Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 42

I wanted to ask why Alaric's father was here, but on my long list of worries, it seemed almost stupid to go for that. Lourdes stayed behind in the waiting room, while Professor Woodville followed me through the double doors and past Mr Lauwers.

It seemed almost comical. Eleven of the most powerful people in the Vallen world were standing in a run-down building to talk to me. This room really wasn't an improvement over the last one either. The walls were a nasty yellow colour, the floor was wooden. There were no windows in here, so it was illuminated by a few yellow lights on the ceiling. They had separated the room by a line of four tables, behind which sat the leaders of the Old Families. 

I recognised only one, Mortimer Blackwood. He was the single most powerful man in our world. He leads the old families, he would decide whether or not Alaric would get to lead beside him. 

"Eira Lovell." He said. Unlike his last name, Mr Blackwood was actually a white man with blonde hair. He did wear black clothing, probably to boost his aesthetic, and overall reminded me more of a fantasy novel king than a politician. Maybe I just couldn't understand the Vallen government again. "We are here today to discuss your gift." 

They hadn't given me a chair and professor Woodville apparently wasn't very happy with me lingering by the door. He 'gently' pushed me into the centre of the room. While the coward himself relaxed against the wall next to the door. 

"I understand." I finally said. My eyes scanned over the people behind the table. There was only one woman there, though I wasn't really sure if I should scream sexism. Girls died more often during the transformation than boys, so maybe there was a simple explanation of there not being any girls to take over. Or it had something to do with the fact that she didn't have a ring on her finger.

"I introduce to you," Mr Blackwood said. "The heads of the oldest Vallen families. Eito Kamiya, Almeric Sitz." I knew that name! He spoke for the families of German descent, if the Lauwers were to make it as an Old Family they would work with him. 

"Jabari Otieno, Aaren Skovgaard, Damien Dehaven," I didn't hear anything after that. Professor Dehaven was from an Old Family? I knew that he had some sort of celebrity status, I just thought he must be related to someone famous. 

He had the gift of extra strength, the lowest of gifts one could have. Did his father break his nose for it? I was starting to question nearly every encounter I have ever had with him and completely did not pay attention to who was who in front of me. Most I could guess anyway, the black man led Africa, the Viking dude led Scandinavia, the Japanese man led Asia. It was just a matter of using logic and winging it. He hadn't even brought all the leaders, so the room wasn't as crowded as it could have been.

"We have received a full report on your powers from your headmaster." Mr Sitz told me. He clearly still spoke German every day, his accent shone through clearly. Unlike the Lauwers family he, however, wasn't built like a mountain, but rather like a tiny stick. He seemed to almost disappear into the people next to him. "We would like to hear how you found out that this was your power."

"I had plans to meet with one of my friends near the teacher's offices, to see what the fire did to the school." I lied. "When I was waiting for him, I... Died." There really wasn't another way to put it, even if it still didn't make sense to me. 

"How?" The woman asked me. "What did you feel?"

"It felt like I had been shot through the head, then the pain went down to my lungs. I choked on my own blood." I told her. I never really spoke about it, not to Alaric nor to anyone else. Dying sucked, I was already dreading the next time I'd have to do it. They nodded at me to continue.

"Everything turned black. When I opened my eyes again I was surrounded by a thousand stars. I returned home, to the house I used to live in, they were there." I said. I looked at the people in front of me and I thought of the heroes I had seen then. I can't tell them what they told me, I realized. They were the people in charge, the people who were going to let it happen or were even involved themselves. 

"I got to speak to them briefly." I had to make the lies up as I went. "I had to go back before they buried or cremated my body."

They were all quiet, just staring at me. Some looked shocked, others had a mask of indifference on. Blackwood in particular was a master at that. I glanced back at professor Woodville, would he tell them if he caught me in a lie? That day was so chaotic, I didn't know for sure what I told him. 

"What did they speak to you about?" Blackwood asked me, as though I had been listing groceries and he wondered if I could put milk on the list. 

"They told me that this was my gift. That I would speak for them, their voice in our world. About how I will have to die every time to get to them." At least I had repeated what they had told me about a million times to Eldon and Alaric. I knew how to stretch it. "They told me that time moves differently for them, faster I suppose. They can see fragments of the universe, things can shift but some events are set."