Warsong | Celeste Academy Series Book #4

Chapter Twenty-Three ⚜ A Present of Two

After that conversation with Brindon late night, Valeriana fell soundly asleep. Though she worried for the jade sphere and her father, she let it be for a moment to see how it would turn out. She trusted that whatever kind of battle was being fought would be won by Janus. If the situation did not improve, she would go back and see how she could help.

While she dozed off in deep thoughts, she woke up a bit later by something wet brushing against her cheeks. She tried to ignore it to no avail. It was persistent, accompanied by soft brushing on her jawline.

"What the heck?" She groaned and forced her eyes open, only to land on a big pair of blue eyes staring back at her excitedly. "Holy shiznits!" She sat up in shock, nearly throwing the creature off her bed.

It mewled at her, holding up a paw as though to say hi.

"You—what are you doing here? Where did you come from?" she inquired, looking about the room for any clues. When she saw her windows open, she realized what had probably transpired while she was asleep and examined the furry creature of white before her. It was still dark out, but dawn was beginning to break.

"Holy crap, you're cute," she muttered.

Valeriana reached for the white cat and held him up so that she could see him as a whole. That was when she felt something around his neck—a golden collar in which a small, rolled note was attached. She set him down on her lap and took out the note. It was as wide as two fingers and as long as four.

In elegant cursives were written, 'A companion. To serve as your sword.'

"Sword," she began, looking at the cute little thing. "You?"

The little cat mewled in response.

"Are you sure you went to the right place?"

The cat didn't reply. Instead, he snuggled and inserted himself under her arm, leaving his head under her fingers. His eyes closed in comfort and he purred contentedly, settling on his paws while her fingers rubbed the spot behind his ear.

"Who on Earth—Valemnia—would send me you?" she inquired.

Instead of replying, he kept quiet. Valeriana was well-aware of her ability to talk to animals and the cat strictly kept his mouth shut. Ever since the incident in Arlandia with her accidentally unable to access her abilities, she kept herself open to all the signals despite how distracting they were at times. Now that she was getting used to it, it felt much like a noisy crowd in a classroom. She eventually learned to zone out.

For some reason, he must be purposely not answering.

"Lemme guess . . . Lord Aeron?"

The cat did not respond.

"Uh . . . Headmaster Kylon?"

No answer.

"Lady Seraphina?"

Silence.

"Er . . . Corvan?" she whispered, then felt a shot of embarrassment. "As if he'd care . . . though I hope—blegh, what the hell am I saying? Now I'm filled with weird thoughts." She sighed. "You remind me of Avaro. Are you his son or something? But you don't have twin tails so that shouldn't be the case. You look like any ordinary cat," she trailed off.

The cat gazed back at her inquisitively. She examined the aura around him. It didn't bear any similarities to Avaro.

"Speaking of Corvan, I . . . miss him surprisingly. You know, his grumpy face and everything—like everything in the world is beneath him and the way he looks at everyone like 'who you, beeeettch'."