Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 46

Extra update today because MY BABY IS COMING HOME.
My dog got sick last week and continued to get sicker and sicker until we found out that he had eaten a toothpick. He's an old boi already and has diabetes so we were very nervous about the surgery but HE IS COMING HOME TODAY AFTER 5 DAYS SO WE CELEBRATING!

It did feel like I was cheating on Lourdes. I kept on expecting the door to his office to jump open, even though Dehaven and I had decided to meet up at midnight and Lourdes was probably fast asleep. 

"Come in." Professor Dehaven smiled kindly at me, though I could see he was also tense. I hadn't told Alaric or Eldon that I was planning on telling Dehaven everything. When I had entered the cafeteria for dinner I saw that they were sitting on opposite ends of the room. I decided that I could play that game as well and sat with Lyra. She was nice but didn't seem all that keen on talking to me. 

The fire had completely burned away Professor Dehaven's personal library. He had bought, or made, some new shelves, but they were still painfully empty. He did already have quite a large pile of papers on his desk, they were exams, but not ours. Our exams were sent to the next school over, while theirs were sent here to prevent prejudice. I sat on one of the seats in front of his desk.

He poured me a cup of tea. In my mind, this had been a no brainer. Eldon, Alaric and I would never figure everything out on our own. They were smart, but like me they still had a lot to learn. For one how to behave. Either way, I thought this had been a good idea. But as I was sitting in front of him I realised how I had absolutely no idea how to tell everything.

"I lied to your father." I said after he started pouring hot water into his own cup. He did not shake or falter, he kept the kettle steady in his hands. 

"I used to do that a lot too." He answered with a sigh. I picked out a tea flavour, cherry with honey, from a little wooden box and lowered the tea bag into the water. The water slowly became a warm brown shade. 

"Before I tell you everything, you have to promise me not to tell anyone else." It felt like a childish thing to say, but it was necessary. "For one it would create panic and chaos, it would also expose me for lying to the Old Families and not to even mention the fact that it would completely play into the hand of whoever is orchestrating this."

"I won't tell." He promised. The flavour he chose was coconut, which made me question if he was at all trustworthy. Seriously, who likes coconut tea? "I have a feeling it was not your idea to keep this a secret, but the Heroes'. I trust their judgement to be all-knowing."

Oh yikes. 

I started telling him everything. From the paintings a few doors down to everything the Heroes told me. When I reached the part about my death, I almost felt tempted to tell him that too. I realised that Dehaven was the first Vallen adult I fully trusted, maybe even looked up to a little. 

I didn't tell him, though I did make sure to be extremely detailed in my descriptions and explanations. He listened carefully, occasionally stopping me to ask more questions. It almost felt like I was the teacher and he was the student. When I was done he leaned back in his chair and stared at me. 

"I think I could help." He said and got up from his chair. He walked over to his bookshelves, only to see that they had all gone up in flames months ago. With a sigh, he turned back around to me and sat down on the chair next to mine. 

"The painting that was stolen, describe it again... In detail." He said. His green eyes were filled with curiosity, and even though the small clock on his desk said that it was now 3 o'clock, we both weren't tired at all. 

"Edda, made in charcoal," I said. "She had long hair that reached her lower back. She looked like she was getting ready for battle. She had on leather armor and-" Oh my god. It finally clicked in my head. "A dagger. She had a dagger in her hand. She handed it to me when I spoke to them."

"The dagger. That is what this is about." He said. "Edda is the key. All the stories about her are different. My people think the dagger was given to her by Elegast, but most of the other stories revolve around her killing a mythical being. In every one of those stories, it's her dagger that gave the final blow."

It felt great to finally have a breakthrough after weeks of nothing. The dagger had previously hardly been on my mind. I read the stories where she killed with her dagger, but my mind hadn't made the connection. 

"There are several important artefacts," Dehaven said, grabbing one of the papers from his desk which features a drawing of the heroes. It was only because I knew these were supposed to be the heroes that I could recognise them, they hardly looked anything like them. "Every hero left two, that's why two is considered a lucky number with us, for Edda it was her dagger and her cloak."

"Do you think that they are trying to get all ten?" I asked. Dehaven looked back at the drawing.

"No." He decided. "No, it would be useless. Edda's dagger is part of the story of how we were created as a race. It is rumoured to have powers. Most artefacts are nothing more than trophies for the family who owns them." 

The room returned to silence for a little while. I was thinking of everything I had just heard, of artefacts and strange faceless men who wanted them to kill all Vallens. Still, the theory of a human being behind it wasn't entirely odd. No Vallen would benefit from killing all Vallens, perhaps it would come in the form of an unfortunate byproduct of war. 

"There are very few books about them." Dehaven finally said. "I owned one of them, but it was lost in the fire. It could perhaps have been intentional." He glanced at the pile of exams on his desk. "I have to finish grading them, try searching for a book about it in the library. It will be a small one, artefacts aren't something thick books mention. If we can't find one then perhaps I should visit the Library of Alexandria." 

Back to the library we go.