"I didn't," said Paks. She had the curious feeling that her body was floating just above the bed. She knew she understood more than the others, only it was hard to speak. "It isn't lost—it's not in the same place, is all."

"And you're wound-witless. All right. If you still want to make your vows when you're strong enough, I daresay Gird will accept them. But that will be some time, Paksenarrion. For now you must rest, and obey the surgeons."

Not until some days later did Paks hear the full story of that day. She had had no visitors at first but the surgeons, the Training Master, and the Marshal-General. Finally the surgeons agreed that she could move back to her own room. She was surprised at how shaky she felt after climbing the stairs—from one simple cut, she thought. She sat down hard on her bed, head whirling, and leaned back against the pillows. Rufen and Con woke her some time later when they discovered her door open and looked in to see why.

"Paks?"

She woke with a start; the last sunlight came through her window. "Oh—I forgot to shut the door."

"Are you all right? You look pale as cheese," said Con. Paks gave him a long stare.

"I'm fine. I just—dozed off."

"The Training Master said you were back. He said not to bother you, but your door was open—"

"That's all right." Paks pushed herself up. She wondered what they were thinking about, and felt her ears going hot.

"I've never been so mad in my life," said Con, moving into the room to sit at her desk. "I'd have taken Cieri apart if I could have—"

"Instead of which, he dumped you—how many times?" Rufen leaned against the doorframe, smiling.

"That doesn't matter. Listen, Paks, if they'd thrown you out, I'd have—have—"

Paks shook her head. "Con—it's all right."

"No, it's not. It wasn't fair—we could all see that. I couldn't believe it, the way he hounded you—and you the best of us. Gird's flat feet, but I'd have blown up at him days before."

Paks stared at him in surprise. "But I thought you'd be on their side—I thought you'd agree that it wasn't fair for me to be here as an outsider."

Con shrugged. "That! What difference does that make? I've been a Girdsman all my life, and I never will be as good a fighter as you are. It's not as if you were bad: you don't quarrel even as much as I do. No one's ever found you doing something underhand or cowardly. They ought to be glad you're willing to come here at all. And that's what I told him."

"And then what?" Paks could not imagine that scene at all.

"And then he told me I didn't know what I was talking about, and until I did I should kindly keep to my own business, and I told him my friends were my business. And he said I should choose my friends with care, and I said I'd learned more from you since you'd come than from him since I'd been here—" Con stopped, blushing scarlet.