by Sarah Noffke
Sophia managed a tender smile, grateful she had a sister who was so thoughtful and could also kick serious butt. “Thanks, Liv. Now, where is this secret contact you think can help me find information on Trin Currante?”
Liv pointed at a solid brick wall and smiled victoriously. “Right here.”
Chapter Fifteen
The solid brick wall didn’t appear to have any doors Sophia could discern, but she’d spent enough of her life in the strange magical world to know appearances were often deceiving.
“Glamoured?” she asked her sister.
Liv nodded proudly, stepping forward and rapping on the brick wall. “Warrior Beaufont from the House of Fourteen with special guest Sophia Beaufont, rider for the Dragon Elite.”
A moment later, a small door materialized in the seemingly solid wall. Liv held out her hand in a welcoming fashion.
“We are supposed to go through there?” Sophia questioned, wondering how she’d fit through the narrow opening.
“Well, if you want a shove, I’ll give you one,” Liv offered.
“I think I’m good.” Sophia knelt and opened the small door to try and determine if her hips would fit through.
“If I can fit, then you can,” Liv told her, reading her thoughts.
Sophia nodded. “And where are we going?”
“You’ll find out,” Liv said, a hint of mischief in her voice.
“Fine,” Sophia stated, trusting her sister but pretending to be skeptical.
Getting onto her hands and knees, Sophia poked her head through the small door to find a waiting room with a receptionist desk waiting on the other side. A long hallway ran the length of the space and at the back was a single door. All the furniture was small, as though designed for magical creatures bigger than fairies but smaller than gnomes.
Sophia glanced back at Liv, blinking in confusion. “Is this a shrink’s office?”
Liv shook her head and gave her sister a mischievous expression. “No, do you really think I’d take you to a therapist for help?”
“Do I have to answer that?” Sophia joked, thinking she could probably use a session or two on a psychologist’s couch.
Turning her attention back to the empty office, Sophia crawled through, rising to stand when she was all the way into the space. Her head brushed the ceiling, but what caught her attention was the little creature that jumped out of the corner and attached itself to her leg.
Sophia nearly screamed until she realized the creature was an adorable brownie with wide eyes, large ears, and a brown body.
“Biv Leaufont!” the little guy squeaked.
“Ticker,” Liv grunted, coming through the narrow door. “That isn’t me.”
The Brownie glanced over his shoulder as Liv stood and then back up at Sophia.
Ticker was fairly cute, with a round face and elfin ears. On his head, he wore a hat with a long pointy end, like Santa Claus.
“Lwo Tivs?” Ticker asked, continuing to look between the two magicians.
Liv bent over and pulled the Brownie from Sophia’s leg. “No, not two Livs. Thankfully for the rest of the world, there’s only one of me.” She held her hand out to her sister. “This is Sophia Beaufont, my younger sister.”
“Nice to meet you, Ticker,” Sophia said, bowing slightly to the little guy.
“Tou yoo,” Ticker answered, smiling wide.
“That means—”
“You too.” Sophia interrupted Liv, having figured out the brownie switched the first letters of two-word phrases. If at all possible, it made him even cuter.
“Oh, there are you, Ticker,” a not much larger, female brownie said, striding in from the other side of the hallway, having come through the door at the back. She was carrying a small, wiggling bundle wrapped in blankets.
“Hiv lere!” Ticker exclaimed, pointing at Liv.
“I see that.” The woman smiled politely at Liv before turning her attention to Sophia. “And you must be Liv’s sister. The resemblance is uncanny.”
Sophia nodded, curtseying slightly. “Yes, I’m Sophia.”
“Hi Pricilla,” Liv stated. “Is Mortimer busy? Could we pop back to see him?”
“For you, he is never busy,” the Brownie declared, holding out her arm to her son, who jumped from Liv’s grasp to his mother.
“Oh, thanks,” Liv said, grabbing Sophia’s arm and dragging her down the hallway.
“This is your secret contact?” Sophia asked, realizing they must be in Official Brownie Headquarters. “This is genius. You get all your inside tips from the Brownies.”
“Well, they do have eyes everywhere, and they are incredibly nice to work with,” Liv exclaimed proudly.
“However did you strike up such a partnership?” Sophia asked.
Her sister rolled her eyes at her. “Oh, don’t pretend you don’t have your own insider sources. You know what I’d do to get a fairy godmother?”
Sophia blushed. “Well, I could see if they’ve got an opening.”
Liv shook her head. “No, I think to become a Cinderella, you have to be chosen. You can’t request it.”
“A Cinderella…” Sophia said, playing with the term. “That’s what I’m considered?”
Liv smiled at her. “You really should read more of Bermuda Lauren’s book, Magical Creatures. Then you’d know this.”
“Sure thing,” Sophia agreed. “Right after I finish the Complete History of Dragonriders, which will only take me another century or two.”
Liv pushed through the door at the back, knocking as she entered.
“Warrior Liv Beaufont for the House of Fourteen,” a man’s voice chimed when they entered.
The office, unlike the waiting area and reception desk, was completely unorganized with stacks of papers everywhere. There was a false window at the back behind Mortimer’s desk, and in the Brownie’s hand, he had a foam stress ball.
“How is my favorite brownie?” Liv asked him, continuing to duck to avoid hitting her head on the low ceiling.
Mortimer, who was dressed in a smart three-piece suit, beamed from across the desk. “Business is good. I can’t complain. Although, Pricilla and I are behind on filing, as you can see.”
“A new baby will do that to you,” Liv said good-naturedly, looking around at the many stacks of paper precariously stationed around the office. “I thought you were going paperless.”
He sighed, his large lips making a drumming sound. “We tried. I’m just not as technical as you and fear I don’t have it in me.”
Liv offered him a kind smile. “I might be able to offer you some magitech to speed up the process and take the burden off you and Pricilla.”
Mortimer squeezed the stress ball and smiled. “You really are too good to me, Warrior Liv Beaufont. Now, will you please introduce me to the stunning dragonrider by your side?”
Liv beamed in her sister’s direction. “Well, of course. This is Sophia Beaufont.”
Mortimer stood, but his height didn’t change. He bowed dramatically, his nose nearly hitting his desk. “Oh, yes. Sophia Beaufont wears size seven shoes and wipes the soap film off the bathroom mirror while brushing her teeth in the morning. Doesn’t separate her whites from her colors when doing laundry, but always washes her hands thoroughly.”
Sophia gave Liv a curious expression. “That’s quite a lot of information you know about me, Mortimer. I’m sorry all I know about you is that you have a beautiful family.”
He giggled. “Thanks to your sister, who encouraged me to lose weight, take better care of myself, and start dating.”
Liv shook her head, giving Sophia a sideways look. “None of that happened. He did it all on his own.”
Mortimer dismissed her with a wave. “Anyway, it’s a brownie’s job to know the habits and traits of the good around the world. Although we don’t directly serve magicians, because you are a Beaufont, I have had my brownies look after you from time to time.”
Liv’s eyes widened. “Um…Mort…”
Sop
hia pieced it all together and gave her sister a mock look of offense. “Have you had them spy on me?”
“In the past,” Liv admitted. “But not since you’ve been at the Gullington. Brownies can’t get in there.”
Sophia laughed. “And yet, Plato can.”
“He does what he wants,” Liv admitted. “But yes, when you were living at the House of Fourteen or staying with me and I was gone on extended missions, I had Mortimer’s brownies pop in to ensure you were doing well. It gave me peace of mind, but your privacy was always respected.”
Sophia couldn’t help but smile. Only Liv would enlist brownies, who went unseen by most and took care of mortal’s homes while they slept, to watch after her. She was full of creative solutions.
“So, what brings you here away from your dragon?” Mortimer asked Sophia, coming around the desk to stand opposite her.
“Well, I was hoping you could help me track down a person who stole over a dozen dragon eggs from us,” she explained, then proceeded to tell him about Trin Currante and the band of pirates she’d enlisted to storm the Gullington.
He listened thoughtfully, stroking his pointy chin and “oohing” and “aahing” as she spoke. When Sophia was done, he nodded before striding around his desk and taking a seat once more.
“Can you help?” Liv asked, her tone anxious.
“One-hundred percent I can,” he said victoriously.
Sophia found herself clapping with excitement. “Thank you! This is great news.”
He held up a single finger to pause her. “The timeline is the worrisome part. I can’t guarantee it will be a short process to find this mysterious person. For one, my Brownies look after mortals, so having them track down magicians isn’t always straightforward.”
“But this magician is unique,” Liv countered.
“True,” Mortimer agreed. “I’m certain a person like this, with associations like you’ve described, has left behind a trail we can pick up. I simply want to set expectations. I could find her whereabouts fairly fast, within a week or two, or much slower, within a decade or two.”
Sophia couldn’t help but sigh with defeat. “That’s quite the gap.”
He shrugged, regret on his face. “Rest assured, I’ll put my best on the case. A friend of Warrior Liv Beaufont for the House of Fourteen is a friend of mine.”
Sophia bowed to the small fairy and smiled at her sister. She really had the best family and the best friends. Hopefully, that meant the best chance of winning against Trin Currante.
Chapter Sixteen
After demolishing the chocolate chip cookie Sophia got at the Crying Cat Bakery, she wasn’t in the mood to eat a macaroon, but that was the only way she was aware of to get to Happily Ever After, the college for fairy godmothers.
She pulled one of the blue cookies from the bag after finding a less crowded place on Roya Lane. Liv had left her, grumbling something about having to go deal with diva tooth fairies. It was ironic that one Beaufont sister was off to meet with a fairy godmother and the other was taking care of tooth fairy business. They were two industries with a huge rivalry.
Sophia took a bite of the crispy macaroon and waited for the portal to form in front of her. When she stepped through to the campus for Happily Ever After College, she was grateful for the peace and quiet of the grounds. They were a welcomed sight after the craziness of Roya Lane. Sophia was always better when surrounded by trees and green grass, which was another reason she did so well at the Gullington and considered it her home. There were other reasons unconnected to her dragon she wasn’t going to think about right then.
She set off for the pink doors at the front of the brick building and noticed a strange woman approaching at the same time as her. What made her strange was she wasn’t dressed in the usual fairy godmother uniform of a rainbow pleated skirt and pink blouse. Nor was she dressed in clothes like the professors. Like Sophia, the woman was wearing a long traveling cloak and had a worried expression on her face.
“Are you a Cinderella?” Sophia asked the woman, who appeared confused.
She glanced up, slightly spooked as if she hadn’t seen Sophia right beside her. The woman looked at a piece of paper in her hand and shook her head. “No, I’m not a godchild. I’m a professor. At least that’s what the note I received said, but I’m not sure I’m in the right place.”
“Oh, maybe I can help,” Sophia offered. “Who are you looking for?”
“Professor Mae Ling,” the woman explained. “She is apparently my new supervisor.”
Sophia’s face brightened. “That’s who I’m going to see. I’ll show you to her office.”
“Thanks. I’m Amy,” the woman said, offering her hand to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Amy. What will you be teaching here? Creative writing? Pottery? Music?” Sophia opened the door to the school. The long rainbow floor of the hallway was empty, all of the students in class.
“No, nothing like that, actually,” Amy answered. “It’s actually strange. I’m not a fairy godmother.”
“You are not?” Sophia asked, confused.
“No, I didn’t even know about them until I got this note.” She held up the piece of paper she was holding onto fiercely, a buzzing excitement in her eyes.
“So, what are you going to be teaching?” Sophia questioned.
“That’s just the thing,” Amy began, waving the note in the air. “The course is brand new, and I have no idea why they are suddenly going to be offering it. Or why they picked me to do it.”
Sophia laughed, leading the way to Mae Ling’s office. “Well, if you wanted to get my attention, then you have it.”
Amy gave her a nervous expression. “Yeah, this whole request to teach at Happily Ever After College has gotten my attention as it seems to have taken over my life.”
“Are you going to tell me what art you’ll be teaching?” Sophia questioned.
Amy shook her head. “That’s just the thing. I’m not into the creative arts. I’m a quantum equations professor. I teach math.”
Chapter Seventeen
Math?
The last time Sophia was at Happily Ever After College, she learned math was used as a punishment for struggling students. It drained their creativity and made it harder for them to excel in their studies. So why in the magical world was the college about to start offering classes on the subject?
Sophia had so many questions, but before she could bombard Amy with them, Headmistress Willow came out of a classroom and caught sight of them.
“Oh, good you made it,” Willow said, her long brown hair cascading down her back and her reserved smile, making her appear elegantly beautiful.
Amy looked at Sophia as though Willow was talking to her.
“Willow,” Sophia began. “Amy says she’s been brought here to teach—”
The Head Mistress held up her hand, pausing the question. “Yes, there are a lot of changes going on here. The world is changing. The ways we used to fix problems aren’t working. That means we must adapt. Mae Ling will explain this all to you, I’m sure. I appreciate you leading Amy to me. I’ll take things from here.”
Sophia hadn’t intended to lead Amy to Willow, but she probably had unintentionally. Such was the way of the fairy godmothers. She was dismissed with a wave as Willow led the new professor back through the door she’d just exited.
Sophia stood in the empty hallway, questions streaming through her head rapidly. The world was changing. The solutions of yesterday were no longer good enough to fix tomorrow’s problems. That was what she’d been trying to tell Hiker since she arrived at the Gullington. And if the fairy godmothers were shifting their practices, it meant everyone would have to adapt—the Dragon Elite included.
“Very good,” Mae Ling exclaimed to Sophia when she entered her office. “You haven’t been filling up on vegetables and instead have opted for sweets. Your color is much better than the last time I saw you.”
“Um…thanks,” Sophia said, always so confused by t
he strange world at Happily Ever After College where up seemed like down and right seemed wrong. “Didn’t you tell me last time math was a punishment here?”
Mae Ling pushed her short black hair off her forehead. “That’s right, but timeouts are also punishments for small children, and I know more than a few adults who would beg for such a reprimand.”
Sophia laughed, taking a seat across from her fairy godmother. The office was just as colorful as the first time she was there. The large pink chair had a long back and a sort of a roof and made her feel comforted at once.
“You aren’t using it as punishment anymore?” she questioned, still unclear on why things were changing at the college.
“It’s true certain types of math will drain mental faculties,” Mae Ling explained. “But that’s true of any taxing difficulty. Willow has expanded her thinking to consider creative math could be potentially beneficial for our students. You see, we are facing some real challenges at the college right now. The current student body…well, they aren’t cutting it. Not in the real world or their magical endeavors.”
“I thought you said magic could be used to replace math for when the students went out into the real world to open businesses?” Sophia questioned.
“That’s true,” Mae Ling confirmed. “However, the lopsided nature of our curriculum might be contributing to other problems. We have always done things the same way here at Happily Ever After. And that has worked, but it doesn’t anymore. So we are going to try something new. Now, if I start eating salad for lunch, well then, we might have a problem, but for now, I think these changes will be worth trying out.”
“What do you usually eat for lunch?” Sophia asked, curious.
“Chocolate chip cookie dough,” Mae Ling answered, smiling wide, her white teeth sparkling.
Sophia’s stomach still felt uneasy from the cookie she had for breakfast. She couldn’t imagine eating something so rich as cookie dough every day.