Chapter 209 — Your Majesty

Chapter 209: Chapter 209 — Your Majesty

~ Raven ~

By the following morning, Raven was beginning to regret every decision she’d made the previous night.

Not because she no longer trusted her roommates. Unfortunately, she trusted them quite a lot.

The problem was that Brielle Vance had discovered a new purpose in life.

"Your Majesty, are you finished with that?"

Raven stopped halfway through fastening her uniform and slowly turned toward Brielle, who was sitting on her bed looking entirely too pleased with herself.

"What did you just call me?"

"Your Majesty," Brielle repeated, smiling as though she’d offered the most ordinary greeting imaginable.

Raven stared at her.

"Don’t."

"Don’t what?"

"You know exactly what!"

"I was only being respectful."

"Brielle, I swear to the Goddess—"

"Threatening your loyal subjects already?" Brielle shook her head in exaggerated disappointment. "That’s rather unfortunate."

Tessa laughed quietly from beside her desk, prompting Raven to turn toward her.

"Don’t encourage her!"

"I’m not," Tessa replied, although the smile on her face suggested otherwise.

Raven groaned and returned to fastening her uniform, wondering how she’d managed to survive the events of the previous night only to wake up to this nonsense.

She’d barely slept, and judging by the dark circles beneath Thalia’s eyes, she wasn’t the only one.

Unfortunately, Thalia had developed an equally irritating habit.

She kept staring.

Raven caught her doing it again while she was gathering her books, and after several increasingly uncomfortable seconds, she finally turned toward her.

"Thalia, would you please stop looking at me like that?"

Her friend blinked.

"Like what?"

"Like I’ve suddenly grown another head!"

Thalia’s cheeks warmed as she glanced away, looking too embarrassed to have been caught again.

"Sorry. I’m just..." She hesitated, struggling to find the right words before admitting, "It’s a lot to think about."

"I told you I wasn’t even certain!"

"I know!"

"Then stop looking at me like I’m about to start issuing royal decrees!"

That immediately caught Brielle’s attention.

"Actually, that reminds me. If you really are the Alpha Queen, do we get special privileges?"

Raven turned toward her.

"What?"

"Well, we’ve been your loyal companions for weeks. Surely that deserves some recognition."

"Brielle!"

"A title would be nice," Brielle continued thoughtfully. "Perhaps a small estate."

Tessa shook her head, laughing as she gathered her books.

"Personally, I’d settle for not having to attend early lessons."

Raven looked toward the ceiling, wondering what terrible thing she’d done to deserve these women.

Brielle seemed to find her suffering deeply entertaining, although Raven couldn’t entirely miss the lingering offense beneath her jokes.

All three were still annoyed about how much she’d kept from them, and she’d spent a considerable portion of the previous night attempting to answer questions that seemed to become more ridiculous the longer the conversation continued.

Brielle had been particularly determined to understand how Raven had managed to conceal an entire writing career without anybody noticing, while Thalia kept returning to the possibility that their roommate might be the Alpha Queen.

Tessa had been considerably quieter, although that hadn’t prevented her from asking several questions Raven hadn’t known how to answer.

Still, something about the atmosphere in their room had changed.

They no longer looked at Raven as though they were trying to solve some mystery behind her back. Whenever they wanted to know something, they simply asked, and Raven, despite how irritating she found the experience, was making an effort to answer.

She wasn’t particularly good at it yet, but at least she was trying.

Unfortunately, Brielle seemed determined to make the entire process unbearable.

"Your Majesty, would you like me to carry your books?"

Raven slowly turned toward her, finding Brielle smiling again as though she hadn’t already spent the entire morning tormenting her.

"Say that one more time," Raven warned, picking up her books, "and I swear I’ll make you regret it."

Brielle placed a hand against her chest.

"Such cruelty. And here I thought you’d be a benevolent ruler."

"I’m leaving."

"Of course, Your—"

Raven pointed at her.

"Finish that sentence!"

Brielle burst out laughing, thoroughly pleased with herself.

Tessa had already reached the door, so Raven hurried after her before her patience disappeared completely.

Thankfully, Brielle and Thalia had other classes that morning. Raven seriously doubted she could have survived another hour with all three of them.

~~ ~~

By the time Raven and Tessa reached the Sigil Writing classroom, she was beginning to feel almost normal again.

"Don’t worry," Tessa remarked as they entered. "I’m sure Brielle will get bored eventually."

Raven gave her a doubtful look.

"You don’t believe that."

"No," Tessa admitted, smiling. "Not remotely."

"Wonderful."

They found seats together just as Instructor Berry entered, carrying several small inscription boards that she distributed across the worktables before addressing the class.

"Today we’re doing something practical," she announced, looking around the room. "Try not to destroy anything expensive."

A few students laughed, but Berry merely gestured toward the boards and instructed them to begin examining the inscriptions.

Each contained a complicated arrangement of interconnected sigils, several of which appeared incomplete. Raven leaned forward to examine hers, recognizing some of the structures immediately, although others looked considerably more difficult.

"The inscriptions in front of you have been deliberately damaged," Berry explained as she walked between the tables. "Your task is to identify the faults and restore their original function without compromising the rest of the structure."

A student near the front raised his hand.

"What happens if we make a mistake?"

"Then you correct it," Berry replied without slowing. "Preferably before you make another."

That earned a few more laughs, and Raven smiled as she picked up her inscription tool.

The arrangement reminded her of the protective Focus Sigils Cassian had drawn beneath their beds the previous night. His inscriptions had been considerably more complicated, but the underlying principle was similar enough for her to recognize how several connected lines could work together to maintain a single defensive function.

She began tracing the damaged section with her eyes, following the flow of essence from one line to the next until she identified what appeared to be the first problem.

One of the outer connections was broken, preventing essence from reaching the final section of the structure.

Raven carefully restored the missing line and watched with satisfaction as the repaired portion began glowing.

Unfortunately, her satisfaction didn’t last.

Another section of the inscription flickered, and when Raven attempted to adjust the connection, the instability spread farther across the board.

What the hell?

"Having trouble, Rivers?"

Raven looked up to find Berry standing beside her table, studying the inscription with considerably less concern than Raven felt.

"I fixed the broken line, but it’s affecting something else."

Berry examined the board for another moment.

"Did you check where the essence was going before repairing it?"

Raven hesitated.

"I checked the damaged section."

"That wasn’t my question."

Raven looked back at the inscription, following the lines more carefully this time rather than concentrating solely on the portion she’d repaired.

It took her several moments to notice what she’d overlooked.

The broken connection hadn’t been the only problem. Another line farther inside the structure had been incorrectly joined, and by restoring the outer connection, she’d allowed essence to flow directly into the faulty section.

"Oh, for fuck’s sake."

Berry’s mouth twitched.

"A remarkably accurate technical assessment. Now fix it."

Several students nearby laughed, but Raven ignored them and carefully adjusted the inner connection before returning to the original repair.

This time, she checked the surrounding lines before channeling essence into the structure. The inscriptions began illuminating in sequence, and Raven watched with growing relief as the glow settled into a steady pattern without disturbing any of the other connections.

"Finally," she muttered, leaning back to admire her work.

Berry examined the result before nodding.

"Better. You’re beginning to understand how the structures influence one another."

Raven looked rather pleased with herself, although the expression didn’t last when Berry continued.

"Your first attempt would have cost you valuable time in a proper assessment. You need to examine the entire structure before making corrections."

Raven glanced at the inscription again.

"Understood."

"Good," Berry replied, giving the repaired structure one last look. "Because if you make that mistake during the Renewal Concord, the vampires won’t be kind enough to wait while you discover what went wrong."

Raven’s satisfaction faded as she looked up at her instructor.

The vampires?

What the hell did her classroom mistakes have to do with them?