“Y-yes, well, you see, how can I be expected to believe—”
“Enough!” Runa said, stepping forward. “Of course you can believe it. And given Soren’s reputation, this is really no surprise.”
“That’s conjecture,” Erhart shot back. “And ironic, I might add—coming from you, whose reputation is by no means clean. It’s only this boy’s word against Soren’s. Really now, Soren isn’t even here to defend himself.”
“That’s because I ran away from him!” said Barclay. “He’s still in the Woods!”
“That’s impossible, when Soren was doing very important business forme,” Erhart said.
Barclay squeezed his hands into fists. Of course, thanks to Soren’s donation to the Guild House, the High Keeper would willingly lie for him.
“How else would Barclay have gotten such an injury?” Runa demanded.
“He isn’t the only injured student to return from the Woods,” Erhart answered flatly. He then stalked off into the crowds, and Barclay angrily kicked at a mound of snow.
Beside him, Tadg knelt down in front of Root. He was the only person—student or Master—who dared to approach the Mythic class Beast. Then Tadg gathered up the fallen items from Barclay’s bag and handed it to him.
Barclay was too startled to say thank you, and Tadg didn’t wait for it. He stood up and walked away.
Floriane stepped forward and cleared her throat. “Now that the final student has arrived, the Masters will count the items in each of your bags, and Athna and I will issue the exam rankings.”
Barclay’s stomach sank as he got in line. He was stillmissing the Hasifuss,andhe had returned far after the time limit. His ranking was sure to plummet.
It was Runa who checked his bag for him, and he held it out to her with shaking hands.
“Why so nervous?” she asked him.
“Because I’ll just come in last place, won’t I?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. After all, everyone had to face Beasts and other students in the Woods—you were the only one who faced a Master.”
Barclay’s face broke out into a smile. Soren had not ruined his chances.
“Besides,” Runa continued, a twinkle in her gray eyes, “I haven’t seen one other student return with all the items yet. But you have.”
“What?” Barclay asked, taking back his bag. “That can’t be—”
Runa raised her eyebrows. “Are you suggesting I counted wrong?”
“N-no, I just…” Barclay dug through his bag, and sure enough, the Hasifuss was buried amid the other items, its green slime smeared across the Stoolip top, smoking slightly. How did that get in there?
Barclay wanted to run off and tell his friends about the good news, but then he hesitated.
“I don’t believe Soren,” he told Runa. “I don’t believe you had anything to do with what happened to Tadg’s father.”
Runa’s expression faltered, replaced by one that lookedlike guilt. “I appreciate you telling me that, Barclay. That’s very good of you.” But she didn’t tell him whether or not he was right.
Deciding to reflect on Runa’s reaction later, Barclay shook off his questions and rushed over to Viola to show her the Hasifuss. “I collected all the items!”
Abel, however, was far less happy. “My Hasifuss was gone! It disappeared!”
Barclay wondered if their items had somehow been exchanged, but that couldn’t be right. He had gotten split up from Abel and Ethel before they’d found the Hasifuss, and once Barclay had returned, Abel’s bag had been nowhere near his. And Runa couldn’t have slipped it in either. He would’ve seen.
It took several mugs of pear cider to cheer up Abel, but that was before the rankings had been posted. The four of them visited the Guild House hours later—after Barclay’s shoulder had been stitched up and Root had been bandaged—to look at their scores.
“Ethel, you came in first!” Viola said excitedly.
Ethel’s face lit up. “But Abel and I were hardly the first ones back.”
