Exile

by Shannon Messenger

  “I said I’d be right out,” she yelled as she ran to meet them, tripping a few times on the rocks.

  Keefe smirked. “Don’t even try to pretend you didn’t find anything.”

  “I wasn’t going to.” She handed him the mirrored box, and he dumped the contents into his palm.

  “Twigs and a piece of scrap metal? Can’t they just say, ‘go here, do this, and have a nice life’? Seems like it would save a lot of time.”

  “It’s not scrap metal,” Sandor corrected. “It’s a tracker.” He glanced at Sophie and she looked away.

  “A tracker? Like, to lead us to them?” Keefe asked.

  “I think it would only tell them where we are,” Sophie mumbled, heading out of the cave.

  Keefe caught up with her. “So what’s the plan, then—and don’t lie to me, Foster, I can feel you hiding something.”

  “It’s just a theory right now—I need to think it through.”

  “You mean we,” Keefe said, hooking his arm through hers. “We need to think it through. Team Foster-Keefe!”

  “Uh, now it’s team Foster-Dex-and-Keefe,” Dex said, marching over and taking her other arm.

  Keefe shook his head. “That doesn’t have the same ring. Though it could be handy having a Technopath around.”

  “Look, guys, I really appreciate the help, but . . . I’m kind of tired, and there’s a lot of stuff floating around in my brain. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

  “Depends,” Keefe said, narrowing his eyes. “Are you trying to get rid of us so you can go on secret adventures by yourself?”

  Sophie willed herself to feel calm as she said, “I just want some time to think.”

  “Uh-huh. Fine, you can have the night to think—but we will be revisiting this tomorrow. Come on, Dex, let’s go mess with some gadgets before dinner. I know the perfect place!”

  Sophie tuned them out as Keefe plotted and schemed the whole way up the stairs. Dex secured the lock on the gate and asked her if she’d really be okay. She promised him she would, and the boys leaped away to cause who knew what kind of trouble.

  Sandor stayed silent as she greeted Silveny, promised her she’d spend time with her later, and made her way inside. But as Sophie closed the door to her bedroom, he held out his hand. “I’ll need to ask the gnomes to resew that tracker into your cape before you go to school tomorrow.”

  “Oh. You caught that, huh?” Why did he have to be so obnoxiously good at his job?

  “What was really in the box?”

  She stared at her feet. “Another charm. And a note.”

  “I thought you weren’t going to hide things from me.”

  “I had to this time—you’re not going to let me go and I have to. They say they can fix me, Sandor—and if anyone can, it’s them.”

  “I thought you didn’t trust them?”

  “I don’t know what to think about them. I just know I have to try. It might be the only way.”

  His frown sank so deep it looked like his face was cracking. “I’m coming with you.”

  “You can’t—”

  “We made a deal. I’m coming with you or I go to your parents.”

  “You can’t come with me, Sandor. Not if I’m right about the clue.” She stalked to her desk, digging out the other pieces they’d given her.

  One pin, two charms, and two vague notes. Not a lot to go on, but if she put it all together . . .

  “See this?” she said, holding up the newest note. “It says the same thing Prentice told me. ‘Follow the pretty bird across the sky.’ And I think it means this.”

  She held up the black swan charm.

  If a dwarf had delivered the charm, then maybe it was made of magsidian—and maybe the rough, crude cuts affected the pull of the stone, just like the flask that drew water and the pendant that drew light.

  She held her breath as she picked up the charm bracelet and hooked the tiny swan next to the compass. Then she opened the locket and held the compass flat in her palm, watching the needle spin and come to a stop on . . .

  Somewhere between north and west.

  “I knew it! The magsidian is changing where the compass points. So if I follow this direction, it should lead me straight to where the Black Swan needs me to go.”

  “That can’t be right. It could be an impossibly long journey.”

  “On foot, maybe. But the note says, ‘across the sky’—and they gave me an alicorn pin.”

  Sandor’s eyes widened. “Absolutely not. You know that unstable creature won’t let me near her and I cannot allow you to fly off alone—especially without even knowing where you’re going.”

  “But I have to. If they can fix me, then maybe I can fix Alden and—and maybe even Prentice.”

  “That’s not worth risking your life for. You could be flying into a trap.”

  “I’m risking my life anyway. You’ve seen what the light keeps doing to me. If I don’t take this chance, who knows . . .”

  “I can’t Sophie. Maybe if your parents agree—”

  “I can’t tell them about this.”

  “Why not?” Grady asked, pushing his way through the door with Edaline right behind him. He glanced at the notes, and his face turned so red it looked almost purple.

  “You have a lot of explaining to do, Sophie. Starting right now.”

  SOPHIE HAD NO CHOICE BUT to come clean about everything: the clues, her plan to fix Alden, her journal, the way the light was affecting her, Wylie’s theory. Elwin not knowing how to help . . .

  “How could you not tell us about this?” Edaline asked as she reread the notes from the Black Swan.

  “I don’t know,” Sophie mumbled.

  Grady ran his hands through his hair, making it stick out. “Sophie, if your health is in danger, you have to tell us. We could get you help and treatment and—”

  “Elwin already tried everything. If it’s really in my genes, then the only ones who can fix me are the ones who made me.”

  Edaline sighed. “I can’t believe you told Elwin before us.”

  “I didn’t. I blacked out at school. And Elwin agreed that we should wait to tell you guys until we knew more. You have enough to worry about already.”

  “We do have a lot to worry about,” Grady said, gazing out the windows as the sunset streaked the sky with red. “But we still always want to know what’s going on with you. Honestly, Sophie, I know you’ve had to keep a lot of secrets in your life, but you have to stop hiding things. We’re here to help.”

  “I know.” Sophie sat on the edge of her bed and twisted the ripped end of her cape. “I guess I was just . . . embarrassed.”

  Edaline sat beside her, taking her hand. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  “Of course I do—I’m the Town Freak. Have you noticed how people react when they see me? And how would you feel if you had people tell you that you were malfunctioning—especially if it were true?”

  Grady took the notes from Edaline, squinting at them as he sat on Sophie’s other side. Several seconds passed before he asked, “So this is why you keep fading?”

  “It has to be. How else could I fade with two nexuses?”

  She held out both of her wrists, and her heart ached when she realized both were gifts from the Vackers.

  Grady squeezed the Ruewen crest pin on his cape. “And you really believe they can fix you?”

  “I believe they’re my best chance. My only chance.”

  Grady got up to pace. He’d worn a small rut in the petal-covered carpet before Edaline stood and said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we should let Sophie go.”

  “What?” Sophie, Sandor, and Grady asked at the same time.

  “They made her. So if there’s something wrong—and Elwin doesn’t know what it is—I think we have to let them try to fix it. Otherwise what do we do? Let her keep blacking out and fading? How many times can that happen before she doesn’t recover?”

  “So we send her blindly into a de
n of murderers?” Grady snapped back.

  “We don’t know that for sure,” Edaline said quietly. “But we do know that clearly the Black Swan can get to Sophie any time they want”—she pointed to the notes in Grady’s hand—“so if they wanted to hurt her, they could’ve easily done it by now. And they haven’t. Maybe Sophie’s special because they made her. Or maybe it’s because we’re wrong about them. Either way, I just can’t believe that they mean Sophie any harm. And if they can fix her . . .”

  Grady shook his head. “I don’t trust them.”

  “I know,” Edaline whispered, wrapping her arms around him. “But I think this time we have to try. For Sophie’s sake.”

  “This isn’t just about me,” Sophie reminded them when Grady didn’t say anything. “If they fix me, I might be able to fix Alden, too. Don’t you want that?”

  “Of course.” Grady pulled away from Edaline. “I miss my friend terribly. But . . . do you know why I agreed to become an Emissary again, Sophie?”

  “You said it was because Alden had done so much for you.”

  “It was.” Grady wiped away a tear. “And what I wanted to pay Alden back for was you. Bringing you into our lives.”

  Sophie felt her eyes burn. “I’m glad he brought me into your lives too.”

  Grady strangled her with a hug. “I would give almost anything to have him back,” he whispered. “But I won’t give up you.”

  “You won’t have to, ” Sophie promised. “They want to fix me, Grady. I need to believe that. I don’t want to be broken anymore.”

  Grady sighed as he let her go, and he flipped through the Black Swan’s notes again as he sat next to her on the bed.

  He stopped on the one that had made Sophie the angriest.

  Patience

  Trust

  Grady stared at it for so long Sophie started counting the seconds. Eighty-one had passed before he mumbled, “Okay.”

  It took a moment for the word to sink in. “So . . . you’re going to let me get on Silveny and fly wherever the compass leads?”

  “Yes.”

  She glanced at Sandor. He was scowling—and his hands were clenched into fists—but he didn’t argue.

  “You know I’ll have to go alone? Silveny won’t let anyone else come.”

  “Actually, that’s where you’re wrong,” Grady said. “There is one other person Silveny trusts, and even though he’s not my first choice as an escort for you, he’s better than no one.”

  Sophie couldn’t quite hide her groan. “You realize you’re putting my life in the hands of Keefe Sencen, right?”

  “SO, LET ME GET THIS straight,” Keefe said when Sophie was done explaining the new plan. “We don’t know where we’re going, or how long it’s going to take us to get there, and we’re flying to meet the Black Swan—who may or may not be evil murderers—and this whole thing could be a trap?”

  “Pretty much,” Sophie agreed, tugging on her heavy velvet cloak. Edaline had insisted she dress warm, and it looked like Keefe had the same idea. He wore a thick gray cloak pinned with the Sencen crest, and dark boots and gloves. He almost looked responsible.

  “Awesome! ’Bout time this project got a bit more exciting.” He glanced at Sandor. “Don’t worry, Gigantor, I’ll keep her safe.”

  Sandor cracked his knuckles. “You’d better.”

  It had taken a lot of convincing to make the overprotective goblin remove the trackers from her clothes. Sophie was afraid the Black Swan would be able to tell they were being monitored and would keep themselves hidden. Plus, she’d reminded Sandor that he wouldn’t be able to follow her anyway.

  “And your parents didn’t have any concerns with you going?” Grady asked Keefe. “You did tell them, right?”

  “Of course I told them. Sheesh—you act like I’m some sort of troublemaker.” He winked. “Seriously though, they were fine with it. Well, once my dad was done asking me ten thousand questions to make sure I wasn’t heading off to recreate the Great Gulon Incident or something.”

  Sophie’s stomach tightened. “You told your dad about—”

  “Relax. I only told him that you had to fly with Silveny somewhere and your parents didn’t want you to go alone. I got your back, Foster.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “So, we ready to do this? What do you think, Glitter Butt?” He walked over to Silveny’s enclosure, letting her nuzzle his hands through the bars. “You ready for a Foster-Keefe adventure?”

  Silveny nickered. Keefe! Keefe! Keefe!

  She’d been giddily chanting that since Sophie told her what was going to happen.

  “Are you sure you shouldn’t wait till morning?” Grady asked. The last wisps of purple twilight were just fading into the starry night.

  “The sooner we go, the sooner we’re back,” Sophie reminded him, checking for the fiftieth time that the charm bracelet was on her wrist with both charms attached.

  Grady didn’t nod, and she could see the doubt blooming in his eyes.

  “This is the only way to make me better,” she whispered. “And maybe if they do, I can heal Alden and Prentice and—”

  “They’re not the ones who matter, Sophie,” Grady said, wrapping his arms around her. “I’m doing this for you. You have to come back. Stronger and healthier than ever.”

  “I will,” she promised, trying to convince herself as much as him.

  “Don’t let them do anything except fix you. And if there’s anything strange or scary, you run—make Silveny teleport you away if you need to. Just come home safe. If you don’t, I . . .”

  “I’ll be home soon.”

  She pulled back to look at him, but he strangled her tighter, whispering, “I love you so much,” before he finally let her go.

  “I love you too.” She almost called him “Dad,” but it still felt too soon. It was much closer than it had been a few weeks ago, though. Maybe it came down to trust.

  Grady was giving her a lot of it right now.

  So was Edaline, as she handed Sophie an overstuffed satchel. “Snacks and drinks, in case it’s a long flight. And you have your Imparter?”

  Sophie nodded.

  “You hail us the first second you can.”

  “Of course.”

  Edaline’s chin quivered as she pulled Sophie in for a hug, kissing her cheek and whispering that she had to be safe. Then she slowly let Sophie go, tucking a strand of Sophie’s hair behind her ear as she whispered, “I’ll miss you every second you’re gone.”

  “I’ll miss you too.”

  “Whoa, you guys are hardcore with your goodbyes,” Keefe said, shattering the moment. “My mom just told me ‘See you, son’ and my dad only asked if I’d checked how tight the pin on my cloak was so I wouldn’t lose a family heirloom.”

  Grady frowned, and Edaline reached for Keefe’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

  A bit of pink flushed across his cheeks. Then he cleared his throat and offered Sophie his arm. “So, you ready?”

  “Probably as much as I’ll ever be.”

  Grady opened the gate and Silveny trotted out, stretching her wings as she knelt to let them climb on her back.

  Sophie’s palms turned clammy as she wrapped her arms around Silveny’s neck. And when Keefe wrapped his arms around her waist, a big part of her was tempted to jump off and forget the whole plan. But she remembered what the vision of Jolie had told her.

  We have to trust.

  This was for Prentice.

  For Alden.

  For her.

  “Better hold on tight,” she warned Keefe as she gave Silveny the order to fly. Silveny stood, flapping her shimmering wings as she galloped forward and took off, slicing through the chilly night air as they went up and up and then up some more.

  Sophie’s eyes burned as she glanced down to see Grady and Edaline waving—but she blinked back the tears. She would see them again—and things would be right this time. Really right. Fixed.

  She held out the compass, waiting
for the needle to spin.

  Time to follow the pretty bird across the sky.

  FIFTY-FIVE

  ARE WE THERE YET?”

  Keefe had already shouted that question over the whipping wind at least fourteen times. If he repeated it a fifteenth, Sophie was going to shove him into the dark waves below.

  “No—for the millionth time. You’ll know when we are because we’ll stop flying.”

  “Okay, that’s how I’ll know when we’re there. But how are you going to know? Because it’s been a whole lot of stars. And ocean. And oh hey—look! There’s some stars! And ocean! And I’m kinda starting to wonder if that’s all we’re ever going to see.”

  Sophie held the compass to the moonlight and told Silveny to fly a bit more to the left. “I’ll know it when I see it.”

  She really hoped that was true.

  Keefe fidgeted behind her, nearly knocking them off balance.

  “Careful!” Sophie shouted as Silveny tipped up her wing to catch them.

  “Sorry. I’m just trying to stay warm.” He fidgeted again. “Can we play a game or something? Oh—how about truth or dare? I can think of some awesome dares.”

  “I kind of need to concentrate here.”

  He sighed so dramatically Sophie could hear it over the wind’s roar.

  “I’m guessing a tickle war is out of the question,” he asked. “Because you’re pretty vulnerable right now.”

  “Try it and see what happens.”

  “You do realize that just makes me want to do it more, right?”

  “I’m serious, Keefe.”

  “I know—that’s the problem.” He shifted his weight. “How about you, Glitter Butt—you as bored as me?”

  Keefe! Keefe! Keefe!

  “What’s she saying?”

  “That you’re annoying and she wants to dump you in the ocean.”

  “Well, I know that’s not true. Glitter Butt loves me. Don’t you, Glitter Butt?”

  Silveny whinnied as he patted her side.

  Sophie rolled her eyes.

  Keefe shifted again. “Gotta say, Glitter Butt, you are not as comfortable as I’d like you to be. We need to fatten you up next time so you’re softer.”