“Lost freshie?” Yelled a voice.

Thomas turned around to see a group of boys bearing down on him. The one in the lead had dark brown hair, similar to his brothers’, and hazel eyes. He had a mean scowl on his rather ugly face, while his friends were smirking.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Said the one with white blond hair, green eyes, and was kind of short, and that was saying something because Thomas was short. Thomas was now 4 feet five inches, and that kid seemed to be only about an inch taller than him.

The other one who was much taller with tan hair and skin said. “You’re too young. You will never be able to catch up to us. Watch, you’ll drop out soon.”

“I will never drop out.” Thomas ground out.

“Then maybe we’ll just have to make you.” Said the middle one.

The first punch came fast and unexpectedly from the brown-haired guy. Thomas narrowly dodged his fist. Then he came back with one of his own. It clipped the boys jaw, but the victory was a small one.

Thomas had forgotten about the other boys, and one of them swung at Thomas’s face. This time he was not so lucky. It caught him square in the jaw. Thomas kicked out at him, landing a blow on his chest, and the boy fell backward.

The tan-skinned boy aimed for Thomas’s gut with his fist, but Thomas just grabbed it and redirected his body towards the brown-haired boy. They clattered together, but the brown-haired boy recovered faster than the other boy.

He did not look happy. He squared up to punch Thomas again, and this time he actually hit Thomas, but at the same time, Thomas had swung his fist and connected it with the boy’s face.

After stumbling back, Thomas was caught around the throat by the blonde-haired kid. He couldn’t hold Thomas long. For some reason, people don’t like it when you a: elbow them in the face, and b: elbow them in the stomach at the same time.

Thomas turned back around to find the white-blonde kid. He ducked under a punch, then countered with one of his own. This one connected with the boy’s nose. Thomas felt something crack.

As soon as the fight had started, it ended with servants pulling all four boys apart. Then they took them to wait outside Duke Winthor’s room.

The Duke talked to what Thomas thought were the older boys. After several minutes, they left his room, glaring at Thomas all the way.

“Enter Thomas.” The duke called through the ajar door.

Thomas walked into the room to find Winthor staring at him with a scowl on his face. “Thomas, I really expected more out of you. Getting into a fight on your first day? Really?”

Before answering, Thomas thought back to what James had said earlier: “Come up with some lame excuse.” He had said.

“I don’t know who told you that I got into a fight. I was just being an idiot, and wasn’t paying attention, so I ended up walking into a wall.”

“And the wall gives blackeyes and bruised cheeks?”

“It was a bumpy wall, sir.”

“I’ll bet. After classes start, I want you to help the stablemasters clean the horses’ stalls all day Sunday when you aren’t in church or eating. The stablemaster will let you know when you can leave. You are dismissed.”

Thomas bowed to Winthor and left. He walked out the door.

Who knew getting into a fight would actually help him find his room. From here, his room was an obvious find from his first time.