The False Prince (The Ascendance Trilogy #1)(36)

“Thought you’d never see me again?” I asked.

“It’s like looking at the dead,” Roden said.

“We didn’t think Conner would bring you back here,” Tobias said. “Not after what you did.”

“It’s okay for him to steal from me, but not for me to take it back?”

They didn’t answer and stared at Imogen as if they wanted her to leave before anything more was said. I finished the rest of my soup and handed it to Imogen. She shook her head stiffly at me, then gathered up any items not needed and quickly left the room.

“It’s irrelevant for you now anyway,” Tobias said, sitting at the desk. “You’ve missed so much of the lessons, there’s no way you can catch up, not even to Roden. Conner will choose me.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“No, it’s true,” Roden said, obviously dismayed. “Conner made it very clear at supper tonight that I’ve been a disappointment to him and you’re too unstable. He didn’t say anything at all about Tobias. If he had any problem with him, he’d certainly have said so.”

“Tobias isn’t strong enough to be king,” I said. “You and I have proven ourselves. Has he?”

“I will.” Tobias’s face was already red, and I suspected it was going to get redder before he was finished. “Don’t challenge me on that and don’t get in my way.”

Pretending I couldn’t detect the threatening tone in his voice, I casually leaned my head against the wall. “This is your chance with Conner, then. Be strong. Be bold. Tell him about all the notes you’ve made. Show them to him and prove just how smart you’ve become.”

Tobias glanced over at his stack of papers. Worry lines creased his forehead as he asked, “Have you been in my papers?”

“What good would that do me? I just think those notes would show off the results of your studies, prove to him that you have plans of your own.”

Tobias grabbed his papers and threw them into the fire. He marched over to my bed and stuck a finger in my face, then yelled, “You think you’re so clever, but if you push me any further you’ll see how foolish you are.”

“I never denied being a fool,” I said, lying back down on my bed. “That’s the difference between us.”





I slept the rest of that evening and through the night, waking up only when Imogen came to check on my bandages.

There was so much I wanted to ask her, but someone else was always in the room with us, and any real conversation was impossible.

I was more careful this time to let her do her job without giving her any particular attention, though I still felt the entire charade was ridiculous. Most of these servants came to Farthenwood in better circumstances than I had. And right now, I was much more like the servants than Conner. My friendships with Imogen or Errol or Mott shouldn’t have threatened any of them.

Morning brought stiffness to my muscles. I must’ve been too tired the day before to notice how sore they were, or maybe it was that I didn’t have to move around much before now. Errol insisted on helping me dress, even brought Mott into the room to ensure I accepted that help. It wasn’t necessary. Standing there with my arms out while Errol dressed me was about as much as I could do.

With considerable struggle, I managed to stay awake that day and even paid a semblance of attention to the morning tutors. Master Graves made it very clear that they had moved on without me and had no time to return to the lessons of the previous few days, so I would have to catch up as best as I could.

“It’s been a week since you came to Farthenwood, Sage, and you’re no further along than the first day we started.”

I told him that was probably because I’d only had two of his lessons and, in all fairness to myself, hadn’t really bothered to pay attention to either of them. This only darkened his glares at me, and he focused the rest of the lesson on Roden.

Mistress Havala also said there wasn’t enough time to review what had been discussed while I was — she generously used the word indisposed — but gave me two books that she said contained much of the same information.

“You probably can’t read them without help,” she said. “Perhaps Tobias will help you in the evenings.”

“I’m certain that Tobias has already given me too much help,” I said.

Tobias gripped the sides of his chair and said whatever he might do to please Master Conner would please him.

Roden and Tobias did horseback and sword-fighting lessons that afternoon. I was excused from participating, but Mott insisted I watch them. I watched the horseback lessons until they rode too far away for me to see them and I fell asleep. The sword-fighting lesson was somewhat more interesting. Tobias was still a disaster with a sword, but Roden had improved significantly. I wondered if he was naturally talented or if he’d been putting in a lot of extra hours of practice.

Mott commented on it too. Roden shrugged and said Cregan had offered to help him during free hours.

“Cregan is skilled with a sword, but he’s self-taught,” Mott warned. “With him as your teacher, you will learn to fight, but your style will not reflect the training of a prince.”

“My lessons with you will help me pass for the prince,” Roden said. “But Cregan’s lessons will keep me alive.”