letters do not arrive froain, so see that you do not neglect this task"