The Purple Haired Craze

In Which Valkyrie Meets The Parents

The woman gave a smile, running forward and enveloping Skulduggery in a hug. "I'm glad you are home safe," she told him, releasing him and moving to hug Ghastly. "I hope you all had a good term," she continued to waffle, hugging all of the Dead Men in turn.

"We had a lovely time, ma'am," Dexter replied in a flippant manner. "As always."

She finally noticed Liv and Valkyrie tucked behind everyone else. The boys had already begun to enter the warmth of the house, but Skulduggery had stayed back. "Mother, this is Miss Valkyrie Cain and Miss Livena Estrange," he said, pointing to us in turn. "They started at Ende this term and didn't have anywhere to go for the holiday, so we invited them here."

The lady smiled at us. "Pleasure to meet you," she said, warmly, her eyes sparkling. "I'm Aura Osprey, Skulduggery's mother."

"Thank you for letting us stay," Livena told her, as they all stepped into the house.

"Oh, it's nothing. The more the merrier, I always say," Aura stated, cheerily. "We have plenty enough space as it is and I would want you two stuck in a cold castle for the entire holiday." Valkyrie shrugged off her damp cloak and hung it up with the others, but before she could walk into the next room, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and she was pulled up against Skulduggery.

"You okay," he asked her, leaning down to murmur into her ear.

"I'm good," she tried to say as calmly as possible, but she felt her voice hitch in her throat.

"Not distressed about Erskine still?"

"No. He was jealous. I don't feel anything towards him in that way and I won't be seeing him for a while. I think that's plenty enough time to forget the whole incident."

Skulduggery nodded, leading her into the next room. "This is the parlour," he told her. "It's the main room of the house."

"Skulduggery?" came a low voice from behind the two of them.

They turned around to face a tall, rather broad man with hazel eyes and a heavy beard. "Hello, father," Skulduggery said, a little meekly.

"Who are the two girls you have brought with you?"

Valkyrie tried not show her nervousness. "I am Valkyrie Cain, sir," she said, looking the man directly in the eye. "That is my cousin, Livena Estrange. Your son was kind enough to invite us over for the holiday, because we don't have anywhere else to stay."

The man took a good look of the two of them. Val remembered that she was still wearing the rather beautiful ball gown from earlier, although it was a bit damp at the hem. She pulled the shawl that she had grabbed out of the bag tighter around herself. Just as she was about to think that he was going to turn them out into the cold, he gave a gentle smile. "Nice to meet you, Miss Cain and Miss Estrange. My name is Roshan Adamos."

"Please, call me Valkyrie."

"You can call me Roshan then."

He bade her and Liv sit down near the fireplace with the other Dead Men, and they all began to recount their time at Ende. Skulduggery told his parents how skilled Valkyrie was at fighting, amusing Roshan to no extent as he explained that he got beaten up several times over the term because of her.

It was then that the conversation took a slightly darker turn. "What is the situation like concerning Mevolent, father?" Skulduggery tentatively asked.

Roshan sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you," he said. "It's not looking good for us at the moment. Mevolent's army is much bigger than we anticipated and he has some of the most blood-thirsty generals in charge. We thought it was going to be over, but it is looking like this might be a much longer war."

"So far, only some of the weaker Sanctuaries have collapsed, but ours, the African and Australian Sanctuaries are the only ones that seem to be able to stand a charge. The English Sanctuary is barely standing and the small American Sanctuary has almost been annihilated. I think we might need a miracle."

"I want to fight when I get out of school," Dexter stated. "I don't want my parents to have died in vain. They fought in the war to protect me and I want to honour that."

"We should all team up," Saracen said. "We would make an epic team."

"True," Ghastly agreed.

Aura suddenly stood up. "You would make fabulous fighters in the army. But I think we've been talking for too long. Ghastly, take Dexter and Sarcen to your house, I'm sure your parents are anxious to see you again. I'll get rooms for Anton and the girls."

"Sure," Ghastly said, standing up, followed closely by Saracen and Dexter. "Thank you for having us, ma'am, sir."

We saw them off, noting that Saracen and Dexter had resumed flirting as they disappeared into the wind. Ghastly was throwing slightly annoyed glances back at us before the door closed to stop the heat escaping.

"We have one spare room," Aura told them. "Skulduggery's sister has a room, but I don't think you would want to share a room with a two year old."

"You have a sister?" Valkyrie couldn't help but exclaim. "You didn't tell me this."

"Never had the right moment to," Skulduggery explained. "You don't just bring it up randomly."

"You'll meet her in the morning," Roshan said. "She adores meeting new people."

"I figure you girls can share and Anton can bunk in with Skulduggery, which is what usually happens," Aura went on. "The beds are quite big, so I don't think you'll object to sharing, no?"

Skulduggery intercepted. "Ah, yes. Valkyrie has been my roommate for the term, mother."

Aura raised an eyebrow. "Right," she said, an edge in her voice. "He's been a gentleman, hasn't he, Valkyrie?"

Valkyrie nodded, a little confused as to why Aura was asking.

"Not been rude in any manner, has he?"

She finally understood what Skulduggery's mother had been implying. "He's been very nice and helped me with my hair in the mornings," Valkyrie quickly explained. "I've never been very good at doing my hair, but Skulduggery has been a great help."

"That's good. Would you prefer to stay in Skulduggery's room?"

"I was just thinking that Anton and Liv may want to share," Valkyrie said, raising her eyebrows slightly. "They are close, you see."

Aura got the hint, thankfully. "Ah, I see. Well, by all means, make yourselves at home."

Saying goodnight to Aura and Roshan, we all walked upstairs. Anton suddenly tapped me on the shoulder. "May I say thank you for that?"

"Your welcome." Valkyrie smiled as Anton and Liv walked into the spare room, Anton helping the purple girl carrying her bags in.

Skulduggery took her hand and led her through a different door. "This is my room."