Brian's face remained impassive as he walked over to the group, set the firewood down, and sat behind Justin on the ground. He moved his legs till they were on either side of him and then quickly pulled him backward and wrapped his arms around him. This behavior was at once protective and possessive. He wasn't yet certain whether Ted was dangerous, and he didn't yet know what was Ted's interest in Justin.

Then Brian turned to Ted and asked in his language, "How do you come to know the language of the keep?" No king had ever officially forbidden teaching outsiders the language of the keep. There had never been a need for such a proscription; no one raised in the keep, an isolated environment in which everyone defined themselves by what, or, rather, who, they were not, could be unaware of the us vs. them mentality driving its existence, could be unaffected by the associated prejudice. Brian had held all manner of strange beliefs about the people in the Quarters until he had ventured out of the keep and discovered that they were false. Still, if he had not fallen in love with someone from the Quarters, he would have continued to be hesitant to share anything from the keep with outsiders, especially their language.

Ted gestured expansively and replied in a cheerful, yet mysterious tone, "I know a great many things." Then he added proudly, "I'm a mage!"

Brian smiled, but he was hardly amused. He pressed, "How did you come to learn this thing?"

Under Brian's cold stare and biting tone, Ted fidgeted uncomfortably. After a long pause, he replied, "My mentor once lived in the keep."

Brian's eyes widened. He looked off to one side, and his eyes lost focus as he processed this startling revelation. Had someone from the keep completely escaped its grip? So much so that he or she had taught an outsider their language and, even more shockingly, learned and then transmitted the arcane secrets of magic, which children of the keep were taught did not exist.

So eager was he to learn the identity of this person, Brian dropped his guard, asking Ted suddenly, "Who is your mentor?"

Ted, sensing that Brian had started to trust him, wanted to answer his question. But he could not. He replied softly, "I'm sorry, but I cannot say. My mentor forbade me from doing so. But I think my mentor sent me to find you. I was told to follow the river into the forest, tracing it to its source."

Now Justin was beginning to feel apprehensive about this boy and his unexpected appearance. He interjected (in Brian's language), "But you could not have known that Brian was from the keep…"

Ted admitted softly, "I came because I sensed magic among you."

Justin glanced nervously at Brian and ran a hand over his ring protectively.

Brian was still suspicious, and Justin's apprehension continued to grow, but, in the end, they decided to take Ted with them to see Debbie. Brian needed to learn the identity of Ted's mentor (in fact, he hoped he'd have the opportunity to meet him or her), and Justin thought it would be better if Ted were where they could keep an eye on him.