Distrust - Part 4

"When I was a boy his age, my father only tasked me with wandering the streets of the East District in Ernest, and helping out anyone I saw… When I finally passed the Second Boundary, it was a squadron of men that I was placed in charge of. That's a good bit easier than ensuring the protection of near five-hundred peasants," Tolsey said, unable to stop his smile.

"That is indeed how it tends to go. Your master must be quite the maverick, foisting such responsibility on you so early. He must be quite eager to see you progress through to the Third Boundary," Lombard said.

"The Third Boundary?" Tolsey repeated, his skin whitening. "But he's only a child still. Surely he won't pass through the Third Boundary before his twentieth birthday?"

Lombard looked at Tolsey with a harsh expression, enough to quieten him. But Beam could see the slightest traces of amusement about the man's face. "You worry that he'll reach the Third Boundary at a younger age than you reached the Second, mm?"