The oddest part of the whole incident was how Frenchy loved to tell the story of how I had acquired my shiner. His embellishments each time the story ...was retold got a little embarrassing, but my teammates certainly seemed to enjoy them, laughing and encouraging him into telling the tale over and over again.Off the field and on campus, I tried to keep a low profile. I wanted to keep my nose clean, and I had had enough of complications in my life to last me a very long time.Alex, of course, had. The first lesson he shared with me was that my responsibility is to protect you and Brian, no matter what is good for me."I promise to do that in every way possible. Rebecca and I will become like partners with you, as this case unfolds. We'll know almost as much about Brian as you know, but that's a good thing, because we have only one objective – protecting Brian."Do you have any questions before we start?"Beth Ann was as surprised at Colleen's passionate speech as I was. We let them lead us. In the morning we will takeyou to the council for a decision on what must be done with you.Outsiders are forbidden this magic. You are fortunate that Shadow didnot kill you when he had the chance." He did try to back there," I said remembering the shots breezing by myhead."Still," Jeena said, "he is too good an assassin to have let you livefor so long. I believe he intended to kidnap you for some reason. Maybethe he'akipar were interested in training an outsider to be one of them.When he was. I wandered through another set of doors into the prop room, and was stunned again by both the smell and the colours. Racks covered the walls, and stood in what seemed random arrangements on the floors, all filled with costumes on hangers. Various pieces of clothing donated or created over the years, for countless productions, some of which might even have had some class. The costumes were arranged in styles, but colours clashed everywhere, and my eyes were unable to relax as I kept thinking I.