“More to the point, what do you want to tell me?” Elcarth countered. “Usually—not always, but usually—the Chosen sitting where you are start pouring out their life stories to me. Are you going to be any different?”

“I ain’t the kind t’pour out m’life story to anybody,” Skif replied, trying not to sound sullen, wondering just how much he was going to have to say to satisfy the Dean’s curiosity. “I dunno. I ain’t never hurt nobody. I stick t’the liftin’ lay an’ roof work. . . .”

He hadn’t given a second thought to whether Elcarth would understand the cant, but Elcarth nodded. “Picking pockets and house theft. Which explains why you were in that park in broad daylight. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was about in the heat, hmm?”

Skif blinked. How had—

“Your trail out of the city was shatteringly obvious,” Elcarth pointed out. “Not to mention hazardous. From the moment Cymry left the park with you, there were witnesses, many of them members of the City Guard. But that only tells me what you do, not what you are—and it’s what you are that is what I need to know.” At Skif’s silence, he prodded a little more. “Your parents?”

“Dead,” he answered shortly. But try as he might, he couldn’t stand firm in the face of Elcarth’s gentle, but ruthless and relentless questioning. Before very long, Elcarth knew something of his Uncle Londer, of Beel, and of Bazie and Bazie’s collection of “boys”—and he knew what had happened to all of them. Especially Bazie. And he knew about the fire.

He managed to keep most of the details to himself, though; at least he thought he did. The last thing he wanted was to start unloading his rage on Elcarth. It was a handle to Skif’s character that Skif didn’t want the Dean to have.

But he didn’t manage to keep back as much as he would have liked, though, and just talking about it made his chest go tight, his back tense, and his stomach churn with unspoken emotion. Part of him wanted to tell this gentle man everything—but that was the “new” part of him. The old part did not want him to be talking at all, and was going mad trying to keep him from opening his mouth any more than he had.

Fortunately at that point, Elcarth changed the subject entirely, quizzing him on reading, figuring, writing, and other subjects. That was what he had expected, although he didn’t care for it, and his stomach soon settled again. It took longer for the tension to leave his back and chest, but that was all right. The tension reminded him that he needed to be careful.