Chapter 191 — Make Your Pick

Chapter 191: Chapter 191 — Make Your Pick

~ Raven ~

Raven stared at the hands pointing toward her.

For several seconds, she genuinely thought she had misunderstood what was happening. Then she turned and looked behind herself, just to make sure there was not somebody standing there who made considerably more sense.

There was nobody.

When Raven faced forward again, the hands were still pointed directly at her.

Beside her, Brielle slowly looked from the women to Raven. "What the fuck?"

At least Raven was not alone.

Berry’s gaze travelled across the room before settling on Raven, her expression becoming flatter the longer she looked.

"Rivers?"

Raven raised both hands instinctively. "I haven’t done anything."

A few women laughed, but Berry did not so much as blink.

"I am asking whether they are proposing you."

"Oh."

Raven lowered her hands and looked around again.

Unfortunately, everyone still appeared serious.

The woman who had first asked for the formal endorsement lowered her arm. Seventeenth Seat looked considerably steadier than she had while Adelaide was tearing into her earlier.

"Yes," she said. "Rivers."

Adelaide gave a short, disbelieving laugh, but Berry ignored her.

"Why?"

Seventeenth hesitated before answering. "Because she stopped this entire room from turning one mistake into a public execution."

Adelaide’s expression tightened. "That is ridiculous."

"It isn’t."

The answer came from farther back. Another lower Seat shifted beneath the sudden attention, but she continued anyway.

"We’ve spent all afternoon being told where to stand, when to move and what happens if somebody gets something wrong. That’s fine." Her eyes flicked toward Adelaide. "Being spoken to like we’re incompetent every time something goes wrong isn’t."

A murmur of agreement moved through the lower Seats.

Adelaide turned toward them. "If you cannot handle correction—"

"She apologised three times," somebody cut in.

Another woman spoke before Adelaide could respond.

"Rivers handled the Hunt."

Raven blinked.

The woman stood among the middle Seats, someone Raven vaguely remembered seeing afterward but had never properly spoken to.

"She handled worse pressure than anything that will happen tomorrow," she continued. "And she didn’t spend the entire time making everyone around her afraid to breathe."

Raven closed her eyes briefly.

This was somehow becoming worse.

When she opened them again, another woman near the side simply shrugged.

"I’d rather have Rivers."

Direct and far too final.

Raven glanced toward Brielle, hoping for some indication that this was all as absurd as it felt.

Brielle merely stared back at her.

Wonderful.

"Enough."

Adelaide’s voice cut sharply through the room.

The composure she had been forcing back into place was beginning to crack around the edges. Her jaw had gone tight, and one hand kept curling beside her uniform before she noticed and straightened her fingers again.

"If anyone genuinely believes Fourth Seat should represent this Court over Second, then stop talking around it and vote."

Berry studied her for a moment before reaching for the slate.

"Fine. Twenty-first does not hold a Seat, so she does not participate. Rivers and Fenn will not endorse themselves. That leaves seventeen votes."

Adelaide straightened almost immediately, clearly expecting the next part to put everything back where it belonged.

Berry glanced down. "Adelaide Fenn."

Rosalind’s hand rose before Berry had even finished saying the name.

Several others followed, most belonging to women Raven had seen around Adelaide often enough that their choice came as no surprise. Celeste looked noticeably more comfortable as the support gathered.

Then Berry looked across the room again.

"Raven Rivers."

For perhaps half a second, nothing happened.

Raven almost relaxed.

Then Seventeenth raised her hand.

Another followed beside her, then one among the middle Seats.

More appeared.

Raven’s brows slowly pulled together when a woman she had spent most of the afternoon assuming was firmly on Adelaide’s side raised hers as well.

Adelaide noticed.

Her head turned sharply toward the woman.

The hand stayed up.

By the time Berry began counting, Raven was staring openly.

She had expected some support after what happened earlier, perhaps enough to make the vote uncomfortable.

This was something else.

Celeste seemed to realize it too. Her eyes moved from one raised hand to the next as the confidence that had returned only moments earlier slowly disappeared.

No Cardinal heir stood anywhere in the room.

Nobody had threatened anyone into supporting Raven, stepped between her and the Court or answered on her behalf.

The women had simply chosen.

Berry finished counting.

"Ten for Rivers. Seven for Fenn."

The room went so quiet Raven could hear movement from the corridor outside.

Ten.

Adelaide still had seven women behind her.

Raven simply had more.

Brielle was staring ahead as though she had temporarily forgotten how blinking worked, while Celeste looked around at the raised hands as if one of them might eventually explain itself.

Rosalind had already lowered hers.

Unlike Adelaide, she did not look close to breaking. She merely watched Raven with a stillness that felt considerably colder than the anger around her.

Raven held her gaze for a moment before Berry spoke again.

"Then it’s settled. Raven Rivers will perform First Seat’s representative duties during tomorrow’s Renewal Ball."

Raven’s attention snapped toward her. "Wait."

Berry was already writing on the slate.

"This does not alter Court Standing. Marchmont remains First Seat. You are performing her ceremonial responsibilities for one evening."

"I understood that part."

"Good."

"That wasn’t why I said wait."

Berry finally looked up.

Raven opened her mouth.

Nothing useful appeared.

The room had already voted, and nobody looked particularly interested in giving her the opportunity to decline afterward.

Raven exhaled through her nose. "Never mind."

"Excellent."

A humourless laugh came from across the room.

"Congratulations, Rivers."

Most of Adelaide’s composure had returned, but the effort showed in the rigidity of her shoulders and the colour still sitting high across her cheeks.

"Do not mistake this for something important. You are still Fourth Seat. I am still Second. One ridiculous endorsement changes none of that."

Raven should have left it alone.

She knew that.

Dante had asked her to make it through one day without starting a war, and technically she had already failed badly enough.

But she noticed Adelaide’s fingers trembling.

Only slightly.

Some deeply irresponsible part of Raven became curious.

"I know."

Adelaide’s eyes narrowed.

Raven tilted her head. "I was only wondering how well Second Seat takes orders from Fourth."

Brielle made a choking sound beside her.

Adelaide moved.

"Fenn, stand down."

Berry’s voice cracked across the room before Adelaide made it more than a step.

She barely slowed.

"You fucki—"

"I said stand down."

That finally stopped her, though not because she had calmed down. Every part of Adelaide looked tight enough to snap as she turned away from Raven and fixed her attention on Berry instead.

"You seem to be forgetting yourself, Instructor."

Whatever amusement remained in Raven disappeared.

Berry stared at her.

Adelaide lifted her chin. "House Fenn has represented the Crown for generations. My family has sat above instructors who think a classroom title gives them authority they were never born with."

Oh.

That had been stupid.

Even Celeste seemed to realize it.

The room became completely still, but Berry did not react immediately. She simply watched Adelaide long enough for the silence to begin looking like victory.

Then the air changed.

Pressure spread through the hall so smoothly Raven almost missed the first moment of it. Her wolf shifted beneath her skin while several women around the room straightened instinctively.

Berry had not taken a single step or raised her voice, yet the pressure continued building around Adelaide.

Her shoulders tightened, chin remaining stubbornly high.

"House Fenn—"

Her voice caught.

She tried to step forward anyway.

Her foot barely moved.

Berry watched her without expression. "Do continue."

Colour flooded Adelaide’s face.

She pushed against the pressure, refusing to lower her head while everyone watched, but the strain became visible almost immediately. Her breathing changed, one knee bending before she forced it straight again.

Berry increased the pressure by what felt like almost nothing.

That was enough.

Adelaide’s next breath broke, and despite every effort she made to resist it, her head dipped.

Berry held her there for another moment before easing the pressure away.

"Your family name is very impressive," she said calmly while Adelaide recovered her breathing. "Tomorrow, you may tell them all about this conversation."

Berry picked up the ceremonial slate again.

"Until then, I am the instructor supervising this event."

Her eyes moved down the assignments and stopped.

Raven knew that look.

Someone had just found something irritating.

"Blackthorn."

Celeste straightened. "Yes, Instructor?"

"Move."

Celeste blinked. "Excuse me?"

"That position belongs to Fourth Seat."

Raven felt the beginning of a smile and wisely kept it to herself.

Berry gestured toward the proper marker. "Rivers will not be standing there tomorrow because she has inherited Marchmont’s representative position. That does not mean Fourth Seat’s original assignment belongs to you."

Celeste’s lips tightened.

For a moment, she looked ready to argue, but then her gaze shifted toward Adelaide and whatever answer she had been considering disappeared.

She stepped away.

Berry returned to the slate.

"And Fenn."

Adelaide went rigid.

"West reception line. Second row."

Someone near the back inhaled sharply.

Adelaide looked as though somebody had struck her. "That is not my position."

"No," Berry agreed. "It was Rivers’s."

"You cannot be serious."

Berry finally looked up, and Adelaide’s mouth closed almost immediately.

"If the position is beneath your dignity, you are welcome to spend tomorrow outside the ceremonial formation entirely."

Adelaide’s hands curled into fists so tightly Raven could see them trembling.

For several seconds, she appeared to consider the alternative purely to avoid standing where she had deliberately placed Raven earlier.

Then she dragged in a slow breath.

"West reception."

"Second row," Berry reminded her.

Raven looked away before Adelaide saw the smile.

Petty.

Extremely petty.

She suddenly liked Berry considerably more.

"Now," Berry continued, already turning toward Raven, "since we have wasted enough of the afternoon."

Raven’s smile vanished when Berry held out the ceremonial slate.

"Why are you giving me that?"

"Because you are leading tomorrow’s opening."

Right.

That.

Raven accepted it reluctantly while Berry began explaining the changes.

She would occupy the place normally held by Isolde, give the movement cue after the opening announcement, receive the first formal representatives and signal when the other Court women moved into their reception positions.

By the time Berry reached the transition into formal seating, Raven had discovered something deeply unpleasant about being chosen.

It meant actual work, and judging by how long Berry kept talking, quite a lot of it.

"You will coordinate the final order with the attendants tomorrow afternoon."

Raven looked up from the slate. "Tomorrow afternoon? I thought this was the final rehearsal."

"It is."

"Then why am I coordinating anything tomorrow?"

Berry gave her the kind of look usually reserved for questions whose answers should have been obvious.

"Because circumstances changed."

Raven glanced toward Adelaide, who looked ready to commit murder from the West reception line.

Fair enough.

Movement outside drew Raven’s attention toward the open doors, and only then did she realize how crowded the corridor had become.

Students lined the entrance and spilled down both sides, several still holding Linkslates. Raven expected laughter, gossip or another dozen questions about what had happened.

Instead, someone near the front smiled at her.

Then a voice called out.

"Rivers!"

Raven looked toward the doors.

Another student joined in, louder this time.

"Rivers!"

A few people laughed—not at her, Raven realized, but with the strange excitement of people who had just watched something they genuinely liked.

Someone started clapping.

Another joined.

Then several more.

"Rivers!"

The sound spread down the corridor, mixed now with applause and grinning faces. One of the Hale students Raven had started speaking to over the last few days lifted both hands above her head while someone beside her shouted Raven’s name again.

Raven stood there holding the ceremonial slate, momentarily unsure what to do with any of it.

People were not waiting for Bellringer to tell them what to think.

They were not staring because she had broken something, threatened someone or ended up at the centre of another scandal.

They were simply happy for her.

The realization settled strangely in Raven’s chest.

She did not dislike it.

She just had absolutely no idea what to do with it.

Across the hall, Celeste had gone rigid, while Adelaide remained in the West reception line listening to the applause with an expression that suggested every cheer was shaving years off her life.

Raven turned toward Brielle.

Brielle was staring at her.

For a moment, Raven expected one of her usual dry remarks.

Instead, Brielle’s mouth twitched.

Then she laughed.

Raven blinked as the laughter grew, not one of Brielle’s usual snorts or the quiet amusement she tried to hide whenever Thalia did something ridiculous.

She was genuinely laughing.

Openly.

In front of everyone.

Raven stared at her. "What is wrong with you?"

That only made it worse.

Wonderful.

Everyone had lost their fucking minds.

"Rivers?"

Raven turned to find Seventeenth standing in front of her.

"Do you want me to keep the same reception position tomorrow?"

Raven stared. "Why are you asking me?"

The girl hesitated.

Raven looked down at the slate in her hands.

Oh.

Right.

Before she could answer, another woman approached.

"Are we keeping the same entrance order?"

A third offered her a small smile. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Raven answered automatically.

"The second reception group was supposed to move after Marchmont," someone else added. "Does that change with you leading?"

More women were drifting toward her now, including at least one Raven remembered voting for Adelaide. Apparently the vote was finished, and whether they had supported her or not, Raven was now the person they needed answers from.

Berry appeared beside her and placed another slate on top of the first.

Raven stared down at it. "What is that?"

"The remaining assignments."

Before Raven could object, Berry walked away.

Brielle started laughing again.

Outside, another round of applause rose with Raven’s name mixed through it.

She looked around the hall.

Court women surrounded her with questions. Students crowded the entrance, smiling and cheering. Adelaide looked ready to commit murder from West reception, second row, while Celeste wore the expression of someone who felt personally betrayed by the entire afternoon.

And Brielle Vance, who Raven had previously believed possessed at least some sense, was still laughing openly beside her.

For one ridiculous moment, Raven genuinely wondered whether everyone had gone completely crazy.

Then she looked down at the two slates in her hands, back at the women waiting for her decisions and listened as another cheer of her name rolled through the corridor.

A considerably worse thought followed.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?