Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 58

Alaric was tasked with writing a letter to Mr Lauwers, explaining why he and Eldon had broken into Darcia's house in the middle of the night. This left me and Eldon to return to our second home, the library. 

During the day, we would train. We spend every moment in the courtyard learning how to defend ourselves from a teacher who wasn't really sure how to either. Eldon had asked his old Krav Maga teacher for some pointers, but he was apparently a little bit angry at Eldon for dropping his subject. 

After dinner, when it was too dark to train outside, we wasted away our hours in the library. We were searching for knowledge on two different things. Stories about the dagger were always welcome, but there were very few of those. We also wanted to know more about the king's inner circle. About who they married and if one of their children had the gift of fire. 

Neither was easy to find, but it still surprised me when Eldon angrily smashed a book on the table. It had been annoying to put back on the shelves and after a few tries, Eldon's nerve was done for. The sound echoed through the silent library. 

"Are you okay?" I silently asked him, picking up the book he smashed onto a nearby table and wiggling it back into his place on the shelf. Eldon had taken a few steps back and ran his hands through his hair, combing it back. Neither of the Lauwers brothers had cut it since Darius left.

"I am sick of this." He said, pointing at the bookshelves surrounding us. I knew that Eldon had the energy levels of a theatre kid on a sugar high, but he had never been bothered by the library this much before. 

"I can keep searching by myself, it's fine." I lied to him. I didn't want to search by myself, it was already boring enough with someone else there. 

"That's not what I meant." He said and sat down on top of the table. "I am sick of waiting around, waiting for something bad to happen."

That I could understand. My nerves had been bad enough before, but now that the marking week had begun they were through the roof. Madelena could be marked. She was the minimum age now, not a lot of people get marked so young but it could still happen. I still didn't even know how to feel about her becoming a Vallen. She could fit in here, but we were clearly not on a great trajectory as a whole race.

"There is nothing else we can do, El." I told him, running my fingers over the spines of the books. Some of them left a little bit of dust on my fingers. We were once again in a deserted corner of the library. "We don't know who we are fighting, they do. The sheath is safe. All we can do is wait."

Eldon became quiet. To the point that I looked up to see if everything was alright. He was looking down at his feet, his hands holding onto the table on either side of his legs. "I am worried." He admitted.

"About?" I asked, stepping away from the bookshelves and walking over to him. 

"About them finding us." He sighed, finally looking up to meet my eyes. "About them finding you when Al and I aren't around."

I smiled at him. "You and Al are always around." I laughed. "Really, when you two were fighting it felt like I was free of my bodyguards."

He managed to smile a small smile too, but he still looked worried. It wasn't like Eldon to not be down for a joke. It wasn't like him to not laugh away his worries. I grabbed his hand.

"Really Eldon, I'll-" I started but he cut me off. 

"Every morning I panic," He said. "When we meet up for breakfast. You're always late. I know this, Alaric doesn't get panicked by it. But every morning, I worry that someone slit your throat while you slept."

I didn't know how to respond to that. I hadn't even noticed it. I thought I was good at reading their moods, but I guess that was a lie I had told myself. I, of course, had considered someone doing just that. It was why we didn't hide the sheath with me. It was why I slept with my door locked. Maybe that was naive of me, maybe I should be a little bit more worried too. 

"Well," I cleared my throat. "I don't have a roommate. How about you and Al stay in my room for the time being?"

It was almost tempting to not invite Alaric too.