Chapter 9:

After Katarina's appearance in her room in the barracks, the assassin remained distant for a few days, the longest period of time where Riven hadn't seen at least one of the Du Couteau sister's since this all started. Riven was both feeling relief and disappointment, relief because she was temporarily free from the confusion she felt every time she was near Katarina but also disappointed for the exact same reason.

Riven figured her boredom due to living in the barracks would be taken care of soon enough, Fin was constantly disappearing for meetings at High Command, something was moving even if Riven couldn't know what it was yet. She knew that she would be told soon enough and that it was most likely some sort of invasion campaign in hopes to gain more territory for Noxus, to solidify its strength.

It was currently the day before a holiday period in Noxus, this meant Riven and all other soldiers would have five days to do whatever they wanted, whether that be visiting family or something else. Riven had no family so she hated holidays like this, it meant staying in the barracks by herself for days with no one to spar with. She usually spent it doing drills out in the courtyard and sleeping. Fin always felt bad for leaving her to her own devices while he went and visited his family back in the city but she never let him stay, she didn't like to be pitied for being a street child.

When Riven returned to her room that night after training she found a letter left on her pillow, the window cracked open slightly told her that it was Katarina who had left it. Riven waited for Fin to return to the barracks from one of his meetings in order for him to read it to her. Once she heard walk down the hall and enter his room, she followed, knocking on his door. Fin looked exhausted, he had been spending the last few days walking back and forth between High Command and spending all day in these classified meetings.

"Could you read this for me?" She asked sheepishly, as much as she hated asking for help, she still hadn't learnt to read. Fin raised his eyebrow at her, obviously annoyed that he was being asked for help instead of being allowed to sleep but took the letter anyway, scanning the page with his eyes.

"She wants you to go stay at the Du Couteau estate for the holidays. I assume she doesn't know you can't read, you should probably tell her." He said, folding the paper back up and handing it back to her.

"I couldn't do that. Thanks anyway." She said before heading down the hall, letting Fin finally get some sleep. Riven scratched her head while standing in the doorway of her room, she had been invited to stay with Katarina for the next five days and a new sense of anxiety washed over her. She hadn't spent anything more than a brief few hours with the assassin and they had barely talked as it is, she was worried that Katarina would figure out just how low born she really was and would turn her nose up in disgust. Logically, she knew that Katarina would already have some idea about her background, but that didn't prevent her from worrying. She was somewhat grateful in this moment for the clothes that Cassiopeia had left her without asking for permission, she would need them for this.

Riven packed up her things, putting them into a somewhat frayed and torn backpack and grabbing her zweihander before heading out of the barracks. She arrived shortly before midnight, she figured she was expected to have arrived earlier than this but she was delayed by needing Fin to read the letter for her. She stood on the doorstep of the mansion and knocked.

Katarina answered the door, wearing something other than her normal work leathers for the first time in Riven's presence. Riven ran her eyes over the assassin, she was wearing some shorts and a singlet, most likely her nightwear. She had a somewhat unimpressed look on her face, obviously having expected her to arrive earlier than she did.

"You're late." She commented, still blocking the doorway.

"I know, I trained late and didn't see your letter until a couple of hours ago." Riven lied, trying to cover up her inability to read the letter left for her. Katarina ran her eyes over Riven before humming to herself, letting Riven inside. Riven followed the assassin throughout the halls of the mansion, taking the time to let her eyes wander as they walked, trying to commit the route to memory this time.

Once back in Katarina's private room, the assassin took a seat on the couch, watching as Riven put her bag down in the corner and rested her zweihander up against the wall next to it. She saw the state of some of Riven's belongings and raised a brow at it, though choosing not to comment. Riven took a seat on the other end of the couch, leaving space between the two of them. Katarina had her eyes on Riven, waiting for the soldier to say something, to begin talking and fill the awkward silence. Riven could sense that Katarina didn't speak to people very often, especially not people she wants to keep around, she was waiting for Riven to do the work for her. Riven chose to keep quiet, wanting to see if Katarina would speak first.

"I'm going to bed." Katarina said, forcing herself up off the couch. "You can join me, or don't, whatever." She continued before walking over to the bed, lying down and pulling the covers over her body. Riven watched Katarina for a moment before moving to where the bed was, undressing slightly and climbing into bed beside the assassin. She could tell Katarina didn't like to feel vulnerable, and not knowing what to talk about or how to talk to Riven had made her feel that way. This was going to be difficult.

A/N: I've been experiencing some issues with this website where it errors when I upload new chapters, it will post the new chapter but won't send out a notification to say it has been updated. So if you aren't receiving notifications about my updates, I'm sorry, I'm still waiting to hear back from the support team. Hopefully I can get it fixed soon.