Alcuin was pretty sure he’d never told anyone this who didn’t already know.

“My father was an army officer,” he said. “He died when I was very young, I don’t remember him. But he made his best friend promise that he would take care of me if anything ever happened to him.” Pause. “That wasn’t Anafiel. His name was Roland, and he sent my mother money every year. Sometimes visited, brought presents,.. once when I was about fourteen he brought his boyfriend with him. Anafiel.”