Page 62 of The False Prince (Ascendance 1)

Roden offered me his hand and I reluctantly took it, but with a simple shake we both shrugged off the anger. While Roden replaced our swords, I watched as Mott brushed his fingers across the empty space where the imitation of Jaron’s sword had been. Mott clearly loved that sword. I couldn’t understand why.

Roden walked along beside me back to Farthenwood. “No hard feelings, I hope, about the way that match ended.”

“Do that to me again and I’ll kill you,” I said.

He smiled grimly, not sure whether it was a joke or not. I wasn’t sure either.

“It’s safe to tell me if you took the sword,” he said.

Not a bad way of changing the subject, so I played along. “A secret that is safe between you, me, and Master Conner,” I said with a wry sideward glance.

“It’s not an accusation,” Roden said, then lowered his voice. “It’s more likely that Tobias took it anyway.”

“Why’s that?”

Roden shook his head. “Don’t you know? You always seem to have everything figured out before any of the rest of us.”

I didn’t know, and I told him so.

“You know how bad he is with a sword. I was obviously the best out there, and you’re not great, but you’re better than he is.”

I smiled. “If that were true, I wouldn’t have so many bruises.”

Roden continued, “Tobias needs the sword to help him look more like the prince.”

“Tobias would look foolish wearing a sword at his side that he can’t even use properly. So what do you propose?”

“I hope Conner chooses me,” Roden said, “but if he doesn’t, then I hope he chooses you. Not Tobias. For Carthya’s sake, I wouldn’t want him as prince, whether Conner is behind the throne or not. If you and I band together, we can sabotage him.”

“Then what happens when it’s down to you and me? Will you sabotage me as well?”

Roden looked down at the trail. “I might. And I know you might sabotage me too.”

“How did we get to this place?” I asked, fully aware there was no answer. “No matter what we do, the devils have us.”

Roden playfully knocked me in the side with his shoulder. “The devils had you long ago, Sage.”

Tobias had gotten quite a ways ahead of us by this point. He turned and called, “Hurry up, you two! I won’t be late for dinner because of your slacking!”

Dinner with Conner was uncomfortable at best. Tobias and Roden were seated at his right and left. As a sign of his displeasure with me, I was in the third position, farthest away.

I picked up my dishes and reset them at the far end of the table, so that I’d directly face Conner.

“Why’d you do that?” Conner asked.

“We can’t see each other where I was at,” I said. “This makes more sense.”

“Maybe I have no wish to see you,” Conner said.

“If that were true, you’d have had Mott keep me in my room.”

“In any event, it was very rude.”

“It was princelike,” I said. “A prince would never let anyone else determine his seat.”

After a brief hesitation, Conner smiled and raised his glass in toast to me. “Indeed.”

Conner took several opportunities during dinner to point out the errors I was making in manners. Tobias and Roden weren’t making the same mistakes, so they must have had this lesson the night before, while I was lying on the ground by the river. I told him I’d make fewer mistakes if I didn’t have to use my right hand for everything. He pointed out that it wasn’t likely the prince would switch to the left hand for me, so I’d have to be the one to change. I corrected the errors, and Conner moved on.