“The public’s lack of knowledge of Team Valiant is no reason for us to hold off utilizing the arrangement,” Councillor Emery informed him. “Particularly with a sensitive meeting like this, which would’ve been kept classified anyway. But… I can see how you might’ve thought otherwise. Especially since I’m now realizing that we didn’t mention the date or time of our meeting with King Enki to you. I suppose we assumed Miss Foster would pass that information along.”
Which… Sophie probably would have, if she hadn’t been fighting with Mr. Forkle about her biological parents.…
Yet another way her selfish focus was coming back to haunt her.
“In the interests of improving our communication,” Councillor Emery added, “you should know that we’re planning to announce the Regent appointments next week. We’re still figuring out the exact date, time, and place. If you’d like an update once we’ve decided—”
“I would,” Mr. Forkle told him. “And… for what it’s worth, I do apologize for not informing you about Granite’s meeting with King Enki—and I’m glad to hear that Miss Foster was able to salvage the situation.” He turned to Sophie, and she was a little surprised by the level of pride radiating from his expression—like a dad whose kid had just hit a game-winning home run. “Does this mean you’ll be willing to share what you learned while you were in Loamnore?”
“If you’ll be willing to share what Granite learned with us,” Bronte countered.
“But not right now,” Sophie cut in when everyone nodded.
Mr. Forkle sighed. “Yes, I suppose I’ve sidetracked us from the reason you called me here, haven’t I? All right then—why don’t you go get settled into bed while I hail Livvy and let her know what’s going on. I’d also still like to have Mr. Vacker and Mr. Sencen here—so long as that won’t make you uncomfortable.”
Sophie’s mouth turned drier than the desert they’d hiked through earlier.
But she croaked out, “Of course it won’t!”—even though she was pretty sure that seeing Fitz wasn’t going to go well.
Then again… he couldn’t stay mad at her when she was about to come super close to dying again, could he?
Maybe she’d finally found a perk to her allergy!
“I can hail my brother if you want,” Biana offered.
“And I can hail Keefe,” Dex added.
“Excellent,” Mr. Forkle told them, clapping his hands as he turned to the Council. “I’m assuming you’re planning to stay for this?”
“You are?” Sophie blurted out when Councillor Emery agreed.
She hadn’t realized she’d be almost dying in front of such a huge audience.
“We want to make sure you’re okay,” Oralie told her, sounding so genuine that it melted a bit of Sophie’s panic.
Or it did until Bronte added, “And let’s be honest, we’re all curious to see how this works—myself in particular, given that the ability being focused on is one that Miss Foster and I share.”
“If you’d rather have privacy, Sophie,” Edaline jumped in, sending an angry-mama-bear glare at Bronte, “I’m sure the Councillors will understand.”
“No, it’s fine,” Sophie decided.
Given the lengthy discussion that Mr. Forkle and the Council had just had about working together, it didn’t seem like a good idea to shut the Councillors out.
And who knew? Maybe they’d appreciate her a little more after they saw for themselves the kinds of things she put herself through in order to be useful.
“Just keep in mind,” Dex warned the Council, “that if this goes anything like the time I accidentally gave her limbium, there’s going to be a lot of Sophie-vomit. So if that’s going to trigger a hurlfest for you guys, this could get really messy really fast.”
“Actually, I think I have an elixir that will help with that,” Elwin told him. “I’ll grab some when I go back for Bullhorn.”
“You’re bringing your banshee here?” Grady asked.
Elwin nodded. “The last time I worked on Sophie’s allergy, he was the only way I knew if something was or wasn’t helping.”
Right.
Because banshees could tell when someone was either close to dying—or really, really, really close to dying.
“Gotta say, it’s not sounding like a whole lot of fun to be the moonlark right now,” Stina mumbled. “And it’s not feeling very awesome, either.”
She fanned the air in front of her face the way Keefe always did.
“Wait. You can feel my emotions right now?” Sophie asked. “Without physical contact?”
“Some of them, yeah.” Stina wrapped her arms around her stomach. “And it’s a pretty miserable experience, so I think it might be proof that hanging out with you is ruining my life.”
She said the last part in a friendly, teasing tone that Sophie never would’ve expected to hear coming from Stina.
And Sophie had zero words for a response.
“Most likely you’re benefitting from the residual boost that comes from being around an Enhancer,” Mr. Forkle explained. “It’s a subtle effect—nothing like grabbing hold of Sophie’s hands. But it can still cause small improvements to the abilities of everyone around her.”
“Huh,” Stina said—which summed up Sophie’s thought on the subject as well.
She remembered Mr. Forkle mentioning something about that when he first triggered her enhancing, but then she’d been so busy getting used to the gloves that she’d kind of forgotten about it—especially since none of her friends had noticed a difference.
She wondered why Stina had.…
“Come on,” Edaline said, crossing the room and draping an arm around Sophie’s shoulders. “Let’s get you settled into bed.”
Sophie nodded, letting Edaline lead her up the stairs. But halfway to her room she changed her mind.
“I think we should do this under Calla’s Panakes tree,” Sophie decided. “I feel much calmer out there. And it’s probably not a bad idea to be so close to all of those healing flowers.”
Plus, Calla had been a part of Project Moonlark—and even though Sophie knew Calla’s consciousness was technically gone, the thought of being surrounded by the Panakes’ whispery songs while the limbium burned through her system made the whole process sound a little less awful.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Edaline said, snapping her fingers a few times. “I just sent blankets and pillows out there—I’ll get you set up. Why don’t you go change into fresh clothes while I do? Pick something extra soft and cozy for when you’re…”
She looked away, and Sophie pulled her into a hug.
“I’m going to be okay,” Sophie promised.
“I know.” Edaline squeezed Sophie tighter. “But I’m still going to worry. It’s my job as a mom—and I’m very good at it.”
“You’re good at all of the mom things,” Sophie assured her, and Edaline found a way to hug her even harder.
They stood like that for a while, neither wanting to let go.
“All right, I’ve smothered you enough,” Edaline eventually said, swiping at her eyes as she stepped back. “You go get changed. I’ll set you up the most comfortable pillow-bed ever.”
Sophie grabbed Edaline’s hand as she turned to walk away. “I really am going to be okay, Mom.”
“You are,” Edaline agreed. And it actually did sound like she believed it. “You’re my brave, brilliant, beautiful fighter.”
Now Sophie had to look away and wipe at her eyes. “I love you.”
Edaline leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I love you, too. So go get dressed. The sooner we do this, the sooner you’ll be able to get some rest. You’ve had a long day.”
She had.
And Sophie didn’t say it, but she had a sour, sinking feeling that she still had a very long night ahead of her.
* * *
Sophie took Edaline’s advice and wore her softest pair of leggings. But for a shirt, she went with the pink Happy Shadow Thoughts tunic that Linh had made
for her when Sophie was recovering from the Neverseen’s attack in the Healing Center.
Sophie hadn’t touched the shirt since Tam was taken, because it brought up too many conflicting feelings.
But… it felt like a good time to remind herself why she was doing this.
If her inflicting could work the way it was supposed to, maybe the Neverseen wouldn’t be able to hurt her again.
And maybe she’d be strong enough to get Tam safely away from their enemy.
Assuming he even wanted her to—
No.
Sophie shut down the unfair worry.
She wasn’t going to doubt Tam like that.
She was going to focus on happy shadow thoughts.
And on fixing herself.
The Councillors and Mr. Forkle were grilling Wylie about what happened with the orb of light he’d made in Loamnore when Sophie made her way back downstairs—and part of her wanted to stay and listen. But she knew she didn’t have the mental energy for that kind of conversation. She’d have to trust them to update her on anything they’d pieced together once she’d recovered from the ability resetting. For the moment, she needed to clear her head.
Edaline wasn’t waiting for her at Calla’s Panakes tree when Sophie made her way over. But Stina was.
“That’s an interesting outfit you have on there, Foster,” she called over her shoulder, adding another blanket to the pillow-mountain she was constructing.
“No, it’s an awesome outfit,” Biana corrected, appearing out of thin air beside Sophie and nearly making Sophie pee her pants.
Vanishers.
Biana tossed another pillow onto the pile. “I really need to get one of those tunics, for when…”
She didn’t finish the sentence—and Sophie wondered if that meant Biana shared some of her worries about Tam.
“Where’s Edaline?” Sophie asked instead, scanning the nearby pastures and hoping Wynn and Luna weren’t anywhere near the gorgodon’s enclosure.
“She’s working with Dex to figure out how to keep Bullhorn confined to this area,” Biana told her as she scooped up another pillow.
“Wow, this is turning into a huge fiasco, huh?” Sophie mumbled—then blocked Biana from adding the pillow to the pile.
If they made her bed-mountain any taller, she was going to need crampons and rope to climb in.
“Well… I mean… it’s kind of a big deal,” Biana reminded her. “You sure you’re up for it after the day you’ve been having? First the King’s Path. Then the exploding chandelier. Now this.”
“Don’t forget the mud,” Stina added. “And the sandblasted hike.”
Sophie shrugged. “There’s never a good time to almost die.”
“Okay, someone needs to get that embroidered on a tunic for our Mysterious Lady F immediately!” Keefe called out behind her, and when Sophie spun around, she found him striding up the path along with Ro.
His eyes darted to the sparkly silver letters shimmering across her tunic, and she could tell he wanted to make some sort of snarky comment.
But he held off, as if he didn’t feel right making any Tam-Slams at the moment.
Instead, he turned to Biana and said, “Did I hear something about an exploding chandelier—because that’s a story I need to hear.”
“Uh, yeah!” Ro added.
Biana gave a brief retelling, and Keefe smirked at Sophie. “That sounds like our Lovely Lady F—can’t take her anywhere without her trying to blow something up.”
“Uh, excuse me, the explosion was Wylie’s doing, not mine,” Sophie argued. “And Biana was the one who suggested we search the Grand Hall.”
“And it’s a good thing I did!” Biana noted.
“It was,” Sophie agreed. “We’ll have to check in with Nubiti tomorrow and see if she found anything else.”
“No, we’ll have to check in with Nubiti tomorrow,” Biana corrected, gesturing to herself and Stina. “You will be getting lots of rest.”
Sophie rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine. I’ve done this before, remember?”
“Uh, yeah, and as someone who was there the last time you did this and saw you rocking the whole sweaty, slightly green look, I’m pretty sure you’re gonna need to chill for a bit, there, Ms. Go-Getter,” Keefe cut in. “Especially since they’re probably not going to let you take any painkillers for the first twenty-four hours.”
“I forgot about that,” Sophie admitted, becoming very interested in kicking a couple of fallen Panakes blossoms. “Why does almost dying have to be the worst?”
“Pretty sure the answer’s in the name,” Biana said gently.
“So let’s rename it!” Keefe suggested, making his way over to Sophie and draping his arm across her shoulders. “From now on, any time there’s a disaster, we’ll say, ‘Wow, we almost Fostered it!’ ”
Sophie rolled her eyes.
“I’m serious,” Keefe insisted. “We’ll make it your big claim to fame!”
“So, when you challenged King Dimitar to a sparring match and he sliced a huge gash under your ribs…,” Sophie challenged.
“I totally Fostered it!” Keefe finished without missing a beat. “And when you projectile vomit all over the Councillors today, you’ll be Fostering it hardcore—”
“And some of us are super looking forward to that, by the way!” Ro cut in. “I’m just wishing I’d thought to bring snacks.”
“I can’t believe you’re joking about this,” a familiar accented voice snapped behind them, and Keefe dropped his arm and backed away as Sophie slowly turned around, and…
There was Fitz.
Or rather, there were Fitz’s shoes—right next to Grizel’s big goblin feet—because that was all that Sophie had the courage to actually look at for the moment.
A painful stretch of silence followed.
Then Fitz’s feet moved closer, and Sophie noticed that Grizel’s feet stayed where they were and all the other feet around her quietly shuffled away, leaving her feet and Fitz’s feet alone.
She held her breath, trying to brace for whatever Fitz was going to say.
But he didn’t say anything.
He just wrapped his arms around her—gently at first.
Then hugging her so much harder.
Like he was afraid to let her go—and maybe he was. Because his voice filled Sophie’s head, his consciousness slipping past all of her barriers so he could tell her, I know you’re trying to stop yourself from worrying too much—but I can’t laugh about this, Sophie. This is serious.
I know, she told him, digging her head deeper into the nook between his shoulder and neck and realizing how much she’d missed him—and how lucky she was that he still wanted to hold her like this after all the time she’d spent neglecting him. But it’ll be fine. Mr. Forkle said that he and Livvy have been researching the treatment for a while. And they’re going to give me way less limbium than they gave me the last time.
I still wish you didn’t have to do this, he told her.
Me too. But… I can’t keep pretending everything’s fine when one of my abilities is broken.
It’s not BROKEN, he argued. Mr. Forkle told me he’s just trying to make it fancier, the way they designed it to be or whatever.
That’s part of it—but… I almost took out everybody in Loamnore today because the dwarves’ defenses made me get all rage-y. And think of how many other times I’ve messed everything up with my inflicting. Like that day at Grizel’s training camp—if I hadn’t—
DON’T, Fitz interrupted. Don’t you dare blame yourself for that—you know how strong Umber was. She would’ve taken out Sandor and Grizel if you hadn’t, and probably hurt them a whole lot worse in the process.
Maybe, Sophie conceded. But… I still have to do this. The Neverseen won’t ever expect the ability to change like this—and we can’t pass up a chance to catch them off guard.
His chest heaved with a sigh. I know. That’s why I’m here. Whatever you need—whatever it takes, I’m getting yo
u through this, okay?
She nodded against him, and he shifted slightly so he could pull her even closer, one hand tangling in her hair, the other reaching up to stroke her cheek.
“Okay, has everyone reached their Fitzphie overload point?” Ro asked. “Because I sure have. Besides, the doctor-lady’s here, so aren’t we supposed to get to the vomiting part now?”
“Livvy’s here?” Sophie asked, pulling back from Fitz to check.
And sure enough, there was the Black Swan’s physician, no longer bothering to wear her mask or use her code name.
“Hmm,” Livvy said, tossing her braided hair and grinning at Sophie and Fitz. “Looks like a few things have changed since the last time I saw you two, and I gotta say, you sure make a good-looking couple.”
“We do,” Fitz agreed, and Sophie was so relieved that he still thought of them as a couple that it took her brain a second to register that he’d also called her pretty—and she probably would’ve melted into a puddle of mush right then if Fitz hadn’t put his arms around her again.
Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 8) Page 41