Knight (50 page)

The girl pushed Courtney back. Valeriana immediately jumped on her without further ado. The former fifth grabbed Valeriana's collar as a reaction—unknowingly the necklace of protection as well. She usually kept it hidden under her clothes but must've come out during their little fight. The key to the tomb of the First King remained hidden, as it was somewhat longer than the other necklace.

“Break it up!” Someone yelled—a voice Valeriana recognized as the Headmaster's.

A pair of arms grabbed Valeriana by the shoulders, pulling her off the other girl. Courtney maintained a firm grip on her collar. The abrupt pull from behind and the former fifth's hooked fingers on her necklace caused it to be snapped, resulting to it sliding off her neck as Courtney herself was dragged away by the Headmaster.

The soft clink and the absence of the jewelry around her neck caused Valeriana to release a strangled gasp. She attempted to reach out and catch it, but it fleetingly slipped between her fingers and fell on the floor.

Valeriana's froze in place as she stared at it.

“Oh, no . . .”

Epilogue

V
aleriana could see her life flashing in front of her eyes. The world around her seemed almost frozen and her muscles tensed as she waited for the moment everyone was anticipating to happen.

This was the end.

She wasn't ever going to see her brother and mother ever again. She would be joining her father in heaven and they would cross to the afterlife together.

Trembles racked her body as her complexion went pallid from the shock. Her heart practically stopped beating and she swallowed the water that gathered inside her mouth. Her mind went blank, her feet giving out. She collapsed inside Corvan's arms, who worriedly called her name with a hint of panic in his voice.

“Valeriana!” He exclaimed. “Valeriana! Talk to me!”

Corvan was slightly taken aback by the wounds on her face. She had a busted lip and bruising cheek. Her appearance was far from the usual sight he saw, so he could not help but feel genuinely worried—scratch that. Worried was not the word.

He was scared, although he could not admit it to himself.

Seeing as she was not responding, Corvan made a leap for the necklace of protection. He placed the broken item on the palm of Valeriana's hand, forcing her fingers to close around it. Tamara, who the girl did not notice, rushed forward and supported the poor girl. She started tapping on her cheeks, trying to get her to come out of the state she was in.

“Come on now, Val.” She whispered. “Stay with us.”

“Tamara!” The Headmaster called, holding Courtney in place. “Call for Lord Aeron immediately! Corvan, how is she?”

As Tamara made a run to obey the Headmaster's instructions, Corvan tried to snap some sense into Valeriana.

She wasn't breathing.

However, the pounding of her heart made it clear she was still alive. She just went into a state of shock.

“We need to get her to the infirmary! She isn't breathing!”

“You won't get there in time.” Said the Headmaster.

“Valeriana!” He yelled again. “Breathe, Valeriana! Breathe with me!”

She wasn't responding.

“Snap out of it!” Corvan growled in frustration from the lack of response. The faraway look in her eyes made it clear she wasn't paying attention.

She might just kill herself if this continued.

Given no choice, he pulled back his hand and allowed it to land on her cheek with a loud thwack! This seemed to snap her out of her stupor as she inhaled a great amount of air and started breathing once again. She blinked hastily, trying to get a sense of her surroundings.

“Come on, come on.” He said, pulling her to stand on her weak knees. The first-ranker then turned to the Headmaster. “I'm bringing her to the infirmary.”

She quivered, however, and clung to him. “I can't . . . I—”

Valeriana was cut off when Corvan hooked his arm under her knees and hoisted her towards his chest. The girl was first shocked to find the world spinning and the weight she was trying to support gone. She could not feel more shocked when she found herself being carried by Corvan.

That was not the first thing that came to her mind, however.

Valeriana eyed Corvan in shock, her mouth flapping open and close as she took in the close proximity of their faces. “You slapped me.”

“Because you were stupid.” He snapped at her, and quickly paced down the corridor towards the infirmary.

She felt the stinging on her injured cheek. “I hate you.”

“But I saved your life.”

“And you're carrying me.”

“Do you want me to drop you?”

She quietly shook her head. The warmth she felt and the way Corvan held her was comforting though—almost as though he was carrying a fragile glass he wasn't willing to break.

It was funny.

It was funny how Corvan was so brash, rude, and seemingly uncaring—but he might actually be the opposite.

Courtney, who watched the entire scene unfold, could not find anything to say. Headmaster Kylon dragged her with him. “You will wait in my office until the matter clears up.”

-*-

Corvan placed Valeriana on a vacant bed as Olivia came rushing forward to ask what was wrong. Valeriana still clung to the broken necklace, somehow glad it was still working despite the bad condition. It usually glinted bright when she looked at it, and there was a faint trace of warmth whenever she touched it.

However, now, there was nothing. It was cold . . . like an ordinary jewelry. It felt like it abandoned her for good.

“What happened?”

“Nothing that can’t be physically healed, however . . . if something happens, I want you to be ready.” He told her, the usual air of composure surrounding him like the overbearing noble he was.

Olivia gave a quiet nod before walking over to Valeriana to ask if she was comfortable. The look on the girl's face was disconcerting that she just had to come over and check on her condition.

“You're perfectly healthy—in exception for the distress you're showing. Your mental state is somewhat unstable.” Olivia told her, patting her head.

Corvan narrowed his eyes, but a hint of relief showed in his emerald orbs. He crossed his arms as he made his way towards the far-end side of the room and leaned against wall. “Then, we wait.”

He trained his eyes towards the direction of Valeriana, watching her try to get herself together. She murmured reassuring things under her breath, telling herself that she wasn't going to die and all other things that gave her comfort.

“God, that was close.” She whispered. “First my bracelet, and now this necklace.”

A few seconds later, the Court Leader came in with Tamara following closely. The look in his eyes said he was bothered, but there was somehow a look of excitement on his face.

“Whatever happened now for you to call for me so urgently?” He asked in a singsong voice.

“Court Leader!” Valeriana stood up. “The necklace was broken!”

“Hm? Calm down now, child. Calm down.” He said as he went over to her and pushed her to sit back down. “The necklace was broken you say?” He asked in wonder, peering at the broken item inside his fingers. “Did you die?”

“Yes, because I'm just a ghost now.” She deadpanned.

He laughed. “Oh, I see.” Aeron waved at her dismissively. “Let me see that—”

“No freaking way!” She exclaimed, jumping away from him and holding the necklace close against her chest.

“Is that so?” The Court Leader leaned back and rubbed his chin. “Oh, look! Your mother!”

“What?” She looked towards where he was pointing. “Where?”

Lord Aeron snatched the necklace from her hand and threw it to the other side of the room, catching Valeriana by surprise as the object was taken from her tight grip. Corvan and Tamara were more than shocked seeing his actions.

“What are you doing?” Tamara gawked.

As Valeriana tried to reach for it desperately, the Court Leader pushed her away. “Now, come on, Valeriana—sit back down!”

“You trying to kill me?” She exclaimed. “Tamara!”

“I'm on it!”

“Nobody. Move.” He commanded, his eyes narrowing. Tamara froze at the unusual display of expression until it melted and was replaced by the usual smile. “Look here, my dear.” The man gently stated. “You are not going to die.”

Her breathing stopped—heck her whole world did. “What?”

Tamara and Corvan exchanged glances. “What?”

“It's just like I said.” He shook his head and forced the girl to sit back down. “Humans cannot see and hear demons, unless something was done otherwise. It turns out that my primary conclusions were correct.”

“What conclusions?”

“Well, it's simple!” He exclaimed. “You got the necklace removed, you didn't turn to ashes—then you're not human! I was actually wondering when in the world you would discover! My goodness you were so slow—”

Valeriana wanted to jump and strangle the Court Leader—which she did so without any hesitance. She started screaming while squeezing his neck furiously, causing the poor man to choke and wave for help. Corvan and Tamara, although somehow dazed at the recent revelation, snapped out of their reverie and ran forward to pull the girl back.

“You freaking evil Court Leader, you!” She screamed, struggling at the hold of the two. “How can you do this to me? You told me I was going to die when that damn thing comes off and now you tell me I'm not human? You trying to kill me by heart-attack anyway? And you knew all along?”

“There's no excitement if I just tell you!” The Court Leader exclaimed.

“I hate you! I hate you!”

“Look, Valeriana . . .” He wheezed, stumbling. “I said that you will immediately be reduced to ashes when you come in contact with Valemnia's power pressure—but you didn't.”

She slowly stopped struggling, instead breaking away from the hands that held her still.

“You see, how do I put this?” Aeron sighed and massaged his neck.

She stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

“Ah. Should I be telling all this to you now?”

Valeriana was breathless.

“Nah!” Aeron dismissively waved her. “I don't think you're ready.”

“Why you—” She pounced on him for the second time, strangling his neck. “You're going to freaking tell me or I'm going to freaking kill you!”

“Valeriana!” Tamara and Corvan pulled her off for the second time.

“Good gracious!” Lord Aeron yelled. “I'm already old! Don't cut my life short!”

“Then, tell me!”

“I will be willing to elaborate on it, but the thing is, you have things to do, don't you?” Aeron grinned. “I'm afraid you're still not ready to know the truth about your identity. So, gather your thoughts and find yourself. For now, you have a mission to attend to.”

Right. Gather your thoughts, find yourself.

But how was she supposed to do that without the answers she sought? Surely they wouldn't expect her to be fine with it and brush it off!

“He's right.” Tamara placed a hand on her shoulder, but the confusion in her eyes and curiosity was evident. “We have to find the king's brother.”

She tried to protest.

“You can look forward to talking to Lord Aeron when we come back.” Corvan said, crossing his arms as he took in the sight of the hunger for answers reflected inside Valeriana's azure blue orbs. “It's almost time to leave.”

The not-so-human girl hated to go. She wanted answers. “You can't expect me to put this aside! I want to know! I still have so many questions—”

The door burst open and two of the Twelve—the twins—came to sight.

“Hey, you guys. There you are.” Said Zevlin. “Did everything go okay? We heard you got in trouble with Courtney.” He paused as he saw the Court Leader. “Lord Aeron?”

They did not know the extent of what actually happened. Tamara and Corvan were called to the scene because they heard about the clash of the two. It would have been very chaotic if the other Twelve were to join in to check on them, so they left it to the first and third-ranker to do the job.

“You wouldn't believe what happened.” Tamara said, breathing heavily as though she was still in a state of disbelief. “Everything happened so fast it was a blur.”

Genevieve ran forward. “You weren't harmed, were you? We all know Courtney has a bad temper, but it was unlike her to act so . . . rash.”

“Anyhow, since you're fine, it's time to go.” Said the male of the two. “Charles sent for you. The portal is ready and everyone else is, too.”

“I am not leaving until I get answers!” Valeriana growled.

Zevlin and Genevieve looked confused at her outburst.

“Unless, you want to stay behind?” Corvan added.

After being given the chance to see places beyond the academy? “No way!”

“You should know that we aren't willing to wait for you while you strangle the old man for answers he isn't willing to give.”

But, a part of her wanted to stay behind and ask some more questions. However, looking at the face of the Court Leader, he didn't seem like he would be willing to give her what she wanted.