At that point the conversation finally veered away from Kirball into Collegium legends and scooped them up again, along with a half dozen other people at the table. Most of the “legends” were ghost stories, which Abi didn’t have an opinion on one way or another. But when it came to the Poltergeist . . .

“Oi,” she objected. “That’s not what happened at all.”

“How do you know?” Brice demanded.

“Because her parents were there and probably involved at the time, idiot,” chided Emmit.

“They were,” she admitted, and gave them a very edited version. “There was a religious group called the Order of Sethor the Patriarch that moved into Haven and took over a temple in a very underhanded way. This Order was very much against women doing anything but staying at home and minding children. So they started a campaign of harassing and bullying women who weren’t doing that. They smashed up shops down in Haven, and desecrated the Temples of Goddesses that didn’t fit that role, and snuck people onto the hill to persecute female Trainees and female Blues. That’s where the Poltergeist came from.”

“What happened?” asked a very young Bardic Trainee.

Abi shrugged. “They got caught. Their leader attempted a murder. King Kyril threw them out of the Kingdom because of all the horrid things they had done. He threw the leader along with anyone who’d actually had a hand in the crimes in gaol, and confiscated their Temple and gave it to the Sisters of Betane of the Ax. That’s why there’s two Temples of the Sisters down there. Among other things, they’d harassed a Blue Trainee into almost killing herself, and the almost-suicide is what got tangled up with the Poltergeist which is why you’ve got the story of the girl who killed herself going after the work of Blues who are doing well and ruining it.”

“In fact, the girl in question is one of the Sisters of Betane now,” said Kat. “Not all of them are fighters; she’s an historian, chronicler, and scribe for the Order.”

“That doesn’t make nearly as much fun of a story,” Brice muttered.

If only you knew the whole truth, Abi thought. Your hair would stand on end.

When they all dispersed to go back to their rooms for the evening, Kat linked up arms with Abi. “I like our new friends,” she said, as they went up the stairs together. “And not just because they’re willing to help Niko and Trey with their math.”

Abi grinned, once again feeling warm and happy. Our new friends, hmm? Excellent. You always hope your friends will like each other, but that’s never a certain thing. “They seem to be the best of the lot that I’m in with,” she agreed.