Chapter 30 #3
"Why can't you stay for me like I came back for you?" I say. Anger fills inside me.
His breathing falters. The bond begins to thin. I pour Starfire into him. Nothing. I reach for his life. The sovereign heart blocks me. It's devouring him too quickly.
My mother reaches us, dropping to her knees. Professor Vale follows. "No," she whispers after one look at him.
I turn on her. "Heal him."
"I can't." She shakes her head.
"Try." I yell.
"I have nothing left." She admits.
"Take mine." I give her my hand.
Valerius grips my wrist. "No."
I sob. The sound is violent. "I will not lose you."
His fingers weaken. "You won't."
"You are leaving me, how am I not losing you!." I say in disbelief.
"No." His eyes close briefly. "I'm choosing you. I'll forever be with you in your heart." The words are wrong. Beautiful but so wrong.
The Eternal Flame lowers, not Aurelia's false crown now.
The original Flame. Gold at the centre. Black at the edges.
It surrounds us. The academy goes silent.
Every surviving student watches. Every professor.
My mother. Thorne, still unmoving beneath Professor Vale's abandoned healing cloak.
Eli. Luc. Voss crawling through ash. The Flame touches our joined wrists.
Our marks ignite. Gold thread, shadow ring, sovereign scar. All of them.
Valerius gasps.
The Flame speaks, not Aurelia, not the academy, something older than both. "A choice was made."
I look up. The fire coils around us. "What choice?"
The Flame tightens. His life enters me through the bond. Not his memory... his life, his heartbeat, his breath. Years he has not lived yet. Valerius's eyes fly open. He understands before I do.
"No," he whispers.
The Flame continues. "A life freely given cannot be taken."
My heart stops. The sovereign heart inside him cracks, not from Shadowflame...
From the Eternal Flame. The golden fire separates Aurelia's power from Valerius's life, pulling the ancient heart into the basin while leaving the bond between us blazing but his heartbeat is too weak. His body has already given too much.
The Flame speaks once more. "Share. The answer enters both of us. One life. Two bodies. One ending. If one dies... Both die. If one survives... Both survive."
Valerius looks at me. "No."
I laugh through tears. "You don't get to say no now."
"Valentina." He says weakly.
"You chose for me." I remind him.
"I was saving you." He say.
"Then let me save you." I plead with my eyes. His face breaks completely.
The Flame waits. The decision must be equal, not a command, not destiny. Choice.
I take his hand. "Together?"
The word that carried us through everything. Valerius stares at me. Love fills the bond.
"Together," he whispers.
The Eternal Flame closes around us. Our hearts stop at the same time, then darkness spills, then one beat.
Not mine, not his. Ours. The Flame explodes, gold and black fire sweep across Arcana.
The Ancient Masters turn to ash. Voss screams as the old-law marks burn from her skin.
The remaining Remnants vanish. The white tower Aurelia raised cracks down the centre and collapses into light.
The crown above Arcana disappears. The branch flames return.
Blue, green and red... Then white-gold...
Then black... Then every colour at once.
My body arches. Air tears into my lungs. Valerius gasps beneath me. The bond slams open. His heartbeat strikes inside my chest. Mine answers inside his.
His eyes open. Hazel, only hazel. "Valentina?"
I sob at the sight of his beautiful hazel eyes. "Yes." My voice breaks. His hand reaches my face. I lean into it. His expression crumples. I bend over him and kiss him.
The courtyard erupts around us. Crying. Shouting. Laughter that sounds half-sad. My mother collapses beside us, sobbing openly. Eli falls backward onto the stone, lightning disappearing from his body. Luc looks toward the sky, eyes closed.
Professor Vale crawls back to Thorne. This time, when she presses her hands to his chest, the restored Flame answers. Blue-white light moves through him. Thorne coughs. The sound is weak but alive. Professor Vale begins crying over him.
Voss lies near the shattered tower, breathing, old-law marks gone, surrounded by academy guards. She survived, for judgment. Good.
Valerius's hand stays against my cheek. His other hand presses over his heart. Our heart. The sovereign mark is gone. In its place, a new symbol burns beneath his skin. A white-gold star wrapped in black flame. I look down at my own chest. The same mark.
Not sovereign. Not queen. Bond. Equal.
The Eternal Flame lowers around us. Its voice fades through the academy. "Not chosen. Choosing." Then the fire returns to the ancient basin.
I rest my forehead against Valerius's. The battle is over. Arcana is broken. My father is gone. Seren is gone. Thousands are wounded. Nothing will ever return to what it was. Valerius breathes against my mouth. Alive because I am. I breathe because he does.
"What did you do?" he whispers.
I smile through tears. "What you taught me." His brows draw together in confusion. "I chose you." I say. The bond warms.