"I was thinking we could go over close combat fighting with the daggers, now that you finally have yours with you." Tannix nudged me. "What do you think?"

"Yes, sure," I agreed distractedly. "You're in charge when it comes to the fighting. I thought we had established that by now. Wait... what?" I paused, breaking out of my thoughts to glance at him. "The daggers are sharp."

Tannix nodded. "Yes."

"The practice swords aren't sharp."

"Of course not." He took a couple steps away from me and drew his dagger. "They're made of wood."

"You want to attack me with something sharp?"

"I'm not going to hurt you. The point of training is not to hack each other to pieces. I'm sure you know that."

"Do you even notice how often you hit me with the swords? If they were real, I would be dead by now. Why should I believe that you won't hit me with the dagger?"

"Maybe because I'm not out to kill you," Tannix replied simply. "If I was, you'd be dead by now." He grinned, taunting me. "Let's see what you can do. That trick where you rolled past me won't work this time."

I grumbled under my breath and reached for my dagger. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to have the other boys see it. It had, after all, only been a few days since I'd stolen it. Then there was the part of me that wanted to show off that I owned it. It was pretty, maybe not as fancy as Tannix's, but still impressive. I drew it with my left hand so I would at least have a chance at defending myself.

Tannix rolled his eyes, but didn't complain. "So remember. Fighting with these is different from fighting with the swords. Not only because these are sharp," he added, before I could make the point myself. "But because we'll be closer together. When we're practicing, we'll just go slowly. I'll make a good fighter out of you eventually."

"I doubt that," I muttered, but I walked a little closer to him and resigned myself to the next few hours. For all my complaining, I knew that Tannix wouldn't hurt me. He was too skilled to do so by accident.

He was already unsatisfied with something. His eyes flickered over my left hand. "You're not even... Here." He cut himself off, apparently finding it easier to show me than to explain. He adjusted the way I was holding the dagger, and then nodded. "Much better, now I can teach you something."

I was distracted by movement nearby, and I glanced up to see that Malte was walking towards us. "Um... Tannix? Malte's coming."

"What?" He sounded a little startled, likely because he had been thinking about what he should teach me first. He looked up and followed my gaze. "Oh, he's just coming to see what we're practicing." 

I knew that wasn't true. Malte's expression, though usually grumpy and disdainful, had taken on a look of anger. I knew it was directed at me. Only Tannix's light grip on my left arm kept me from bolting, even though he wasn't trying to trap me. Instead I froze, without really meaning to.

Tannix noticed. "Finn? What's wrong?"

I couldn't reply because Malte had reached us, and stood looming over us both. "Come with me," he ordered.

"Why?" Tannix asked. "Are we going to the lower city again?"

"Not you. Finagale," Malte replied dismissively. He grabbed my right forearm and tugged me away. I barely managed to slip my dagger back into its sheath, hoping that maybe it would be useful later.

"Lord Malte," Tannix argued. "I find this highly—"

"You may outrank me by birth, Lord Tandrix," Malte grumbled, "but within this Order, I am your superior. There are things that go on in this kingdom that you have yet to learn about." He left that as his only explanation before dragging me away across the courtyard. There was no point in putting up a fight, so I trailed along dejectedly, hoping he would lower his guard and give me a chance to climb away.

It didn't happen, and I shortly found myself in a small office. I was placed in a chair facing a large desk, which Malte sat behind. The door was behind me, and I knew I wouldn't make it out if I just ran. Malte's desk was covered with piles of paper, one of which he pushed to the side so that he could rest his arms on the wood.

I realized, suddenly, the reason he hadn't arrested me. As suspicious as he was, he had no proof that I wasn't supposed to be there. He was going to interrogate me. The realization brought with it a flicker of hope. I put on my best offended nobility look and sharply said, "Is this how you treat all the boys you don't like?"

"I think you know exactly why you are here," Malte replied.

"Yes," I agreed. "Because I'm good at climbing walls and you don't trust me because of it. Lord Tandrix is good at fighting, do you not trust him?"

"That is not the reason," Malte said calmly. "Finagale. That's not a Teltish name, is it? Sounds quite Native to me."

"My mother is a Native. She insisted on the name."

"And the way you speak... You see, Finagale, I do not only teach young boys the basic skills they will need in the Order. I specialize in languages. A particular fascination of mine is dialects. Do you know what that means?"

"Of course I do," I replied, hoping that I sounded insulted at his assumption. Of course, I didn't know.

"Teltans, across the kingdom, tend to sound similar in the way they speak and the words they use," Malte continued. "And their accents are often indistinguishable. Natives, on the other hand, speak differently city to city. This is because they do not come in contact with each other very often, and because of that have developed different ways of saying things. Your pronunciation is distinctly Native, particularly the Zianna dialect."

"My mother is a Native," I repeated, slightly less sure of myself this time. "I picked up things from her."

"You claim to come from a farm villa near Kitsi, correct?"

I nodded.

"So tell me, how does a common Zianna Native end up the wife of a lord, albeit a lesser lord, near Kitsi?"

"She was raised here, but her family moved to Kitsi when she was young. She ended up working in my father's household, and they fell in love," I said. "I can't explain love, sir. I know it's unusual for Teltans to fall in love with Natives, but it happens." I had to consciously make the effort to say Teltans. I knew that saying Telt would have given me away.

Malte narrowed his eyes. He picked up a piece of paper from the stack beside him and glanced over it casually, but I knew he had probably memorized everything it said. "Where is your farm villa?"

"North of Kitsi," I replied.

"North of Kitsi is Lord Paonne's land."

I nodded. "Yes, of course, most of it." I agreed quickly, before realizing that he might have made up the name to trick me. I hesitated, sure that I had made a mistake, but he didn't say anything. "Lord Paonne owns most of the land," I continued warily. "My father is just a lesser lord beneath him."

"So why is it that I can find no record of your family in this Order?"

"I'm the first one to come here, sir," I lied. "My father was the only son, and my grandfather is the one who earned the land from Lord Paonne. I've been the first son able to come."

"So you have an older sibling?"

"Yes, Finagan."

"What is your father's name?"

That question caught me off guard though I should have expected it. "Lord F—" Loud knocking at the door interrupted and saved me.

Malte groaned. "Enter!" he called.

I resisted the urge to glance back to see who had opened the door. I didn't need to, anyway, as it was Tannix, who spoke after the door creaked open.

"Sir, Lord Co is here. He wishes to speak to you immediately."

"When did he get here?"

"He just charged in on his horse, sir."

Malte looked thoughtful for a moment. "Tell him I can speak to him now." He looked at me and nodded towards the door. "Go."

"Thank you, sir," I said quietly. Hopefully, I didn't sound as scared as I felt. I got to my feet and walked past Tannix to leave the room. He let the door close and quickly caught up with me.

"What was that about?"

I shrugged, but my mind was racing. I had to get out. My lies might have been convincing enough this time, but I knew Malte wouldn't leave me alone. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice the man standing in front of me until I had walked into him. "Sorry, sir, I..." but then I stopped, because I recognized him. He looked down at me quizzically, as though he was trying to remember where he'd seen me before.

"Lord Malte is ready to see you, sir," Tannix spoke up.

The man stopped looking at me to nod at Tannix. "Thank you." He walked off without another word.

"What's wrong with you?" Tannix whispered.

I was shaking, but I hadn't noticed it before he brought it up. "That man..."

"Lord Co?"

"He's... missing his ring, isn't he?"

"I didn't notice." Tannix sounded confused. "Finn, what's going on?"

"Can we go up to your room?" I asked.

Tannix nodded hesitantly. "Yes, come on."

I tried not to look the part of nervous criminal, but it was hard. Every noise startled me, and I half expected Malte to leap from the shadows and grab me. Lord Co must have explained how his ring had been stolen, and Malte must have made the connection. 

The walk up to Tannix's room seemed to take twice as long as usual. The staircase seemed taller, the hallway longer. Everything was drawn out and every sound was a threat. When we did eventually reach Tannix's room, without having been stopped along the way, I thanked Zianesa.

Tannix closed his door and leaned back against it. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared across the room at me. I went straight for the window and opened it, but I didn't leave. I needed to leave when he wasn't watching me so carefully, so that I'd have a least a moment's head start.

"Tell me what's going on."

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I lied to you."

"About what?"

I paused and met his gaze across the room. "Everything."

Tannix looked startled, but before my words really had time to sink in, a loud gong echoed in from outside. I flinched, and glanced quickly at the window. It was different from the gong that woke me up every morning. It was an alarm.

"Finn, what did you do?"

"I'm sorry," I repeated, glancing quickly back over at him. He was still near the door. I turned and pulled myself out of his window before he could even take a step in my direction. I wasn't used to this section of the wall, but I still hurried up to the roof. Hopefully, no one would know I had fled this way except for Tannix, and I desperately hoped that our friendship would keep him from coming after me. I grabbed my old cloak from corner it was stashed in and pulled it on. The red of my stolen cloak would be nearly impossible to hide, but I didn't want to leave it behind. Covering it would have to do.

I crept to the edge of the roof to look down into the courtyard. It was filled with people, both men and boys. Malte and Lord Co were standing in front of them all, explaining what the alarm was for. The whole place would be looking for me, so I knew I had to be quick. I picked the wall that was hidden from the courtyard and slowly started down it. I was about halfway down when the gong went again, and I assumed that meant people had started their search.

I was still out of sight from the courtyard when I reached the ground. A quick glance around confirmed that I was alone, so I hurried across the walkway to the main wall. If I could get over it and into the upper city, I would stand a chance at getting away. If I could make it to the lower city, they would never be able to find me.

I grabbed the edge of a large brick and began to haul myself up, only to be pulled back down and have a hand clamped over my mouth. I began struggling furiously, until he spoke.

"Finagale, stop it."

I did. Despite the fact that Tannix could have been arresting me, I listened to him.

"Lord Tandrix?" a call came from further down the walkway. Whoever called was right behind one of the other buildings, if they just turned the corner, they would see us. I couldn't help it and started to struggle against Tannix again.

"He's not here!" Tannix yelled back. "I'll check around the next corner!"

I froze again. Tannix let me go and glared at me, while rubbing a spot on his arm I thought I had hit with my elbow.

"You're lucky I knew you'd come down over here," he said.

"You're not going to..."

Tannix shook his head. "No. Did you steal that ring from Lord Co?"

I nodded.

"So who are you?"

"I..." I hesitated. Telling him seemed harder than it should have been. Maybe it was because I valued his friendship, or maybe it was because the son of West Draulin deserved to be friends with better people than me. "I'm a thief from the streets."

I expected anger, maybe even disgust. I didn't expect him to step back and cross his arms. I didn't expect the disappointment in his eyes. His gaze raked over me, seeing me properly for the first time. I wanted to say something to fix the widening rift between us, but there was nothing I could say that would change what had just happened.

Tannix broke the silence. "I suppose that explains a lot." He jerked his head at the wall. "Go."

I took a step backwards and lay one hand on the wall, but I couldn't bring myself to turn around. "Tannix..." I wasn't used to being at a loss for words. Lying always came so easily. Honesty was harder.

"Are you going to lie to me again?" Tannix's gaze hardened. "You need to leave. You're going to get caught."

"No, I... I'm sorry."

"Go," Tannix repeated more sharply, before abruptly turning and walking away from me.

"Thank you," I quietly called after him, part of me hoping he would glance back. He just kept walking.