Chapter 16 #2
He shrugs his shoulders in arrogance. "It has worked so far."
"That's also not comforting." I shake my head in disbelief.
The corner of his mouth almost moves. Then his expression sobers. He steps closer, lowering his voice. "We can't stand here forever."
I stare at the token. At the three branch symbols.
Three paths. Three places to belong. None of them mine.
Slowly, I reach out. The second my fingers touch the iron, the token warms.
Not gold like it's supposed to. White. For one heartbeat, a fourth symbol flashes across its surface. A star inside a flame.
Then Valerius's hand closes over mine. Shadowflame blankets the token, hiding the light.
My eyes fly to his. He saw. He saw the symbol.
His face is carved from stone, but through the bond, I feel the shock.
Not fear, recognition... No, not recognition, something close...
Something he has seen in a book, maybe, a forbidden lesson, a family secret, a nightmare.
"What was that?" I whisper.
His voice is barely audible. "I don't know."
The bond flares. He closes his eyes for half a second. Then, inside my mind, rough and unwilling, he sends one word.
Later.
I stare at him. He does know something. The token releases into our joined hands. The glasshouse doors open.
The trial ends.
The moment we step outside, the world becomes performance again. Professor Thorne stands closest to the doors, expression severe. Professor Vale is beside him, face too still. Magistra Voss waits a few steps away with her hands folded, eyes bright with interest.
Seren rushes forward but stops when Thorne lifts one hand. "Assessment complete," he says.
His gaze moves from Valerius to me. Sharp and worried. I incline my head once. His eyes narrow slightly. He knows something happened but not what exactly.
Magistra Voss steps closer. "An impressive recovery."
Valerius's hand tightens around mine. I realize we are still holding hands. So does everyone else. I start letting go, he doesn't. The bond steadies. I leave my hand in his. Magistra Voss sees the choice, her smile thins.
"The glasshouse reacted strongly to you," she says to me.
"I was frightened." I say.
"Fear does not usually disintegrate containment vines." My blood turns cold, so she saw.
Valerius's voice is smooth. "My Shadowflame did that."
Magistra Voss's gaze shifts to him. "Did it?"
"Yes." He nods once, keeping his control.
Professor Thorne says, "Mr. Draven used defensive Shadowflame to clear a containment bind and retrieve the token. The trial record will reflect acceptable force under threat simulation."
Magistra Voss looks at him. Thorne looks back. A silent battle passes between them. My heart pounds. She doesn't believe them but she can't prove he's lying. Not yet.
Professor Vale steps in, voice calm. "The adaptive glasshouse often creates illusions during high-stress trials. It is not uncommon for students to believe they saw something personal."
Personal. A shadow with a mouth of fire. A fourth symbol. My name. Awake. I want to laugh. Magistra Voss's black stones flicker faintly at her chest. My mark warms. Valerius feels it. His body shifts half an inch in front of me. Not enough to be obvious but enough to block her line of sight.
Her eyes gleam. She noticed that too. "You are fortunate, Miss Starling," she says. "To have such a vigilant partner."
Valerius answers before I can. "She is capable." The words surprise everyone. Including me. Magistra Voss's brows lift. Valerius's expression remains cold. "I assisted. She endured."
The bond warms. My throat tightens. Not defended as weak, not claimed as a pet. Seen as capable.
Magistra Voss smiles, but something behind it has sharpened. "How admirable."
She turns and walks away.
Only when she is gone does Professor Thorne's expression change. Barely. "Both of you. Ward chamber. Now." Seren opens her mouth. Thorne cuts her off. "Miss Ashwick, not this time."
Her face falls. I squeeze her hand as I pass. "I'm okay." She doesn't believe me, honestly neither do I.
The ward chamber feels smaller than usual when Thorne seals the door behind us. Valerius releases my hand only after the wards rise. The absence feels like cold water. Professor Thorne turns on us. "What happened?"
Valerius says, "The shadow appeared inside the glasshouse."
"It spoke," I add.
"What did it say?" Thorne's face tightens.
I swallow. "Awake."
The lamps flicker. Professor Thorne's face goes grey. Valerius notices. "You know what that means."
Thorne says nothing. I step forward. "Professor."
His gaze settles on me. I lift my sleeve. The mark glows faintly, gold ring and shadow ring entwined.
"I did something in there," I say. "The vines were holding him. I wanted them off, and they burned. Not black. Not his fire. Mine." The words shake but I say them. Valerius goes still at my side.
Thorne looks at my wrist, then my face. "What color?"
"Gold," I whisper. "White-gold."
He closes his eyes. When he opens them, the fear is back. Controlled but real. "And the token?" he asks.
Valerius's jaw tightens. I look at him. Thorne's eyes sharpen. "What happened with the token?"
I answer before Valerius can decide whether to lie. "There was a fourth symbol." Silence. "A star inside a flame," I say.
Professor Thorne turns away. For the first time since I met him, he looks like he needs a moment to keep himself from reacting. That terrifies me more than if he shouted.
Valerius's voice is low. "What is it?"
Thorne grips the edge of his desk. "You cannot speak of this to anyone."
"We know," Valerius says.
"No." Thorne turns back. "You do not know. If that symbol appeared, even for a heartbeat, even hidden beneath your flame, this is beyond academy politics. Beyond council curiosity."
My mouth dries. "What is it?" I whisper.
Thorne looks at me. Then at Valerius. Then back at me.
"The three branches were not always three."
My heart stops. Valerius goes utterly still.
Thorne continues, voice low enough that the wards seem to lean in.
"There are records buried so deeply most professors never see them. Records of an older fire. A magic tied to stars, flame, life-force, and raw creation. It was removed from branch history centuries ago."
My pulse roars. "What?" I whisper.
Thorne's face is grave. "I am not telling you what you are. Not yet. Not without proof."
"You just did." I say.
"I gave you a piece." Thorne corrects me.
"A piece that sounds like a death sentence." Valerius assumes. Thorne's silence answers. Valerius steps closer to me, his shoulder brushing mine. The bond steadies instantly.
Thorne notices. For once, he doesn't tell us to separate. "The reason you can share magic is not because Miss Starling has none," he says quietly. "It is because whatever is sealed inside her is strong enough to answer yours."
Sealed. The word drops like a stone. I can't breathe. Valerius's head snaps toward Thorne. "What did you say?" I ask.
Professor Thorne looks at me. Regret flashes across his face, too late. Sealed, not absent, not missing...Sealed. My knees weaken. Valerius catches me before I fall. His hand at my waist. His other hand closing around mine. Warm and steady.
I stare at Thorne. "Who sealed it?"
He doesn't answer, he doesn't have to. My mother's face appears in my mind, her fear, her warnings, the secrets, her saying 'You do not know what you are.'
A sound leaves me, small and broken. Valerius's grip tightens. Thorne says my name softly. "Valentina—"
"No." The word barely comes out.
I step back, but Valerius stays with me. Not forcing, following, keeping me upright because the room is swaying and my entire life has just shifted under my feet.
My magic wasn't non-existent... It was sealed. Someone made me powerless. Someone let me be mocked, doubted, pitied, rejected. Someone let my father look at me like proof of betrayal. Someone let me believe I was nothing.
My wrist burns. The lamps flare. Valerius's voice cuts through the rising heat. "Breathe." I can't. "Valentina."
"I was sealed." A whispers breaks through me.
His eyes hold mine. The bond opens wide. His thought comes through, fierce and immediate.
I know, for now just stay with me.
Not you're fine. Not calm down. Not don't react. Just... Stay with me. I grab onto it like a rope. My breath shudders in. Then another. The lamps dim. The heat under my skin lowers slowly, reluctantly, like something inside me is learning his voice before it learns mine.
Professor Thorne watches us with a severity that now looks like dread. "You see why this cannot leave this room," he says.
Valerius's eyes remain on me. "Yes."
I whisper, "My mother knows."
Thorne doesn't deny it. Pain slices through me. Valerius feels it. His hand tightens around mine.
Thorne says, "You do not confront her yet."
My head snaps up. "Excuse me?"
Thorne continues. "You do not confront her until you can control your reactions. If you go to Dean Starling with this now, you may expose yourself to anyone watching her office."
"She's my mother." I snap.
"And the dean. That is being watched by the council." The words hit. I hate that they make sense. I hate that everything makes sense in ways that hurt.
Valerius's voice is deadly quiet. "Who else knows?"
Thorne looks at him. "If I knew that, we would not be standing here."
"What about Voss?" He asks.
"She suspects." Thorne nods.
"Enough to act?" Valerius eyebrow lifts.
Thorne's silence stretches. "Soon." A chill moves through me.
Professor Thorne steps closer. "From this moment forward, you do not separate unless necessary. You do not answer council questions alone. You do not test your magic without me present. You do not speak of sealed power, old branches, fourth symbols, or fated souls outside warded spaces."
His gaze locks on mine. "And you do not let anger make you careless."