I turn away, a hollow feeling growing in my stomach. Sophie is in the same category as me, which is exactly what I was hoping for. But she was supposed to study maths at university. If she’s been chosen to be a codebreaker, then maybe this job has nothing to do with dragon tongues, after all. Maybe Wyvernmire lied to me.
I take a deep breath. This isgoodnews. It means that if I save myself, I save Sophie, too.
‘They picked me because I’m good at chess,’ Katherine says. ‘That Dolores woman recruited me after I beat everyone in my prison, including the prison warden’s chess-champion son.’
I don’t ask Katherine what she was in prison for.
‘I’m in Aviation,’ Serena says, lifting a small leather suitcase on to her bed.
Why wassheallowed to bring luggage?
‘What’s the last category?’
‘Zoology,’ Dodie says softly.
‘Zoology?’ I say. ‘ Like the study of animals?’
‘Not animals.’ Serena laughs. ‘Dragons, darling!’
We all stare at her.
‘Codebreaking, Aviation, Zoology . . . they are allWyvernmire’s attempt toimitatedragons.’ Her voice is warm and smooth, bursting with articulate confidence. ‘That is how she plans to win the war.’
I sit down on my bed. So my codebreakingisrelated to dragons. But how?
‘Is that dragonbone?’ Dodie asks.
She’s looking at the hairbrush Serena has just pulled out of her suitcase. Its handle is pearly white, stark against the black horsehair bristles. Dragonbone has been illegal since the signing of the Peace Agreement.
Serena shrugs. ‘A family heirloom. My mother gave it to me before sending me here.’
‘Your mothersentyou here?’ Dodie says.
‘Oh yes,’ Serena replies bitterly. ‘After I failed the Examination on purpose and refused to marry the man she chose for me to keep me in First Class, she practically begged Ravensloe to take me.’
‘Why would you fail the Examination on purpose?’ asks Sophie.
Serena shrugs. ‘I was bored – in my class, it’s nothing more than a few questions with an examiner over tea. And watching my mother descend into a frenzy is amusing.’
‘That’s it?’ I say. ‘You’re here because Deputy Prime Minister Ravensloe did your mother a favour?’
‘No,’ Serena replies, giving me an irritated look. ‘Ravensloe refused, actually. But my father organised a soirée in our home, to celebrate the engagement I didn’t agree to and quell the rumours that his only daughter had been demoted. And Ravensloe was there.’
I roll my eyes at the fact that Serena comes from a family that celebrates milestones with the Deputy Prime Minister. She’s the type of person who can afford to ruin her education simply to distress her mother – recklessness isn’t much of a risk when you’re not one mistake away from being demoted to Third. The worst that could happen to Serena is a slightly less privileged life with the Seconds.
‘I make … contraptions,’ she continues. ‘That’s what my mother calls them. Model planes and wings, things that fly. It’s a hobby. Ravensloe caught me in the hallway, trying to rescue one of my models from the maids my mother had ordered to clear my rooms. And he told her he’d changed his mind. I refused to attend my engagement party, so my mother knew I wasn’t going to give in. She thinks I’ll take one look at the work expected of me here and run home. But I won’t. If I do the job, I’ll stay First Class. And then I’ll start selling my models—’
‘I don’t mean to be rude,’ Dodie says quietly, ‘but how is making models going to help the war effort?’
Serena is unbuttoning the front of her dress. ‘More dragons join the rebel movement each day,’ she says, shrugging her dress off so she’s standing in nothing but a silk chemise. She pulls on the black stockings and navy skirt. ‘And if you want to defeat a dragon, you must fight like a dragon, correct?’
Aviation – the operating of an aircraft – and zoology – the study of animals – could be linked to dragons at a stretch. But codebreaking? There’s a loud knock. The boy in the white collar pokes his head round the door just as Serena is closing her shirt.
‘Oh – sorry,’ he says, averting his eyes.
Serena gives him a sweet smile, and I decide I don’t like her.
‘Sorry to bother you all,’ the boy begins again when Serena is dressed, ‘but we’ve just been called for dinner.’
