“I’m not used to sitting in a classroom either,” Dancer said. “In the camps, we learn by apprenticeship—one teacher, one student.”

“Why’d you come here, then?” Cat asked, keeping her eyes fixed on her bowl. “I an’t seen no other copperheads here.”

“They don’t teach clan vocations here,” Dancer said. “There’d be no point.”

Cat shrugged. “From what I heard, you all spend your time stealing babies, hexing animals into monsters, and making poisons and witch pieces.” She licked butter off her bread. “It’s no wonder people don’t like it when you come down to the flatlands.”

“Shut up, Cat,” Han growled. “Don’t rattle on about things you know nothing about.”

“The clans are gifted in magical materials, healing, and earth magic,” Dancer said to Cat. “High magic—the kind wizards use—that’s not a clan vocation. That’s why I had to come here.” His face remained untroubled, as if Cat’s digs and insults slid right off him.

“Some people say Southern Islanders ought to stay in the islands,” Han said, feeling the need to stick up for Dancer, since he wouldn’t stick up for himself. “We all got to make the best of it. There must be something about the Temple School you like.”

Cat gnawed on her fingernail. “I do like the music,” she said grudgingly. “All you want. There’s basilkas and flutes and harps and organs and harpsichords. Choirs singing. Recitals all the time. Mistress Johanna gave me another basilka all to myself, said I could keep it long as I’m at school. She said they got masters can give me lessons on any of the other instruments, too. My choice.” She crammed a handful of grapes into her mouth. “She keeps pestering me to do some recitals. Play in front of people. I don’t know if I want to do that.”

That Mistress Johanna is smart, Han thought, if she already figured out that the way to Cat was through music.

“You’ve been accepted and come this far,” Dancer said. “You should take advantage. I’d love to hear you play.”

Cat twitched irritably, twisting a lock of her hair between her thumb and forefinger. “I just don’t know how long I’m going to be here. No point in getting all tangled up in something that won’t last. People begin to think they own a piece of you.”

Han flung his napkin onto the table. “There’s nothing you’re in a rush to get back to, is there? That’s why we’re all here. We got nothing and nobody at home.”

“You got no idea who I am or why I’m here,” Cat said. She stood and stalked out of the dining hall.