I kept my mouth shut.
“You have been read. You have been instructed. You have been offered the guidance of this institution in accordance with the laws of Mark, Verse, and bond.”
Offered.
What a lovely word for a hand around the throat.
Quill turned slightly.
“Caspian Ashford.”
Caspian stepped onto the stone circle.
The music thinned until only one violin remained, high and clear enough to hurt.
“You stand as first-year prefect, Ashford witness, and prepared stabilizing bond.”
A murmur passed through the hall.
Prepared.
The word looked harmless from a distance.
Up close, it had teeth.
Caspian held his expression steady.
His Mark betrayed him by a fraction, dark lines shifting toward me.
Magnus’s gaze sharpened.
“Do you accept the honor of attendance?” Quill asked him.
Caspian looked past his father, past Quill, and found me.
“I accept attendance,” he said.
The word landed oddly. Like it had pained him to say it.
Quill’s smile did not alter, but Linden’s pen stopped.
Quill had called it an honor.
Caspian had not.
My breath came easier.
Magnus spoke for the first time.
“Caspian.”
He did not raise his voice.
The name crossed the hall and put half the students back into childhood, being reprimanded by their own fathers.
Caspian turned his head.
“Lord Ashford.”
