Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 43

No matter how many things I added, it didn't look like I was making them any happier. I was starting to think that this wasn't entirely about my gift. I was making them impatient.

"They said that the end of the world was upon us?" Blackwood finally asked me. I didn't know if the end of the world was a translating error, or if he saw the extinction of his race as the end of the world. 

"They said that by giving me this gift, I would stop it." I lied. "Though I suppose it is always good to keep an eye out for the end of the world."

I waited for it. The moment that Woodville jumped forward and exposed me for lying. He certainly hated me enough for it. It had been him who said it to them in the first place. My story had been contained to Welkis and Woodville castle. But no one besides the inner circle knew about that. Alaric and Eldon would never tell.

"Theodore," One of the men looked over my shoulder at Professor Woodville. "She told you that the world would end?"

It was quiet for a few moments, I didn't dare look back at him. "She mentioned it moments after." He just said, leaving it up in the air.

"I had just died," I added. "I am sorry I didn't give out the full details, but if I thought that the world was going to end, I wouldn't really have bothered still attending classes or studying for my exams."

Coming to think of it, why was I so chill about it? The extinction of the Vallen race, my race, could happen and I have to be the messenger boy. That did seem to take the stress of my exams off me a bit. It didn't matter how well I did on them, I wouldn't live long enough to reap the rewards anyway.

"Well, then there is just the matter of allowing her gift." The woman said. She was definitely Spanish, it showed clearly in the way she spoke. Some of the men on the table wanted to discuss this some more, but she forced their hand.

"Every gift has its limits." The Japanese man said. "What is yours?"

I had to think about it for a bit. Vallens with extra strength were always hungry, it was a shocker that none of the Lauwers had it, Eldon's gift of Intangibility only worked when he was holding his breath and Alaric needed to unleash the pain he harvested. Everyone knew what the flip side of their powers was the moment they knew their gifts, except for me.

"I'm not entirely sure." I finally just said. "Maybe it's that I can't control it whatsoever. They choose when I die and get to speak to them, I have no say in it. Maybe it's the fact that I have to die several times when other people just have to go through it once. Maybe it's that I have a gift that is barely useful. They could really just decide that they never want to see me again and I'd have to live without a gift for the rest of my life."

This whole day was getting to me. First my brain was deep-fried by stupid Mythology questions, then I am standing accused of something I had very little say in myself by a bunch of grown adults. It felt so unfair. The girl who knew nothing of the Vallen race, chosen as the person to speak to the gods. It was a fucking joke, and I was the punchline.

My small outburst seemed to at least be understandable to them. Mr Blackwood looked down at his own hands for a few moments before turning to the people to his right. "What say you?"

He hadn't decided. I had paid enough attention during social studies to know that when the Blackwoods ask for a vote, it's because they were unsure themselves. The other heads also seemed a bit shaken up by his question, but soon the answers started coming in.

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Nay."

I looked up. It was Dehaven, the leader of the Dutch families. I already hated him, even if I could spot the similarities in his face to one of my favourite professors. A strong nose, though his hadn't been broken before, brown hair and a square jaw. He looked like an older version of Professor Dehaven, maybe a slightly tougher version too.

"What is your reasoning?" The Spanish woman asked him. All heads on the table were now turned to him. He took his damn time answering, playing around with a loose hem on his shirt first while he thought.

"What stops her from lying?" He finally said. "If the people know that she speaks for the Heroes, what stops her from making all the decisions? She could tell them the heroes want us dead and the people would follow. We cannot have another revolution, not while we are still healing."

Like a tennis match, the heads now turned to me. Fine, two can play that game. I had my answer ready and lined up in my head, but I took my time to say it.

"What stops me is quite simple," I told him calmly. "What stops me is the same reason why you believe me now. Those with the gift of Truth, like Nero Andreas who verified my story the first time, can tell you if I am lying."

I could tell them that I had no need to lie, that I didn't really have any desire to lead the Vallen race instead of them. But those would just be statements that they had to believe me for.

"I still stand by it." Dehaven finally said to Blackwood. It didn't matter, it was a majority vote, not a unanimous decision. Luckily for me, he hadn't managed to sway anyone else his way. It rained "Aye's" after him. He was the only one against it. I guess I won't be vacationing to the Netherlands then.