Damien hadn’t managed more than a mouthful when the doors swung open and half a dozen students poured through. John waved to one of the girls, a cute brunette, before turning back to his meal. Damien raised an eyebrow.
“Marie’s in my healing group. She’s a third year. Nice girl, but kind of shy.”
Damien had eaten half his food before the door squeaked again. He looked up to see Eli leading two others into the hall. There was a girl with flaming red hair and a tiny build and a stout boy with sandy hair and a dusting of freckles across the bridge of his nose. Those two had to be the other first years. Eli waved and Damien returned the gesture.
“Friends of yours?” John asked.
“My roommate and the other first years. Eli said he’d introduce me today. Have you met them?”
“John!” The redhead leapt at his friend and wrapped her arms around his neck. “How’s my sweetie pie this morning?”
John grimaced and disentangled himself from the girl. “I’m not your sweetie pie.”
Eli set a bowl down in front of the girl. “Amanda, behave yourself. You know John doesn’t like it when you do that.”
She stuck her tongue out at Eli. “I’m going to marry him, just wait and see.”
The blond boy with the freckles sat beside Damien across from Amanda. He held out a hand and Damien shook it. “Jaden Orn, my dad’s the cook.”
Damien nodded. The family resemblance was obvious. “Damien St. Cloud. It must be nice to have your family so close.”
He nodded. “We’re both real busy, but at least I can sleep in my own bed.”
“Hey!” Amanda leaned across the table so her face was only inches from Damien’s. “I want to see your soul force. Eli said it was really strong. Show me.”
Eli grabbed the back of Amanda’s tunic and yanked her into her seat. “That’s so rude. You’re not supposed to ask people to show you their soul force. I’m sorry, Damien.”
Damien shrugged. He didn’t realize it was rude to ask, so it never occurred to him to be offended. He turned his focus inward and found his shield and the flows sustaining it working just like he left them the night before. Truth was he didn’t know how to lower his shield without removing it completely and he didn’t want to do that since putting it up was such a chore. He said as much to Amanda.
“It’s not fair.” Amanda glared at Eli. “You got to see it. How come I don’t get to?”
Eli looked pained as he tried to think of an explanation.
“I’ll show you as soon as Mistress Ann teaches me how to open a hole in the shield. Okay?”
She whipped around to focus on him. “Promise?”
Damien nodded.
Amanda grinned. “I like you. We’re going to be friends.”
Without giving him a chance to respond she darted across the table and kissed him square on the lips. Too stunned to speak, Damien stared at the odd girl. Who kisses someone they just met on the lips?
“There.” She nodded, seeming satisfied. “Now it’s official, we’re friends.”
Eli put a hand over his face and sighed. Damien finished his breakfast before anything else strange happened. Which, considering what he’d seen so far in this place, was a small miracle.
He was about to get up and take his dishes to the counter when the door opened again and a blond giant walked in flanked by two smaller, but still huge boys. The blond boy had to be over six feet tall with broad shoulders and thick legs. Damien had seen a picture of an ogre once in one of his father’s books, and this boy wasn’t much smaller.
“That’s Sigurd Iceborn,” Eli said. “His father’s the duke of the northern territory. He’s very proud, so watch what you say to him.”
Damien shot a look at John who shook his head. “Sig’s an ass, just like his father. Dad says it’s a wonder they have any snow up north considering the amount of hot air the duke blows.”
Eli winced at John’s lack of tact and Amanda laughed. The shrill noise caught Sig’s attention and he angled away from the counter and toward their table, his companions flanking him. A slender dark-haired boy started to get up, but Sig shoved him back into his seat. Damien tensed. He knew this type.
Sig stopped a few feet from their table, hands on his hips, looming over them. The dining hall fell silent. The giant Northman turned his ice-blue eyes on Amanda. “Something funny, first year?”
“John told us a joke.”
Sig turned his gaze on John and his lips twisted. He couldn’t count on his rank helping him with John, whose father, the general, was equal in rank to the duke. Technically Damien’s father, as King’s Champion, outranked both the duke and the general, but it didn’t filter down to Damien.
“John.” Sig inclined his head a fraction, acknowledging John as his equal, but clearly resenting it.
John returned the gesture. “Sig.”
No love lost between those two. Sig shifted his gaze again and Damien found himself under the nobleman’s intense glare. “You must be the new guy. You don’t look like much. Rumor is you’ve got strong soul force, but I doubt you’re anything special.”
Damien shrugged. “That’s your opinion.”
The minion on the left stepped closer to Damien. “Mind your manners when you speak to Master Sigurd.”
Damien stood up. These weren’t warlords he had to run from. They were just boys. Arrogant boys who thought they could push around anyone they wanted.
Well, Damien had gotten pushed around enough. He’d be damned if he let a new batch of bullies pick up where the last bunch left off.
He took a step closer, so he was nose to chin with the older boy. “Or what?”
The minion glanced at his master and Sig nodded. The boy grabbed Damien’s tunic with his left hand and reared back with his right.
Damien crouched, tucked his chin, and leapt, driving the top of his head into
