He tips back into his companion, in a playful, bittersweet camaraderie. He knows, if they were different people, of a same age and village road, they might have schooled together, or joined the apprentice houses at a same time.

And then, his family. His face blanches, and before he can think the matter over, "Don't tell them. Please, don't tell them. They never needed to know, me always so late from the forges. I sleep there sometimes. I told them nothing."