Chapter 236

Charles finally settled into his own bed. Sleep came fitfully, plaguing him with dreams, dreams he feared would turn to nightmares. The past never let him go. It kept dragging him back under, over and over.

The Pickerel pub was full of young men fresh from dinner after their classes. Charles, for the first time in weeks, had been able to have an ale with a classmate. Being so much younger, he'd found it hard to make friends.

Peter Maltby, a student two years older than him, roomed across the hall in Magdalene College. Peter had seen Charles eating alone at dinner and had come over to invite him for a drink at the little pub just outside the college's gates. They had quickly become good friends, and the pub had become a ritual of sorts for them.

Tonight, they'd bid good night to the elderly porter who manned the gates and settled themselves in a corner of the booth to drink and talk.

"Enjoying your lessons?" Peter asked, smiling broadly as he sipped his ale.

Charles nodded. "I'm