Ralph walks into the room, his helmet under his arm, and everyone falls quiet. I’m shocked at how young he is. He can’t be any older than twenty-five. His pale skin shines against his dark hair and his eyes are lined with thick lashes. His prettiness is on a par with his cruelty. We eat in silence as Ralph makes himself a plate of food, eyeing us suspiciously, then leaves.
‘What are you doing in Zoology?’ Katherine asks Dodie.
Dodie and Atlas exchange a look.
‘Looking at reptile growth and development,’ Dodie says.
‘And dragon eugenics,’ Atlas adds coolly. ‘Lumens has asked us to research the subject in the library, although I’m thinking of refusing.’
‘So thereisa library here?’ I say.
‘I think I saw one on the third floor,’ Dodie says, casting Atlas a worried look. ‘I’ll show you if you like—’
‘I’ll take you, Featherswallow,’ Atlas interrupts. ‘I’m actually going there now.’
‘Oh,’ I say.
A boy willing to disobey his category leader’s orders when his entire future is at stake is bad news. I want to stay as far away from Atlas King as possible.
‘Well, actually, I did promise Marquis I’d show him the tennis c—’
‘Karim knows where it is,’ Marquis says quickly. ‘He’ll show me.’
I stare from Marquis to Karim, who is turning a deep shadeof beetroot. Atlas smiles pleasantly.
So I’m going to be alone with the rule-breaker.
‘Soph, do you want to come?’
‘Just because we’re in the same category doesn’t mean we’re friends again,’ Sophie says dryly.
‘Fine,’ I say, pulling my hair down to hide my burning cheeks.
I glance at Atlas and he jumps up. ‘After you.’
We climb the stairs in silence, and on the landing Atlas beckons me down a hallway.
‘You’re lucky coming here with two people you know,’ he says.
The hallway has large windows with a view of the forest. We cross it, and climb a second set of stairs hidden behind a door.
‘I didn’t come here with Sophie,’ I say. ‘I just knew her before.’
‘Did you have an argument?’
‘Something like that.’
We stop outside a set of double doors.
‘Featherswallow. That’s a dragon-descended name, isn’t it? When I heard it, I thought you were First Class.’
I shrug. ‘My family must have been once. And they must have done something to get demoted. Something cowardly.’
‘Why cowardly?’
I raise an eyebrow. ‘You know the legend. Britannia’s cowardly dragons, those who betrayed their own, lost their scales in punishment and were turned into swallows. My Uncle Thomas said that centuries ago men who went againstthe king had the wordSwallowadded to their family name, to single them out.’
‘I read a different tale,’ Atlas says softly. ‘Swallows were originally dragons who could speak every language in the world. But it weighed on them, being able to empathise with the stories of so many, so they asked God to relieve their burden and make them light and carefree. He turned them into birds, and gave them tails forked like a dragon’s tongue, to remind them of what they once were.’
