The Outcast (Summoner #4)(13)
“A commoner being able to summon means that there may be a way to give the ability to a person who cannot. Therefore, it is possible that we can make all noble children summoners, rather than just the firstborn. We already know that this is possible, given that the Lord and Lady Lovett’s second-, third-and fourth-born children are summoners, which was highly improbable. We just don’t know why it has happened. Perhaps the commoners are the key to finding out.”
Harold glanced down the table at a group of four students, sitting a little apart from everyone else. Three were dark-haired boys of varying ages, while the other was a younger girl with long black tresses and round gray eyes that gazed at Arcturus with frank curiosity. He remembered King Alfric had mentioned the Lovett family, accusing them of paying Arcturus to steal the summoning scroll on their behalf. If he remembered correctly, it had something to do with not having enough demons for all their children.
“I hope that this is reason enough. Now, Lord Goodwin will be leaving his role as your spellcraft teacher. We will bring in a new teacher to replace him.”
There was an audible sigh from the table, though whether that was because Lord Goodwin was popular or unpopular was unclear.
“Arcturus, please join your fellow students. After your first lesson come and see me. There are some questions I must ask you before I leave.” With those parting words, Obadiah spun on his heel and strode out of the room.
Arcturus stood for a moment, cringing under the gaze of the nobles. There was a gap between the Lovetts and Zacharias, so he squeezed in and spooned some bacon onto his plate. Sacharissa installed herself beneath the table, searching the floor for food that might have fallen.
“Something reeks,” Zacharias complained, shifting away from him. “Is it the Canid or the pleb?”
“Both,” Charles said gleefully, pinching his nose with his fingers. “They smell exactly the same. Like wet dog.”
“Dog breath. That’s what we should call him. Much better than Arcticunus, or whatever it was,” Zacharias laughed, and Charles snorted, spraying the table with egg. Another boy joined in with them, a sallow-faced noble with lank black hair tied in a ponytail.
“Good one, Zach,” the sallow noble guffawed, slapping Zacharias on the back.
“Oh, leave him alone,” Prince Harold moaned, rolling his eyes at the bullies. “Last time we went hawking together, you three smelled twice as ripe, especially after the hike back. Sweating like pigs you were.”
Arcturus smiled gratefully at the prince, realizing the young royal was very unlike his father. Harold gave him an apologetic shrug and went back to his meal. The other three glowered at him, but Arcturus ignored them and began to eat, trying to stop himself from demolishing it like a wild animal. It had been a while since he had last put food in his belly, and though he was used to hunger, he knew he needed to keep his strength up for the challenging days ahead.
Both at the workhouse and inn, his meals had been made up of stale bread, watered-down gruel and bruised fruit. He had only tasted bacon once, when the innkeeper had allowed him table scraps from an unfinished meal instead of feeding them to the pigs.
As for eggs, he wasn’t even sure how to eat them, and was forced to take furtive looks at the others as they mopped up the golden yolk with hunks of buttered toast.
It was not long before the rest of the table began to talk among themselves. Arcturus was keenly aware that he still needed to wash, especially after the comments the others had made. He looked up from his food, wondering if there was time to go before the others had finished breakfast.
A fair-skinned boy with scruffy black hair sat across from Arcturus. He noticed Arcturus’s gaze and leaned forward.
“Edmund Raleigh,” the boy said, offering a firm handshake. “We’ve all known one another since we were toddlers, so don’t worry if some of the conversation goes over your head. Let me introduce you to everyone. You’ve already met Charles, Zach and Harold. The boy on the end with the ponytail is Damian, but everyone calls him Rook. It’s his surname.”
“Like the chess piece, not the bird,” Rook said, then wrinkled his nose. “You probably don’t know what chess is anyway.”
Edmund pulled a face at him, and turned to two girls on his right. “This is Alice, and this is Josephine, from the Queensouth family. Don’t bother trying to tell the difference between them, you’ll just get confused.”
“Hello!” the girls chorused. They were twins, with long blond hair and large expressive eyes, giving them a doll-like appearance. Edmund was right, they were almost identical. But the one Edmund had introduced as Alice had given Arcturus a bright smile before going back to her meal. Edmund wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek.
“We’re sweethearts, so don’t get any ideas.” He winked before turning to the remaining students to his left.
“This is Baybars Saladin, the fiercest swordsman you’ll ever meet,” Raleigh continued, pointing to a dark-skinned boy beside him. The boy gave him a polite nod before returning to his meal.
“As you’ve probably guessed, these four are the Lovetts. This is Fergus, Carter, Arthur—”
“And I’m Elaine!” the girl piped up, beaming at Arcturus. “I love your demon! Is it a boy or a girl?”
“A girl. Her name is Sacharissa.” Arcturus smiled at her. She looked too young to be a summoner, no older than thirteen. Most joined Vocans at Arcturus’s age, fifteen years old. Perhaps her parents had sent her there early, to be with her brothers.