Even though he’d pretty much started his day being summoned to the stage in what I learned had been a sort of graduation ceremony, he still had plenty more to accomplish. Plenty more to live up to—so to speak. Or at least that was the gist I was able to take away from his rambling litany of hazy, vague, purposely ambiguous mumblings. Carefully guarding any and all of the details, and refusing to share them with me. And trust me, I was lucky to even get that much. Because when I started to hound him for more, wanting to know just who exactly his guide was, if it was possibly one of the Council members, or maybe even somebody else—and just what exactly his own job description might be—what was truly expected of a guide—and what were the consequences for those who failed at their tasks—what would happen to him if he failed to help me learn and grow and better myself—he clammed up. And when I continued to press on to what I really and truly wanted to know—which was why he was looking and acting so freaked at just the mere thought of the task that awaited him—he turned away completely.
