(The Imperial Academy Drafting Ground, Mary’s POV)
For the next five minutes or so, Mary remained completely zoned out from what was happening before her, as she paid almost no attention to the House Draft continuing around her.
Names were announced through the voice amplification array, students stood from their seats and applause repeatedly erupted throughout the Drafting Grounds, yet most of it barely registered within her mind.
Instead, Mary’s thoughts had wandered several months into the past.
After Riven had been taken away by Garron, she had spent the first few days genuinely believing that somehow, against all odds, he would eventually find his way back to them.
After all, they had been separated once before in Ashfang, and Riven had somehow managed to return then.
So, for the next week or so, she constantly sat at the inn’s window, staring aimlessly at the street below, as she desperately hoped that Riven would come running back.
However, much to her dismay, he did not.
"It’s going to be okay, wherever he is, I’m sure he is going to be fine...."
Stacy assured, as she and Garsim tried to console her the hardest, although for nearly a month afterwards, Mary remained almost inconsolable over his disappearance.
’Minerva, please send Riven back to me....’
She prayed with every fiber of her being, as although she tried desperately to function normally, Riven’s absence slowly drained away her appetite and usual bright smile, leaving her sulking for weeks.
For her, Riven had always been more than just another friend, as compared to most people she encountered, Riven seemed to possess a kindness that felt increasingly rare within a world where betrayal appeared to come naturally to almost everyone.
And more importantly, she trusted him fully.
Unlike Garsim and Dara, whom she trusted only enough to share food with or rely upon during night watch, Riven had been different.
He was someone she could willingly take an arrow for if it meant saving his life, because deep down, she genuinely believed that Riven would have done the same for her without hesitation.
For a girl whose life had repeatedly taught her that almost everyone possessed a price at which they would betray someone else, finding someone she could trust with her life had meant considerably more than she ever admitted aloud.
Which was why moving on from losing him had never been easy.
But unfortunately for her, the kind of life she lived did not give her unlimited time to mourn.
Eventually, survival demanded her attention again.
Garron’s betrayal had made certain of that.
The same man responsible for preparing them for their supposed futures within the Empire had eventually sold both Mary and Stacy into the Imperial Army, reducing everything they had endured beneath him into nothing more than preparation for another master.
And although both she and Stacy had entered the military with a chip on their shoulder, because of their high recruitment price, they soon understood that it was a liability rather than an asset.
The training was exhausting, discipline was absolute and nobody particularly cared whether Mary considered something unfair when an order had already been given.
And then there was the trouble with Garsim.
After Riven was gone, he had tried his hardest to cozy up to Mary and did his best to slowly build up her trust.
However, it wasn’t unconditional, as around a year after Riven went missing, Garsim eventually tried to turn their relationship into something more than just friends.
While Mary absolutely hated that idea.
Her refusal had created an increasingly awkward situation between them, until eventually, the feud went out of control and created routine chaos at the military camp, with the topic being soon escalated to their military supervisor, who severely disciplined both parties involved.
’Never again.... I’m never taking men as friends again....’
Mary swore as that experience had hardened something inside her.
She remembered lying awake afterwards, furious with Garsim, furious with her supervisor and perhaps most of all, furious with herself for allowing another relationship to complicate her life.
So Mary swore to never make the same mistake again, and yet, the moment Riven walked past her today, apparently alive and transformed into someone she could barely recognize, that promise had disappeared as though she had never made it.
’How...?’
Mary wondered, as her eyes remained fixed upon House Argent’s silver pavilion.
If that truly was Riven, then where had he been?
What had Garron done to him?
How had a slave from Ashfang Village somehow become the son of Duke Dawnriver?
Why was he nearly two feett taller?
Why did he move like someone who had spent his entire childhood surrounded by servants and etiquette tutors?
And perhaps the question frightening Mary most...
Did he even remember her?
"Mary!"
Someone suddenly hissed beside her.
Mary did not react.
"Mary!"
A hand grabbed her arm.
Mary jolted violently before turning towards Stacy.
"What?"
"They’re calling your name!"
Stacy whispered urgently, staring at her as though she had completely lost her mind.
Mary blinked.
"My name?"
"Yes, your name!"
Only then did Mary become aware of the uncomfortable amount of attention currently directed towards her.
Several students sitting nearby were staring, while somewhere upon the stage, the House representatives appeared to be waiting for the person whose name had just been announced to actually respond.
Mary’s stomach dropped.
"What House?"
"Argent!"
Stacy whispered.
"You’ve been selected by House Argent. Fourth-round pick. Get up!"
Mary’s eyes widened.
’Argent...?’
Her gaze immediately snapped towards the silver pavilion.
The same pavilion Riven had entered only minutes earlier.
"Oh."
Mary muttered stupidly.
"Go!"
Stacy urged, practically pushing her from behind.
Mary finally rose from her seat, although the delayed response immediately earned several irritated looks from the noble students surrounding her.
A few expressions became even uglier when they realized exactly who had been selected.
Mary possessed no noble surname.
Her clothing carried the unmistakable markings of an Imperial military recruit, and within an institution where family names still carried tremendous social weight despite Chadwick’s speech about equal opportunity, seeing someone like her disappear from the board as early as the fourth round clearly irritated several noble aspirants who remained seated.
Mary barely noticed.
She stepped into the aisle before beginning her walk towards the central stage, still feeling as though her mind had not completely returned to reality.
Step Step Step
Her eyes remained fixed ahead.
Not upon the House representatives, or students watching her, but rather towards the Argent pavilion..... towards him.
The closer she came, the more uncomfortable the familiarity became.
That face.. It was different from the one she remembered.
But beneath everything that had changed, Mary could still see pieces of the boy she remembered staring back at her from Ashfang Village.
Her heartbeat gradually quickened.
For months, Mary had forced herself to accept that Riven was gone.
She had mourned him, buried the hope that he might return and eventually taught herself to continue living without expecting to ever see him again.
Yet with every step she took towards House Argent, the impossible truth became increasingly difficult to deny.
Riven was alive.
And now, somehow, Mary was walking straight towards him.