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"Oh, that was so enlightening," Trist said He had been silent up until then, though I had twice seen hi Gord’s discourse "Do you honestly think there’s aon and given thought to it?"

Instantly it seeh I seriously doubted that any of us had pondered it through as Gord had

"Not all of usbefore we understand what the currents are in the Acade it seem Gord’s own fault that he had been attacked

I took a deep breath to say my piece on that, but closed my lips as I heard a too-fa on politics So in their midst is bad for the Acade Caulder had been standing out of sight beside the door before he chose to enter

"What do you want here?" Spink asked him waspishly

Caulder smiled nastily "You, actually Not that I want you; quite the contrary! But for some reason my father wishes to see you Immediately You are to report to hiaze slid froht I saw a shadow of pain in his eyes, and he sounded al over your fine jest on me, Trist? How stupid of ht want my friendship"

Trist should have been an actor, not a soldier He looked puzzled "A jest between us, Caulder? I don’t recall one"

"You poisonedtobacco You knew very well how sick it wouldabout it afterward"

We had I tried not to look guilty Trist made it seem effortless He opened his hands as if to show he had no weapons "How could I, Caulder? You ht recall that I ith you I walked you home afterward"

"You made me puke on purpose In front of everyone To ht, and I felt a s about Trist

Trist looked mildly wounded "Caulder, I’ve told you this already I have never seen anyone get as sick as you did fro of tobacco Where I come from, mere children are known to nibble a bit, and suffer no bad consequences Truth to tell, it’s supposed to have ive some to my little sister For colic"

Did some subtle cue pass between Trist and Oron? The redheaded cadet chimed in with, "I cannot understand it, either I’ve chewed tobacco since I was eight, with no ill effects"

"Cadet Jaris toldtobacco makes nearly everyone sick the first time it is tried He said you deliberatelya new noble’s son He said you did it to hed at ht to keep his voice steady as he spoke In the silence that followed his words, he stood very still, obviously divided I could see the boy wanting Trist to be upright and sincere in his offer of friendship I felt sad for hi and so needy, and yet I also felt vindictively satisfied to see him mistreated I was certain he had been involved in Tiber’s and Gord’s beatings He was treacherous, and as the Writ says, the treacherous one earns only treachery from his fellows

Trust spread his hands helplessly "What can I say to you, Caulder? I myself will not speak ill of a fellow cadet and cavalla man, so I cannot make you see that perhaps others would lie and slander to make you mistrust me All I can say is, quite sincerely, I aave you olden cadet stepped forward, hand outstretched to the lad

Caulder looked as if the sun had suddenly risen just for hierly to clasp Trist’s hand, even as Spink od witness all you do" It’s a saying , for few of us would willingly call the good god to witness all we do every day I wasn’t sure if Caulder even heard what Spink said, for he turned a quick snarl at hi!"

I saw Spink struggle not to respond to that, and win He stood, closing his books and tidying his space "It seems odd for the commander to still be in his office at this hour," I observed, and Caulder looked nearly triumphant as he said, "For matters of discipline, where else would he meet with the cadet in question?"