“You’re Shrewd’s son,” I guessed wildly, going only by his appearance. Even before he spoke, I realized how foolish my words were. “Son?” Chade laughed grimly. “How he would scowl to hear you say that! But the truth makes him grimace even more. He is my younger half brother, boy, though he was conceived in a wedded bed and I on a military campaign near Sandsedge.” Softly he added, “My mother was a soldier when I was conceived. But she returned home to bear me, and later wedded a potter. When my mother died, her husband put me on a donkey, gave me a necklace she had worn, and told me to take it
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