Chapter 22 #3
My mother nods slowly. "If they try to make Valentina sacrifice Valerius, it may be because Starborne magic becomes unstable without its Shadowbound counterpart."
My blood chills. "So they take him away to weaken me."
"Or to make your power flare uncontrollably," Thorne says.
Valerius's voice turns flat. "Then they use her flare as justification to execute her." The word execute stops the room.
Seren's eyes fill with tears. "Can we please stop saying horrifying things like they are lesson notes?"
Professor Thorne's face softens slightly. "I am sorry."
She wipes her cheek angrily. "No, you're not. You're right, and I hate it."
I lean into Valerius's side, suddenly exhausted. He supports me without a word. My mother steps closer. "There may be another way."
Valerius looks at her sharply. She hesitates. That hesitation makes my stomach tighten.
"No more pieces," I say.
Her eyes meet mine. She nods. "When I sealed you, I didn't destroy the seal key."
Professor Thorne goes very still. Valerius's Shadowflame darkens. I stare at her. "What seal key?"
My mother swallows. "The anchor that holds the deepest layer of the seal in place."
My hand moves to my wrist. "You still have it?"
"No." The room waits. Her face tightens with pain. "Your father does."
The chamber drops into silence. My father. Alaric. The man who looked at me like shame. The man who said this bond was harming his daughter only after years of making my existence feel like harm to him. The man who has held a piece of my sealed magic all this time.
My voice barely works. "He knows?"
My mother looks away. "That the object is important? Yes."
"Does he know what it does?" I ask. Her silence answers.
Valerius's voice is deadly quiet. "Where is he?"
"Valerius," Professor Thorne warns.
"No." His arm tightens around me. "Enough warnings. Where is he?"
My mother's eyes lift, and the grief in them has changed into something like dread. "He left the chamber after the hearing. If he realizes the council is moving against me, he may go to the vault."
My pulse stumbles. "The vault?"
"Our family vault beneath the east archive," she says. "It holds the seal key."
Another impact rolls faintly through the academy above us. Three nights... and now my father may be holding the deepest piece of the seal that keeps my Starfire from waking fully.
Professor Thorne's expression hardens. "If Voss gets to him first—"
"She gets the key," my mother finishes.
The room changes. The training lesson is over. War preparation has already become war. Valerius looks at me. He doesn't have to ask. I know what he wants... to find the key. Before Voss. Before my father hands over another piece of me, whether from fear, pride, or ignorance.
I straighten, though my legs still feel weak. "I'm going."
Valerius says, "We're going."
My mother steps forward. "Valentina, you are exhausted."
"I know." I nod.
"You just used Starfire twice." She reminds me.
"I know." I nod again.
"The council is hunting this chamber." She says wishing it will stop me.
"I know." My voice shakes, but it doesn't break. "My father has the thing holding my seal together. Voss wants me separated from Valerius. Ancient Masters are three nights away. I'm tired, Mother. I'm not stupid."
Her face folds with pain. Then she nods. "You don't go alone."
I look at Valerius. "I wasn't planning to."
Seren stands. "I'm coming too."
Professor Thorne says, "No."
She points at him. "We already had this conversation, and I won."
"You did not win. I yielded under pressure." Thorne says.
Valerius says, "She'll slow us down."
Seren glares. "I defended Valentina before you got there."
He looks at the blood still dried beneath her nose. He doesn't argue, he only says, "Stay behind me."
Seren blinks, then lifts her chin. "Fine but only because your shoulders are large enough to be useful."
Professor Thorne moves toward the hidden passage. "We take the old archive route. Dean Starling, remain here and maintain the chamber fold."
My mother looks at me. Every emotion she can't say is in her eyes. "I will hold it as long as I can."
I nod. There's still too much between us, too much pain, too much anger, but when she steps close and reaches for my face, I don't flinch this time. Her fingers brush my cheek. Shaking. "Come back to me," she whispers.
My throat tightens. "I'll try."
Her face breaks, but she lets me go.
Professor Thorne opens a narrow archway in the back wall with a whispered command.
Darkness waits beyond it. Valerius steps toward it, then pauses.
He looks back at me. His hand reaches. I take it.
The bond steadies. The Starfire beneath my skin lifts, tired but awake.
Seren moves behind us. Professor Thorne leads and together, we step into the old passage beneath Arcana, racing toward the east archive, toward my father, toward the seal key that might either free me or give the council exactly what they need to destroy me.
As the wall closes behind us, I hear the hidden chamber whisper once more.
Hurry, Starborne.
Because above us, in the halls of Arcana Academy, the hunt has begun.