A month ago ,I was nobody
Not in the tragic ,poetic way just ...a fact , another girl in the fourth wing of Roshell orphanage waiting for sixteen to arriving in a month time no less,so I could legally work,I wasn't trying to prove anything,I just did thing well because I could, studied harder then hard just to get a good foot if I could .
So when the whisper orb was turned on by half the dorm in the morning gathered to gawk,I didn't look up head buried in a book hearing the loud sound from the orb
[" In an unprecedented announcement,Lady Evelyne Jovian declares the family's intention to adopt a daughter eligible to attend crestborn academy .sources confirm the child is not of noble blood -----
I rolled my eyes and continue reading my book
[" Today we offer not charity ,but conviction " Lady Evelyne stood before the pressure ,her tone measured serene"My family has always served the realm in war,in diplomacy,in health and. My son's have taken their paths ,but I once had a daughter too ,we lost her.
Her pause was intentional,No tears ,only silence,shaped the space
"So we choose to open our name again,this child wherever she comes from will have a future ,not as a symbol,not as a replacement. But as someone who can stand beside every crest born ,the jovian keep they word and we do not raise disappointment ]
"She's lucky"
"She's a doomed"
"I bet she's a nobles bastard someone needed to hide"
The girls continue to chat about things not really concerning them.
I stood up moving to a less crowdy area ,three hours later ,the dean summoned me.
He didn't waste time ,no smile ,no comfort , just a sealed envelope on the desk and a tired sigh.
"They choose you"
I blinked "choose"
"Not exactly" He tapped the envelope "it's a done deal ,your name is already on their family ledger,you have been adopted Elira"
The Jovian arrived that evening.
They didn't come in a carriage ,they came on a sky tier motor ,it's surface clocked in light filtering smiled when it landed.
Lady Evelyne Jovian descended first,tall robed in pale dusk blue ,her golden curls and cuffs engraved with lineage symbols . everything about her said ,power doesn't need to shout
"This is her " she asked the dean
"She is"
Lady Evelyn studied me. Her gaze wasn't cruel just measuring
She stepped forward "Elira"
"Yes"
She smiled faintly "I see ,you will do"
"I am Lady Evelyn of House Jovian .My husband is in the Eastern courts ,and envoy to the king ,my son's Alaric and Cassien you will meet soon . I had a daughter once she died because the world is not always kind to delicate things "
A breath,a sigh
"I do not want another daughter to bury,I want one who survives,one who becomes.
She held on to a brooch ,the twin Phoenix gleaming is the sun
"You would take the name Jovian ,in public, you would be perfect,in private you will learn,from now on ,your silence will be read as dignity,your pain as poise ,I am not asking for love ,I am asking for excellence ,is that clear.
She then pinned the brooch a m tmy collarbone,it stung just a little.A blood binding rune appares .
" This will be bound to your formal eobe
That night,I sat in my assigned chamber inside the jovians southern estate, staring at the sliver crest on my neck .