The Future King: Logres (14 page)

Bunsen
Burners

Viola leant across the
basin, eying her hair in the
stained mirror. She’d worn it up that morning, but during the walk to school the
wind had teased things out of place. Adjusting a few strands, she shouted to
Gwenhwyfar. ‘So what did Arthur say to her, exactly?’

The toilet flushed, a lock sounded, and Gwenhwyfar joined Viola at
the basins. ‘He asked her if she wanted to spend lunch together.
Right
in front of me, too. He’s going to
ask her out, I’m sure of it. You remember what Emily said,’ she huffed. ‘I
thought he didn’t even like Morgan? I thought he liked me.’

‘He
does
like you, Gwen.
Why do you think he’s been so upset over this whole Hector thing? It wouldn’t
have bothered him at all, if he didn’t care.’

‘
Care
—?’ she snorted.

‘Oh, you know what I mean. Why do you think he asked Morgan to lunch
in History? Because you were there, because he wanted to make you jealous.’

‘You think?’ Gwenhwyfar went to dry her hands. The dryer didn’t work,
so she vanished into one of the cubicles to get some toilet paper instead.

Viola leant against the sink. ‘And Emily was obviously making it up. Why
would Arthur want to ask Morgan out? It’s obvious he likes you. He’s just upset
about the prank.’

‘He didn’t even let me explain it to him,’ she despaired. They left
the bathroom. ‘And now he’s sniffing around
Morgan.
’

‘We don’t know that.’

‘Well, Morgan likes him. It’s obvious. Surely he must know that, at
least.’

They came to their classroom. Morgan was sitting in her usual seat,
drawing in her sketchbook. As they sat down, Bedivere ambushed them.

‘Can I join you?’ he asked hopefully. Gwenhwyfar gestured to a chair.
He moved it closer. ‘Thanks. I just couldn’t bear it. Morgan keeps pushing me
to talk to Arthur, as if
I’m
the one
ignoring him.’ He looked over his shoulder, and then turned back to them with a
scowl. ‘You know, I used to think she was interested in me? But of course not,
everyone only ever wants Arthur
.
’

‘I didn’t know you liked Morgan,’ Gwenhwyfar probed.

‘Me neither,’ Viola admitted. ‘What happened to Emily? Gwen told me
that not so long ago you were dazzled by her.’

‘Let’s just say I’m now aware of her true colours.’

‘What, pink?’ Viola remarked.

‘Besides, I never said I liked Morgan. I just thought she liked me. And
I was pretty certain Arthur liked Gwen.’

The lights cut out. There was a wave of excitement. Their tutor, Miss
Ray, appeared in the doorway. Carrying her coffee she flicked the light switch
on and off, and huffed.

‘Settle down!’ she demanded, coming into the room and shutting the
door. ‘It’s just a power cut. Another one,’ she added under her breath.

‘Does that mean we can go home, miss?’ someone called from the back
of the class.

‘Miss, I think we should leave early,’ another girl shouted from her
small group of friends.

‘Hattie’s afraid of the dark, miss,’ Charlotte teased, giggling.

‘It’s light outside,’ Miss Ray declared curtly, her honey-dyed hair
up in a small bun. She put her mug down and began to search through the papers
on her desk. ‘Look, you know we have a generator. It’ll be on in a few minutes.
A bit of natural light never hurt anyone.’

‘I’m so sick of this,’ Viola complained. ‘I swear it’s happening more
often.’

‘It is,’ Bedivere murmured. ‘The New Nationals aren’t making enough
to power the country. The rural areas go first, then houses in the slums. Then
it’s towns and residential neighbourhoods. Hospitals go last.’

‘I don’t think they’ve ever had to cut power to a hospital,’ Viola
observed. ‘Not yet.’

‘But we have a generator?’ Gwenhwyfar asked.

Bedivere nodded. ‘Courtesy of all the rich parents.’

‘We have blackouts all the time in Wales. You’re right about the
rural areas.’ She sighed. ‘How long do they last here?’

‘A couple of hours. Longest one I had was four days. I went
completely insane. No Internet, no telly, no oven. Nightmare.’

‘I hope the power’s still on at my house,’ she fretted.

‘That depends on where you live.’

The lights came back on. There was a murmur of disappointment. Miss
Ray looked up with a wave of her arms. ‘See? What did I tell you? Two minutes.’
She settled in her chair and proceeded to take the register.

‘Where were you at break today?’

Marvin watched Arthur expectantly as he came into the room, shutting
the door behind him.

‘Outside. I bumped into a friend,’ he said, sitting on one of the
tables.

‘Oh?’ Marvin sounded pleasantly surprised. ‘Someone I know?’

‘Just Morgan.’ He unzipped his bag and rummaged inside for his
lunchbox. ‘She’s actually really nice. We’re spending lunch together. I hope
you don’t mind.’

‘Of course not.’ Marvin hooked both hands behind his head, and
stretched back into his chair. ‘How did she take to our offer? About joining
the club?’

‘She’s in. She came up with loads of suggestions for names.’

‘And Bedivere?’

Arthur frowned. He’d never really confirmed either way. ‘He didn’t
say.’

Marvin sighed. ‘I know you two have had a bit of a falling out. It’s
hard not to notice, with the way you’ve been behaving.’

Arthur turned his gaze out of the window. ‘We’re not friends
anymore.’

‘Why ever not?’

‘It’s complicated.’

‘I see.’ Marvin rested his chin on the bridge of his hands. ‘This
wouldn’t have anything to do with that party on Friday night, would it?’

‘How do you know about that?’

‘I overheard Mr Hall talking to Agnes Brolstone in the corridor this
morning. Apparently Gwen was involved in some sort of incident.’

‘You could say that,’ Arthur muttered.

‘What do you know about it?’

‘Just that I was the subject of a rather nasty practical joke. And
that Gwenhwyfar and Hector are now an item.’

‘Are they?’ Marvin’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘That’s not what I heard.’

‘What did you hear?’

‘I heard that Gwen was assaulted.’

Arthur paled. ‘What? When—?’

‘On Friday at that party. Someone came forward on Tuesday and told
the principal. The school wouldn’t have known about it otherwise. She wasn’t
hurt, thank goodness. One of our students clouted Hector. If there was a
practical joke involved, Gwen was the victim, not the perpetrator.’

Suddenly, Arthur felt queasy. ‘So you’re telling me—what—that
Gwen was set up, and that Hector…?’

He couldn’t finish. Marvin nodded. ‘I’m afraid that’s rather what it
sounds like.’

Arthur retreated behind his own hands. How could he have been so
blind? Of course Gwenhwyfar had nothing to do with it! Of course this was the
work of the Furies! Even Bedivere had been innocent. He, just like Gwenhwyfar,
had been manipulated, and they had all been made fools of in the process.

‘Arthur?’

He expelled a loud groan. He couldn’t make amends now; he didn’t know
how. ‘Why hasn’t Hector been expelled? Or arrested?’ He buckled over and
snarled at his own stupidity. ‘I’m a fool, Merlin, a fool!’

‘No Arthur, you are not a fool,’ his History teacher countered,
solemn. ‘How are any of us to know such things? The important thing is, you
know now. It’s not too late to fix this.’

‘It’s too late for me. How is what I accused Gwen of forgivable?’ His
head snapped up, turmoil in his eyes. ‘I thought she was a part of it.’ He
shook his head violently. ‘What are they doing about it?’

‘The principal’s been holding meetings with parents this week, that
much I do know. I should imagine that he’s reluctant to go to the police
because of bad press concerning the school.’

‘And Hector? What about him?’

‘Hector? His surname’s Browne, as is the principal’s cousin’s. Now
that may not mean much, but I’m fairly certain the two are connected. It may
explain why this hasn’t been officially announced in the staff room yet. It’ll
be suspension, at the very most, for Hector. Gwenhwyfar’s parents will demand
that, at least.’

‘Sounds like Ravioli has quite a dilemma on his hands,’ sneered
Arthur.

‘I don’t understand why Mr Hall isn’t being more discreet. Granted, Agnes
is Hector’s tutor, but I’d have thought this sort of thing should be kept
highly confidential, at least until a resolution and plan of action is found.
Particularly given how much Agnes likes to talk.’

The two fell silent.

‘I’m sorry if this has upset you, Arthur, but I thought you’d want to
know. It won’t be long until the entire school is discussing it.’

‘I know.’ He looked to the clock, and sighed. ‘I should go.’

‘Where to?’ asked Marvin, concerned.

‘Morgan. I was supposed to meet her five minutes ago.’ He stood, and
slowly hoisted his bag. How was he going to rectify this? Gwenhwyfar wouldn’t
forgive him easily, and why should she? Bedivere and Viola both deserved an
apology, too.

‘Then you’d better hurry!’ exclaimed Marvin, trying to lighten the
mood. ‘Maybe it’ll take your mind off things? Being outside for a while.’ He
picked up the day’s paper, flicked it out, and began to read. ‘Tell her to keep
thinking of names for our club.’

Arthur nodded, wished Marvin a good weekend, and then vanished
through the door.

Lunchtime passed with a strong gale that bowed trees and flattened grass.
Inside, the rustling branches could be heard through the closed windows, which
whistled in the darkening corridors. Gwenhwyfar stared up at the bruised clouds
through the window opposite her Science room. Just one more lesson, she
thought, and then she would be granted respite. The laboratory door opened and she
found her seat in silence. Their teacher, Mrs Watson, announced that they would
be working in pairs and then shouted them out to the unsettled class.

‘Jo, Max; Rupert, Jack; Sue, Lucy; Arthur, Gwen…’

Her head shot up. Scowling, she turned her eyes to Arthur, who hesitantly
rose to his feet and wandered over, reclaiming his temporary seat for the first
time in days. As the list of pairs continued, Gwenhwyfar kept her eyes fixed on
the chalkboard at the other end of room.

‘How’s Morgan?’ she bristled.

He gazed at her, wide-eyed. ‘She’s fine.’

‘Did you enjoy your lunch date?’ About them, the rest of the class
played an ad-hoc game of musical chairs.

‘It wasn’t a date,’ he told her.

‘No?’ She shot him a sharp look. ‘So what was it?’

‘We just had lunch together, that’s all.’

Mrs Watson called for their attention.

‘Test tubes are in the back cupboards, Bunsen burners by the sink.
Remember, we’ll be looking at the reactions of carbon with metal oxides when
heated. The carbon is here at the front with the magnesium, copper and iron
oxides.
Don’t
forget the heat resistant
mats or your goggles,
please
.’

Gwenhwyfar jumped to her feet. As she began to gather the apparatus
Arthur hurried to follow.

‘I wanted to apologise,’ he said, cramping her. ‘I’ve made a terrible
mistake.’

She moved to the supply cupboard, snatched up the test tubes and then
crushed them into his hands.

‘We need a magnet. And the chemicals.’

‘Gwen, please. I’m trying to talk to you.’

‘Well, now you know how it feels, don’t you?’ She left to get the
last few necessities, and soon she was back at their desk.

Arthur tried again. ‘I know, I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have ignored you,
especially not when you tried to explain things to me.’

She began to set it all up. ‘No, you shouldn’t.’