The Untamed

Chapter 14: The New Target

   The door knocked and Clyde looked up at it curiously. It knocked again and Clyde tossed all of his notes aside and rushed up to the door, guessing that it was probably Jassy’s little messenger again. There was nothing so very spectacular going on at the moment, so what did she want to tell him this time?

   Barely a week had passed since Clyde had that private little meeting with King Zane and it was probably the most boring week ever here on this island. Aaron Ayman, apparently quite unhappy about Clyde’s decision to take the exam, was now loading the boy with so much homework; Clyde barely had any time to focus on his academics. This entire week, every minute he spent outside of school was spent in his cheap dorm.

   With the entire load, Clyde was having a difficult time truly understanding anything he learned at school. In all honesty, he probably knew just as much about the Kin as he knew after the first day of class. Now, he desperately attempted to understand every aspect that confused him. With so much under his belt, Clyde had little time for fun and games. It seemed like the girls and everyone else on the island realized this, and thus, everyone kept out of his way. So it was a bit strange to have a visitor, even if it was Jassy’s messenger.

   However, when he opened the door, Clyde was astounded and somewhat pleased to see Kane.

   “Kane!” he exclaimed, trying to hide his excitement. “Where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you since I first got here.”

   “Almost a month already, eh?” Kane replied with his face still twisted sternly. He walked into the humble room and gave the place a good look around. After seeing the pile of notes lying about, he said, “I can see you’re taking your studies seriously. That’s always a good sign.”

   Clyde nodded and scooped up the papers and Kane leaned against one of the walls.

   “It looks like you’re making progress with this new life,” Kane muttered with his arms crossed. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

   “Yeah, well, now I’m already regretting certain decisions I’ve made here so far.”

   “Like what?” Kane asked through an enormous puff of smoke.

   Clyde hesitated for a minute. Would it be a good idea to tell Kane that he had signed up for the exam? Would he be the one to give him support, or would he make fun of the boy just like everyone else had?

   “Just spit it out,” Kane urged.

   And spit it out was what Clyde did, though he immediately regretted it, because Kane suddenly began wheezing and the cigarette fell from his mouth and plopped onto the floor.

   “Say what?” he cried in disbelief.

   This only made Clyde groan and he lay down on his bed and he covered his eyes with his hands. Even Kane was stunned with Clyde taking the upcoming test. How come everyone was so determined that he was going to fail?

   “Do you know what you’re getting into?” the man said, half amused and half impressed. “Even natives aren’t likely to pass the first time, what makes you think you have what it takes?”

   “A little encouragement would be nice,” Clyde muttered. “What do I lose by taking it the first time?”  

   Kane bent down and picked up the dying tobacco. “A lot actually,” he said. “One thing is for sure, if you fail – which I’m sure you will – you won’t be as confident as next year. Another thing is that you get so fatigued in this exam, I can’t guarantee when you’ll recover from it.”

   As true as that sounded, Clyde held his own beliefs in much higher esteem.

   “Well, you’ve got nerve, kid. I’ll give you that,” Kane continued. “Provided you study all the material you’ve missed, you might have a chance. Might. And when I say that, I mean a very low chance.”