"Much good it will do to me." Edmund said wryly, as he wrestled with the mound of clothes, trying to stuff them en mass down the gullet of his saddlebag.

"Talking to yourself again Ed." Came an amused voice from the doorway. "I hope you're not planning on packing like that. I don't think Archbishop Michael would appreciate seeing you swathed, head to toe, in wrinkles."

Coram; Edmund's cellmate, best friend, and partner in crime, crossed to his cot in one fluid stride. He opened the wood chest at the foot of his bed and began to remove neatly folded cloths, which he placed gently and deliberately into his own waiting saddlebag. A faint floral odor, emanating from the sachet Coram's mother Honoria brought him, wafted over to Edmund from the open trunk.

"For as long as I can remember, I guess. Why?" asked Coram, knowing instinctively what Edmund was talking about.

Ten years ago, Edmund had been a terrified child of nine, freshly arrived at the remote seminary, dust still clinging to his only travel cloak. Coram had arrived the same day, so the two new boys were given cots next to one another at the far end of the dormitory hall. The hall, as well as the seminary, were bare, stark places, totally devoid of any of the small details a mother, or any woman for that matter, provided. Edmund had missed his mother, Yanatta, desperately. His father, Alvyn, however, had been adamant. Alvyn did not want his only son to be just a tanner, like himself. Edmund would go to seminary, become a priest, and rise above his station, and in the process make his father proud. Edmund went, meek and obedient, scared and shaking, off to the bleak hilltop seminary and its solemn faced brothers. To make matters worse he did not even like the boy in the next bed. He was small and quiet, the brothers called him serene, and he had depth less brown eyes, old eyes. He made Edmund uneasy.

Coram was two years younger than Edmund when they first set eyes on one another. His father, Edmund later learned, was some kind of Baron from the Connait. Not that Coram would inherit his father's title or lands; those would go to his older brother Laran. As the second son of a wealthy family he still would have been entitled to something, money, an advantageous marriage, anything but the seminary. Yet Coram had wanted to go. Felt, Knew that God was calling him for as long as he could remember. Edmund could not imagine someone with such a bright and potentially easy future, choosing such a difficult path. Jealousy and disgust compounded by the unease the boy already provoked, set Edmund's teeth on edge whenever Coram was around.

Time, however, dulls even the sharpest of feelings, blunting the corners, smoothing the sides, buffing the surface, much like a river stone. Within a year, Coram and Edmund were inseparable, with the younger, more often than not, leading the elder. They tutored each other, one pushing the other to strive for academic excellence. They debated together: theology, divinity, and canon law. Coram enjoyed playing devil's advocate, especially when it came to canon law. Most importantly, they grew together: physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

When Coram was 13, on one of his infrequent visits back to his families' estates, his father had given him his own sword. Coram trained with practice swords and with his father's captain whenever he went home. And for someone with such a limited training schedule, he was actually quite good. One night, after fortifying themselves with ill gotten wine, some of Abbot Chester's own Fianna reserve, they sealed their friendship over the sword.

Edmund drew the edge of the blade lightly across Coram's left palm, opening a shallow cut. Silently, Coram performed the same service for Edmund. They sat, hands clasped together, allowing their blood time to mingle. They joined themselves in the strongest bond either of them knew or understood - the bond of blood.

"Bind me to thee." whispered Edmund.

"Bind me to thee." answered Coram.