Dinner had begun with considerably more restraint than usual.
Whether Marian's warning deserved credit remained uncertain.
Toven had taken enough food to satisfy himself without producing another lecture about eating lightly, while Lucavion seemed to have interpreted the advice as a challenge in portion management rather than appetite. Across the joined tables, plates changed hands, bread disappeared by degrees, and the conversation wandered between the examinations everyone had finished and the single one still waiting for them.
The dining hall had grown quieter around them. Many students from Block 7-A had already returned upstairs to prepare, leaving the remaining tables occupied by smaller groups speaking beneath the warm hum of the evening lamps.
Marian broke a piece of bread apart.
"All right. Since we're apparently going into this half-blind, which part is everyone worried about?"
Toven looked up.
"Why would you ask that while we're eating?"
