"I just bet," Alasdair said with a snort before wincing and getting up to fix Hadyn fresh ice.

"Is that your opinion or His Majesty's?" He asked after a moment. He and Hadyn weren't particularly close - unlike most of the Hearts Hadyn's age, Alasdair hadn't taught him in school - but he'd never particularly disliked the Novaks. Maybe in part it was because of his job, but he saw enough kids in every Suit that he didn't make judgments about the two boys who'd switched to the Hearts when he'd been fifteen.