It took a while before the others stopped leering at him. He explained to them what had happened and Jinorrah wasted no time before pointing out how Garinor could have ruined everything.
“If he saw you come up from here then he would know there are others,” he hissed. “And it wouldn’t take long for him to get word back to the prince and then to have the whole army come here and kill us all. You’re such an idiot.”
“Back off,” Garinor warned, partly wishing he wouldn’t so he’d have an excuse to start up a fight. He felt guilty and angry with himself and the agitation of it was hard to manage. Having Jin poking at him made it worse.
“Why should I back off when you could have gotten me killed?”
Garinor thought back to the things he had been told by Elder Dorin and of the prophecy. He wanted to shed all that now but he knew it wouldn’t matter. Until the prophecy was fulfilled, they would still be in jeopardy. “I made a mistake,” he resolved to say, “and I’m sorry. I just don’t want to be trapped down here forever.”
Jinorrah sighed in exasperation. “I already told you that you’ll be free to go later.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And I’m supposed to believe that?”
“Yes.” Jin hesitated and then conceded. “Okay, fine, I guess I see your point, but it doesn’t change the fact—”
“I made a mistake!” he drowned him out. “Leave it.”
The two stared at each other for a few minutes in silence while the rest of the boys went back to their own activities and the room returned to the state in which Garinor had first seen it. It wasn’t much later that the two of them worked through their differences and were engaged in their own game of chance.
About an hour later, the door swept open and, with all the tension of the day, everything fell to immediate silence. One of the Sisters walked inside and announced, “All is well now.” She looked for Garinor and summoned him with her hand.
Jin went with him, determined to be heard. “Sister Arine—”
“Jin, I didn’t ask you over, now did I?” She smiled, then turned to Garinor. “Sister Reina is fine, you should know, and she’s already back in the kitchen whipping up something utterly delightful.”
“I’m glad. And I’m sorry for all the trouble.”
“Now, let’s lay the blame where it belongs, shall we?” she asked. “Thank you, Jinorrah, we’re going to talk with our new friend here and then we’ll come back.”
Jin frowned but then nodded and stepped away to join another group.
“It took some convincing, but the two riders left at last,” she said, leading him from the room and into the dark hallway. “One of the little girls is an excellent runner and she set up a nice diversion in the dirt. Oh, she’s fine and she’s back already, don’t you worry. Those two men were certainly anxious to find you, though. They didn’t even seem to pay attention to the footprints themselves, just went after them.”
“Thank you.”
“Not to worry.” They climbed the stairs and Sister Arine led him to a room off the main corridor. “Tea will be in shortly. Wait here for a moment and we’ll sort out everything.”
Garinor stepped into the room without protest and was ready to wait.