(Meanwhile, House Draft)
The House Draft continued steadily after the opening selections, as one student after another heard their name announced before leaving the Drafting Grounds and joining whichever pavilion had selected them.
While Riven remained distracted, and was swarmed with people, Mary continued to watch the selections closely as she kept an eye out for Stacy.
’Come on... Come to Argent.’
Mary silently prayed, as she sincerely hoped that she and her sister would remain together in their academy life to take on whatever challenges presented themselves before then.
However, understanding how there was no guarantee that they would eventually end up together, she remained nervous until she heard Stacy’s name being called.
"With House Aureate’s next selection, we select Stacy."
She heard over the loudspeakers, as her heart instantly sank.
’Damn it.’
She cursed internally, as across the Drafting Grounds, Stacy rose from her seat before looking towards Mary, with the two sisters making eye contact as Stacy shrugged helplessly.
Mary simply shook her head before smiling.
At least Stacy had been selected relatively early.
Being a ninth-round pick among approximately four hundred incoming students was certainly nothing to complain about, even if it meant that the sisters would now belong to competing Houses.
Stacy soon made her way towards House Aureate’s golden pavilion, while Mary returned her attention towards the Draft.
"Of course she ends up in Aureate... lady luck does not seem to be on my side today..."
Mary muttered beneath her breath.
Considering the competition between the Houses, she could already imagine that becoming annoying eventually.
However, there was nothing either sister could do about it for now.
.
.
.
After Stacy’s selection, Mary lost much of her interest in the draft, as her eyes wandered between the other military recruits sent to the academy and Riven, as she absentmindedly looked at both.
Meanwhile, in the background the selections continued.
Round Ten became Round Eleven, and eleven eventually became twenty, as the number of students remaining within the Drafting Grounds steadily decreased.
Then another name echoed through the voice amplification Array.
"House Argent selects Sophia Mellow."
Riven’s attention shifted immediately.
’Her?’
He thought, as he recognized the girl standing amongst the remaining students with a bright smile on her face.
’She can be helpful to me....’
He concluded next, as Sophia slowly made her way down the aisle before eventually entering beneath the enormous silver banners, where her eyes immediately searched through the gathered students.
The moment she found Riven, a smile appeared across her face.
Instead of immediately finding herself an empty seat, Sophia walked directly towards him.
"Looks like fate brought us together once again, Young Lord."
Sophia said pleasantly, as Riven looked towards her with mild surprise before smiling faintly himself.
"It would certainly appear that way, Lady Mellow. I’m certain that your mother will be most pleased to hear about this news."
He replied, as Sophia chuckled at his words.
"She will practically dance with joy when she finds out we have been drafted to the same house.
Though, I’m not sure if she would be that happy when I tell her that you avoided me when I first waved to you...."
Sophia complained, as Riven did his best to brush the snide comment off without making the atmosphere awkward.
"What can I say except I’m shy and you’re enthusiastic....
But I guess I’ll work more on my social skills."
Riven responded calmly, as Sophia smiled before finally moving towards one of the available seats nearby.
However, although the conversation was harmless for Riven and Sophia, it had not gone unnoticed by Mary.
As sitting several seats away, Mary had heard almost everything.
’They know each other?’
She wondered, as she looked between Sophia and Riven.
The conversation had clearly suggested that they had met before entering the Imperial Academy.
More importantly, Riven had recognized Sophia immediately.
There had been none of the complete indifference he had shown Mary, as the two had spoken comfortably enough that their previous acquaintance was obvious.
Mary’s eyebrows slowly furrowed.
’So he really does know people from before the Academy...’
That complicated things further.
Until now, Mary had still been struggling with the possibility that Riven Dawnriver was somehow the same Riven she had known within Ashfang Village, despite almost everything about him appearing different.
Yet Sophia had apparently encountered Riven Dawnriver somewhere before the Academy and recognized him without hesitation.
While Riven had done exactly the same.
’Maybe I really am mistaken.’
Mary thought, as she looked towards Riven once more.
His appearance still bothered her because the resemblance was far too strong to dismiss easily, but everything else continued pointing in the opposite direction.
’Whatever.’
Mary sighed quietly.
There was little point continuing to think about something she could not currently prove.
Though somehow the way Sophia smiled towards Riven did rub her off the wrong way.
’Keep your distance from him, you skank!’
She thought internally, though to prevent herself from lashing out publicly she forced herself to return her attention towards the House Draft.
The selections continued for considerably longer.
Round Twenty became Twenty-One, then Twenty-Five, while the four House pavilions gradually became more crowded and the number of students remaining within the Drafting Grounds steadily decreased.
However, somewhere around Round Thirty, the excitement surrounding each individual selection naturally began declining.
During the opening rounds, nearly every name had received loud applause.
The House seniors had carefully watched the early selections, occasionally discussing amongst themselves whenever another highly rated candidate disappeared from the available pool, while particularly valuable recruits were personally welcomed upon reaching their pavilion.
That gradually stopped happening.
By the thirtieth round, applause became considerably less enthusiastic.
By the fortieth, many students barely bothered clapping at all.
Another name would be announced, the selected student would stand and walk towards their new House, while most people simply continued talking amongst themselves or watching the board.
Even the seniors behaved differently.
When an early-round selection entered a pavilion, several Second Years frequently introduced themselves, offered congratulations or immediately began discussing where the recruit might fit within the House.
Later selections generally received little more than directions regarding where they could sit.
It was not particularly malicious.
There were simply one hundred rounds to complete, and after dozens of selections, nobody could maintain the same excitement they had possessed at the beginning.
More importantly, the students selected later had considerably less attention surrounding them.
The first-round picks had been discussed extensively before the Draft.
The top ten rounds contained students every House had deliberately prioritized.
Those selected much later were generally recruits whom the Houses considered useful, but not important enough to spend an earlier selection upon.
That did not mean they would remain unimportant.
The Draft only represented the Houses’ initial assessment based upon appraisal results and confidential reports.
A student selected in the seventieth round could still outperform someone selected in the tenth.
However, until they actually proved themselves, nobody had much reason to treat them that way.
And so, by the time the House Draft moved deeper into round eighty, the difference was obvious.
The students selected near the end were barely even shown towards a seat, as their receptions carried an unmistakable message of, ’You were chosen because we had to choose someone,’ which proved a particularly difficult pill for many noble-born students to swallow.