Deacon Hoyle is rank two and he has been rank two for exactly as long as I have been rank one, and he finds me the next morning in the yard.

DeaconHalf the school watched you sign something last night. That is not how any of this is supposed to work.

TamsinIt is exactly how it works. It is on page three hundred and eleven.

DeaconThen I want in.

He says it without a single trace of shame, which is the thing about Deacon that has always made me tired and slightly impressed.