Chapter 419: Separated.

Chapter 419: 419: Separated.

Several students nearby recognized his name immediately.

"That’s Dillian."

"Second on the leadership list."

"Soul Capacity seventeen."

"He was highest during Day One."

Another student said, "Class One already has him?"

The speculation started instantly.

Someone else laughed.

"They said the classes aren’t ranked."

"That’s what they said."

Silver shook his head.

It had taken less than two minutes before the words were disregarded.

Dillian moved closer to the board.

Several other names around his drew attention. Some belonged to students Silver didn’t know. Others clearly belonged to people who knew one another.

Three young women reacted almost simultaneously after discovering their names in the same class.

Dillian’s companions.

Silver recognized them. Apparently the academy had kept at least them together.

Then the crowd shifted.

A woman’s voice came from farther along the board.

"Class One. Wonderful."

Dillian went still.

Silver didn’t immediately recognize the voice since it had been a while and he had thrown it out of his mind. Dillian did and so did the three women around him.

They turned.

Cruella stood several meters away.

Silver couldn’t see her clearly through the crowd but caught glimpses of her dark hair and academy uniform. Several students moved aside, to reveal a young man standing beside her.

His expression changed.

Ravenna was looking elsewhere and hadn’t noticed, which was good. He simply had no desire to deal with Cruella in the morning.

Antony noticed Dillian’s reaction.

"Someone he knows?"

Silver quietly answered, "Yes."

"Bad?"

"Complicated."

Antony nodded.

"That seems to be the theme around you."

Silver ignored him.

Whispers started nearby.

"That’s Cruella."

"Sixteenth."

"Leadership board?"

"Yes."

"She’s with Abeldon."

"Flencher Abeldon?"

Silver’s attention sharpened.

He looked again.

The young man beside Cruella was tall, neatly dressed and carried himself with the effortless confidence of someone accustomed to people knowing his family before he introduced himself.

Another student whispered, "Youngest son."

"Of Alpha Three’s leader?"

"Yes."

"How did she even meet him?"

"Don’t know."

"I heard she arrived with someone else."

"Paul something."

"Research family."

"Then what happened?"

No answer followed.

Silver stored the information away.

Cruella had apparently been very busy.

He didn’t know how she’d gone from Dillian to Paul to Flencher Abeldon, and he wasn’t particularly interested in finding out unless it became his problem.

For now, it wasn’t.

Dillian’s situation was different. Cruella had travelled with him, left him, attached herself to Paul, and now apparently Paul was gone too.

Iris muttered something to Dillian that Silver couldn’t hear, which he answered quietly.

Cruella finally reached him.

Silver caught only pieces through the crowd.

"Dillian."

"Cruella."

Her tone was almost too pleasant.

Flencher stood beside her, his eyes moving across Dillian and the women around him. Even Silver got the creeps from that gaze.

She smiled.

"I didn’t expect us to end up in the same class."

Dillian’s expression remained calm.

"Neither did I."

There was no accusation or anger, that somehow made the tension worse.

Cruella seemed prepared to say something else. Then another student moved between Silver and the group, blocking his view.

Ravenna tugged his hand.

"Silver."

He turned immediately.

She was pointing toward Class Four. His interest in Cruella vanished.

They approached that side of the board.

Ravenna searched from the top while he searched from the middle.

He found her first.

RAVENNA ARKLAND

He smiled.

"You’re in class four."

Ravenna looked, nodded, then immediately started searching again. Silver knew whose name she wanted.

He moved lower.

R.

Ruddington.

SILVER RUDDINGTON

Ravenna’s entire expression brightened. Silver felt her fingers tighten around his.

"Together."

He looked at her.

"Together."

She smiled, her excitement palpable.

He loved seeing her excited. He leaned over and kissed her cheek which she immediately returned. Several students nearby looked toward them but neither cared since they weren’t the only ones.

Antony made his way through the crowd again.

"You two?"

"Class Four," Silver said.

Antony looked disappointed.

"I was hoping you’d be in mine."

"Have you even checked?"

Antony froze.

Rebecca laughed behind him.

"You haven’t."

"I was distracted."

"By everyone else’s placements, you’ve just been going around asking everyone," she said while pulling him towards a different direction.

"Wish me luck," he shouted towards Silver as he disappeared into the crowd," I don’t want the last class."

They moved toward Class Two.

Antony found his name quickly.

ANTONY BRAILLE

He pointed.

"Two."

Rebecca also searched for hers. Afew seconds later, her expression changed.

Antony immediately followed her gaze.

REBECCA VALE

He smiled broadly.

"You’re stuck with me."

She sighed.

"I survived one squad."

"And now you get a full year."

"Class assignments can change."

"Don’t ruin this for us."

Leadership rank eight.

Rebecca had performed better overall than Silver had realized.

Gareth checked the boards next with Antony and a disgruntled Rebecca on tow.

His name appeared under Class Six.

Antony’s smile faded slightly.

"Six."

Gareth nodded.

"Looks like it."

"Eleventh on the leadership list and they put you in Six."

Gareth raised an eyebrow.

"They just told you numbers don’t represent strength."

"I know. I’m testing whether I believe them."

"You don’t."

"Not remotely."

Rebecca laughed.

Silver checked Class Five.

Jude stood nearby.

He had already found his name.

JUDE DERO

Class Five.

He glanced toward Silver.

"Looks like the room is the only place they’re keeping us together."

Antony, who has returned, pointed.

"We’ll reunite every night and complain about everyone."

Dillian, who had finally moved away from the Class One board, approached.

"I won’t."

Antony smiled.

"You will eventually."

He didn’t answer.

Silver looked between them.

The academy had indeed separated nearly all of its highest leadership candidates. That was clearly deliberate.

Ravenna was the exception.

She and Silver had both landed in Class Four.

Silver wondered why.

Ability compatibility?

Temperament?

Leadership evaluation?

Or perhaps the academy specifically wanted to see how two high-ranked students who already knew each other performed inside the same unit.

He didn’t know.

Ravenna didn’t seem interested in questioning good fortune. Her hand remained firmly in his as she absentmidedly swang it between them.

Then she stopped.

Silver felt it immediately, her fingers tightening around his, not affectionately this time.

He looked toward her in confusion.

Her expression had changed completely; the warmth disappeared.

Her eyes were fixed on the Class Four board. He followed her gaze.

Another name appeared.

SHIRLEY ARKLAND

Silver looked back at Ravenna.

"Why is she here?"

It wasn’t really a question more of a frustrated groan for both of them.

Her jaw tightened.

"I despise her," she said venomously.

Silver paused.

Oh.

The memory of Shirly was sort of distant since she also disappeared with Ravenna’s death. Even in the novel, she had never spoken about her fondly. He knew her family was fucked up and that she had been the biggest cause of Ravenna’s isolation in her own family and practically the base.