She stops, her voice tremoring, and I know she’s thinking of Nicolas.
We eat in awkward silence and my minds fills with the image of live dragons being emptied of their blood. I put my sandwich down.
‘Sophie,’ Dodie says carefully, ‘what else doesn’t the Third Class have?’
I glance at Sophie, waiting. She only spent six months as Third Class, yet I can tell she has so many things to list she doesn’t know where to start.
‘Meat,’ she says, taking another bite of chicken. ‘The butcher shops are all in the Second Class quarters.’
‘We had one come door to door, selling ham and beef bones sometimes,’ Katherine says. ‘But they were always this awful grey colour.’
I glance at Marquis – the food in Second was never grey – but he doesn’t look the least bit surprised.
‘The shelves in my local greengrocer’s were always empty,’ Sophie says. ‘Nothing but wilted greens and the occasional bag of potatoes.’
‘Maybe you had a bad supplier,’ I say. ‘Mama says … ’
I trail off as they all stare at me.
‘It’s not a supply problem,’ Karim says gently. ‘The Third Class shops are only stocked with what the Second and First Classes don’t buy.’
My cheeks burn. Why didn’t I know that? Why had I assumed that the shops were all stocked the same? Sophie gives me a despairing shake of her head, and suddenly I feel like a naive child.
‘Our schoolbooks had pages missing and someone else’s name in them,’ Katherine says. ‘And the clothes were either stained or torn.’
‘Hot water,’ Sophie says. ‘No matter how careful we were, our baths were always cold.’
‘Couldn’t you have heated it on a stove?’ Serena asks.
‘Yes,’ Sophie says, eyeing Serena coolly. ‘Except there was never any coal.’
‘Because you couldn’t afford it?’
‘Because the higher classes like to keep a fire burning in every room.’
Serena takes a sip of her cordial and says nothing.
‘But the Class System exists to give everyone a fair chance,’ I say.
I look to Marquis for reassurance. We were both taught the same thing, at school and on the radio at home. The result of its dismantling would be social chaos.
‘It means that no one is left on the streets, that every child goes to school. That’s why Wyvernmire was re-elected … because she ensured it stayed in place. Peoplewantthe Class System.’
‘Living between four walls doesn’t mean you’re warm or fed,’ Sophie says. ‘Going to school doesn’t mean you learn. And who are you to say whatpeoplewant?’
I keep my back straight, trying not to wither beneath Sophie’s cold glare.
‘We had a dragon keep our house warm,’ Karim says. ‘There was no coal, so he just breathed flames straight on to the walls from the outside. The house – and our shop – was all made of stone. Just as well, really.’
‘A dragon?’ I say.
Karim nods. ‘There are so many more in Scotland than there are here. My parents paid him in lace – my mam’s a lacemaker.’
‘Lace?’ Dodie asks. ‘What would a dragon need lace for?’
‘Aye, lace is worth a lot. Even the scraps my parents can’t use.’
‘I thought dragons only worked for humans if they were forced to,’ I say, thinking of Chumana. ‘Like a punishment.’