Chapter 119 — She Asked You Not To

Chapter 119: Chapter 119 — She Asked You Not To

~ Raven ~

Grace Wren walked toward her without hurrying, and Raven found herself wishing she would at least look angry.

"Say that again."

"You heard me."

"I did." Grace stopped an arm’s length away. "What makes you think this has anything to do with you?"

Raven frowned, she had expected shouting but Grace’s quiet voice left her less certain.

"You’re friends with my cousin," Grace continued. "That doesn’t mean you know anything about what’s between us."

"I heard what you said to her," Raven said. "She didn’t deserve that."

"Did she ask you to speak for her?"

Raven hesitated.

"No, but—"

"Then why are you arguing with me instead of checking on her?"

Raven glanced toward Thalia. She still had her arms wrapped around herself, and Raven remembered how quietly she had asked them not to approach Grace earlier.

"This is between me and my cousin," Grace continued when Raven didn’t answer. "You don’t know what happened."

Raven turned back to her. "That doesn’t make what you said any less cruel."

"Then let her tell me that."

"I asked you."

Thalia’s trembling voice made Raven turn. She stood with her arms wrapped around her middle, staring at Raven in disbelief.

"Thalia—"

"I asked you to leave it alone." Her voice cracked. "I said I didn’t want any of you going over there. You heard me."

"She was treating you like you didnt exist."

"I know what she was doing." Thalia’s eyes were red-rimmed. "She was doing it to me, Raven."

Raven’s stomach tightened, but she kept trying to explain.

"I couldn’t just stand there—"

"Why won’t you listen to me?" Thalia wiped beneath one eye with the back of her wrist. "I didn’t want this. Now everyone’s staring, and you’re still telling me why you had to do it."

Raven fell silent. She had been about to explain again, and Thalia was right: she hadn’t listened.

Raven’s anger faded, leaving her uncomfortably aware of everyone watching. She wanted to answer, but every response that came to mind began with but.

"Right. Alright, that’s enough," Sabine said from somewhere to her left.

She sounded much less sure of herself now. Her gaze moved from Thalia’s wet eyes to the students gathered around them, and Raven wondered whether this was anything like the confrontation she had intended to start.

"Kestrel," Grace said. "Don’t."

She walked past Raven without another word, collected her wraps from the wall and spoke briefly to Ferrow before moving to the far end of the court.

Footsteps sounded beneath the archway shortly afterward. The instructor returned with Berry behind him and stopped to look over the class. Students were gathered in groups, nobody was in position, and Thalia was wiping her face with her sleeve.

His jaw tightened.

"I was gone eleven minutes."

Nobody answered.

"Positions."

~~~~

Class continued for another forty minutes. Raven followed the instructions as best she could, though she kept hearing Thalia’s words instead of the instructor’s.

Thalia worked at the far end of the line and never once looked over.

When the bell rang, Raven crossed the court before she could reach the archway.

"Thalia."

Thalia stopped and turned, which was more than Raven had expected. Her bag was already on her shoulder, and she waited without speaking.

Somehow, that was harder to face than her anger.

"I’m not going to ask you about her," Raven said.

"Good."

"I mean it. I’m not asking about your family or what happened. I’m not—"

"Raven." Thalia attempted a small smile, though her eyes were still swollen. "I don’t want to talk about it. Any of it. Not now."

"Right."

Apologise. Just say it.

"I’m—"

"I’ll see you at the room."

Brielle had come to stand beside Thalia. She said nothing, but she stayed close as Thalia adjusted the strap of her bag.

Tessa lingered a few steps behind them, looking between Raven and Thalia. Her lips parted as though she wanted to say something, and Raven found herself waiting for it, even if it was only to tell her she had been an idiot.

But Thalia started walking, and Tessa followed.

Raven watched the three of them leave together. She hadn’t expected it to hurt this much.

Somewhere along the way, she had grown used to having them around, and she hadn’t realised how much she liked it until they left without her.

Across the court, Celeste Blackthorn was watching her.

She wore the same wide smile Raven remembered from Blackthorn, the one that appeared whenever something went badly for her without Celeste having to do a thing.

Raven could almost hear what she was thinking.

You managed it yourself this time.

She picked up her bag and left through the other archway without looking back.

The walk to Hale Wing took a quarter of an hour, and Raven spent most of it trying to convince herself she hadn’t been entirely wrong.

Grace had been cruel. She had dismissed Thalia in front of everyone, and nobody else had seemed willing to defend her. Raven hadn’t been able to stand there and listen to it.

But Thalia had asked her not to interfere.

Whatever argument Raven tried, she kept coming back to that.

She knew why she had reacted.

Grace had dismissed Thalia, and Raven had been furious. But that didn’t give her the right to ignore what Thalia wanted.

She didn’t even know what would happen now. If Grace took her anger out on Thalia, Raven wouldn’t be the one who had to live with it. She had her Seat, her rankings and more than enough trouble with the Cardinal heirs to occupy her. Thalia would still have to deal with her cousin long after everyone else forgot the argument.

Raven had made a decision for her because she thought she knew better.

Wasn’t that what she had been so furious about at the classification array? Other people deciding what should happen to her without caring what she wanted?

By the time Hale Wing came into view, she had stopped trying to defend herself.

She would apologise without explaining why she had done it. She wouldn’t ask about Grace or whatever had happened between them, either. If Thalia wanted to tell her, she would.

Raven reached for the door, then paused at the sound of heels on the flagstones behind her.

Several people were approaching.

She lowered her hand and turned as five girls came through the gate. They looked older, and their neatly tailored uniforms were enough to make Raven glance at their insignia.

The dark-haired girl leading them was perhaps a head taller than Raven, with pale skin and a composed expression that made her wary.

The group stopped in front of her.

They’ve been looking for someone.

Raven curled her fingers, then loosened them as the cut in her palm stung.

The girl at the front glanced over her white hair before meeting her eyes.

"Raven Rivers?"