Connor started to say something, then thought through what he'd just learned. "You don't want to change things, but you just told me about Druce."
"After the fact. I'd seen Nylia and Druce a long time before I came here. I saw myself sitting here and talking to you, though I hadn't seen much else."
"What sort of work do they expect you to do?" Connor finally asked.
"To make certain the fae lands remain safe, even if it means pointing people to a certain path. I have to choose those battles wisely."
Connor nodded and finally slipped off the tunic, tossing it into the corner by his clothes trunk. He doubted it could be salvaged. He pulled out another tunic and put it on, feeling chilled still.
"Should I worry about Druce?" he finally asked.
"He won't do anything that will hurt his honor. It's already taken a blow, but as long as you make nothing of the incident, the others will pass this off to the troubles that always arise as a fae comes of age. If he had killed you though, it was something that would have hanged over him long after --"
Liam stopped, his breath catching.
"Long after I'm dead. I'm human, not fae. My days are numbered from the start."
Liam nodded, paler than he had been since his first days at the Keep. From the bleakness, Connor wondered if Liam had seen his death -- but he asked nothing.
"Don't ask --" Liam stopped and nodded. "You are wiser than most. Let us discuss other things. I heard something about the testing next month. What is this?"
"It has to do with the Royal Court. I suppose you don't deal with that very often in the Wildlands, right?"
"Not if we can avoid it," he said and gave a wry look to the walls around him. "We don't like to live by anything but the rules of nature. What will happen?"
"I was barely six the last time the testing happened. I remember sword fights to test prowess, I guess. No blood is drawn." He touched his own wound but hardly felt any pain. "Fae who had just come of age came here from many places. I guess Northgate has always hosted the testing. I should find out why."
"Does it matter?" Liam asked.
"I like answers," Connor replied with a bit of a shrug. "Searching for them keeps me busy."
"And out of sight."
He gave a nod of agreement. "I learned that was wise the last year or so. Lord Northgate and most of his people have always treated me well, but I don't want to cause trouble."
"I won't argue the point. You and I face the same problem; people don't know what to expect of us yet. I've been told I will not be taking part in the testing, but there will be the pledges afterward, where all of us who have come of age will be expected to swear our allegiance to the Royal Court."
"And that bothers you?"
"It bothers me on a personal level. I am still a wildlander at heart, you know. I still dream about the forests and the hills. I still want to go home, but I know that they won't have me."
Connor had not expected to hear that sound of pain and loss, and Liam plainly regretted the words a moment later. He lifted a hand before Connor could say anything.
"You could at least let me say something before you let me know it will do no good," Connor said and found himself amused by the words.
Liam laughed. "I drove my sisters crazy, you know."
"Sisters?" Connor hadn't considered such things. Family? He had none, and he never looked for others to have them either. Here at the keep family seemed to be connections that spread in wider circles than immediate blood relatives.
"Two sisters. Twins. Older than me by a decade and jealous when I first started getting noticed, though that ended quickly. I think they were sorry to see me leave, but they never said so."
"I'm sorry. I never thought --"
Liam gave a little shrug and then looked up again. "There's going to be trouble at the testing and the pledges, because this time you are of age, too."
"I know," he said and leaned back. "I planned to talk to Lord Northgate about it -- about what we should do. If we should pretend that I don't really exist and keep out of the way --"
"No." The word came out with more force than Connor expected. "No, that will not help. It will only make Lord Northgate appear to be weak -- or worse, that he's trying to hide you. There are a lot of people interested in you, Connor. You are the only human ever born to one of the Gate Keeps. You belong to this place as much as Druce does, and oddly he would not disagree."
"You don't think I should stay out of the way?"
"Hide is the word you mean, and when you say that word, instead of skirting around it, you will know it won't come to any good."
"Yes. You're right." Connor sighed and decided he must avoid the easier and calmer answer. "I don't want to be the cause of trouble, but it seems as though whatever I do, it's going to create a problem. I thought I might ask Lord Northgate to send me back to the human world. I don't know anything about it, but it might be the best way to --"
Liam looked up, and the worry on his face stopped Connor in mid-sentence again. "If you went back, you would not be here when Lord Northgate needs you most."
That sounded dire. Connor started to ask, but Liam shook his head, his mouth clamped shut as though he feared he had already crossed some line he should have avoided.
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