There were three dining halls bracketing the Halls of Magic’s kitchens. The smallest and fanciest belonged to the Hand, and had lots of smaller tables and some pictures on the wall which Kendall had liked a lot, even though they only showed bowls and jugs and grapes. She’d snatched an enjoyable ramble in there, stroking velvet cushions and inspecting the carvings of the chair backs. Fine stuff.
The Sentene had their own area, but Kendall hadn’t more than poked her nose in. It was sparse and tidy and looked like it wasn’t often used. The third hall was well battered, crammed with long benches and always too full of people. The Arkathan was the busiest section of the Halls, with students ranging from Kendall’s age all the way up to their twenties. People were always coming and going here, grabbing plates from the gleaming stacks and moving through the serving trays, taking their pick. The noise made Kendall want to leave: too much chattering, clattering, benches scraping back, mugs clunking.
They arrived just as all this was reaching lunchtime peak, and Kendall took Sebastian’s elbow and made sure he got across the hall upright. She filled their plates too, not trusting his ability to juggle his cane, then moved them to one side of the servery so she could look for a place to sit down.
"Is it always this crowded?" Sebastian asked, for there were precious few spare seats.
"The first couple of days I was here, when there were more classes, it didn’t get so bad," she said. "People would rush in, and gulp things down and then rush out. Now they all sit around gossiping and blocking–"
She broke off as a loud scraping of benches brought a sudden hush to the room. At one of the corner tables everyone had stood up at once, and were walking to return their plates, all very stiff-backed and correct. Sukata Illuma, who had obviously just sat down, gave no sign that she’d even noticed their departure, or the murmur of discomfort mixed with enjoyment which ran through the room.
Kendall nearly lost her own balance when Sebastian moved forward. He’d gone white, with spots of colour highlighting his cheekbones. Really angry. And then he stalked across the hall. Even balancing on the cane he managed dignity and outrage with every step. Kendall trailed in his wake, spotting his Ferumguard minders watching with the interest shared by the entire room.
"May we join you?" Sebastian asked, and didn’t wait for an answer before sitting down opposite Sukata. "I’m Sebastian. This is Kendall."
"Sukata," said Sukata.
Kendall suffered a slight shock on seeing Sukata’s expression. In the little time she’d been at the Arkathan she’d learned Sukata was master of the art of being correct, so perfect that all the slights and snobberies of students and faculty had no power. Like all the Kellian, nothing seemed to touch her. But she wasn’t that way about Sebastian. She met his determined eyes and actually changed colour. So extremely startled and uncertain she was not quite able to hide it.
There was some noise from a nearby table, and Sukata’s expression flicked back to normal. But the talk wasn’t down to her. A tall boy, three or four years older, had stood up and was staring at their small group. Beside him, a much younger girl with the same fine, fair features was asking him questions in an excited voice, demanding until he responded. The girl bounced gleefully at his response, and wriggled out of her seat.
She wasn’t much more than ten years old, dressed in a floaty wisp of rose silk. A fairy-princess, Kendall thought, and realised how well that fitted when the girl ran straight up to Sebastian and announced: "Justin says I have the right to call you cousin."
"Do you?" Sebastian ran fingers absently through his hair and blinked at the girl, then looked past her to her elder brother, approaching with a little train of friends behind him. With some difficulty he stood up, and bowed carefully. "Exceedingly remote cousins, Your Highness."
"But the link’s still there," said Prince Justin. "And that’s all that’s important to Sera. She’s been longing to meet you." He laughed. "I can’t say I haven’t been more than curious myself. May we join you?"
Kendall suspected Sebastian wasn’t altogether pleased by this development, but he agreed. The eight-person table was quickly over-filled.
"Why did your sister snub Grandmama?" Princess Sera asked, making mischief clear as day. Kendall’s eyes widened, then she settled back to enjoy the entertainment. Sebastian hadn’t become general gossip, but the royal family had obviously been informed, and weren’t overly shy about confronting him. And Princess Sera had all the makings of a sugar-glossed brat.
"I hadn’t heard she had," Sebastian said. He was still pale, but not at all nervous. "What makes you think it?"
"Grandmama summoned her to audience, and she said she was too busy and left!" Princess Sera made a great play of looking shocked.
"Well, my sister does have to be at certain places at certain times, even if that means missing out on meeting your Grandmother. The incursions won’t wait for her to arrive."
"What is she actually doing?" Prince Justin asked. "I’ve heard so many different things."
"Building a weapon," Sebastian said, after a slight pause. "The same thing Tiandel used."
"Something to use against the monsters?" Princess Sera’s eyes were round and innocent, but Kendall wouldn’t trust her an inch.
"No, just against the Black Queen. The Sentene and the Hand are dealing with the Eferum-Get." Sebastian turned from the princess to the Kellian girl making herself unobtrusive in the corner. "I wanted to ask you if you’re related to Captain Illuma. You look very like her."
"My mother."
"She saved my life. I need to thank her, but haven’t found a chance."
"It is her duty," Sukata replied , putting down her knife. Kendall was sure she wasn’t the only one who looked at the girl’s hands. Like most of the Kellian seemed to, Sukata clipped the nails of one hand, but left the other pointed and alien.
"Maybe. Is duty any reason to honour her less?" He turned his head to meet Prince Justin’s eyes, and his gaze was so uncompromising that Kendall heard a couple of indrawn breaths. The prince flushed.
"I should get back," Sebastian continued, struggling again to his feet. "Kendall, you don’t mind leading me?"
"Sure," Kendall said, taking a last hasty mouthful, then pushing aside her plate. She had no intention of remaining at the table to deal with the aftermath of that stoush. Sukata, she noticed, wasted no time collecting the plates and retreating herself.
"So what did that achieve?" she asked as soon as they were out of the room.
"It made me feel better."
"Your sister snubs the Queen and you turn your nose up at her heirs. Not really sensible."
"Maybe." He scrubbed a hand over his face, and she noticed darkening shadows under his eyes. "I suppose I lost my temper. He ranked everyone there, watched them act like that, and made no protest. As good as countenancing it. He has a responsibility toward the people who serve his family. Besides, that wretched little girl was working toward asking if Ren really, truly wants her Grandmama’s throne, and I didn’t want to dignify that idiocy with an answer."
"Do you think that’s where she was going?" Kendall wouldn’t have been surprised. "Not that you acting like the whole room was beneath you isn’t going to put fuel on that fire."
"The entire question’s bizarre. The last thing I thought we’d have to contend with. Though–" He smiled. "The Surcleres were famed for two things: magic and arrogance. If it’s the family reputation driving this, I guess I should stop trying to live up to it."