Chapter 20 #3
Professor Thorne steps in. "The last confirmed Starfire bearer died over two centuries ago."
"Was murdered," my mother corrects quietly.
Thorne's face tightens. "Yes."
Seren sits beside me, gripping my free hand. "And now one of those things found Valentina because the council blocked the bond?"
Professor Thorne's expression darkens. "Possibly."
Valerius's voice is lethal. "Not possibly."
Everyone looks at him. His hand rests on my shoulder, but his eyes are on Thorne. "The Remnant came when the bond was muffled. It reached her room after the council stones activated. Either the stones weakened whatever kept it out, or someone used the order to let it through."
The chamber goes still. My mother's face drains of color. "You think Voss sent it?" Seren whispers.
Valerius says nothing. He doesn't need to. Professor Thorne's jaw tightens. "We do not accuse without proof."
Valerius looks at him. "I don't need proof to know where to aim."
"Which is precisely why we need proof before you aim." The two of them stare at each other.
My head pounds. My body feels hollowed out, the Starfire quiet now but not asleep. It sits beneath my skin like a newly opened eye, watching everything. I look at my mother. "Can they track me now?"
Pain crosses her face. "Yes."
The word is small. Terrible. Valerius's hand tightens on my shoulder.
My mother kneels in front of me. "I am sorry."
I almost look away but I don't. "What does that mean?" I ask.
"It means the seal is broken enough that old things can sense you." She says.
"Old things." I repeat her words.
She continues. "Remnants. Certain wards. Bloodline relics. Possibly the Ancient Masters themselves, if they are close enough or if someone alerts them."
Seren whispers, "The Ancient Masters are real?"
Professor Thorne answers, "Yes."
Her face goes slack. "I hate today." I would laugh if I remembered how.
Valerius crouches in front of me, taking my other hand. His face is intense. Focused entirely on me. "Listen to me. They can sense you now, but they don't get to have you."
The words are rough and devoted. My eyes burn. "You can't fight all of them."
His mouth curves slightly. Cruelly and beautifully. "Watch me."
I shake my head "No." His smile fades. I squeeze his hand. "No more becoming the monster they expect just to keep me safe." His jaw tightens. "I need you alive," I whisper. "Not just dangerous." Something in his expression breaks. My mother looks away, tears in her eyes.
Professor Thorne clears his throat, either uncomfortable or merciful. "Valentina needs training."
Valerius doesn't look away from me. "Now?"
"Immediately." Thorne says.
I stare at him. "I can barely sit upright."
"Then we begin with control, not power." Thorne informs us.
My mother stands. "I can help."
Valerius's eyes cut to her. The chamber cools. So much pain lives in that look. My mother absorbs it, but her gaze stays on me. "I sealed it. I know the shape of what is breaking."
The words hurt but they are true.
I look down at my hands. One still stained with Valerius's blood. The other held tightly in his. I don't know if I forgive her. I don't know if forgiveness is even the right word for something this complicated but I know I need answers and I know I need control.
I lift my head. "You can help," I say. My mother's breath catches. "But you don't decide for me."
She nods immediately. "Never again."
Valerius's thumb brushes my hand once. Proud.
The feeling enters me before he can hide it.
I look at him. His face remains hard, but his eyes give him away.
Mine. The bond whispers it again. This time, I send something back.
Something new... Together. Valerius goes still.
Then his fingers tighten around mine. Together.
The word returns through the bond, dark and gold and absolute.
Above us, the academy bells continue to ring.
Council guards pound through corridors. Magistra Voss is probably smiling somewhere, thinking she has finally cornered me but in the hidden chamber beneath Arcana Academy, surrounded by old flames, broken trust, and the people who have chosen me despite the danger,
I feel Starfire settle beneath my skin. Listening. Waiting.
Professor Thorne steps to the center of the chamber. "First lesson," he says. "Starfire answers emotion, but it must not be ruled by it."
I almost laugh. "My entire life is currently emotion."
"Then we have much to do." Thorne sighs.
Seren mutters, "That is professor language for we're doomed."
Valerius looks at her. "Possibly."
"Do not agree with me right now." She gives him a death stare.
For one tiny second, the chamber breathes. Then my mother lights the old basin. She presses her palm to the iron rim, whispers a word too old for the walls, and a small white-gold flame appears in the center.
My heart stops. The flame is tiny. Fragile. Beautiful. Starfire. It leans toward me. Valerius's Shadowflame answers at his wrist, curling toward the basin. The two flames stretch for each other. Gold and dark. Light and shadow.
My mother watches them with grief in her eyes. Professor Thorne watches with fear. Seren watches like she might never sleep again. Valerius watches me. Only me.
The Starfire in the basin flickers. Then whispers. "Chosen."
The chamber trembles. My mother goes pale. Professor Thorne takes one step back. Valerius rises slowly, still holding my hand.
"What does that mean?" I ask. The little flame bends toward our joined hands.
Then the mark on my wrist burns. Valerius's mark burns too and across the hidden chamber floor, beneath the dust and old stone, a symbol ignites. A star inside a flame. Surrounded by a ring of shadow.
Professor Thorne's face turns ashen. My mother whispers, "No."
My pulse pounds. "What?" I demand. Valerius's hand tightens around mine. For once, even he looks shaken.
Professor Thorne looks at both of us as if the world has just shifted under his feet. "That is not only a Starfire mark," he says. His voice drops. "It's a sovereign mark."
The word means nothing to me and yet the flame bows. The little white-gold flame in the basin bends low toward us. Valerius's Shadowflame does the same. Every blue torch in the chamber bends with it.
Then the old stone walls begin to whisper. "The Starborne returns."
My mother starts crying. Valerius steps in front of me but this time, even his shadow can't hide what the room already knows. The academy isn't simply waking with me. It is kneeling.