"Mercedes Lackey - Brightly Burning" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

тАЬOwlyтАЭ and demanded тАЬthe work.тАЭ A moment later, and Tyron was accepting sheaves of paper from
Owyn and his friends. тАЬThey have the smart ones do their sums and sometimes other schoolwork for
them,тАЭ Froggy explained, her eyes watering. тАЬBut if you arenтАЩt smart, they make you do other things for
them.тАЭ
The Sixth Formers had returned to their seats, where they distributed the papers among
themselves and sipped small ale poured by the servants, who ignored the rest of the table. FroggyтАЩs eyes
burned as she gazed on them.
тАЬJust two more years,тАЭ she said, as if to herself, with the longing of a starving man in her voice.
тАЬJust two more years, then it will be my turn!тАЭ
But Lan, as he looked more closely at the Sixth Form group, saw that there was a central core of
the group who were the true masters of the rest. These numbered about twenty, enough to give them
enough muscle to have their way, so long as the less fortunate remained disorganized. The rest hung
about the periphery of the group, ignored for the most part, but occasionally tendered an abusive or
scornful comment, occasioning much laughter among the rest. When Tyron or one of the others of his
clique gave a careless order, it was one of these hangers-on who jumped to execute it just as quickly as if
they were not of the Sixth Form themselves.
Somehow, Lan doubted that it would ever be FroggyтАЩs тАЬturnтАЭ to be one of the select few.

*

LAN had the sense to finish his now-cold lunch and retreat to his classroom as soon as the Sixth
Form turned their attention elsewhere. He did notice that there were several more girls besides the two in
his class and poor down-trodden Froggy among the students. There were even some among the ruling
elite, and not all of them looked old enough to properly qualify as being in the Sixth Form. All the girls
sitting with Tyron and his clique were among the prettiest in the room, which seemed to be their
qualification for belonging there. The girls werenтАЩt any better than their boyfriends, though; they didnтАЩt
initiate any cruel тАЬjokes,тАЭ but they laughed just as hard as any of the boys, and were perfectly willing to
participate once something was begun.
The rest of the afternoon passed without incident, much to LanтАЩs relief-four more classes, in
mathematics, reading comprehension, writing and calligraphy, and accounting. Once or twice one of the
boldest of his class addressed him as тАЬScrub,тАЭ but he felt safe in ignoring the insult.
When class was dismissed for the end of the day, however, Lan faced another problem: how to
get out without being singled out for more abuse. He felt instinctively that after having been identified by
Tyron, others of the Sixth Form would try to impress their superiority on him. When the final bell rang for
dismissal, and the rest of the class ran for the door, Lan stayed behind, pretending to read. The teacher
said nothing as he left, so Lan supposed such an action was permissible. It would be easier for someone
who lived in a large, busy household to study in a quiet room at the school than at home.
So since reading comprehension was clearly one of his weaker points, and it was a great deal
easier to feign reading than any other subject, he remained at his desk, slowly turning pages, as the noise
from the hall faded and died away. Only then did he rise and move cautiously to the window, which gave
a limited view of the courtyard within the school walls.
He saw at once that his guess was correct. As Tyron and his closest friends lounged and
watched critically, others of the Sixth Form intercepted selected students and belabored them with
insults, shoves, and kicks. OwynтАЩs group was allowed to slip by relatively unmolested except for a
chorus of catcalls, but others were not so fortunate.
As the stream of students exiting the building thinned, Tyron laughed and stood up. Lan heard
him clearly from the open window where he sheltered, taking care that he couldnтАЩt be seen.
тАЬThatтАЩs enough for today, lads,тАЭ he said in that deceptively genial voice. тАЬWhoтАЩs for a game of
court tennis? IтАЩll lay two to three that none of you can play a game without being scored against.тАЭ
Others took up his challenge, and the lot of them moved off and out of the gates in a group. From