Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 51

"Wouldn't be surprised if Rhys was a supporter of the king." Eldon huffed. I had only quickly looked through the book to see if it was actually the correct one before taking it with me out of the library. I knew I was supposed to sign my name to say that I took it, but Rhys' words had stuck with me. It was better if there was no record of me ever having it. 

We were in Alaric's room. He shared it with Azai Keighley, one of our classmates. He was always teamed up with Alaric during our sword fighting classes because they wore both build like mountains. Azai wasn't here currently, so I was sitting on his bed while Alaric laid on his with Eldon sitting underneath his legs. They had clearly been bonding today. 

My fingers traced the golden engravings of the book. There were several Celtic knots which tied into Norse symbols which then became simple animals running around. I knew that they represented the heritages of our Heroes. Norse for Edda, Celtic for Alros and Erasil, Native American for Kalene. I also spotted some greek text for Amadeus. The book looked old and battered, though it didn't have any dust on it whatsoever.

"I don't know if this is one of those things you guys find highly offensive, but can I ask what your family's role was in the war?" I asked, my eyes still on the book. I had been meaning to ask for a while now, but never really dared. 

"Minimal." Eldon answered, but immediately got kicked by Alaric. "What? It's the truth."

"Our uncle died in the revolution, that is not minimal." Alaric said. Eldon rolled his eyes.

"You are with your brother and a girl who does not care at all about family status, at least tell her the truth." Eldon said, throwing Alaric's legs off his lap and leaning forward. "Our uncle was with the rebellion and our grandfather disowned him for it. The rest of the Lauwers played it pretty safe until the last year of the war, then they joined in on the fight and made sure everyone saw."

I didn't really have time to respond to it, because Alaric immediately budded back in. "They joined the fight because it was the right thing to do." He said, sitting up in his bed.

"They joined the fight because Sitz joined." Eldon told him, referring to the leader of the German families, the man they all looked up to. "And he only joined because of the Dutch, you know we can't let those cheeseheads take all the glory."

I had only once made the mistake of confusing German and Dutch, Alaric nearly disowned me for it. They were two very different people, even if they seemed the exact same to me, with different leaders and different values. They had a semi-friendly competition going, like the French and the Spanish, and the Nordics versus the rest of the world. 

  "If we are going to be an Old Family-" Alaric started again, but Eldon cut him off.

"If we are going to be an Old Family we need to have a united front." Eldon said on a whiny tone. "Yes, I know. You have only said it about three thousand times. It's Eira and your brother. You can be real with us."

Alaric stared at him for a little while. "What I was going to say," he clearly swallowed down some annoyance. "Is that if we are going to be an old family and the Vallen race is heading towards its extinction event, our role will be well documented and could make or break our application."

Not even Eldon could think of a response to that. I decided that it was time to change the subject, and opened the book.