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Despite his aptitude Master Hutril seemed oddly distant from Caenis, his praise restrained, if expressed at all Soht treks Vaelin would catch Hutril staring at Caenis froht

Heldrian was the hardest of days, hours of running around the practice ground with a heavy stone in each hand, freezing swims across the river, and hard lessons in unar fast ht them the secrets of the kick and the punch, how to twist the fist at the last instant, how to raise the knee first then to extend the leg into a kick, how to block a blow, trip an opponent or throw them over your shoulder Few boys enjoyed Heldrian, it left the e fra up the punish partnered with hi

Eltrian was supposedly a day of rest and observance but for the youngest boys it ery in the laundry or the kitchen If they were lucky they would be chosen to help Master Sardens which at least provided the chance at a stolen apple or two In the evening there would be extra observance and catechis the Faith’s day, and a solid hour of silent contemplation where they would sit, heads bowed, each lost in their own thoughts or succuerous as any boy caught sleeping would earn the harshest beating and a night walking the walls with no cloak

Vaelin’s favourite part of each day was the hour before lights out All the discipline would evaporate in a round of raucous banter and horseplay Dentos would tell another story about his uncles, Barkus would h with a joke or an uncanny iiven to silence, would tell one of the thousand or uage or sword strokes He found hiht boy’s reticence and intelligence a faint echo of his ratified by the companionship Vaelin suspected his life before the Order had been so with other boys, although neither of them talked of their lives before, unlike Nortah who had never been able to shake the habit, despite angry responses fro from the masters You have no family but the Order Vaelin knew the truth of the Aspect’s words now; they were beco family, they had no-one but each other

Their first test came in the month of Sunterin, nearly a year since Vaelin had been left at the gate: the Test of the Run They had been told little about what it entailed except that each year this test saw more expulsions than any other They were trooped out into the courtyard along with the other boys of sie, about two hundred in all They had been told to bring their bows, one quiver of arrows, hunting knife, water flask and nothing else

The Aspect led them in a brief recitation of the Catechis them of what to expect: “The Test of the Run is where we discover who a you is truly fit to serve the Order You have had the privilege of a year in service to the Faith, but in the Sixth Order privileges must be earned You will be taken upriver by boat and left at different places on the bank You ht tomorrow Any who do not arrive in tiiven three gold crowns”

He nodded to the masters and left Vaelin felt the fear and uncertainty about him but did not share it He would pass the test, he had to, there was nowhere for hio

“To the river bank at the run!” Sollis barked “No slacking Pick your feet up, Sendahl, this isn’t a shitting dance floor”

Waiting at the riverside wharf were three barges, large, shallow draught boats with black painted hulls and red canvas sails They were a co the coast from the mines in the south to feed the roup, wearing black scarves around their necks and a band of silver in their left ear, notorious drinkers and brawlers when not plying their trade Many an Asraelin irl or you’ll wed no better than a barge man”

Sollis exchanged a feords with the lared suspiciously at the silent asse at theet aboard and , lack-brains!”

“I’ve never been to sea before,” Dentos commented as they sat down on the hard planks of the deck

“This isn’t the sea,” Nortah informed him “It’s the river”

“My uncle Ji Nortah as ot eaten by a whale”

“What’s a whale?” asked Mikehl, a pluht despiteanimal that lives in the sea,” Caenis replied, he tended to know the answer to e, “And it doesn’t eat people Your uncle was probably eaten by a shark, so as a whale”

“Hoould you know?” Nortah sneered, as he usually did whenever Caenis offered an opinion “Ever seen one?”

“Yes”

Nortah flushed and fell silent, scratching at a loose splinter on the deck with his hunting knife

“When, Caenis?” Vaelin prompted his friend “When did you see the shark?”