Chapter Text
“Sophie…her.” Edaline read.
Faces sunk all over the room. The memory of that brightly glowing gate was tainted for many by howls and blood.
Edaline quickly read on. “Welcome…bright.”
Several people snorted. “Wow.” Marella clapped her hands. “What a great observation, Sophie. Yes, the giant glowing gate is bright.”
Sophie giggled a bit. It was a stupid thing to say in retrospect, but who could blame her? It wasn’t like she’d seen a glowing gate before.
“He…home.”
Fitz slammed his fist into the armrest and Biana looked like she was about to cry. That stupid gate had been useless when they’d really needed it.
“I…safe,”
Edaline’s voice trailed off. Sophie’s smile vanished while Fitz hit the armrest again. Everybody else flinched or looked down.
Safe. What they wouldn’t give for Sophie, and all of them, to be truly safe-even for just a moment.
“but…out.”
“It was just a precaution, mainly.” Alden’s voice was strained, and he clutched his son’s hand tighter. His arm wrapped around his daughter’s shoulders as well. “Maybe against solicitors. Against any curious eyes.” His voice dropped to a near-whisper as he choked, “I thought.”
Everyone was silent for a few moments before Edaline continued.
“She…doors.”
“Who?”
“A human fantasy gorilla monster,” Sophie replied, smiling when all her friends laughed.
“Ahhhh, humans are… interesting,” Keefe finished, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.
Amy shuddered. She’d never liked King Kong; he’d always scared her.
“A…introduced.”
Alden’s eyebrows and the corners of his lips rose up as Sophie described him. It was nice to know that he’d made a good first impression.
Della elbowed him. “Very striking,” she teased, watching as her husband’s cheeks turned pink.
Sophie’s face was also pink as she stared at Alden in embarrassment. He caught her eye and smiled reassuringly. Phew.
“I wonder how we’re all going to be introduced,” Marella said aloud, causing everyone a momentary crisis.
Sophie slammed the pillow to her face. She hadn’t had flattering thoughts about everyone…
“She…wave.”
“HA!”
“I hope I wasn’t that intimidating,” Alden said bashfully.
“No, you-you were fine,” Sophie choked. Her face went from pink to bright red.
“Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if you’d curtsied when you met me,” Keefe declared, winking.
Before she could think better of it, Sophie flung her pillow right into his smug face. He only smirked at her and wrapped his arms around it.
Sophie pouted and turned back to face the book. What had she done? He hadn’t even been bothered, and now he was holding her pillow hostage!
It didn’t help that Dex, Fitz, and Tam were cackling at her misfortune.
“It’s…unusual.”
Della’s smile vanished and she smacked her husband’s arm. “Alden! What is wrong with you?”
Alden buried his face in his hands. “Ugh, I know. I’m so sorry, Sophie.”
“It’s okay,” Sophie shrugged. “You were the first adult I grew to trust in the Lost Cities, and it was fine.”
Alden sighed. He was glad he’d been able to give her that, but was also amazed that she had grown to trust him when he’d kept things from her.
“Like father, like son,” Tiergan commented.
“She…Fitz?”
That earned him another, albeit much lighter, smack from Della, a glare from Grady, and a whole bunch more laughter. Ro was practically out of her seat, giving him a round of applause.
Alden apologized to Fitz, who tugged the blanket over him again. Sophie’s face burned, and she desperately looked around for another pillow.
Once Edaline got her own chuckles under control, she continued, “She…fire.”
Sophie gave up her search and just put her head in her hands. Amy giggled so hard she snorted.
Linh was giggling too, pale cheeks turning rosy. Tam smiled at the sight of his sister’s joy.
Fitz just scootched farther under the blanket.
“Did… Council.”
“Like that’s a relief,” Prentice scoffed. He’d meant it to be quiet, but completely failed. Everyone turned to look at him.
“Dad?” Wylie asked nervously.
Prentice flushed under the weight of the scrutiny. “I… I simply meant that…” he swallowed, inhaled, swallowed again. Every time he lifted his eyes to the Council, all he could see were the people who had sentenced him to years apart from his son and said son to orphanhood.
Tiergan rescued him, placing his hand on Prentice’s to calm him. “What Prentice means to say, is that the Council has proven not to make the wisest decisions at times.” Understatement, he thought. “The fact that only the Council knew about Miss Foster’s location is not necessarily the comfort that we would wish it to be.”
Silence.
“We would not have hurt her,” Emery said haltingly, aware that they had hurt her in the future. Past? It was hard to tell which tense was correct here.
Scoffs rang out from many people.
The truth was that many of the Councillors did not have the time to go out among their fellow elves. Only a few-Bronte and Kenric, when he was alive-had taken the time to do so often. The other Councillors had always believed that their people liked them, trusted them, admired them. They had always believed that at the end of the day, their people would stand by them no matter what.
But now. All these people. All these faces, covered with disgust and anger and sadness, with shattered beliefs and hopes. These young fighters, taking on a burden that should never have been theirs to bear. They hated the Councillors. They did not trust them an inch to do the right thing. And that realization sliced them to the core.
Terik gazed around the room at the hostile faces, feeling his heart plunge down through his body. Noland glared down at his lap, white fingers twined together. Velia, Ramira, Liora and Zarina actually had tears in their eyes, although they didn’t fall. And Emery’s face could have been next to ‘betrayal’ in the dictionary.
Why? Emery thought, distraught. They had done many good things for the Lost Cities along with the bad. Why could these people not see that? Yes, they had made bad decisions, but they had also made good ones! What were a few bad actions compared to a world of good?
But it wasn’t just a few bad actions, was it? his conscience whispered faintly. This has been going on for millennia. This is just the time when we finally get called out on it.
The bodyguards and Amy watched this with a myriad of emotions splashing through them. Confusion, surprise, superiority, disgust, amusem*nt. The elves were not at all the infallible, perfect creatures they had always presented themselves to be.
Edaline tapped her finger on her skirt. The room was so silent that she could hear the faintest sound of her skin on the silk.
When she thought that enough time had passed that the Councillors could focus on the story again, she continued.
“Why?...crime.”
Everybody in the room collectively flinched.
Tam snorted. “I wonder what other human crimes aren’t limited to humans.”
Alden buried his head in his hands, hating himself with a vengeance he had never felt in his life. “I’m sorry,” he rasped, lifting his head to meet Sophie’s eyes. “I am so sorry, Sophie.” He looked to her human sister. “I’m sorry to you too, Amy.”
“Don’t be,” the sisters said at the same time.
“Jinx!” Amy cried, and they laughed a little. Then Sophie turned to Alden.
“It’s okay, really,” she promised. “You had no reason to suspect that it would happen.”
“But I should have looked into it farther,” Alden disagreed. A glare from Grady made the guilt surge even stronger. He hadn’t looked as hard as he could have beyond the possible human suspects. His prejudice had completely blinded him. “I… it is my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Sophie argued.
“Stop,” Biana snapped. Her father and friend turned to look at her, and she squared her shoulders. Her teal irises were rock-hard gemstones that would never be broken nor dissuaded from their goal.
“It is the Neverseen’s fault. Theirs and theirs alone. It’s those disgusting cloaked goons that have caused us so much pain.” Her turquoise jewels glowed with determination. “It wasn’t your fault, Dad. Nor yours, Sophie. Neither of you could have predicted this. Do you understand?”
Alden and Sophie nodded, the former tearing up. His little baby girl was growing up so fast. Too fast. But he was proud of her all the same.
“It would be nice, though,” Amy hummed suddenly, clasping her knee. At everyone’s questioning stares, she elaborated, “To have a place where kidnapping doesn’t exist. It would be nice.”
Edaline looked down at the book, blinking back tears. It didn’t work, and crystal water splashed onto the book, soaking the pages.
She gasped and grabbed at her skirt to try to dry it… but her breath caught in her throat.
The droplets were evaporating back out of the page and coalescing into glittering orbs. They slowly levitated off the cream-colored paper, rippling and morphing, before floating over the edge and falling to the floor.
She blinked in shock. What kind of ability was this? Some force field?
“Eda?” Grady asked her gently, taking her hand.
She shook her shock off and nodded to him. “I’m fine.” That was something to puzzle over later. Right now, they had to finish this book so that Sophie could go to bed. Perhaps they should tuck her in…
“I’ve…back.”
Grady’s glare intensified as Sophie called her worries ridiculous. He knew deep down that Alden had likely done the best he could, and that he himself may not have investigated further, but that didn’t change the fact that Sophie was his daughter and she had been hurt. Now, he wanted revenge on the one who had caused her pain.
His eyes drifted to Biana and then darkened. Yes. Revenge on the one who had hurt his daughter.
But that person was not in this room. Grady had to remember that. They may all be at fault, to some degree. But no one was truly responsible except for the Neverseen.
He was shocked out of his thoughts by the group laughing. He realized they were reacting to Sophie having a weird reaction to Alden trying to touch her. Perfectly understandable, in his opinion.
“I…though.”
Prentice closed his eyes, and Tiergan squeezed his hand again. Wylie flinched.
“Yeah, it’s freaky,” Maruca gave a little shudder. Then sat up straight. “No, well-I didn’t mean you’re freaky-I mean when you look through our thoughts…” she trailed off, realizing there was no way to put it in a good light.
Sophie shrugged. It was kind of freaky if you weren’t used to it. Sue her.
“She…agree.”
Alden beamed at her, and she beamed back, a warm emotion curling up in her chest and glowing. Alden had been kind to her from the very first moment and had done all that he could to make her safe and happy. He was basically like an uncle to her.
…She shied away from the thoughts that would invariably follow that one.
“She…jacket-”
“I can’t take this,” Keefe moaned, covering his face with Sophie’s pillow. “I thought it was going to be every other chapter, but this is every other page!”
“Serves you right for taking my pillow,” Sophie retorted. How dare he use it to cover his face. He wasn’t the one being embarrassed!
It definitely didn’t help that her mother had read that sentence in a sing-songy tone and was now tearing up. It most definitely didn’t help that the others were eagerly teasing her. Why, oh, why…
“Do you still have that jacket, I wonder?”
“I bet she was wondering how he looked without his jacket.”
“Seriously, Wonderboy? Can’t even walk into your own house with someone ogling you?”
Fitz yanked his blanket down and gave the one who’d asked that question-Dex-a deadpan stare. “NO.” He yanked it back up.
Dex opened his mouth to tease him some more, but something about the tone of Fitz’s voice told him he would be crossing a line.
The triplets, though, had no such qualms and started up the “Fitz and Sophie, sitting in a tree…”
Sophie buried her head in her arms.
Linh looked around for another pillow to give her, but Tam was leaning against the only one left. Sorry, Sophie.
Edaline cleared her throat and read on in a normal voice. “but…triumphant.”
Alden smirked and shoved his son’s shoulder. Fitz only grinned, completely unashamed.
“No… worry.”
Sophie threw her head back and groaned. So did all of her friends.
“And there starts the unending cycle of ‘no reason to worry’ when there is obviously a reason to worry,” Dex complained, throwing an arm over his face.
“Seriously, the world could literally be crumbling beneath our feet and he’d still stand there and say ‘everything’s fine, we just have to find a tree, no reason to worry,’” Marella added.
“I’m going to keep track of every moment he tells Foster not to worry when a bunch of sparkly poop is about to rain down on the world,” Keefe declared, shooting Sophie a grin.
Alden stared at them all like an offended murcat-way too adorable to sell it. Della gave him a hug in condolence, and he happily snuggled into her.
“You’re… world-”
Alden groaned into Della’s chest. He had never been so wrong in his life. He wanted to slap himself, but he might hit his wife by accident.
“He… nexus.”
Many eyes narrowed on the Fitz-shaped blanket lump, namely Grady’s.
“Sorry…covered.”
The eyes relaxed and moved away. Better that Sophie leap without a nexus than get abducted by the mysterious figure.
“That’s…jewel”
Sophie chose to ignore Keefe’s snicker.
“set… gibberish.”
“Gibberish?” Stina asked in confusion. “You couldn’t read the Enlightened Language?”
Sophie shook her head.
Mr. Forkle coughed and gave a brief rundown of how they’d somehow ‘focused’ her brain on the ancient runes so that she could read the Black Swan cipher.
Stina frowned. That couldn’t have been fun for Sophie.
“Which…world?”
“Nothing,” Keefe, Dex, Biana, Fitz, Marella, Tam and Linh all shouted.
Bronte’s lips twitched, and he forced them to keep still.
“Alden…people-”
Amy listened with fascination, absorbing every facet of information about the elven world she could get.
Dex and Keefe, on the other hand, teased Fitz about his boasting. Their only response was a glare.
“which… it.”
“Fitz,” Della said softly, a faint reproach in her voice.
Her son pulled the blanket off and struggled to a sitting position. His hair and face were caked with mallowmelt, his hair shot out every which way, but his eyes were dark and haunted. “I know, Mom.”
She reached over to squeeze his hand gently.
“Only… cautious.”
Elwin flinched, fingers slipping on the vial he held. He managed to grip the stopper before it slid from his grasp and shattered into a thousand pieces.
Everyone else bowed their heads. Biana placed a comforting hand on her brother’s knee.
Wylie and Prentice were clearly fighting back tears, and Tiergan wrapped his arms around them both.
“Fitz’s…memory.”
Alden closed his eyes in grief. His family wrapped their arms around him.
“It’s…skin.”
Sophie’s own eyes glossed over as her mind wandered. Her photographic memory happily placed every miniscule detail exactly where it had been that horrible day.
The worst part hadn’t even been the fading. It was that she had wanted to fade. Only for a little while, but that was enough. The world had seemed so glittery and gorgeous that the cities of the elves appeared dark and dull. The light had been filled with warmth and joy and safety-a safety that even back then she had known that the elves could only try to imitate. In that moment, it had seemed like a pitiful attempt…
She shook her head so hard, whiplash burned her neck. Good. She needed to focus.
“Alden…shrugged.”
“Talk about foreshadowing,” Elwin choked.
“Fine…here.”
Della lightly smacked her son. “Fitz!”
“Sorry,” he mumbled over the good-natured snickering from everyone else.
“Alden’s…jeans”
“Jeans?” Linh repeated.
“Human pants,” Sophie said. “Normally blue. They can be tight and made of rough material, but they’re comfy for a lot of people.”
“Not for me,” Fitz said with a scowl. “I wore them once when I was out looking for you. They itched so badly, Elwin’s normal ointments didn’t work. He had to make me a special one.”
“You just have weak skin,” Biana needled.
“Oh, yeah. It’s not like your skin was inflamed for days when you tried on that human party dress for fun once,” Fitz retaliated.
“You tried on a human dress?” Amy asked, shocked. The elves’ gowns were perfect. Why would Biana want to do that?
The Vanisher shrugged, face ruby-colored with embarrassment. “I don’t know… Dad had gotten them from somewhere when he was on assignment, and I was just curious. Some of them were fine, but one of them had this sash that was made with some material that irritated me. Not that I’d have known that, of course.” She glanced at the physician. “Sorry, Elwin.”
“No problem,” Elwin beamed. “What am I here for, if not to patch you up after performing crazy, idiotic stunts?”
“Exactly!” Keefe gave him a thumbs-up. Elwin fought the childish urge to stick his tongue out at the Empath.
“And…home.”
Alden, Della, Fitz, and Biana all smiled at the description of their beautiful home. Despite its legacy, it was theirs, and they loved it.
“How…something.”
Ro burst into a fit of laughter. “I love this book. Your thoughts are the most spectacular kind of bacteria, Blondie.”
“Um…thanks?” Sophie tried.
Edaline looked at the next line and doubled over with giggles. Everybody stared at her in confusion save for Sophie, who remembered what she’d said next and was resuming her search for a pillow.
“Edaline, what’s wrong?” Grady asked, but his wife just kept laughing so hard that tears gleamed in the corners of her eyes. Finally, she straightened up and managed to choke the sentence out.
“Isn’t…asked.”
The difference of reactions practically tore Keefe’s Empathy in two.
The adults were howling with laughter, especially Grady and the Black Swan. Kesler was shaking like he’d been zapped by a Charger. Elwin buried his head in his arm to stop his tears from falling into the cauldron. The Councillors looked a little miffed, especially Councillor Alina, but no one commented.
But the Foxfire students felt differently. “I-I mean that’s true,” Wylie grumbled, “but STILL!” He glared at her in mock offense. Sophie only shrugged.
“HEY!” Stina yelled at the same time. “It is not just glowing fungus! It’s the best school in the world!” Biana nodded in agreement, looking sick at the thought of agreeing with Stina.
Dex and Keefe, however, were laughing their heads off. Linh stared at Sophie with her jaw practically on the floor while her brother buried his head in her shoulder to hide his chuckles.
Sophie only gave her audience a sheepish smile. “I didn’t know. Besides, it is named after glowing fungus.”
“Glowing fungus?” Amy peeped nervously.
“Yup,” Sophie grinned, turning to her little sister. “You see, the elves’ most prestigious academy is named after…wait for it… FUNGUS! Creepy little mushrooms that GLOW in the DARK!”
“It represents light in a darkened world!” Biana protested, to no avail. Amy had her face in her hands to muffle her giggles.
“That… is… amazing!” Kesler howled, arms clutching his sides. “I… am… so… using that!”
“Me too,” Dex gasped, tears running down his cheeks.
“Correction: I adore this book,” Ro wheezed. Even she and the other bodyguards wore smirks on their normally stoic faces.
“Man, if only I had used that during the times she ran Foxfire,” Keefe groaned, jerking a thumb at Councillor Alina.
The laughter carried on for practically four minutes. Edaline struggled to get herself under control enough to continue reading, but her efforts proved to be completely useless; everyone laughed through the following passages anyway.
Honestly. Why couldn’t they have named the academy after some wise, majestic beast?
“Alden…fungus?”
Grady bent over, his face red from laughing. On the physicians’ couch, Elwin and Livvy had given up mixing elixirs and were focused on not dislodging any vials with their shaking. Alden himself had his head thrown back, completely impervious to his childrens’ glares.
“It…fungus.”
The book slipped from Edaline’s fingers and thumped on the ground. Sue them. This was the most hilarious thing they’d heard in ages, not to mention heightened by the terror they’d been experiencing hours earlier.
Tam, for example, had barely heard anything more amusing in his life. He’d always disliked Foxfire, with its stuffy noble children who looked at him and Linh like they were a disease. Here, in this warm room with color and light and food, listening to something funny with his head buried in his twin’s shoulder, he could almost forget that he’d just been a puppet of the Neverseen.
Even Fitz and Biana had finally lost the battle and had caved in to their snickers. It took another two minutes-full of more exclamations and effusions-for them all to sober up enough to continue.
Edaline picked the book off the floor and flipped through the pages. To her surprise, this yielded yet another mystery about it: most of the book was empty. Confused, she found where she had left off, finished the page, and then turned it.
Nothing.
The book couldn’t be over already. What had Liria done to make it so that it was impossible to read ahead? This was beyond any Void manipulation Edaline had ever learned.
Another question whispered in the back of her mind: Why had she done it? Surely it wouldn’t be a detriment if someone read ahead and knew what to expect…
Shelving that thought, she read on. “Fitz…studies.”
Jensi was too caught up with the ‘fungus’ jokes to register that the conversation had moved on. When he did, his smile plunged. Yeah, sure. A testing ground to find who deserved to continue studying. To weed out those who didn’t. In other words, manifest an ability or you’re useless.
Jensi swallowed and tried to focus.
“The…time.”
“I wonder if that could have worked out,” Dex wondered under his breath. Sophie was thinking along the same lines. What if she had stayed with her human family? She imagined showing her parents her Universe star maps, bringing Amy gifts from the midterms party, Marty accidentally knocking a bottled tornado off a bookshelf and destroying their house, and telling her dad about Keefe and Fitz and Dex and Jensi and having to talk him down from grabbing his street hockey stick.
She wondered if it could have magically worked out that way. Her mom and Edaline would have gotten along wonderfully…
“Is…asked.”
“Yup,” Fitz grinned, managing to stop most of his pride from filling his voice. “You have to pass an exam, both written and practical, about basic elven knowledge to make sure that you’ve learned all the prerequisites in your previous schooling, like the purpose of the Council and the matchmaking system, or huge figures in our history, or the techniques for bottling simple kinds of weather. Stuff like that. Depending on how well you do, you can qualify for special classes or higher levels. Then you and your parents meet with the principal and talk about what Mentors and schedules would be the best fit for you. After that, your parents iron out the kinks, like your uniform size and-” Dex yawned loudly. Fitz ignored him. “-allergies to locker flavors and medical information for Elwin. Then all you have to do is show up.”
“Oh, is that all?” Dex mocked.
Jensi snorted, doing his best to look innocent when people glanced his way. He hadn’t been able to help it. Fitz had left out a few things, such as the fact that noble children were accepted more often, or that at least one parent had to have an ability for the child to even be considered.
Sophie bit her lip. It would have been really helpful if someone had filled her in on all that ‘basic’ knowledge before she started Foxfire…
“Councillor…you.”
“What?” Amy whispered, a tiny needle sinking into her heart.
“But why?” Edaline questioned, frowning at Bronte. “If anything, Sophie needed the education even more in order to survive in our world. She even grew up with false information! Her upbringing wasn’t her fault and shouldn’t have influenced your decision to admit her.”
Councillor Bronte almost flinched at the weight of the glares directed his way. They were right, he reluctantly acknowledged. If Sophie had had the skill set to succeed at Foxfire, she should have been allowed to attend, regardless of her origins. He said so, and received a smile and nod from Lady Foster. But the others still looked disapproving, and Amy Foster…
He met her eyes and saw tears swimming in her pale green irises. The pinch between her brows, the pain her eyes conveyed… it tore at him. If there was someone whose good opinion he never wanted to lose-he almost wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it-it was this little, inconsequential human.
“Plus…can.”
Ro whooped, giving Alden a round of applause. “There you go, Mr. Stately-and-Stuffy! Rebelling against your leaders! I knew there was a disobedient spark inside you just waiting to be lit!” The Council side-eyed her, which she effortlessly ignored.
Della nudged her husband and smiled encouragingly. “You did well, telling her the truth. I know you normally lean toward concealing things so as not to cause pain to those you care about, but in this case, when Sophie was so new to our world, the truth was the good path to take.”
Alden blinked, then gave her a tiny smile. Della’s grew to epic proportions and she hugged him tightly. Alden’s Emissary work had given him trauma. Lots of it. He had always wanted to shield those he loved from the horrors he had experienced. The fact that Alden had admitted even the tiniest thing that would worry Sophie was a tremendous step for him.
“The…years?”
The Councillors all found people-free places in the room to stare at. So did Alden. And the Black Swan.
“Before… vanished.”
“What now?” Linh murmured eagerly.
“Dozens…with.”
Laughter rippled gently through the room, punctuated by Marella’s slow clap. “Again. Sophie, your powers of observation are unparalleled.”
Sophie shrugged again. Her shoulders were starting to hurt.
“I’m…statues.”
All eyes turned to Flori, who was giggling into her hand. She recovered and flashed Sophie a big green smile. “Your thoughts are very amusing, Sophie. Don’t worry. I am perfectly content with that description. We are indeed very ‘squat’ and ‘earth-toned’.”
Edaline sucked her teeth as she read the next sentence. She hoped Flori wouldn’t get offended…
“So… servants?”
Gasps nearly sucked the air out of the room. Sophie cringed and spun to face Flori. “Flori, I’m so sorry. I promise I don’t think that way anymore, about you or any of the other gnomes. I promise. I’m so sor-”
Flori held out her hands, shaking her head. “Sophie, Sophie, it’s okay, I understand. I’m not angry with you. You have given the gnomes-and my mother-so much more than you can ever imagine. We are forever indebted to you. The misunderstanding makes sense, don’t worry.”
Sophie’s speech trailed into nothing, and she barely held back a sniffle at the mention of Calla. She managed to give her daughter a watery smile in thanks.
Della waited until Sophie turned away before speaking to her. “While it is understandable, I need to ask you, Sophie-did you ever receive a basic instruction on the elven ways? I would have expected either the Council, your Mentors, or Grady and Edaline to give you at least the foundations of it. Which is not to say that I should not have; I foolishly believed that you would learn all that you needed to at Foxfire, but I still should have checked.”
Sophie bit her lip and shook her head. “No, nobody did. It was okay, though. I picked up most of it on my own. Although… it would have been nice to have at least gotten the little kiddie version Fitz said was required to enter Foxfire.”
Alden and Della frowned. So did Grady and Edaline.
“We should have done that,” Edaline said slowly, brow creasing. She turned to Sophie. “I’m sorry, Sophie. We assumed that Foxfire would teach you everything, but apparently it didn’t. We should have made sure that you understood the bare minimum of how our world worked.”
“It’s okay,” Sophie promised, leaning into her mother’s side. “I get it now.” Mostly. There are still a few things I don’t get, like why the Ancient Councillors decided to conceal all the information about the gnomish plague until it was almost too late or the human experiments or-
She shut that thought down. It wouldn’t get her anywhere.
“Alden… treat.”
“Yeah, the gnomes are the best gardeners,” Ro admitted, though the words barely wrenched themselves through her teeth.
Flori looked at her with incredulity and admiration. “How long did it take you to work up the humility to say that?”
Ro glared at her, then softened into a sheepish grin. “... About five months.”
Flori gave her a beaming smirk. “Well, thank you very much.”
“She…menu.”
Biana, Stina, and Marella made little ‘eeeuuuggghh’ noises at the description of the tubers. They liked the food cooked on a plate, not dug up from the dirty ground.
“She… flowers.”
The Vackers all beamed proudly at this description of their opulent home. Fitz’s was more strained than the others. He was remembering those wretched days when he had come back to the place he no longer deserved to call home. He had had the audacity to marvel and praise everything in sight as if he hadn’t worked most of his life to bring about its downfall.
“Sophie…intimidating.”
Kesler and Dex snorted in agreement. The Vackers’ smiles dimmed, but they could understand. It would be difficult for someone who was used to a human lifestyle to be suddenly surrounded by overwhelming wealth.
Amy’s eyes grew to epic proportions as she listened to the gorgeous design of Everglen.
An idea budded in the back of Bronte’s mind. While he focused on the story, it began to bloom. Sophie had been raised by humans, but even so, was it possible that an inordinate amount of wealth was intimidating to elves as well? Especially those of the working class, who were not used to jewels and crystals adorning their places of work? The Councillors were supposed to be available to all their people, but could it be that their expensive gowns and circlets and castles served to… alienate a large portion of them?
“Alden…crystals-”
Fitz scowled, reminded of that incident that had happened when he was about to arrive. Even now, he despised even the tiniest reminder of that embarrassing moment. A giant gnome stack!...
“that…table.”
Bronte and Oralie tensed. They were about to get their introduction to the story.
“A…how.”
“It is understandable that you would not know how to curtsy after learning human customs,” Emery consoled.
“Plenty of humans know how to curtsy,” Sophie disagreed. “I just never learned, for some reason.”
“She… underdressed.”
Sophie and the rest of Team Valiant all smiled a little. Their trip to meet the Prime Sources had been one of the most wonderful moments of their lives. Both humbling and inspiring, terrifying and comforting. Even now, the memory cast warm tingles over their skin where the Sources had touched.
The Councillors saw this and felt the same warmth cuddle in their chests. For once, it appeared that they had done right by this group.
Stina snickered at the ‘underdressed’ comment, but everyone ignored her.
“Everyone… “disguise.””
“He doesn’t need them,” Keefe stage-whispered, making Amy cover her giggles with her hand. Sophie rolled her eyes but smiled. Keefe patted himself on the back.
“Councillors…grin.”
Heads bowed at the mention of Kenric. Oralie gritted her teeth and tried to stop the waterfall of tears she knew was there.
The thing in the back of her mind that she desperately struggled to pretend wasn’t there cackled and hissed with hunger. She strained against its pull, focusing on the story as best she could.
“Oralie… Bronte.”
“Duh-duh-duhhhhhhh!” Rex whisper-hissed.
“As… was.”
Edaline threw her head back and howled with laughter. Every person in the room stared at her impatiently.
When she finally got herself under control, she leaned over and kissed Sophie’s head before tucking her into her side. Taking a deep breath, she read, “She… confused.”
Grady guffawed loudly, not even trying to hide it. He was immediately followed by the Vacker and Dizznee families. Elwin shoved his armful of medicine into Livvy’s chest so as not to drop it from laughing. Even the Councillors couldn’t restrain their chuckles. Bronte’s famous ears turned pale red.
For those who still didn’t get the joke, Edaline continued, “Fitz’s… answered.”
And for the umpteenth time that day, everyone burst into laughter. Bronte’s ears burned brighter, which only drew more attention to them.
Amy beamed, over the moon that she and her sister had had the same reaction. Oddly, the person who seemed to find it the funniest was Wylie, who had random beams of light bursting from his hands as he bent over howling.
“Sophie… you’re… my… hero,” Keefe gasped, hands clutching his stomach. It was actually starting to hurt after laughing so hard. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.
Sophie’s cheeks began to match Bronte’s ears. His hero, huh…
Edaline shook her head and fought down her laughter. Oh, her Sophie was so adorable.
“Our… ears?”
“I just can’t imagine that,” Amy murmured, gazing intensely at Sophie’s face as everyone laughed all over again.
“Neither can I,” Sophie mumbled, scanning the room for her salvation. Her eyes caught on a lavender blanket that had definitely not been there earlier.
She was out of her seat, grabbing the blanket, and back on the couch with it over her head faster than anyone could light leap. It felt like someone had woven strands of fluffy clouds into a sheet. “Thank you, Liria,” she groaned into the purple fabric.
“Her… Bronte.”
“Seriously, how were you not freaking out even more?” Marella asked in shock. “In one day, you’ve learned that you belong in a world with gnomes and fancy castles and you’re going to get pointy ears and live forever…”
“It was difficult,” Sophie admitted, peeking under the blanket to talk. “But I really, really wanted to prove that I could go to Foxfire and live with the elves, so I forced myself not to freak out a ton until later.” And even then, what she freaked about most was her human family…
“We… to.”
Everyone side-eyed Oralie, who only looked down at her lap. Many wanted to tease her, or at least mutter some snarky comment to their neighbor, but Kenric’s death cloaked the room like Tam’s shadows. No one said a word. Not even Bronte.
“No… immortal?”
More snorts, but now they held a sour edge. Immortal. What a joke, after those they had lost.
“We… grimace.”
Amy listened to Alden’s words with rapture. “Lucky,” she whispered to Sophie.
“Black… stuff?”
“Cheeseburger?” Linh piped up.
“Human food,” Sophie clarified. “It does have meat in it. It’s basically a slice of meat with cheese melted on it between two buns, like a sandwich. You can add other stuff to it, like tomatoes and lettuce-both plants-and some sauces like ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise. They were pretty good. I was surprised when the carnissa root tasted like it. It’s weird, how all the elven food tastes like something human.”
“It does?” Biana asked at the same time Keefe said, “If it didn’t have meat in it, I’d love to try it.”
Sophie nodded bashfully. Amy did the same. “A lot of it tastes like human meat, actually. I wonder how that’s possible.”
“Ick,” Marella spat. Stina and Maruca made disgusted faces.
“It’s not that bad,” Sophie rushed to explain. “All the plants taste really good. They just taste like dishes humans make with meat, not the meat itself. It’s interesting, is all.” But the three still looked grossed out.
The Councillors were intrigued by this, too. It wasn’t an important issue, not at all, so there would be no looking into it when they got back home, but it was curious to think about. They searched their vast memory banks for any link between their food supplies, but found none. Whatever had caused the similarity was lost far away in antiquity, outliving even Bronte.
“That’s… chicken.”
“Another human meat,” Sophie cut in before anyone could ask.
“You… grimaced.”
Councillor Alina rolled her eyes. Just another way the Moonlark would never fit in with their society. How could they ever accept someone who had ingested such precious creatures?
“I… vegetables.”
“Why not?” Rex whined.
Sophie sighed and tried to address everyone. “I think it was because I’d grown up thinking that meat had certain nutrients that we couldn’t get from vegetables, so we had to eat it at every meal to stay healthy. By the time scientists and doctors had figured out the right balance of vegetables and other meat-free foods that give you the nutrition that meats do, I was already used to eating it, and since my health was always up in the air, my parents didn’t want to risk it.” Amy nodded thoughtfully.
The Councillors frowned. They had always understood that the majority of humans ate animals because they wanted to…
“Of…it.”
Amy’s mouth dropped open. Bronte had been so kind to her, when she had needed it most. She had liked him, she had trusted him! How could the Bronte she had met, who had smiled at her, answered her questions, let her touch his ears for goodness’ sake, be the same one from the book who was treating her sister so cruelly?
Unbidden tears sprung to her eyes. Sophie deserved the world. And the very man who had treated Amy like a guest, like an equal, was the one who had looked down at her sister like she was something on his shoe.
How could he?
Emery caught her stream of thoughts and winced. Poor Bronte. He would be devastated to hear this. He had taken quite a liking to the young human…
“Alden… thinking.”
Mouths dropped all over the room, most notably all the bodyguards’. They had known the elven girl was powerful, but the suggestion that she could breach an Ancient Councillor’s mind was something else entirely.
“Sophie’s…her.”
“He less gave you permission and more demanded that you obey him,” Grady snarled under his breath. Edaline gave Bronte a glare that could rival a T. rex.
“She… begun.”
“And that’s the end of the chapter,” Edaline sighed, flipping the book closed and setting it on a nearby table. “Shall we all go to bed now?”
Groans of agreement emanated from almost everyone, mixed with complaints about ending on a cliffhanger.
All the elves stood up slowly, stretching and yawning. Amy blinked blearily as she pushed herself up. The bodyguards rose as well, hoping to perform some security drills before they slept. None of them had realized how mentally exhausting reading this book would be, despite its light moments.
Sophie gritted her teeth as she pushed against the couch to raise herself. Now that the adrenaline from reading was wearing off, pure exhaustion had sunk its teeth into her. She wandered to the back of the room, scanning the faint black wall for any hint of a bedroom. She was concentrating so hard, she practically levitated three feet in the air when someone wrapped their arms around her.
Yelping, she whipped around, feeling her rage grow within her, ready to inflict. It froze and drained out of her the instant her eyes locked with Keefe’s.
“Keefe?” she cried, leaning back instinctively. “What are you doing?”
Keefe only leaned forward and hugged her tighter.
“Keefe?” she asked, voice softening. “What is it?” She slowly ran her arms across his back, embracing him warmly.
“I’m sorry,” he said. His voice was muffled by her shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to go through that feeling like you were all alone. I thought a hug might cheer you up, cause, well… your hugs cheer me up.” His voice grew softer and softer until it was barely a jumbled whisper.
Sophie’s shoulders relaxed, and she sighed wearily. She wanted to tell Keefe to go away, to not waste her time with her, that it was all in the past and she was fine now… but Keefe’s arms were so warm, and he was stroking her back tenderly, and he held her so protectively, like he would give anything just to keep her safe and whole.
She sank into him, burying her face in his shoulder and trying to retain every perfect detail of the moment, just in case her photographic memory failed her. The softness of his tunic, the warmth of his hands, the faint tickle of his breath fanning her neck.
Everything else was muted. Nothing mattered but him, them, together.
She sniffled a little, trying not to get snot on Keefe. Unconsciously, she began to sway slightly, and he swayed with her, like a branch in a gentle breeze.
“Keefe,” Sophie murmured, as his comfort seeped through her skin and into her heart. There was something she wanted to tell him, something she needed to tell him, yet this was feeling so nice-
Someone cleared their throat.
Sophie reluctantly poked her head up. Eep!
Her father stood there, arms crossed, giving them a glare that could only be described as disgustingly hateful. Her mother stood a little ways away, and the look on her face could only be described as wistfully dreamy.
Her heart tore sadly, but her embarrassment trumped even that. She quickly pulled away from Keefe, who straightened up, looking like someone had just taken all his hair products and smashed them on the ground. Then he looked behind him and spotted Grady, and understanding quickly replaced the wounded expression.
He turned back to Sophie and gave her a half-smirk. “See you tomorrow, Foster.” He nodded. “Sweet dreams.”
His face became serious for a fleeting instant, as if to show that he meant it, before hurrying away from Grady’s scathing glare.
Sophie shot him one of her own, and he raised his arms as if to say, Well, what else am I gonna do? Edaline walked over and smacked him.
Sophie rolled her eyes, but walked over to her adoptive parents anyway. The rehashing of her time with humans had served to remind her how appreciative she was of them.
On the other side of the room, Linh jumped off the couch and helped her brother struggle to his feet. He was still drained, mentally and physically, from Sophie’s well-meaning attack earlier. She wrapped her arm around her twin’s shoulders to support him.
Emery and Bronte rushed to Oralie’s side, calling Elwin and Livvy over. The other Councillors huddled around them until Elwin pointed out that such a big crowd may overwhelm her. Emery decreed that only he, Bronte, and Alina (in case her Beguiling came in handy) would attend Oralie, and the others would go get some rest. The eight Councillors wandered off in search of the promised bedrooms.
It was Biana who spotted them first. She hovered behind the Vacker couch, watching her mother meticulously folding the blankets and plumping the pillows. Fitz stood next to her, scratching his dessert-plastered skin. Biana turned to tease him when she spotted the double door.
It was huge, made of warm, cherry-toned wood. Swirls and flowers embellished the panels. As she watched, one side creaked open, releasing inviting amber light.
“Hey!” she shouted, pointing at the doors. Her brother called out as well. “I found the bedrooms!”
A minute later, Biana found herself standing in front of the door, the rest of the readers gathered behind her. They watched it warily, years of growing mistrust and fear rearing their heads.
She took a deep breath and placed her palm on the wood, nudging it open farther. Squinting into the light, she took a step forward.
Biana looked up at the night sky, clear and breathtaking, without a trace of human pollution. Blinking, she looked around herself, stepping farther through the door.
How was Liria able to make all this?
A glittering crystal hallway yawned out before her, stretching so far that she could barely see the end of it. Doors etched with their names lined the glowing walls. Showers of stunning flowers soared down the walls between the doors, releasing a pleasant scent into the air. The soft sound of flowing water emanated from an elegant fountain at the end of the hall. A sheet of glass arced over it all, the clear surface a window to the stars.
Biana stepped slowly, rolling her feet from heel to toe. The more pressure she applied to the glowing floor, the more her ears picked up a sound.
It was a hum, but not from a voice. The more she concentrated, the more she swore she could hear the very threads of reality vibrating. They thrummed and sang and moaned around her as she moved, the tone shifting as they bent and twisted to accommodate her. The hum only grew louder as the others fell in behind her.
She was so absorbed in trying to comprehend the music of the Void that she walked right past her door. She spun on her heel and walked back the way she’d come.
“Wow,” Edaline breathed as she stepped elegantly through the door. “I would love to be able to do this with Conjuring.”
“Oh, hey-it’s me,” Fitz announced, stopping in front of a turquoise door that was a shade darker blue than his famous Vacker eyes. He leaned in to inspect it more closely and realized that the tiny crystals that made it up looked fuzzy, almost like they had been grown in a door shape.
“Awesome,” he breathed, and pushed it open. “Whoa!” he called out. “There are bedrooms in here!”
Laid out before Fitz was a gorgeous space draped with lavish blues and greens. A large bed stood on a platform. Plush chairs filled a pleasant space beside it. A wall-to ceiling window looked out onto a lush forest that glinted in the starlight.
And to his immediate right was a fully-stocked bathroom where a pristine shower awaited. Fitz didn’t even bother closing the door before he made a beeline for it, tearing off his clothes and hurling himself under the colored streams. Luckily, his father happened to be walking past. Alden’s eyes almost popped out of his skull, and he seized the doorknob and wrenched it shut. “For goodness’ sake, Fitz,” he muttered. Della giggled.
The group slowly funneled through the door and into the hall. Dex, the last person through, left the door to the reading room open. Just in case. The thought of sleeping with a closed, possibly locked, door between him and “outside” sent tremors through his nerves.
It immediately became obvious that family bedrooms were grouped together: Fitz and Biana were directly across from their parents’ room, the triplets had a giant room that was sandwiched between their parents’ and brother’s, and Tam and Linh were sharing one. Acquaintances were also positioned close by: Keefe was right next to Sophie (a fact that had Grady glaring and muttering under his breath), while Amy was across from her. The Councillors were either together or across from each other. Maruca was across from Wylie.
The other thing that was abundantly clear was that their rooms had been specially crafted to their personal tastes. Linh’s contained a few water features. Elwin’s had shelves full of medicine. Ro’s had softly glowing bacteria farms. Amy’s was filled with so many pillows and blankets that she could hide in there forever. And Sophie’s…
Sophie bit her lip, trying to stop her hand from trembling as she clasped the doorknob and turned it. At first glance, her door was a simple brown, but a closer look revealed that it was anything but. Vibrant whorls of every imaginable color twirled and twisted and curled, forming a different mosaic every way she turned.
Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob… and her mouth popped open.
She had liked her human bedroom, filled with lovingly chosen knicknacks from her family and things she enjoyed. She liked her Havenfield bedroom, with its crystal stars and huge windows. She liked her room in Alluveterre, with the berry garlands and autumn leaves and icicle fountain.
But this… this may be her favorite.
She couldn’t decide what to look at first. The curtains of Panakes blossoms that hung in a semicircle around the bed covered in a purple blanket? The fathomless dome of heaven arcing over the whole space, sparkling with constellations? The stream washing from one corner to the other, overhung by willow trees and bordered with wildflowers? The intricate crystal spirals that dangled from heart-shaped wooden arches? The side table perched next to her bed, holding her memory log, her Imparter, and a cage with-
“Iggy!” Sophie cried, sprinting across the floor. A small part of her brain protested, worried that she was ruining a painstakingly crafted work of art, but Sophie ignored it in favor of dashing through the flower curtain and skidding to a halt in front of the cage.
The familiar purr and nauseating fart made Sophie’s heart, swollen with long-forgotten emotions, finally burst. The tears flowed down her cheeks as she pushed her hand through the bars and cradled her fuzzy imp.
Iggy squeaked and nudged her hand, pale blue curls tickling her palm. A smile beamed through her tears. “Hey, Iggy. I missed you today.”
As she pet Iggy, she told him all about the crazy events of the day. She worried for an instant if Iggy was the real Iggy, if Liria had somehow Conjured a copy, but he was an exact match. All these things around them were real; Liria must have gotten them from somewhere. Sophie fleetingly wondered what era each of the items in her huge bedroom had come from.
She took in the room as she talked. A circular patio, made of smooth wood planks, ringed the outside of the room. The center was filled with lush grass, interspersed with amazing features like the river. How on earth did she get an entire river in here?!
Sophie’s story trailed off as she yawned, realizing how truly exhausted she was. She halfheartedly looked around for a closet, thinking there may be nightclothes in there. No such luck, and she was too tired to search further. She took a few steps towards the bed and sank to her knees, head hitting the blanket. It felt like the fluffiest cloud, and Sophie wanted to snuggle in deeper.
No.
She cried out with exertion as she pushed herself to her feet again. She had fallen asleep in her clothes many times at Havenfield, but Grady and Edaline would sometimes check on her-and change her into something more comfortable before tucking her back in. Well, Edaline would. Grady would just tell Edaline. But the point was, unfamiliar place or not, they would check on her, and there was no way she was going to give them more work to do.
She staggered around the bed, the beautiful room brightening and dimming in her sight. There was no closet to be found on the other side of the bed, and she was half a second away from screaming in frustration when her eyes caught on a large, ornate wardrobe on the side of the bed she had started on.
Rolling her eyes at her own obliviousness, she trudged over and flung open the door. Hanging right in front of her was a pair of white pajamas: a simple short-sleeved shirt and top, clean and lacy but without lots of embellishment.
“Thanks,” Sophie mumbled, yanking it off its hanger. She froze for an instant at the thought that Liria could see her undress, but discarded it. Call her trusting, but she didn’t think that someone who would go to the trouble of giving her a river in her bedroom would stoop to the level of seeing her naked.
She left her clothes in a pile on the floor, pulled on the nightclothes at the human speed of light, tucked some of the goblin throwing stars into them (they came with specially sewn-in pockets), and was asleep before she hit the pillow.
A soothing breeze swept over her, rustling her hair and decimated eyelashes. Sophie sighed as all her nightmares, all her worries, all her pain faded into the background, letting her enjoy a dreamless sleep.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In fact, they all slept well that night. All except two.
Emery tracked Oralie as she stumbled through the door marked with her name. She looked vacant and lost.
The instant her door clicked shut behind her, he spun on Bronte and whispered fiercely.
“She’s in very grave danger, Bronte. I’ve only seen this once. And… I don’t know how to help.” He had to force the confession out of his throat. It stung with his uselessness.
Bronte clenched his jaw. “What is she in danger from?”
Swallowing tightly, he clenched his own jaw to keep it from trembling. “Her… her mind is shattering, Bronte.”
Bronte wheeled backward, hands coming to his chest as though he’d been stabbed.
“No,” he whispered, icy eyes wide. “No, please. Say it is not so.”
Emery clenched his own eyes shut to crush the forming tears. “I am sorry, but it is definite. She has a vortex within her mind, a vortex that nearly sucked me into it. It is destroying all of her-devouring her memories, her thoughts, her very self.”
“NO!” Bronte cried, hands clawing at the air uncontrollably. “NO, no, no… not her. Please, not her…”
Emery gaped at Bronte. He had never seen the Ancient Councillor so horrified. “Bronte…?”
Bronte swallowed, fighting for control. “I apologize, Emery. It is just that… I have known Councillor Oralie for a significant amount of time. That she could be harmed in such a way to be damaged beyond repair is… horrific. We must help her. Is there no one who-” He snapped to attention, eyes boring into Emery’s. “Sophie. Lady Foster could help her. If she can heal someone’s mind, it stands to reason that she can prevent it from even breaking.”
Emery’s eyes brightened considerably. “Yes, Bronte! You are right, Lady Foster is our best hope.” He turned to scan the empty hall. The glowing crystals were dimmed to near darkness, and most of the light came from the stars above. Still, he knew which door was hers. “I do not wish to wake her when she was evidently exhausted, but it is vital to Oralie’s survival.”
Before he had even finished speaking, Bronte stormed past him down the hall. Emery hurried to keep up with him, hoping with all his might that the Moonlark would be able to reverse the process.
In the half-light, Sophie’s door loomed ominously before the two elves, like a gaping cave mouth. Bronte’s knuckles clunked against the crystals once. Twice. Three times. Nothing. He knocked again. Still silence.
“Sophie?” Emery called, leaning towards the door. “Lady Foster, can you hear me?”
No response. Bronte looked ready to throttle somebody.
Emery bowed his head in frustration. There had to be something they could do to get her attention. There was no way she would ignore them on purpose. She had proven to always be loyal to her friends, and Councillor Oralie was most definitely one of them. He glanced over at his fellow Councillor and winced. He needed the something quickly before Bronte resorted to breaking down the door.
It was then that he detected the pulse. Something plucked at the strands of the Void, brushing the threads against his dreadlocks.
Bronte felt it too, and immediately spun around, prepared to inflict.
Liria held up her hands in a gesture of peace. “Calm yourself, old friend. I simply mean to aid you with the Councillor’s situation.”
“You mean Oralie?” Bronte demanded. “Can you… help her?”
Liria bowed her head, then shook it in negation. “No. I am afraid not. Only she can help herself now. Or rather, she and one other, but the other shall never do so if ordered.”
Bronte swallowed. “So that is it? We simply sit there and pretend that she isn’t… isn’t being erased?”
Liria shook her head again. “No, there is something you can do. As you well know, minds shatter from guilt, and Oralie’s is rooted deep inside her, put there by her own actions. If she was actually shattered, Sophie Foster may have been able to heal her with her inflicting, but as it stands, she is only shattering. It is very rare that it happens so slowly, and the path to healing is different. If Sophie healed her now, the roots of her guilt would remain, and she would simply shatter at a later date, perhaps more quickly. For now, we must aid her in realizing that no matter what she has done, she still deserves to live.”
Emery caught on something she had said. “What she has done… do you know what she has done?”
Liria locked gazes with him, and a rueful smile curled her lips.
Before he could blink, there was only air in front of him and Bronte. It was like she’d never been there at all.
