Becoming a Dragon (5 page)

Professor Silver had assigned them all desks already, and made clear that he wasn't going to entertain any requests to move seats. The desks were arranged in four rows of six, each spaced out equally, with a gap the width of a desk between each desk. He had arranged the students so that no girl sat next to, behind or in front of another girl, so Crystal had boys all around her. Fortunately, John was not one of her neighbours. He was seated in the second row, two rows in front of her and one across to her right.

She could see the princess she had met at her party, Princess Daisy, quietly trying to ask a question at the front of the class, but the Professor was shaking his head as she was talking. He directed her back to her seat, which was next to John, and addressed the class. He was a thin, smartly-dressed man, with very short red hair, and he regarded the students with a cold, disdainful expression.

"I'll give the answer to this question to the whole class; I expect a few more of you will ask the same question. The seating arrangement is fixed, and I'll entertain no requests for students to swap seats." There were a few groans at this announcement, and he raised his hand to quieten them.

"None of you will find yourself seated next to or in front of or behind anyone from your own region. No girl is seated next to another girl, or in front of or behind another girl, and obviously this is true for the boys as well. This is intentional, and careful consideration went into this approach.

This school exists to encourage the formation of strong and close bonds between the leaders and people of influence in the five regions, and I have chosen your seating in order to best facilitate that bonding. Other classes may allow students to choose their own seats, and happily allow regional based cliques to form; while I can't completely prevent that from happening, I won't make it easy."

Daisy looked over sadly at her brother, sat at the opposite side of the class, who shrugged back at her. She looked quite upset, and Crystal dreaded to think what her cousin would say to her about Daisy if they were sat together. Although in this case perhaps Jenna was right; she really did need to grow up and manage without her brother watching after her all that time.

Crystal turned her attention to her new neighbours. She didn't know the two boys next to her, but their name plates said Daniel and Jerome. She could tell that Daniel came from the West, with his dark red hair and flashy clothes, but Jerome was harder to work out. Generally, she would know where someone was from after just a glance. Those from the north and the east all had hair that was more orange than red, but the northerners were tall and pale, and the easterners darker and stocky. The westerners occasionally fooled you, as they had a lot of immigrants from other regions, but normally their high cheekbones and dark-red hair gave them away. Southerners were easy for her to spot, having grown up in the south, and she envied their bright, flame-red hair. Perhaps he was from Furnace. They usually had very curly hair, and weren't generally as tall as the northerners or the westerners, but they weren't always easy to work out. Jerome was tall, muscular and fairly dark-skinned, but his hair was too light to be from the west. She'd have to ask him where he was from later.

In front of her sat Seth, the friendly young man who she met at her birthday party, who was very clearly from Furnace, with his short, curly hair. He had enthusiastically greeted her when she had first sat down, and she suspected that he might have already taken an interest in her.

Both Daniel and Jerome were very good-looking, and she glanced over to where Jenna sat, expecting her to be watching enviously, but she had been seated next to Arthur, and having flirted with him at Crystal's party she appeared to be continuing where she had left off. She had no interest in looking over to see what Crystal was doing.

Crystal was been seated in the last row, so had no one behind her, and she was very happy with that arrangement. It meant less people would be looking at her
—
or at least looking at her hair. On second thought, perhaps she wouldn't mind too much if Daniel or Jerome were looking at her. Maybe Jenna was right: this school might be fun after all.

Professor Silver explained that as today was an orientation day, there would be no formal lessons, and school would not start properly until tomorrow. The aim of today was to familiarise themselves with the school, their schedule and learn about their new classmates and teachers. The Professor's emphasis on this and his carefully-planned seating arrangement made her wonder if her cousin was right, that the main purpose of the school was to arrange marriages for the elite of society.

"We will now conduct a short exercise to help you get to know each other," the Professor told them. They'd just finished collecting all their books for each of their subjects and were storing them in their desks. "Each of you will write your names on a piece of paper, fold it, and put them into this bag." He held out a cloth bag and passed it to one of the students in the front row.

"What are we doing, sir?" Seth asked as he put his name into the bag.

"Wait and see, Bragon," the Professor replied. "And raise your hand before asking a question. Just remember the name of the person I call out with yours."

The Professor collected all the names, then shook the bag, and started pulling the names out of the bag two at a time, calling out the pairs. When he had finished reading out the names, he explained the task.

"Now I want you all to find the person whose name I read out with yours,
when I've finished
! I want you to spend the next few minutes getting to know them, asking them about who they are and where they are from. When I tell you to stop, you are to all return to your seats and then you will introduce that person to the class, telling us who they are, where do they come from, what do they enjoy doing and what is their favourite subject. Does everyone understand?"

A slow and jumbled affirmation followed, to which the Professor replied, "Let's try that again. Does everyone understand?"

A louder and more enthusiastic "Yes, professor," ensued, to which he responded, "That's better; begin!"

The students scrambled around the classroom, trying to find their partner, some of them using the name tags on the desks, and others just shouting out names. Crystal was paired with a girl from the north called Lauren, who sat at the end of the row in front of her. It appeared that they had very little in common. Lauren was the great niece of the prince in the North, Prince Cornelius, and was fabulously rich, something she emphasised a few times. She told Crystal that she liked spending most of her time trying on new clothes and attending palace parties. Knowing the reputation of the North as a rather dull and austere place, Crystal suspected that she was exaggerating, but wisely chose to not mention this. Crystal's family were well off
—
partly due to her father's position, and partly due to his family
—
but their wealth didn't come anywhere near the level that Lauren claimed her family had, and Crystal had been invited to very few of the palace parties in the South.

Everyone in the class returned to their seats and began their introductions, and although there were no exciting revelations, it was a great way to learn about her classmates. Seth and Arthur shared a common interest in camping and fishing, much to her surprise. It was the last thing she would have expected a prince to have enjoyed. She couldn't imagine Jenna being too pleased to learn that. Poor Daisy sounded rather dull, her main interests being spending time with her family and reading. She'd have thought being a princess would have been much more exciting than that.

Lauren stood up and introduced Crystal, and to her credit did so in an enthusiastic and interested way. "This is Crystal," she began, "who is from the South, the only daughter of Lord Robert and Lady Jane, and is the cousin of Jenna who sits over there. For those of you who didn't know, I am referring to the Lord Robert that commands the armies of the south. And before you ask, yes, her beautiful hair which I am totally jealous of, is real, not dyed. She is from Black Rock, and went to a mixed school there, which sounds like it could rival the West for its party scene. When she isn't partying, Crystal likes to explore the surrounding countryside, which sounds beautiful, and loves swimming in the lakes down there."

There was a polite round of applause, and Crystal was surprised at how Lauren had made her sound much more interesting than she really was. Perhaps her exaggerations weren't restricted to her own life. She tried to return the favour, and judging by Lauren's appreciative smile, she guessed that she had done well enough.

The last name to be read out was John's, and by now the class was very relaxed, with students now calling out the odd question or two as people introduced their fellow students. Crystal prayed that Daniel, who sat next to her and who had been paired with John, didn't draw attention to his hair. He was from the West, and was very self-assured and confident. He spoke clearly and in a slightly mocking tone.

"So, this is John. John Wood, from the East. I couldn't tell you exactly where in the East he comes from, because,
—
and I use his words
—
his place is in the middle of nowhere." He paused to let that sink in. "John's home is near a tiny village, if you consider an hour's walk near, a village where most people are farmers, and with a population smaller than my household's serving staff. John lives alone with his dad, who is some sort of craftsmen." There were a few quiet sniggers at this.

"That's right, as you may have guessed from John's unique dress sense, John is our scholarship boy. He won his place in this school rather than having earned it through a distinguished heritage in some sort of charitable competition the school has been running for a few years now. John was telling me all about it." He shook his head as he spoke, clearly conveying his disapproval. "Yes, the school has decided that although the purpose of our being here is to meet fellow heirs of noble titles and the elite of the merchant class," he paused to nod at Jerome, who was from an incredibly rich family without any name to speak of, "to strengthen the bonds between the future rulers and people of real significance, that we should also mingle with those who we are destined to rule over and be served by."

John had turned bright red, but to Crystal's surprise, neither he nor the Professor interrupted. "Now John will be working in the military library after school each day, earning his keep, as his father is no position to pay for him to be here." The sniggers grew a bit louder.

"Now, who is John the person, as well as John the lucky winner? Well, John isn't really a party person, preferring the company of books and farm animals to other children. His hobbies include reading history, drawing maps, and cleaning up his house."

The class erupted into laughter at this, not sure whether to take it seriously or not.

A hand went up. "Didn't you have any servants, John?" A girl asked.

"Of course he didn't," Daniel replied, not letting him answer. "His village is the sort of place servants come from, not go to."

The class burst into laughter again. Professor Silver finally broke his silence. "Daniel, let John answer. The question was directed to him."

John glared at the Professor and stood up to answer. "No, we didn't have any servants. There was just me and my father." There was a hint of pride in his voice, as if he didn't care what they thought of this. "Yes, I am earning my keep through working in the military library, but there is no charity involved, as I pay my way. And I didn't win my place in some random competition. I earned my right to take this place here based on my ability, beating hundreds of others. Can you say that, Daniel? Would you have a place here if it weren't for the family you were born into? Is there anything exceptional about you?"

The class gasped in surprise. Crystal couldn't believe that John had been so stupid as to ask this question in a class full of students who were here solely by right of their birth. Was he trying to make himself unpopular?

Daniel smiled smugly. "I am exceptional by my birth. I was born into an exceptional family, destined to be the next Lord Thorne, with a heritage I can trace back to the ancestors of the first King of this nation, and with the resources at our disposal that you couldn't even imagine."

Professor Silver intervened again. "Yes, I think this is getting a little out of hand, and a little too personal. John, I think you'll find that this school is full of exceptional students. I do hope you are not questioning that? After all, if you doubted that why would you choose to stay here?"

John fixed the Professor with a cold stare. He remained silent for a moment. "I choose to stay here. As to my reasons, they are my own." He sat down and turned away from him.

The Professor looked a little surprised at this answer, and wasn't satisfied by it. "John, I'm not sure that you've answered my question."

John turned to face him again. "Sir, Daniel has mocked the scholarship, and you have not objected to that. In the words of the Headmaster, the scholarship is designed to bring the most exceptional students to this school, and was in fact conceived by the Headmaster, and approved by the King, and all of the four princes. Do you share Daniel's dim view of the scholarship?"

The Professor turned red, glaring at him furiously. "I don't have to explain my beliefs to you, boy!"

John nodded, and continued to fix him with a determined stare. "Do you still want me to answer your question regarding what I believe, sir?"