Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 21

That night Darius and Eldon were both in excellent spirits. They kept on congratulating Alaric, who looked both happy and worried. I tried getting a few minutes alone with him, to ask what was going on, but each time I got stopped by either one of the brothers. Besides, I didn't want to step on Alaric's big moment.

I was happy that he found his gift, I truly was, but I couldn't help but feel a bit hopeless in the search of mine. At least I had Alaric beside me in Gift Search. Now I won't even have him anymore. The truth was sitting right in front of me: Alaric with his dark green blazer, Eldon and Darius with bright blue ones. While when I looked down all I saw was my white skirt.

I tried to put my best party face on, laughing at Eldon's stupid jokes, but there was still that small voice in my head that kept repeating that I'll never find my gift.

The following day offered some solace, Gregory Wellt had written back to us. The mail call was during lunch break every day. I never went to it because I knew my parents would call the school if they wanted to talk to me, something I had neglected to do for the most part. 

I had been too focused on school and my frustration over the lack of my gift that I was never in the right mood to speak to them, especially to Madelena. Who was still very upset that I left the last time I spoke to her. I explained to her what could have happened if I had stayed longer, and what will happen if she snuck into the school like she was planning to do.

In history class we had learned about the slaughter of 1919. It was a few years after the Vallens had made their existence known to the world. The humans were positively outraged and had tried to storm Woodville castle. 

The Vallens, as strong as they were, had merely closed the gate and kept their strongest Vallens around in case they got through. One person had managed to get by them and headed for the school. Only four out of two thousand students lived. The man had brought several diseases with him into the school. Everyone was trapped. Madelena immediately dropped her plan and settled on calling me for the next six years.

Alaric did always go to the mail call. He always read his parents letters in private, never really discussing them with me. Today he came running back to our table however, holding a brown letter.

"He answered!" He said and slammed it on the table. To make sure that we would be able to understand it, in case he wrote back in German, Alaric pulled Eldon away from his friends and sat him down with us.

With shaking hands, and two pairs of eyes focused on me, I opened the envelope.

Dear Eira,

My sincerest apologies, I have no specific recollection of your case. I worked for the ministry for nearly thirty years, even during the war. They were the most confusing and busiest years for us.

I dug into my old file cabinet and found your case folder, I am saddened to report that I was not the one that found you, you were merely passed on to me by another overworked member of our ministry. I am afraid I don't have a name, but I did find an old photo of you. Perhaps this will help you further your quest in finding your parents.

I wish to apologize for putting you with human parents. It was the only option seeing as I did not have your last name and the, very few, orphanages were already full. On behalf of my department, I am sincerely sorry.

Gregory Wellt.

I grabbed the photo out of the envelope and looked at it while Alaric and Eldon read the letter. It was the first baby photo I had ever seen of me.

I was a fat kid, that much was clear. I looked well-fed, something that makes me happy today, though I wasn't smiling back then. My eyes were wide and my lips were pressed into a thin line, I looked almost like I was constantly on the verge of tears. What most surprised me the most was that I wasn't a baby. I must have at least been two years old.

The man that held me wore Scandinavian like clothing. He had a rough beard and his hair was braided back in a complicated looking manner. He smiled happily at the camera, even though he made sure that he was only in the background, and not the main focal point. Was he my father? He looked like he was happy holding me. He didn't look like an overworked ministry worker at all.

"You okay?" Alaric asked. They had both finished reading the letter long ago and were now staring at me. I wasn't sure if I was okay. I felt weird, almost as if I was betraying my human parents by doing this. But most of all I felt disappointed. I had no way of knowing what this man's name was and if he actually was my father or just another overworked member.

"I'm fine." I answered, not wanting to burden them more. I gave them the picture, hoping that they would magically know him. Eldon's eyes shot from me to the picture and back to me.

"Either he's not your father or your mother has very distinct facial features." He said. "You two don't look alike." Alaric did the same thing, even holding the picture next to my face.

"Maybe the eyes a little bit?" He wondered out loud. I cracked a small smile.

"Maybe my family isn't exact copies of each other, unlike yours." I laughed. Both Eldon and Alaric were offended, saying that they all looked very different from one another, which only broadened the smile on my face more.

I had no idea how to continue my search for my biological parents. I could hardly ask my only two friends to spend all their time searching in the library with me. I knew that some books did contain pictures of famous Vallens, but then we'd have to assume that this man would have become famous after working for the ministry, something none of us thought was likely to happen.