“I’m her father. I know all my children better than they know themselves,” Derik replied simply, “You’ll know when you and Emalia give me grandbabies.”
“Derik stop nagging them for grandchildren. Honestly my heart, you need to sort out your priorities, our daughter just lied to us,” Her mother whispered, but Valeria still caught it and turned off her vampiric hearing just as Callan began to say that he was too young to be a father. The guilt for lying to her parents gnawing away at her insides. She hated herself for lying to them, but what could she do about it now. It’s not like she could just jump up and go tell them she's a big fat liar. Even if she did tell them about the voices, what good would it do? Like Ziana said earlier, it would only alert whoever the voices belonged to that they were onto them and they wouldn't be able to stop them. Valeria tried to push down the shame that overwhelmed her. What would her siblings say if they knew that she’d deceived their parents? Emalia and Henrik would be so disappointed in her. At least Demetri would be proud.
◆◆◆
When Ziana and Valeria were back in their dorm, Kamilah had left them, and their other roommates wouldn’t be back from their internships for an hour or so. The silence was heavy between them, and suddenly Valeria couldn’t take it anymore.
“They know we are lying,” The vampire shouted, her eyes locking with the phoenix's, “I heard them.”
“Of course they do,” Ziana snapped, pointing an accusing finger at her, “You’re an awful liar for a vampire.”
“I’m so grounded,” Valeria groaned, laying back on the bed, “and I’m not a bad liar. It’s just hard to lie to my parents.”
“They suspect we know something, but they do not know what,” Ziana said, she was on her feet and pacing, “The voices, the demons we heard in the hall caused the massacre.”
“Wait, they said to be ready for the anniversary, right?” Valeria asked, looking up at the ceiling, her mind going back to that night.
“Yeah, but how should we know what they meant by the “anniversary”? That could mean literally anything” Ziana scoffed, and Valeria shot up.
“It's the anniversary of the end of the Demon War, there's this big party that all the royal families go to, here in Kalissa and the other members of the Golden Six will be there. It’s happening at the end of this phase, that has to be what they meant,” Valeria explained her mind running a mile a minute.
“Okay genius, what about the Necromancer thing?” Ziana asked.
“My mom is the Necromancer. Maybe the massacre is to distract my mom, maybe that's what’s in the files, maybe this all goes back to the Marked Ones.”
“I knew it had to be connected to the Marked Ones,” Ziana nodded, pausing in her pacing to think, “The GSI handle all the Marked Cases, but the real question is why did the demon pick out Princess Florence?”
“I don’t know,” Valeria replied, not having an answer for that one yet, “Maybe because she’s smart? A member of the Golden Six?”
“But is it that simple? There are plenty of geniuses in the GSI” The phoenix questioned, and Valeria shrugged, “We should ask Edith what she saw. We need to know what happened before we can figure out anything.”
Valeria nodded in agreement, they needed to talk to Edith, but for the next five nights Edith wasn’t allowed visitors and those nights were incredibly dull. Valeria had expected something big to happen after talking to Callan and her mother, but no, nothing happened. The interns for Teams A through C were temporarily canceled for the time being which left them being stuck to tag along with the forties and under. Don’t get Valeria wrong, going sightseeing around Kalissa was fun but she wanted action. She wanted to solve the mystery of the voices, but these past five nights, she had also been consumed with internal war. To confess and face her mother or keep quiet and risk something worse than a grounding. Five moonrises after visiting the Museum of War, Ziana and Valeria were allowed to see Edith, the Healer cleared her for visitors at dusk. The infirmary wing had white tiled flooring and white walls with large cheerful pictures of famous landscapes. It was an open space littered with doors leading to the rooms of its patients and examination rooms. At the center of the room, there was a little wooden desk with one of the Healers filling out charts.
“Welcome to the Infirmary Wing,” The vampire called in a Kalissan accent as they entered, “Here to see Edith?”
“How did-” Valeria started, but the vampire cut her off with a wave of her hand.
“She is the only patient in at the moment,” The vampire or as the name tag read ‘Healer Paceley’ replied, “Sign in here, and then I’ll take you to her room.”
“Thank you,” Valeria responded before both her and Ziana signed in. They were led to a glass door where Healer Paceley knocked twice and entered.
“Ms. Moreski, you have visitors,” The vampire announced before leaving them to talk to their friend. Once the Healer was out of sight, Ziana was pulling Edith into a tight hug, and Valeria was shocked because the phoenix seemed to hate being touched. Edith murmured something into Ziana’s ear that caused the phoenix to scoff and release her.
“She’s fine,” Ziana stated as Edith giggled from her spot reclining on the bed, “High as a Griffin but fine.”
“What? What did she say?” Valeria asked, this caused Edith to giggle louder and Ziana to roll her eyes.
“She’s making fun of your accent,” Ziana replied, fondness for the elf creeping into her tone.
“I don’t have an accent, you two do,” Valeria objected, crossing her arms.
“You have a VT accent, and since you're in Kalissa, you’re the one with an accent,” Ziana replied with a shrug.
“What?” Edith tittered then grabbed Valeria’s wrist to pull her closer, “Did you know that you replace all your w’s with v’s? Get it cause you’re V.”
“I do not,” Valeria protested again, but Edith was off in another fit of giggles.
“I’m sorry, V, but it’s just so funny,” Edith said between laughter and Valeria frowned at her.“Aw, V. I’m sorry. Don’t pout. I think your accents really cute. It’s nice to hear something different from the Kalissan accents.”
“What exactly did they give you?” Ziana asked as the elf laughed almost hysterically.
“Happy juice,” The elf responded, then poked her nose, “You need some too, Frowny phoenix.”
“And here I was worried about you,” Ziana scoffed, but Valeria could see the corner of her lips twitching up and then morphing into a more serious expression, “Edie, what did you see in your vision?”
“I don’t want to talk about that,” Edith answered, defensively, “I’ve been talking about that for nights, to the GSI people and the Mind Healers. Can’t we talk about something else?”
“No,” Ziana replied, taking Edith’s hand in her own, “If we are going to find the voices, we need to know what you saw.”
“No,” Edith crossed her arms, snatching her hand from the phoenix, “I don’t want to talk about it. Why don’t you ask your sister, V?”
“Why would I ask Emalia?” Valeria asked and scrunched her eyebrows together.
“She’s the Healer for the GSI, right?” Edith said, “She has access to all the files.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Valeria responded but then shook her head, “Emalia is a wellness healer, she doesn’t have access to the autopsies.”
“But she can get access,” Ziana replied, “She’s the Head Healer of the wellness center, right? She’s gotta have access.”
“I’ll ask,” Valeria nodded, already thinking of things to say to Emalia.
“Can you tell us anything about the vision?” Ziana pushed again.
“No,” Edith shouted, “Wait, did you tell them about the voices?”
“Of course not,” Ziana replied.
“What? Why?” Edith exclaimed, sitting up fully and looking at the phoenix with wide eyes, “What do you have to hide?”
“You know why.”
“
I know that you’re so stuck on revenge that you can’t even see that you're going to get yourself killed,” Edith responded, her brown eyes filled with an unreadable emotion, “Ziana, please. It’s too dangerous.”
“No,” Ziana snapped at the elf and Edith flinched at the raised voice.
“Fine, then I’ll tell,” The elf said determination coloring her voice.
“Edi-”
“No, I’m sick and tired of you coming in here and bullying me into doing what you want,” Edith exclaimed her hand clutching onto her chest as if she was in pain,” You do this all the time, Ziana. Why can’t you just treat me like your-AHH!”
One second Edith was tearing Ziana a new one and the next she was screaming in pain as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she began convulsing.
“Help!” Valeria shouted, pushing Ziana out of the way to put Edith on her side. As she did this, Edith’s eyes snapped forward now golden instead of brown as the blood drained from her eyelids.
“Move out of the way girls, we’ll handle this,” Healer Paceley said as she took her place in front of the elf. Another Healer came in and ushered them out, shutting the door in their faces. Ziana pulled Valeria down as they sank to the floor. The sound of Edith’s screams filling the room.
Ten minutes passed before the screaming stopped, but it was another hour before the door opened again. Healer Paceley and the other woman came out and shut the door behind them. They exchanged a look when they saw her and Ziana sitting there.
“Is Edith okay? Can we see her?” Ziana asked scrambling to her feet.
“Ms. Moreski is stable but not well enough to receive visitors,” Healer Paceley said, “I’ll let you know when she has recovered enough to see you.”
“But, I, okay,” Ziana mumbled before turning on her heel and running out the door. Valeria stared after the phoenix in shock before slowly following after.
◆◆◆
The next moonrise Valeria decided to send a message to Emalia and maybe get her to tell her about the cases. Ziana had been distant, even more so than usual, the phoenix didn’t even bother to glare at her.
‘Hey Em, do you want to go out for meat skewers?’ Valeria typed on the projected keyboard of her communicator and sent it off to her sister, and within minutes, her sister responded.
‘Of course! I presume I need to sign you out of Grey Academy?’ Emalia typed back, and Valeria smiled at her sister's eagerness to go get food.
‘I guess?’
‘I’ll be there in an hour.’
Just as Emalia promised the wolf arrived in precisely an hour with an easygoing smile and a smart blue turtleneck on. The wolf waved at her as she entered the lobby and made her way to the front desk. Valeria had been waiting for her on one of the couches off to the side. As she sat there, she ran over her game plan. Valeria had to be clever about this. Next, to their mother, Emalia was one of the most intelligent beasts she’d ever met. Just like Florence, her sister had begun specializing when she only sixty cycles old, making her the youngest Healer in recorded history. Despite not being actually related, Emalia got her brains from their mother.
“Hello, Neferna,” Emalia greeted.
“Dutchess Grey, what a surprise,” The merperson responded kindly, “How long has it been?”
“I stopped working here when I was a century so thirty cycles now,” She mused taking the sign out form from Neferna, “It’s amazing how quickly the cycles pass.”
“It is,” Neferna laughed before leaning forward, “How is it being mated to a member of the Golden Six?”
“The same as being mated to anyone else I would think,” She stated, handing back the sheet with a tight smile on her face. The same one, her father, got any time someone would ask him about Florence or approach them in the street for their mother’s autograph, “Now, you have a pleasant night. I’ll be taking V now.”
Valeria followed her sister to the doors where they linked arms and went on their way.
“I can’t believe that she asked you that,” Valeria commented as they walked down the academy steps. Sure it was normal for people that knew her family personally to ask that, but she’d never experienced it herself.
“As infuriating as it is, it is part of being mated to a war hero and being the adoptive child of one” Emalia said matter of factly. She always saw things most logically, it was one of the reasons that Valeria enjoyed her sister so much. Emalia saw things as they were, and she appreciated that.
“I can’t remember someone ever asking me directly about Mom,” Valeria mumbled, causing her sister to let out a bark of a laugh.
“V, you are a Duchess. beasts can’t just come up and speak to you about personal devices.”
“You’re a Duchess too,” Valeria argued.
“Not a real one, I carry the title with no real claim to it,” The wolf stated with another shrug that told Valeria that it didn’t really bother her sister. Another great thing about Emalia, she was easy to read and never lied. That part she got from their father.
“Now come along, I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and I’m starving,” Emalia said, pulling her along. The small restaurant they went to was situated right by a park filled with illuminated trees and blooming flowers. If Valeria looked up, she could see the whole sky filled with stars and the brilliant moon beaming grey. After getting a meat skewer and a cup of blood from their waiter, they basked in the moonlight air. Their table sat under a tree that was a brilliant shade of purple bark and long curling branches with white flowers hanging down. Near their feet was a rivulet of violet water and a small birds, chirping. Valeria closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and relaxing. Kalissa was beautiful, the four seasons were always so vibrant here, but it did get pretty hot during the summer. One thing for sure was that it was warmer than VT, but then again everywhere was warmer than VT.
“You may talk freely with me, I told Bunnywolf not to listen in on us,” Emalia said, causing Valeria to look at her in confusion.
“Bunnywolf?”
“Yeah, Mamoru, my slither,” The wolf explained, but it only served to confuse her more. The name sounded familiar, and their father mentioned slither a few times but always changed the subject when she asked.
“Okay, what's a slither?” Valeria exclaimed, “And don't change the subject or say its a story for another time.”
Emalia laughed at her outburst, causing her round cheeks to become puffier, and the fledgling felt a pang of jealousy at how beautiful her sister was. Valeria knew that they aren't biologically related and she shouldn't be comparing their looks, but she couldn't help it.
“The slithers are a network of spies founded by Mom to...keep an eye out on the happenings of Beastmora.”
“Why do you and Henrik have one? Dad mentioned something about them too.”
“Everyone in our family has one. Mom has them on all the people she cares about or doesn’t trust,” She said before nudging Valeria’s shoulder with her own a teasing smile making its way onto her face, “Haven’t you ever noticed them around?”
“No,” Valeria mumbled dumbly feeling stupid and a little uneasy. Did her mom not trust her? If she’d had a slither this entire time, did her mother already know about the voices in the hallway?
“So what did you want to ask me?” Emalia questioned, she was watching Valeria with a questioning gaze even as she chewed on the meat. The subject change caught her off guard, and she scrambled to remember why she had asked her older sister out in the first place.
“Because I missed you?” Valeria answered, and Emalia gave her an unconvinced look.
“No, there is something else,” The wolf stated, taking another bite, “You never just want to hang out, you normally want something or need me to solve a problem. So, out with it. What’s on your mind?”
Valeria stared at her sister in shock, she had barely spoken, and Emalia figured her out, “Um, I wanted to ask if you had access to the autopsy reports from the merpeople that got killed. Ziana
and I wanted to know the details of the case since Team A iced us out.”
“Why would you need to know anything about that?” Emalia asked with a flummoxed expression.
“Em, I-,” Valeria stuttered as her sister’s face took on one of hurt, “My roommate Edith had a vision and I, um we, Ziana and I- um,”
“Valeria, you asked me out here just to see if I could get you the information that you needed, yes or no?” She said, looking down at the purple water in front of them with an unreadable expression on her face.
“Yes,” Valeria mumbled the ever present feeling of guilt washing over her.
“Then I believe we are done here, let’s get you back to the Academy,” Emalia said, standing up and walking away. Valeria scrambled to follow her sister, trying to think of a way to make this better. Valeria was a horrible sister, Emalia came to see her on her night off, and Valeria threw it back in her face. The walk back to the academy was spent in silence as she tried to think of the best way to beg for the wolf’s forgiveness and hoped that her sister wouldn’t tell their mother about this. Once they arrived back at the Academy, Emalia signed her back in before turning on her heel to leave without a word.
“Emalia, wait a minute,” Valeria said, grabbing her sister’s arm. She stopped and met Valeria gaze, expectantly, “I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry, Valeria. I expected too much from a self-absorbed fledgling. It’s my mistake,” Emalia said, gently pulling her arm away and walking off her heeled boots clicking sadly against the stone. Valeria stayed rooted to the spot until her sister was long gone. With a self-deprecating sigh, she made her way back to her dorm. Valeria flopped down on her bed and groaned into the pillow. Ziana sighed after a moment and went to sit beside her.
“How’d it go?” Ziana asked, and Valeria looked up from her pillow to frown at the phoenix.
“I’m an awful sister,” Valeria responded before shoving her face back into the pillows, and Ziana gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder.
Beastmora- The Golden Six Page 11