Chapter 5 #3
"Good. I would hate to mistake you for someone decent." I say. His eyes flash. The ward lights flicker.
Professor Thorne sighs like he suddenly understands why ancient magic chose to become extinct in the first place.
"Both of you," he says. "Silence." The command lands with enough force that even Valerius stills.
Professor Thorne lowers the slate. His expression is severe, but there is something beneath it now. "The bond is reactive," he says.
Valerius's jaw flexes. I pull my sleeve down. "Isn't that normal?"
"To a degree." He answers.
I hate that answer. "What degree?"
"The degree that does not involve a manifestation of Shadowflame responding to the presence of a noncasting partner." Noncasting. Not powerless. Somehow, the word feels kinder and worse at once.
Valerius looks at Thorne. "Then the ward interfered."
"Wards contain. They do not attract." He informs him.
"The Flame made an unstable match." He says.
"The Flame does not make unstable matches." Professor Thorn corrects him.
"You keep saying that," I say, frustration cracking through me. "Everyone keeps saying that, but maybe it did. Maybe for once, ancient fire made a mistake."
Professor Thorne's eyes settle on me. For a second, his face changes in a way I can't read. "The Eternal Flame does not choose perfection," he says. "It chooses necessity."
The word lands between us. Necessity. I feel Valerius go still. I look at him, but his face is unreadable. "What does that mean?" I ask.
"It means," Thorne says, "that whatever either of you wanted from this term is irrelevant now."
The words make my stomach sink. Professor Thorne lifts his hand, and the ward drops. The sounds of the larger training hall rush back in. Distant footsteps. Wind against high windows. The faint hum of spell targets rotating.
"You will train together every morning at dawn," he says. "Bond stabilization, defensive theory, controlled proximity, and practical integration."
My heart drops. "Every morning?"
"Yes." He confirms.
"With him?" I point at Valerius.
Valerius's mouth curves faintly. "Try not to sound too honored."
I glare at him. "Try not to mistake horror for awe."
Professor Thorne looks between us. "You will also sit together in all final-year branch integration lessons."
"No," Valerius says.
Professor Thorne's expression becomes dangerously blank. "No?"
Valerius steps toward him, his posture calm, but the air around him darkens. "She has no branch. There is nothing to integrate."
The words strike hard. I know he says them to Thorne, but they still cut through me because he is right and cruel.
For one second, the training hall blurs. I stare at the floor so no one sees the expression that cracks across my face. Then I feel it, a pulse through the bond. Not warmth this time, something darker. A sharp flicker of irritation that is not mine. Valerius.
I look up before I can stop myself. His gaze is on me.
The cruelty remains in his posture. In his mouth.
In the hard angle of his jaw... But his eyes— His eyes have shifted, just slightly, as if he heard the wound his words made after he threw them.
As if, for one second, he regrets the aim, he looks away.
Professor Thorne speaks, voice like ice. "You will attend together because the Flame chose you together. Miss Starling's lack of declared branch does not exempt either of you from academy law."
"I know academy law," Valerius says.
"Then obey it." He looks Valerius directly in the eyes with a stare as sharp as knives. The silence that follows is dangerous. At last, Valerius inclines his head. Professor Thorne turns to me. "Miss Starling, you will report to the infirmary after this assessment."
I tense. "Why?"
"Because your reaction needs documenting." He says.
My stomach twists. Documenting. The council is here. Magistra Voss watched the Flame choose me last night. My father looked pale. My mother looked afraid. The last thing I want is my name in any official report beside the words unusual reaction.
"I don't need the infirmary," I say. Valerius looks at me sharply.
Professor Thorne's eyes narrow. "You are a student under my supervision."
"I said I'm fine." I say louder than intended.
"You nearly collapsed." He says.
"I stumbled." I correct him.
"Because his Shadowflame responded to your bond mark." He points at my wrist.
"Because he lost control." The lie comes out before I think.
Valerius goes completely still. Professor Thorne's eyes flick between us.
I feel the weight of what I just did settle into the space.
I blamed him. No, I protected myself... There's a difference but it lands strangely in my chest, because Valerius doesn't correct me.
He could... He should. His pride alone should make him sneer and tell Thorne that Valerius Draven does not lose control.
That the fault is mine. That the bond is wrong. Instead, he says nothing.
Professor Thorne watches him. "Mr. Draven?"
Valerius's gaze stays on mine. There's anger there. After a moment, he looks at Thorne. "My control slipped." The words are flat and false.