[Reference to racism and bullying]

Tristan helped himself to some of the roast beef, potatoes and vegetables. He chuckled. "Oh, I got into trouble alright, though I'd like to think I haven't risked my life that often. When I was at boarding school, a friend and I snuck out of the school grounds one night and swam across a river to explore the woods across from it. The current was a great deal stronger than we had thought, so that was dangerous. For most of my school time I was the only black kid there, so I stood out. Got into fights and got into trouble for that. Though in my defense, I didn't start them." He shrugged. "Still got trashed for them. Well, and then I've done prison duty, which gave me this..." He took off his jacket and rolled up his right sleeve, to expose a healed but still visible human bitemark high on his forearm. "People often don't realize how dangerous these are... Could have killed me..."