Chapter 226 — The Girl They Want

Chapter 226: Chapter 226 — The Girl They Want

~ Raven ~

Raven was beginning to suspect that being the highest-ranked female representative available for the Renewal Concord was considerably less exciting than everyone seemed to think.

For one thing, it hadn’t made her training any easier.

Over the next few days, she returned to her usual routine, quickly discovering that recovering from her latest supernatural ordeal hadn’t made her instructors any more sympathetic, not that they knew.

She continued practicing essence reinforcement, concentrating particularly on the movements that had frustrated her during their previous sessions.

At least she was getting better.

She no longer poured too much essence into her legs whenever she needed to change direction, and she could maintain the reinforcement through several consecutive exercises without exhausting herself immediately.

Her instructor still corrected her often, but Raven was beginning to recognize her mistakes before somebody had to point them out.

Brielle remained a considerably less encouraging measure of her progress.

During their next sparring session, Raven managed to avoid several attacks that would’ve sent her sprawling a week earlier. She even caught Brielle with a clean counter, only for her friend to recover almost immediately and proceed to put her on the floor anyway.

Raven was beginning to think progress was an irritating thing when it didn’t come with the satisfaction of actually winning.

Advanced Sigil Writing was considerably kinder to her pride.

Instructor Berry had begun assigning more complicated patterns for the class to reproduce and repair, requiring them to understand the structure rather than simply memorize the strokes.

Raven still made mistakes, particularly when drawing unfamiliar connections, but she was becoming better at recognizing when a line was incorrectly positioned or when the essence flow would become unstable.

During one lesson, she completed a damaged defensive inscription and managed to reproduce the corrected pattern without needing to start over.

Berry examined the work for several seconds, following the connections with her eyes before giving Raven an approving nod.

"Much better, Rivers. Your strokes are becoming more consistent."

Raven couldn’t quite stop herself from smiling. "Thank you, Instructor."

"Don’t celebrate yet," Berry added, indicating one of the final connections. "You still have a tendency to rush this part."

Of course.

Raven looked down at the inscription, already recognizing the section Berry meant, although the correction did very little to diminish her satisfaction.

For the first time in a while, her improvement felt like something she could actually measure.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the attention she was receiving outside class.

The announcement of Isolde’s withdrawal had given Valerius students another topic to argue about, and everywhere Raven went, somebody seemed to be discussing the female representatives and who should take responsibility for leading them.

Even more irritatingly, her name kept coming up.

"She should lead them."

Raven was passing through the corridor outside the training hall when the remark reached her.

She glanced toward a group of students gathered nearby, several of whom were studying the latest Concord preparations on their Linkslates.

"Obviously," another girl replied. "She’s Second Seat."

"That doesn’t necessarily mean she’s the most experienced."

"She’s still the highest-ranked one competing."

"And remember the Renewal Ball?" someone else pointed out. "The Court chose her over Adelaide even before Raven became Second Seat."

Raven slowed, already regretting that she’d heard any of it.

Oh, Goddess.

Not this again.

Beside her, Brielle appeared to be enjoying herself far too much.

"Would you look at that?" she murmured, glancing toward the students.

Raven immediately turned to her. "Don’t."

Brielle raised an eyebrow. "Haven’t even said nada."

"You’re smiling."

"Am I not allowed?"

"Not when you’re looking at me like that."

Brielle laughed, although Raven’s attention had already shifted back toward the students.

The discussion wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

She was Second Seat, after all, and she’d worked hard to reach that position.

But Adelaide Fenn had spent considerably longer preparing for competitions like the Concord. The woman was experienced, disciplined, and annoyingly competent at almost everything they practiced.

Raven knew that because she’d spent enough time watching Adelaide complete exercises that continued making her own life miserable.

If the question was simply who possessed more experience, Raven wouldn’t have argued against her.

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to matter to everyone.

Some students were more interested in Raven’s achievements during the Founders’ Hunt, her extraordinary advancement, and the fact that she’d managed to rise through the Court without the kind of backing enjoyed by most noble women.

Others simply liked the idea of a former servant representing Valerius against powerful vampire heirs.

Raven appreciated the support, but she really wished they would stop discussing it where Adelaide could hear.

Because judging by the expression on the woman’s face when Raven entered the training hall a short while later, she’d heard quite enough already.

Adelaide was standing near the equipment tables with several of the ranked women, her posture perfectly composed despite the irritation visible in her eyes.

Her gaze settled on Raven immediately, and Raven almost sighed.

She hadn’t even started training yet.

For a while, Adelaide said nothing, although Raven noticed her watching whenever the other girls approached to discuss the Concord.

One of them even suggested that Raven should be the person giving instructions during their next group exercise, prompting Adelaide’s expression to become noticeably colder.

Raven politely reminded the girl that she had no intention of taking over responsibilities that hadn’t been assigned to her.

Unfortunately, that only seemed to encourage the others.

By the time training concluded, she’d heard her name mentioned so often that she was beginning to regret leaving her room.

She was collecting her belongings when a familiar voice interrupted her.

"Enjoying yourself, Rivers?"

Raven looked up to find Adelaide standing a few steps away, watching her with an expression that suggested she’d been waiting for this opportunity.

"Not particularly," Raven replied, straightening. "Why?"

Adelaide gave a short, humorless laugh. "Of course not."

Raven glanced toward Brielle, who was still gathering her things nearby, before returning her attention to the woman.

"Was there something you wanted?"

"Yes, actually." Adelaide folded her arms, her expression growing serious. "I’ve spent years preparing for competitions like the Concord. I’ve studied the rules, trained with experienced opponents, and worked with the girls who are supposed to represent this academy."

Raven listened, wondering where this was going, although she was beginning to suspect she wouldn’t enjoy the answer.

"And now," Adelaide continued, "everyone seems to have decided that you’re the natural choice to lead us simply because you’ve become their latest obsession."

Oh, so that was what this was about.

Raven adjusted the books beneath her arm. "Adelaide, I haven’t asked anybody to—"

"I know," she interrupted, her mouth tightening. "That’s apparently what makes you so wonderful."

Raven stared at her.

Goddess, this woman was exhausting.

She could understand Adelaide being unhappy about the situation, but she wasn’t sure what the woman expected her to do about students expressing their opinions.

Adelaide stepped slightly closer, lowering her voice.

"You might have impressed half this academy, Rivers, but the vampires aren’t going to care about how popular you are. They’ll be interested in what you can actually do."

Raven’s expression cooled.

She hadn’t spent weeks exhausting herself in training just to be told she was relying upon popularity, and although Adelaide possessed considerably more experience than she did, that didn’t give her the right to dismiss everything Raven had accomplished.

Raven opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get a word out, somebody approached them from the entrance.

"Raven Rivers? Adelaide Fenn?"

Both women turned to find one of the academy attendants standing a short distance away.

"Yes?" Raven answered, while Adelaide regarded the newcomer with a questioning look.

"Instructor Berry has requested your presence for a meeting concerning the Renewal Concord."

Adelaide frowned slightly. "A meeting? What about?"

"The final preparations, I believe. All eight principal representatives are expected to attend, including the four Cardinal heirs and the four female competitors. You’re both required to be there."

Raven’s expression changed as she considered what that meant.

Oh.

Oh!

She was going to be in the same room as Cassian and Dante, and although things between her and Cassian had finally improved, the same couldn’t be said for Dante.

She hadn’t seen him since their confrontation at the training court, and Raven still remembered how he’d looked when she told him how disappointed she was.

He’d barely said anything afterward, and considering how complicated things had become between them since the Renewal Ball, she wasn’t entirely sure how he would react when they finally met again.

Now she was expected to sit through an entire meeting with both of them, and Raven wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about discovering how that would turn out.

"Rivers?"

She blinked, realizing the attendant was looking at her expectantly.

"Right, sorry." Raven adjusted the books beneath her arm. "I’ll be there."

"As will I," Adelaide added, her expression returning to its usual composure. "Did Instructor Berry mention when we’re expected?"

The attendant provided the meeting details, which Adelaide acknowledged with a nod before the woman excused herself and continued on her way.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Adelaide turned back toward Raven, apparently having no intention of allowing their earlier disagreement to end simply because they’d been interrupted.

"As I was saying, Rivers, I hope you understand that the Concord isn’t another opportunity for you to impress your admirers."

Raven sighed, beginning to lose patience.

"And I hope you understand that I haven’t asked anybody to admire me, Adelaide. I’ve worked hard to reach my position, and I’m not going to apologize because some students would rather have me lead."

Adelaide’s expression tightened, but Raven continued before she could interrupt.

"Look, I know you’ve been preparing for this competition longer than I have, and I’m not going to pretend I have more experience than you. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting around doing nothing either. We’re supposed to be representing the same academy, for Goddess’s sake. Can’t we worry about beating the vampires instead of arguing over who gets to give instructions?"

For several seconds, Adelaide simply stared at her before giving a humorless smile.

"We’ll see how well those accomplishments serve you when the competition begins."

Raven shrugged, thoroughly unimpressed. "I suppose we will."

Adelaide’s jaw tightened, but she apparently decided she’d said enough. With one final irritated look, she collected her belongings and walked away.

Raven watched her leave before turning toward Brielle, who had remained nearby throughout the exchange.

"Goddess, that woman is exhausting."

Brielle laughed as she joined her. "You certainly seem to bring out the best in her."

"Oh, shut up."

Her friend only laughed harder, and Raven shook her head as they made their way toward the exit.

Unfortunately, now that Adelaide was gone, Raven found herself worrying about the meeting again.

She’d barely recovered from the last time Cassian and Dante decided to settle their differences in public, and although she doubted either of them would be foolish enough to start another fight in front of Instructor Berry, that didn’t mean the meeting would be pleasant.

Especially when she hadn’t spoken to Dante since the incident at the training court and had no idea where things stood between them anymore.

Raven sighed, wondering how she’d managed to go from worrying about a dangerous vampire competition to dreading a meeting with the very people who were supposed to help her win it.