The Outcast (Summoner #4)(6)
Lady Faversham gave Lieutenant Cavendish a curt nod; then, with one final glare at Arcturus, she strode into the manor house. Arcturus hesitated before striding to the Peryton and holding up his hand. Lieutenant Cavendish gripped it firmly and pulled him up behind her with surprising ease. He could feel Hubertus’s muscles bunching beneath his legs, as the demon unfolded his wings.
“Hold on tight,” she murmured, grasping his hands and putting them around her waist. “I hope you have a strong stomach.”
The wings flapped once. Twice.
And they were flying.
CHAPTER
4
THE WORLD WAS SPREAD below Arcturus like a patchwork quilt, the fields of crops splitting the earth into squares of green, yellow and brown. With every beat of the Peryton’s wings, the fuzzy white cloud bank above them loomed closer. Soon they were in the mist, surrounded by a haze of the purest white Arcturus had ever seen. He reveled in the cool air, opening his mouth to catch droplets on his tongue. It was over all too soon, for they burst clear of the other side into the bright sunlight moments later.
“You’ve got a strong grip there, lad!” Lieutenant Cavendish chuckled, before clucking her tongue at Hubertus. The Peryton slowed down, until they hung above the clouds, rising and falling with each wing beat.
“Sorry,” Arcturus breathed, realizing he was squeezing her midriff tight. He relaxed his grip and gazed at the cloudscape around him. It was as if they were floating above a sea of cotton, soft and welcoming as a featherbed. He had a wild urge to dive into them, but a gap revealing the ground far below reminded him of where he was.
“You’ll get used to it,” Lieutenant Cavendish said over her shoulder. “The first time I flew, I threw up over the side.”
“I wish you hadn’t said that,” Arcturus groaned, feeling his stomach give a sudden lurch. He was not the only one feeling ill. Below him, he could sense that the demon was feeling nauseous as its box swung back and forth, and the hunger that gripped its belly was not helping matters.
Lieutenant Cavendish swiveled in her seat and flashed him a grin.
“You know, we’re going to be traveling together for the rest of the day, so we might as well get to know each other. My name is Elizabeth Cavendish. And yours?”
“Arcturus, good to meet you,” he said, proffering his hand and shaking hers awkwardly. He hesitated, then asked, “You’re very young to be an officer, aren’t you?”
“My, my, aren’t you the forthright one!” She laughed, tossing her hair from her face. “Actually, I’ve just graduated from Vocans, so I’m twenty years old. All graduates go on to become officers, but I’m just a second lieutenant, the lowest rank possible. I’m glad of it to be honest, what with the baby on the way. The less responsibility the better!”
“You’re having a baby? Shouldn’t you be resting, instead of fighting in the army?” Arcturus asked, loosening his grip around her midriff.
“Nonsense,” she scoffed, giving him a prod. “Maybe in a few months, but I’ll go home when I’m good and ready, thank you very much! Of course, most nobles my age have children as soon as they graduate, if not before, so the army is very understanding.”
“What’s the hurry?” Arcturus asked.
“Don’t you know anything?” Elizabeth asked, then smacked her forehead. “I keep forgetting you’re just a commoner. Very strange business, you’ll have to fill me in on the way.”
Arcturus bristled at the word “just” but forgave her for it almost instantly. Of all the nobles he had met, she was by far the nicest, and didn’t seem to mean any offense.
“Nobles have children early because only our firstborn are guaranteed to inherit the ability to summon. If I were to die in battle tomorrow, the Cavendish line would be cut off forever! Better to leave a successor, just in case. Luckily for me, the Celestial Corps is a pretty safe job at the moment. We do a bit of scouting, keep an eye on Hominum’s borders, avoid the occasional orc javelin here and there. Pretty simple stuff.”
It made a lot of sense, but for a brief moment Arcturus felt almost sorry for the nobles. Imagine having to marry so young, even if you hadn’t met your soul mate yet.
As if she could read his mind, Elizabeth smiled and clicked open a heart-shaped locket that hung around her neck. A tiny painting of a handsome, mousy-haired man sat within.
“I was one of the lucky ones. I found the love of my life early on. He was a servant at Vocans and a commoner, like you. You’re probably the only person I can tell who won’t judge me for that. It is custom for the firstborn nobles to marry the second or third born from another noble house. It’s caused quite some controversy at the academy, I can tell you. I guess I’m lucky that you’re going to Vocans now. Maybe they’ll have something else to gossip about.”
As far as Arcturus knew, a noble marrying a commoner was unheard of. He was glad in a way, for it meant that perhaps not all nobles viewed commoners as the Favershams did. At the same time, Elizabeth’s talk of gossip made him anxious about how he would be received at the academy.
“Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover if we’re to get there before sunset. You can tell me your story on the way.”
*
They flew through the day, the endless cloudscape broken by glimpses of the ground below. Arcturus tried not to look down, for the lurching of the Peryton’s wings made his stomach uneasy. Instead, he distracted himself by telling Elizabeth Cavendish his story.