He drew his thin dagger, nudged the window open a hair’s width, and slipped the dagger into the crack between the window and the sill. Very carefully, he used his dagger to press down on the tip of the dagger Tam had placed in the sill like Rezkin had shown him. Sliding the window up the rest of the way, he quickly snatched Tam’s dagger before it fell. Tam was snoring contentedly in his bed. Rezkin closed the window and replaced Tam’s dagger. The door had been barred, but there was no dagger to alert Tam when Rezkin entered. Tam must have realized the bar would not hinder his entrance.

The next morning, Tam woke to see Rezkin sleeping in his bed. He had no idea when the young warrior had returned last night, but it had to have been very late. Tam had stayed up most of the night out of concern for his friend. When Rezkin disappeared just after his conversation with Frisha, he understood that Rezkin had been more upset than Tam previously realized. Rez was so steady and … solid … and he always acted like a gentleman, especially toward Frisha. Someone who did not know Rez might have thought him unaffected with his stoic demeanor, but Tam knew Rezkin had been devastated. He hoped that Rez had not gotten into any trouble during the night.

Dressing as quietly as he could, Tam slipped out the door and went down to the common room for breakfast. It was well past sunrise, another reason he knew Rez was not well. Frisha was drinking a cup of tea while waiting on her food to arrive. Tam joined her at the table and waited to be served.

Frisha cleared her throat. “Um …. where’s Rez?”

“In bed,” Tam stated shortly.

“Oh,” Frisha said with surprise. “That’s unusual for him. Is he unwell?”

Tam gave her a flat look. Frisha had the grace to blush, but said nothing. “He was out all night. I would not expect him to get up before noon if he were me.”

The young woman gasped, “All night? What could he have been doing all night?”

Tam shrugged. “I am sure I don’t want to know,” he said cryptically. He knew he was being mean, but he was furious with Frisha for the way she had treated Rez. Frisha had not intended to hurt Rez, Tam understood, but he did not think that made any difference to his friend. It sounded like Rezkin had endured a hard life growing up. It did not seem like there could have been a lot of love to go around under the conditions he had described. Rezkin had somehow attached his heart to Frisha, and Tam’s childhood friend had bungled it.