Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 59

I love doing a dramatic return from the dead. Surprise I'm alive bitches, I've been lurking in the comments all this time.

Alaric had been a little worried about that possibility too, so he put up no fight when we told him our sleepover plans. It was a rather good thing that my room was so high up, no one ever checked if any boys were lurking about there. I slept in my bed while Alaric and Eldon tried to squeeze into one bed together. After one very sleepless night, it became clear that the bed was too small, so they alternated nights of sleeping on the floor. 

On Tuesday night, we received the announcement we had all been dreading: School would start again the following day. The marking week was over, and I had not heard anything from Madelena nor from my parents. I had mostly expected her to just show up at Woodville castle, with a smile on her face and not a worry in the world.

There were a few new subjects in our second year. We would be getting astronomy lessons, which I was incredibly excited about, and art. Art was really just a collective name for it. For the first two years we would be learning different principles, so painting, dancing and everything in between. After that, we would get to choose one and fully master it. 

I also got a third subject, together with two others. It seemed like a lifetime ago when Lourdes had called me and Aeneas into his office. I didn't even know my gift back then, yet they had made me choose an extra subject to take to prepare me for my 'high-level job'. I had chosen to take diplomacy, I thought I would have lived long enough to maybe help in the government. 

I tried not to think about it as my eyes wandered over the timetable. We started every day with Gift Enhancement now. That part was on Eldon's timetable too. After that, we would get five hours of classes, followed by two hours of exercise. I had really hoped that would turn into one hour. 

The three of us walked over to Gift Enhancement, but Alaric had to break off to sit next to Nero. I could feel his eyes on me when Eldon sat down in front of me. Alaric had still not said anything about Eldon and I. My working theory about it was that there was either nothing to say about it because it was all in my head, or he was still trying to figure out if he had spotted it correctly.

"Welcome to your second year of-" Professor Wolfe started once everyone had sat down. He never got to finish his sentence however, because the classroom door opened again. Professor Woodville's assistant peeked her head in and handed Wolfe a handwritten note. He read it for a few moments, before looking around in the classroom until he spotted me.

"Miss Lovell," He said. "You are needed in the headmaster's office."

He knew it was us. There was no other option. Eldon and Alaric looked about as terrified as I felt. Sure, the rest of the class stared at me as well as I rose up from my seat. But none of them had that same 'deer in headlights' look in their eyes that the Lauwers had. 

Once again I followed her through the empty halls of Woodville castle. Once again the rest of the castle was entirely occupied with something else. My head was beating loudly in my throat, almost loud enough to entirely drown out the sound of our footsteps. She knocked twice on the familiar door. 

"Enter."

She gave me one last nod, I couldn't tell if it was to say goodbye or for comfort, and let me open the door myself. Best to get this over with quickly, I lied to myself and confidently opened it. Woodville was standing behind his desk, a bunch of papers in his hand and trying not to seem too interested in me walking into the room. 

The room was back to a calm and organised state, but I had seen it before. Some things were slightly off. A few paintings had been switched around, some of the closets were in different places. I pretended not to notice. 

"There is a telephone call for you." He said, nodding towards the old machine on his desk. That completely threw me off. I sat down on the infamous wooden chair and brought the horn to my ear.

"Hello?" I said. Woodville's eyes were on the paper in front of him, but I knew he wasn't deaf. He was listening in on me, I would have done the same exact thing in his situation. He could have let me take this with the caretakers, but instead I was in his office.

"So the good news is that I am also a Vallen." I heard Madelena's voice. "The bad news is that they send me to a different school."

When they told me we would be starting school tomorrow, I had completely felt the Madelena burden lift from my shoulders for another year. She was last to be marked, just like I had been. 

"Where are you?" I managed to ask. 

"Rosagard." She answered, her voice dropping down to a whisper. "It's up north, I don't know why they didn't send me to your school. My mentor was livid. She said that they risked me getting ill over it."

"They send you further away because there are quite a few people in this castle who don't want me to have another ally." I said, in a loud and clear voice. Woodville's eyes switched over to mine. 

"Do keep this conversation short, miss Lovell." He said to me. "You are both missing class because of this."

I smiled back at him. "That's fine professor, there is just one thing I want to say to my sister." I told him.

"Madelena, you are the sister of the most powerful Vallen in this world. You will be powerful too, so there will be plenty of tiny, little men who would like to see you fail. That is why they separated us, that is why the world will give you so much shit for being a human. Madelena, tell everyone my gift. Spread the word."

Woodville opened his mouth to speak, but I slammed the horn back on its holder. I wasn't stupid. Woodville needed to tell the Old Families about my gift, that was the law. But a gift like mine would cause a stir. It would be on the news, it would be in the papers. It had been too quiet.

"You shouldn't have played with my sister's life."