Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 40

Our first exam was on Mythology. I had never taken any official exams in my old highschool, only tests, but I knew that they always took over the PE classrooms with hundreds of wooden chairs and desks. I always loved it, because it meant PE was cancelled for a good two weeks.

The Vallens almost did the same thing.

The large field of grass in front of our school was now occupied by the chairs and desks from inside the school. They simply did not have any room inside of the castle that was big enough for everyone to take the test.

There were government officials who were our supervisors. They handed out our test and made sure everyone got the right one. We were sharing the field today with students in their third year and their second, who had to do History and Astronomy.

I had to plough through the exam. It featured long texts that barely had anything to do with the questions and impossible answers. Most questions had a limit on the number of words to use, once they even asked us to give a rundown of the importance of Zeus in under ten words, which was just impossible. 

I was exhausted by the time I was done, the exact same could be said for Alaric too. We both managed to mumble a quick greeting towards each other when we headed back into the school, but that was about all. 

It took some time for my brain to turn back on afterwards. We had decided to just relax for the day, our exam tomorrow was for Archery so there was barely any learning left to do there. I was decently alright at it, Alaric not so much. He was far better than me at sword fighting though. 

We sat down in one of the common rooms in the east wing. Most of our classmates spend the majority of their time here. There were board games to play and even a TV in the corner of the room. The only reason why we were never here was because we always had something else to do. Homework, Gregory Welt, the extinction of the Vallen race, the simple stuff.

It was quiet here today, most people were either in their room to study or in one of the designated spaces. Alaric and I claimed two couches, I sat down on the smaller one while Alaric belly-flopped onto the big one. 

"I'm sure you did great, Alaric." I told him. A lot of things had changed within the Lauwers family when Alaric found his gift. For one he certainly stopped being the little bro and instead now demanded respect from his brothers. The only problem was that he was now often stressing out about getting high grades, because they were necessary to the future of his family. 

There was no way to fail your last year. The final exams you take determine, for the very last time, what your place in society will be. A strong connection to your gift is almost as valuable as getting top marks on all your exams. If Alaric was to just get passing grades they would never be allowed to become an Old Family with him as head of the family. 

Alaric grunted something into the pillow and turned around. He looked exhausted, almost as bad as when he thought I had died. Had he even slept at all in the last month? I was stressed out about making it to the next year for sure, but I at least managed to sleep a few hours each night. 

Eldon plopped down next to me, causing me to jump in surprise. He had a, now oh-so familiar, white box with a purple ribbon around it in his hands. His grandmother had sent more chocolates. 

"How did German go?" I asked Eldon while he went to untie the ribbon. He had the early morning exam, so I hadn't seen him yet today. 

"Nicht sehr gut, mein Freund." He said. Alaric let out a yawn as Eldon handed me a piece of chocolate. It was shaped in a heart and had white sprinkles on top. I didn't need to act like a lady when eating around the Lauwers family, so I stuffed it all in my mouth in one bite. 

Eldon smiled. "She makes them herself you know." He grabbed another one and threw it at his brother, it hit him in the stomach but he didn't even comment on it, he just put it in his mouth and closed his eyes. "A house full of servants, a private chef, yet no one is allowed to know the secret recipe of Oma, she even does all the shopping herself." 

"Does your mother know the recipe too?" I asked after I swallowed my bite. It had some sort of crunchy, caramel filling. Alaric let out a short laugh.

"Oma would rather have a feather tattooed under her eye than let our mother know." Alaric said, his mouth still filled with chocolate. "No one knows who will get the recipe when she dies. I reckon it'll be Darius though." 

Darius would make sense. He was the only one out of the three brothers who did not have a food obsession so strong that he might eat the recipe itself. Alaric was stressed out about the exams but Darius was practically dying over it. 

If everyone has the same level gift, the oldest takes charge. Darius and Eldon both had level 4 gifts, so he had spent the last 6 years getting ready to lead the family. Now that he wouldn't have to, getting good grades meant the difference between the life he thought he would have, or the normal lives everyone else leads. 

"No need to be so worried about exams, Eira." Eldon said and put his arm around me to pull me into a side hug. Alaric had closed his eyes again, it wasn't uncommon for him to nap whenever he could lay his head down somewhere. "You'll pass, and your gift alone will make you the most powerful person in the world."

Eldon may also have a food obsession, but he was the most athletic out of the three brothers. Maybe it was my tired and stressed out mind, maybe it was my teenage hormones, but suddenly I could see Eldon as Eldon. Not as the brother of my best friend, not as a close friend of mine. His hair was slightly darker than Alaric's, and his eyes had a little bit of green swimming around in them. He kept his arm around me.

I was slowly starting to freak out more and more, when a lucky distraction came. I noticed people gathering by the window, either that or they sprinted away to get others. 

"What's going on?" I asked, but no one answered. They all had their heads together, speaking in fast whispers. Eldon and I got up from the couch and hurried over too, leaving the sleeping Alaric behind. 

We were high up in one of the towers, so we could look down into Welkis. The North street, Welkis named its four biggest roads after the corresponding direction, was right in our view. There was something going on there. It seemed like the entire town was set into sprinting mode. 

"Al." Eldon had run back to his brother and shook him awake. Alaric opened his eyes for a brief moment but wanted to go back to sleep, that was until Eldon said what he had seen. "It's the old families, they're here."

I looked back into the town. People were lining up on the side of the road, to watch them pass. It only looked like a handful of people were actually important, but they were surrounded by bodyguards and soldiers. The townsfolk who were watching were very respectful. Whereas humans would be waving and shouting, they seemed to just watch them go by, some even bowing to them.

"They are here for you." Alaric said as he was watching them over my shoulder. "About your gift."

Professor Wolfe had told me about that, before I even knew what my gift was. I had shrugged it off completely. It had been weeks since I found it and I hadn't heard anything about it. Not in the Vallen newspapers nor in the human news. I figured speaking to the gods would probably be a newsworthy story, but it had been quiet.

"Miss Lovell." I heard my mentor say behind me. "There are a few people who would like to talk to you down in the village."