Chapter 189 — Watch Where You’re Going

Chapter 189: Chapter 189 — Watch Where You’re Going

~ Raven ~

Raven had barely made it six steps before she looked back at the Court attendant already heading toward the eastern academic buildings.

"What exactly are we rehearsing?"

"The Renewal Ball."

"I gathered that part."

Footsteps continued beside Raven, and when she glanced over, Brielle was still following them.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "You’re coming?"

Brielle gave her a look. "I’m Twentieth Seat."

Raven stopped walking.

Brielle made it another step before noticing and turning back, something suspiciously pleased pulling at the corner of her mouth.

"You’re what?"

"Twentieth."

"Since when?"

"Yesterday morning."

Raven stared at her long enough that Brielle finally folded her arms.

"Some of us had to challenge our way onto the board instead of accidentally becoming Fourth."

"I did not accidentally become Fourth."

"Of course not."

"That sounded sarcastic."

"It was."

Thalia laughed behind them, and Raven turned toward her and Tessa. "You both knew?"

"She told us last night," Thalia said.

"And nobody told me?"

"You were with Marchmont’s people until late," Tessa reminded her.

Annoyingly reasonable.

Raven looked back at Brielle. "You challenged for it?"

"And won."

A smile pulled at Raven’s mouth. "Congratulations."

For half a second, Brielle looked genuinely pleased before smoothing it away. "Thank you. Try not to make this embarrassing."

"I said congratulations, not that I was proud of you."

"That was where your face was heading."

Raven laughed under her breath and started walking again.

At the next junction, Thalia and Tessa split away toward Hale, leaving Raven and Brielle to follow the Court attendant alone. They had only gone a few steps when Raven looked sideways at her.

"Wait. How does a Court challenge even work?"

Brielle glanced over. "You really don’t know?"

"I entered the Court by breaking things and confusing the classification array. Nobody gave me a handbook."

That earned the smallest twitch of Brielle’s mouth.

"You file a challenge against someone above you and state the grounds. If the Court approves it, they decide what kind of challenge actually tests the point you’re making."

Raven frowned. "What kind?"

"Depends on the grounds. Combat, scored trials, strategy, essence control, sigil work. Representation too, if the challenge is about whether someone can actually perform Court duties."

"And yours?"

"Combat."

Raven looked at her.

Brielle looked back.

"Right," Raven said. "Of course it was."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing really."

Brielle almost smiled.

"So you beat Twentieth and took her Seat?"

"Not exactly." Brielle adjusted the strap over her shoulder as they turned into the next corridor. "Winning affects Court Standing. It doesn’t hand you someone else’s number. I was already Twenty-second. Beating a seated woman pushed my Standing high enough that when the board recalculated, I moved above both women ahead of me."

Raven thought about that for a moment.

"So you did beat your way into Twentieth."

"I earned it."

There was enough satisfaction in the words that Raven glanced over again. Brielle’s chin had lifted slightly, and this time she was not bothering to hide how pleased she was.

"You’ve been waiting to say that to someone, haven’t you?"

"Since yesterday morning."

Raven laughed. "Fair."

They had drifted several paces behind the attendant during the conversation, so Raven quickened her step and Brielle followed until they caught up.

Raven looked toward the woman ahead of them. "All right. Explain this rehearsal to me before I walk into another Court thing knowing absolutely nothing."

The attendant glanced back. "The seated women have formal duties during the Renewal Ball. You’ll enter according to Standing, receive guests at assigned positions and sit according to rank. The upper Seats also represent the Court during the opening ceremony."

Raven’s expression soured.

She had thought the Ball meant wearing something uncomfortable, surviving several hours around nobles and eventually deciding what the hell she intended to tell Dante.

Apparently Valerius had found more work for her.

"Normally First Seat oversees the arrangement with the supervising instructor," the attendant continued, "but with Marchmont medically unavailable, several positions have been reorganized. One of the active Court women will also be endorsed to perform First Seat’s representative duties tomorrow."

Raven looked at her. "Endorsed?"

"For tomorrow only. Marchmont remains First Seat."

Good.

The last thing Raven needed was someone deciding Isolde’s unconsciousness had somehow become another opportunity for her.

"And because First Seat is absent," Brielle added, "Twenty-first gets called up so the Court still has twenty active participants."

The attendant nodded. "Unless Marchmont wakes before tomorrow."

Something tightened beneath Raven’s ribs at that.

Unless Isolde wakes.

She pushed the thought away before it could settle.

"Can I decline?"

"No."

"Worth trying."

Brielle snorted.

The rehearsal hall waited at the end of the corridor, and Raven knew the afternoon was going to be unpleasant before she properly stepped inside.

Almost every woman in the room looked over.

Conversation did not stop completely because that would have been too obvious, but it thinned enough.

The Top Ten had grouped themselves near the front, and Raven found Adelaide almost immediately.

Celeste stood nearby.

Her eyes met Raven’s across the hall.

Three days of carefully placed questions had apparently done wonders for her confidence.

Raven looked away first, not because she cared what Celeste thought, but because she was already tired of the entire room.

An attendant checked Raven’s name and sent her toward the formation. The instructor in charge had not arrived yet, and several minutes later Adelaide stepped forward with a slate in hand.

"Since everyone is here and our assigned Instructor isn’t, we’ll start without her. I’ll run the existing order until she arrives."

Of course she would.

As Second Seat, Adelaide was the highest-ranked active woman in the room, and she looked entirely too comfortable with that fact.

She began assigning positions.

Second Seat.

Third.

Then—

"Celeste Blackthorn."

Raven’s attention sharpened.

Celeste stepped into position.

Adelaide kept reading.

Fifth.

Sixth.

Seventh.

Raven remained where she was.

That was interesting.

She had learned enough about the Court by now to know exactly where Fourth Seat should have been standing.

Where Celeste was.

Brielle noticed too.

So did several of the Top Ten women, judging by the way they kept glancing toward Raven.

They were waiting for her to object.

For three days they had been telling everyone Raven was protected, arrogant and benefiting from Isolde’s condition. Now they wanted her to throw a public fit because somebody had taken her ceremonial position.

Raven looked toward Adelaide. "Where do you want me?"

Adelaide paused. "Excuse me?"

"My position."

A short silence followed.

Celeste looked over.

Adelaide checked the slate. "West reception line. Second row."

Far below what Fourth Seat should have received.

Raven shrugged. "Fine."

She walked toward it.

The disappointment around the room was almost satisfying.

If Celeste wanted to stand several places closer to the front tomorrow night and smile at people entering a ballroom, she could have it. Raven would not even be here if attendance were optional.

Celeste glanced toward her again.

Raven smiled.

That seemed to irritate her more than anger would have.

The next half hour was mostly repetition. They practiced the entrance first, then moved into the reception positions marked across the floor before resetting and doing it again.

The Top Ten barely needed correction. Most of them seemed used to this sort of thing, while the lower Seats watched the floor markings and the women ahead of them more carefully. Twenty-first looked the most nervous, checking her place every time the formation shifted as though she still expected someone to tell her she was standing where she did not belong.

By the third run, Raven had finally started understanding the pattern.

Then Seventeenth Seat moved on the wrong cue.

She crossed half a second too early, forcing two women behind her to stop.

"Sorry."

Adelaide turned toward her. "You move after the second cue."

"I know. I thought I heard it."

"You didn’t."

The girl’s cheeks reddened. "I know. Sorry."

They reset.

That should have ended it.

Instead, Adelaide remained facing her.

"If this were tomorrow, you would have disrupted the entire procession."

"It won’t happen tomorrow."

"The Ball is the easy part. The upcoming concord representation will put some of you in front of delegations and Great Houses where mistakes actually matter. If you cannot remember one cue inside Valerius, what exactly are you going to do then?"

The girl lowered her eyes, clenching her fist. "I said I’m sorry."

Raven looked toward Brielle.

Brielle was already watching Adelaide.

Neither moved.

Adelaide continued anyway. "If you embarrass the Court tomorrow, I’ll replace your position before the opening is finished."

That finally did it.

"She understood you the first three times."

The room quieted.

Adelaide turned slowly toward Raven.

Raven nearly sighed.

There went Dante’s advice.

"What did you say?"

"She made a mistake. You corrected it, she apologized, and we could have finished another run in the time you’ve spent making sure she feels bad about it."

Adelaide’s expression cooled. "I wasn’t speaking to you."

"I noticed."

"Then perhaps behave accordingly."

Raven kept her voice even. "Then leave her alone and continue."

Celeste was openly watching now.

So was everyone else.

Adelaide studied Raven for a moment before her attention sharpened.

"If you’re suddenly so concerned about everyone else’s conduct, Rivers, perhaps you should spend some of that concern answering questions about your own."

Raven went still.

Seventeenth Seat quietly stepped away from them.

Smart girl.

"Leave her out of whatever problem you have with me," Raven said.

"For three days, everyone has been told to stop asking questions and trust that the academy is handling things." Adelaide took a step closer. "Meanwhile First Seat remains unconscious, and the last person known to be with her refuses to explain what happened."

Raven felt the room settle around them.

She could answer.

Just not with the truth.

Not when the truth involved a Dreamwalker inside Valerius, Isolde’s mind being invaded and secrets Raven still had no idea how safely she could share.

So she stayed silent.

Adelaide smiled. "Exactly."

Brielle left her assigned position.

Raven noticed her approaching from the corner of her eye until she came to stand nearby.

Adelaide noticed too.

"You don’t get to turn silence into proof," Raven said.

"I don’t need to. Three Cardinal heirs seem perfectly happy doing the talking for you."

A few women shifted.

"Most women in this Court are expected to answer for themselves."

Raven almost laughed. "Funny. I remember answering you just fine."

A quiet sound came from somewhere among the lower Seats.

Adelaide heard it.

Her expression tightened.

"You are Fourth Seat, Rivers. In this room, you would do well to remember there are women above you."

Raven glanced toward Celeste standing in the position meant for Fourth Seat before looking back.

"Which part am I supposed to remember? My rank or the part where you gave it to someone else ten minutes ago?"

That one landed.

Several women looked down.

Brielle coughed suspiciously into her hand.

Colour crept into Adelaide’s cheeks.

Raven had not even intended it to be funny.

"Careful," Adelaide said.

Raven held her gaze. "You first."

Brielle stepped completely beside her now.

Adelaide’s eyes shifted toward her. "Vance."

"Fenn."

Outside the open doors, students had started slowing.

A Linkslate rose.

Then another.

One of Adelaide’s allies noticed.

"Adelaide. They’re recording."

"I know."

Knowing only seemed to make her angrier.

Raven could see the moment Adelaide understood what the scene looked like from outside.

She had started the argument in a room she controlled, surrounded by women who mostly agreed with her.

Now students were watching Second Seat argue about Isolde with Raven Rivers while Brielle Vance stood openly at Raven’s side.

Adelaide straightened.

"We’re done."

Raven said nothing.

"Everyone return to position. We’ve wasted enough time."

The irony nearly killed her.

Still, Raven turned away.

Let Adelaide pretend she had ended the argument because Raven was beneath it. Raven had no interest in continuing.

She had taken two steps when Adelaide passed her.

Their shoulders collided hard enough to knock Raven sideways.

Heat flashed through her.

She turned.

Adelaide was already walking away.

Raven’s foot moved before the sensible part of her caught up, hooking lightly behind Adelaide’s ankle.

She had only meant to ruin the next step.

But she had underestimated how much momentum Adelaide was carrying.

Second Seat went down hard.

The impact cracked through the rehearsal hall, and every sound around Raven disappeared with it.

Adelaide stared up from the polished floor, shock written openly across her face.

Raven stared back.

That had worked considerably better than expected.

She looked down at her.

"Watch where you’re going."