THE CAST EXAM

Emma Tolly sighed as she leafed morosely through her notebook.

Pages filled from top to bottom with beautifully neat handwriting greeted her eyes, but Emma paid her homework no attention. Her thoughts were sidling away, ever so slowly as the clock on the wall ticked endlessly. Emma's doodles and careless sketches occupied the margins, but she barely gave these black-and-white illustrations a second glance. Her eyes were fixedly locked on the ceiling, her mind wandering to daydreams and wishes.

The bell, unbelievably loud and considerably unwelcome, startled Emma. She rose from her seat in unison with the other Art students.

Emma was a second-former of Bloor's Academy. She was pretty, sure enough. Emma's straight-ironed veil of thin, sleek strawberry-blond hair shone in the flickering torchlight, her eyes were bright, large and appealing, her figure shaped and curvy. Moreover, she would be thirteen in two months—the same age as a third-year student.

"Lysander?" The tall, African boy sauntered meters ahead, loping towards the King's Room with a confident, easy grace. He turned at the sound of his name, grinning broadly.

"Hi, Emma," he replied, wriggling his arms into the straps of his knapsack. "Have you seen Tanc?"

Tancred Torsson was Lysander Sage's best friend, and also a Child of the Red King. The selected twelve consisted of Charlie Bone, Gabriel Silk, Billy Raven, Asa Pike, Manfred Bloor, Inez and Idith: the Branko twins, Joshua Tilpin, Dorcas Loom, Lysander and Tancred, and Emma herself. Her closest pal, Olivia Vertigo, was an 'endowed-on-the-loose', as it had been Charlie's plan to hide her affinity from the Bloors. Emma glanced around quickly, shrugging apologetically. "No. Sorry. I haven't seen him, Sander."

The pair turned sharply into the hollow, drafty chamber known as the King's Room. Circular and high-ceilinged, the Children of the Red King occupied the compartment after dinner every single day.

"Silence in the King's Room." Manfred Bloor's deep, authoritative voice preceded him into the chamber. "Pencils down, eyes on me."

Obediently, various writing utensils were dropped from the busy hands of the endowed as their faces turned upward in curiosity. Manfred had never asked for such a show of attention. The matter must be one of utmost importance.

"The case in question is one of utmost importance," Manfred enunciated, mimicking Emma's thoughts. "My father, the Headmaster, insists you listen carefully. Time is of the essence."

The low, flat drawl didn't seem to stress the urgency, but the others didn't mind. With a sigh, Emma flashed a sidelong glance toward Charlie Bone. His brow was furrowed in concentration, suspicion and undivided interest—what else had she expected? Charlie was always on the lookout for trouble and signs of danger.

"The total of endowed children in the world is unknown," Manfred stated, fiddling with his thumbs as he droned haplessly on. "But the total of endowed children in Bloor's is—"

"Twelve," Dorcas Loom chirped immediately. Manfred fixed Dorcas with a frosty glare before continuing.

"Yes, twelve." Manfred glowered down his nose at each student in turn. "Torsson, Sage—you remember the Cast Exam, don't you?"

Tancred and Lysander groaned. Emma couldn't suppress a tiny smile.

"The Cast Exam is a test taken by my great-grandsire, Mr Ezekiel Bloor. I have been told not to go into full detail of the exam's requirements and actions, but surgeons and common medical tests are involved."

"Man—I mean, sir?" Joshua Tilpin raised his hand, smiling crookedly. Emma recoiled from his drawing stare, but Manfred returned the smile with a lopsided smirk.

"Yes, Tilpin?"

"Why is it—?"

"The Cast Exam?" Manfred's smirk widened. "Our Drama teacher, Mr Derivere, assured his students the exam would be safe and harmless. Like an audition for a movie—were his words. The name stuck, as you can see why."

"An audition?" Joshua made a face.

"Mr Ezekiel will explain," Manfred said, an unpleasant grin lengthening maliciously across his glowing face. "Bone and Branko are our first guinea pigs. Wish them luck, Children of the Red King!"

Glowering, Manfred exited triumphantly. Emma craned her neck, intent on her homework, but the tersely uncomfortable atmosphere that hovered above the endowed was impossible to miss.

At last, when it was far too much for Emma to bear, she dropped her pen and glared at Lysander. "Sander, what's this Cast Exam all about?"

Lysander shrugged. "They won't hurt you, Em. It's a check-up, basically."

"Manfred did say medical tests were involved, but I was given the impression the Cast Exam wasn't physiological in the least."

Lysander nodded. "You weren't wrong. It's like an audition."

Emma pressed the older boys for additional information, but Lysander and Tancred refused to reveal any more than they already had. After Charlie and the twins had been examined, they did not return. Manfred revisited to inform the students that, "Mr Ezekiel will send you straight to your dormitory afterward, so don't forget your books."

Loom and Raven were next. Billy Raven, frightful and fidgety, tripped along with the malevolently intimidating Dorcas. Emma gave Billy a final, sympathetic glance before refocusing on her homework.

"Alright," Manfred announced, ten minutes following, "We'll send Silk, Tilpin and Tolly next. Asa snorted as Emma passed, but she chose to ignore the beast-boy and bravely marched through the corridors alongside the perpetually grinning Joshua and the droopy, paranoid Gabriel.

They had arrived, following Manfred's basic directions, at an old, scratched wooden door. Emma was afraid her knuckles would catch splinters, but she rapped the bristly surface with courage.

"Enter."

Gabriel swung open the door, and the trio tumbled through into the tiny, overheated room. Sweating instantly, Emma wiped her palm across her cheeks to cool her face. She was seated in seconds, and determined to maintain a straight face.

"Hello, children." Dr Bloor indicated his grandfather, Ezekiel, bent and twisted in the confines of the wheelchair. "Meet my grandfather, whom you will address simply as Mr Bloor.

"You are all here for an identical purpose. Endowed children have the capacity to learn and develop new affinities, and are capable of juggling more than one endowment, though it is rare and nearly unheard of. As you all know, Yolanda Yewbeam was able to shift her appearance and hypnotize others simultaneously. A perfect example.

"Manfred, my son, developed a new ability as well. He could no longer erase memories, but he can still inflict major damage upon a vulnerable mind with his eyes. An incredibly selected few of the Red King's descendants have inherited this double-talent blessing, but it is most likely that once you've discovered a new endowment, your previous ability fades.

"The Cast Exam will be able to recognize whether or not you have changed. Now, children, please step up to the dais, and we shall begin."

Emma shuddered as she headed for the dining hall.

"Thanks, Cook," she mumbled, as she hurried for the far table with her full tray. She slid onto the bench, to the left of Fidelio Gunn. In a low voice, Emma explained the Cast Exam in full detail. Fido gobbled his potatoes throughout the account, listening with rapt attention.

"That's awful," he remarked, as he shoveled a final spoonful of onion-and-leek stew into his mouth. "Ouch, that's spicy."

"Fidelio, what happens when I'm double-talented?" Emma's words were a whisper, but the shrillness of her tone was notable. Fidelio shrugged plaintively, gulping a jug of water to cool his tongue.

"It still burns," he moaned. Catching Emma's irritated eye, Fido hastily set the water jug down and furrowed his brow in false concern. "Sounds like you're in a dilemma."

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes, sipping her juice ponderously. She couldn't recall dragging herself up to the girls' dormitories and wriggling into bed, but she must have done, because the following morning Emma awoke with worries and faint ghosts of troubled dreams.

"Em?" Tancred's face swam before her sleepy eyes. "Lord, you look awful."

"Thanks," Emma muttered darkly, as she slipped into the bathroom. Her eyes were streaked with the makeup she had forgotten to remove the other night, and in addition to the black marks, bags had begun to form beneath her eyes due to the lack of sleep she'd experienced.

"Oh, my word, I do look awful," she groaned, as she bit back another yawn. Emma staggered drowsily down the stairs, ignoring the giggly comments and pointers.

"What did I tell you? Bloor's is a complete hellhole."

"Look what the cat dragged in for breakfast."

"Jesus Christ; am I dreaming?"

Emma fumed as she located Gabriel Silk. She slipped through the dining hall doors to join her friend by the corner.

"Manfred's beckoning." He grabbed her wrist and yanked her through the crowd and over toward the newly-appointed teacher's assistant.

"Tolly, Silk—your exam results have concluded you both to be double-talented Children of the Red King. You should feel proud. Inez Branko and Billy Raven passed the Cast Exam as well, and they have been informed."

Emma gasped. Gabriel bit his lip doubtfully. "Why do they say it's an audition? It felt—"

"The Cast Exam wasn't the audition," Manfred explained dubiously, as though the information he'd rather keep to himself. "The audition is the after-party."

"What do you mean?" Emma looked fearful. Gabriel gulped. Manfred smiled.

"You've been withdrawn from Music," Manfred told Gabriel. To Emma, he said, "Madame Tessier has agreed, with reluctance, to excuse you from your French lesson. Come to the King's Room during your class-time. I'll be waiting."