by Sarah Noffke
She shook her head at him. “I’m working. More importantly, what are you doing here, and what have you done with everyone?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rudolf asked, a serious expression on his face.
She actually smiled. “It’s not. Please indulge me.”
“I’m doing a silent disco,” Rudolf explained.
“What? Why?” Sophia asked. “And what is that?”
“It’s a disco, but you have headphones on.” He pointed to the devices he’d pulled off his head. “It’s this great thing where you dance through the street to music others can’t hear. They all think you are looney, but if you do it in a large group, then they think you are having a party they aren’t a part of.”
“Okay,” Sophia said, drawing out the word. “But there aren’t any people around.”
He nodded proudly. “I sent them all away so they wouldn’t laugh at me dancing in the street with the Captains.”
Sophia’s eyes darted to the strollers. “They aren’t listening to music, are they?”
“Of course not,” Rudolf replied. “But they are dancing, I can assure you.”
Peeking at the strollers, Sophia spied three sleeping babies. “Right. So what is the point in doing this silent disco if there’s no one around to watch the craziness? Or why do you not have anyone else dancing with you…besides the Captains.” She added the last part quickly, knowing Rudolf would instantly correct her otherwise. “Why not just dance alone in the comfort of your palace?”
“I don’t like to dance alone,” Rudolf stated. “And Serena kicked me out again, saying something about how she was social distancing from me.”
“The woman you brought back from the dead and killed a powerful queen for kicked you out of your kingdom?” Sophia questioned.
“Yeah, she said my constant affections and support of her was really getting on her nerves,” Rudolf explained with a handsome smile.
“What a catch that one is,” Sophia said, sarcasm overflowing in her tone.
“Hey, don’t get any ideas,” Rudolf scolded at once. “She is all mine. You can’t have her.”
Sophia held up her hands as if in surrender. “No worries. I have my own romance issues.”
“Yeah, you and the gnome having relationship problems?”
“Quiet?” Sophia questioned. “We aren’t together. He is in charge of the Gullington. Well, he is the Gullington after all.” Rudolf had been there the night of the battle, where Quiet almost died. He, as well as the Rory, Bermuda, Liv and the rest of the Dragon Elite, knew the truth about the gnome.
Rudolf nodded like that information wasn’t the strangest thing in the world. “So, you’ll not be with him because he isn’t rich enough, huh?”
She shook her head. “I prefer to understand what my men say.”
“Oh, you and Serena are complete opposites,” Rudolf declared. “If you really want to understand what your boy says, that means none of those Scotsmen you work with are potential love interests. I can’t understand a word that guy Rougher says.”
Sophia squinted at him. “Do you mean Wilder?”
He shook his head. “I refuse to call him by that amazing name.”
Sophia laughed. Rudolf was right about something. Sophia often struggled to understand what Wilder and Hiker said, their accents were so strong. That almost made it better because then she just made up what she thought they said.
Rudolf held up his headphones. “If you promise not to steal my dance moves, I’ll allow you to join my silent disco.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got a couple of meetings and actually have to run right now.”
“Okay, next time then.” Rudolf waved as Sophia strode for the Fantastical Armory at the end of Roya Lane. “Don’t forget to set your clock forward one hour.”
“Thanks,” Sophia said, pausing with surprise. She’d forgotten in Europe it was daylight savings that night.
“I mean,” he continued, something seeming to occur to him, “most of your smart devices will do it on their own. But if you know someone with something like a pocket watch, they will have to manually reset it. Wouldn’t want them to lose track of time.”
Sophia nodded, wondering how the fae had done it again, saying something so elegantly poignant and related to her. She’d have to reset Wilder’s pocket watch for him. With all that was going on and everything that was bound to happen in the future, the last thing she wanted was for him to lose track of time…or for them to lose time together.
Chapter Forty-Four
No one appeared to be social distancing in the Fantastical Armory when Sophia entered. She was surprised to find the shop full of patrons, especially since she couldn’t remember ever seeing a single customer in the place. She’d assumed the business was a tax write-off for Father Time or they did all of their orders online.
There were gnomes, elves, and magicians all crowding the shop. They were all chatting excitedly, many of them sounded like they were bartering over products.
“Okay, we are going to have to limit items to one per customer if there’s going to be hoarding,” she heard Subner order from behind his usual counter.
“What is going on?” Sophia asked a figure in the corner sitting on a stool. He had a hood over his head, partially obscuring his face.
However, when he lifted his chin, Sophia recognized Papa Creola. “You started an outbreak of panic. There has been a rush on weapons.”
“Me?” Sophia questioned, pointing to her chin. “What did I do?”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry. Things will balance out soon. It’s just the way the pendulum swings. When you fixed Cupid’s bow, it made emotions swing the other way dramatically. Now instead of feeling euphoria and spreading love, elves are all angry about one thing or another. They started disputes with their neighbors, some being gnomes and magicians, and they have all shown up here for weapons.”
“Well, you aren’t going to sell them any are you?” Sophia asked. “They aren’t rational, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Father Time said. “But of course we will sell them weapons. We are in the business of making money. By the time they get back with the sword they overpaid for, emotions worldwide will have stabilized, so don’t worry.”
“So you and Subner know Wilder and I were successful with fixing Cupid’s bow,” Sophia guessed.
“Yes, and thanks to you both, I don’t have to hear Subner spouting hippie wisdom,” Papa Creola stated. “I also realize you completing the mission came at a cost for you.”
Sophia sighed. “Yeah, Wilder was hit with an arrow, but thankfully it was after he fixed the bow.”
“Right,” Papa Creola said, his eyes darting to the side.
“Do you by chance know how to fix him?” Sophia asked.
“Fix him?” Papa Creola questioned.
“Hiker’s words,” she answered.
He nodded understandingly. “Yeah, that seems about right. Gods more powerful and knowledgeable than me have been unable to cure the disease of love.”
“You are as cynical as Hiker calling it a disease,” Sophia observed.
“I reason it’s a disease,” Papa Creola imparted. “It infects its host, taking over with universal symptoms and usually can only be managed, but never cured. Once you fall in love, I think there’s only one cure.”
Sophia regarded the elf with an expression that urged him to continue.
“Time, Sophia,” Papa Creola explained. “Time is the only cure for love I’m aware of, and it doesn’t always work.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Sophia squeezed through the small door at the Official Brownie headquarters and crawled through to find Ticker playing on the floor close by. She smiled at the baby brownie, hearing his mother humming a lullaby to the youngest child in her arm.
“Si Hophia,” Ticker said, bouncing a ball at his feet.
“Hi Sophia,” his mother, Priscilla, echoed.
She pushed up from the floor, which was iro
nically dirty for being the headquarters for a place related to magical creatures who cleaned the world’s houses.
“Hi,” Sophia said. “I hope my meeting with Mortimer didn’t keep Ticker awake.”
Priscilla shook her head. “No, as brownies, we are used to being awake at night. And if you are Mortimer, then you are used to being away all the time.”
Sophia nodded. “He works hard, doesn’t he?”
“Tirelessly,” his wife replied. “I can hardly ever get him to take a break, but he loves his job, so time away from it isn’t pleasurable for him. That’s the way it should be, am I right? When you love what you do, you don’t really need a vacation from it.”
Sophia smiled at the notion. She’d rarely thought of her role for the Dragon Elite as a job. Even with the overwhelming stress staring her in the face with all the new responsibility, it didn’t feel like work. It was more like she had a series of puzzles begging for her attention and the world was a rainy day, giving her the opportunity to sit down and put puzzle after puzzle together at her leisure.
“Yeah, I think you are right,” Sophia answered the brownie, keeping her voice down so as to not wake the baby sleeping in Priscilla’s arms. “I think if more people felt the way about their jobs as Mortimer the world would be a different place. People wouldn’t be looking for an escape but rather living in the moment.”
“I think,” Priscilla began, seeming to muse on the words as she spoke, “the key is to feel essential in this world. Mortimer has that with his job. He knows what he does makes a difference. When we feel that, when we feel valued, it’s easy to show up to a job even when it’s hard.”
“Well put,” Sophia said, not having any way to improve upon Priscilla’s words.
“He is expecting you, so please don’t let us keep you.”
Sophia nodded, waving to Ticker and making for Mortimer’s office.
She found the manager of the brownies concentrating on paperwork when she entered his office.
“S. Beaufont.” He cheered at the sight of her. “Thank you for coming on short notice.”
“Thanks for your help,” she offered.
“I wouldn’t have sent a message for you to come so quickly, however, my brownies found something of great interest I thought you’d want to know about as soon as possible.”
“This is about Trin Currante?” Sophia questioned, deciding to stand rather than sit in the tiny chair in front of Mortimer’s desk.
“Yes, and like I said, it’s time-sensitive,” Mortimer stated. “I know from my position timing is very important.”
There it was again. The mention of time. It was starting to create a theme in her life, and Sophia wasn’t sure how she felt about it. First daylight saving and the pocket watch. Then Father Time’s statement and now this from Mortimer.
“You see,” Mortimer continued, “In my line of work, reconnaissance is of the utmost importance, but when to do it’s really the key. I discovered where your villain, Trin Currante, spends most of her time. I also found out she is soon leaving on a mission, which would be a good time to sweep in and do this investigation. Not that I have any enemies, but if I did, learning about them before confrontation would be my strategy for beating them.”
“You are as wise as your wife,” Sophia told him proudly.
Mortimer beamed. “Why, thank you. She pretty much taught me anything of use that I know.”
He thumbed through several papers on his desk, licking his fingers before pulling out a certain page. “Here it is. Yes, Trin Currante runs a company in the Pacific Northwest of the United States that’s about to embark on a mission. They leave tomorrow morning, so that seems like the ideal time to find more information on the organization like schedules, routines, security measures, and so forth. Maybe you’ll even happen upon what you are looking for, saving you much time and effort.”
“Maybe,” Sophia agreed hopefully, taking the page he handed across the desk to her.
“There’s something else, though,” he said a serious expression on his face.
Of course there was, Sophia thought, deflating.
“The organization Trin Currante runs was easy for me to find,” he told her.
“Oh?” she asked, intrigued.
Mortimer nodded. “Yes, you see, the Brownies have been cleaning it for quite some time, even though it’s mostly run by magicians—who, yes, happen to be cyborgs much like Trin Currante.”
“I’m listening.” Sophia urged him to continue.
“Well, we usually don’t clean the establishments of magicians, since they have magic and can do the work themselves,” Mortimer explained. “There are some mortals who work for Trin Currante, though. Anyway, the reason I deemed her organization worthy of our efforts is because of what they do.”
Sophia drew in a breath, lowering her chin. “What do they do?”
“S. Beaufont, they make the world a better place,” Mortimer answered. “I don’t know much about Trin Currante, and I understand she stole something very valuable from you. But her organization, well, it has an altruistic mission.”
Chapter Forty-Six
All Mortimer gave Sophia was an address for Trin Currante’s organization and a warning expression that seemed to say, “Proceed with caution.”
He couldn’t tell her exactly what this altruistic company was or what they did. Mortimer said that wasn’t really how the Brownies worked. They didn’t always know the specifics of what good deeds the people they took care of did. Brownies worked through feeling, sensing when someone was good or when efforts were noble. He explained it was like a frequency. Apparently, there was a positive frequency that came from Trin Currante’s organization. He couldn’t speak about the woman herself, though, saying her cyborg equipment made it hard for her to read.
The company, Medford Research, was located in the Pacific Northwest in an airplane hangar in a small, idyllic valley. According to Mortimer, they were leaving the next morning on a mission, which would present the perfect opportunity to scout the area. Sophia didn’t really understand what that meant or how they had discovered information if most people were gone from the company, but she trusted Mortimer. If he thought she should act fast, then that’s what she’d do.
As she strode through the Castle, she paused beside Wilder’s door. It was late in the Castle, and she reasoned he was probably asleep.
She pushed open the door, finding it unlocked.
He was sitting up in his bed, staring at the door like he’d been expecting her.
“Hey,” she said, suddenly feeling shy.
“Hey there,” he answered with a smile.
“You are awake,” she remarked, surprise evident in her voice.
“Were you expecting to find me asleep, and if so, what were you planning to do to me?”
She laughed, shaking her head at him. “I was going to reset your pocket watch. Tonight is daylight saving.”
He glanced at the watch on his bedside table. “That was thoughtful of you. I sort of suspected you’d drop by tonight, which is why I’m still awake.”
“You did? How?”
Wilder picked up the pocket watch and turned the knobs to reset it. “I just had a feeling. I think that’s common when you have a connection with someone.”
Sophia tensed, taking a step closer to the door. “I’m sorry Cupid hit you.”
Surprise crossed over his face before he seemed to recover. “Is that right?”
She nodded. “I’ve got to leave first thing in the morning on a mission related to Trin Currante. Then there’s a thing with Hiker where he is making me do extracurricular work in my spare time. But once I have a chance, and my source is available—”
“Your fairy godmother,” he supplied, interrupting.
“Yes, my fairy godmother, Mae Ling,” she affirmed. “Anyway, once I get a chance and some more information, I’m going to find a way to fix…to undo what Cupid’s arrow did.”
The tender expression of hurt was unmistakable
on his face. “Yeah, okay.”
She nodded, backing for the door. There was so much she wanted to say, and so much she didn’t know how to.
“You know, Soph,” he said, pausing her when her fingers were on the door handle. “You might want to consider there’s nothing wrong with me.” He held up his watch, having reset it. “Maybe it’s just timing.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Timing, Lunis mused, having heard Sophia’s conversation with Wilder the night before.
Sophia thought she’d sleep in to at least the time when she and Mahkah planned to go to Medford Research on their stealth mission. She reasoned she hadn’t had a proper night’s rest in days, and she was exhausted from the Cupid mission.
Alas, even after going to bed after midnight, she still woke up at exactly 3:33 in the morning.
She and Lunis had then spent the first part of the morning going over the strange conversation with Wilder and the others.
I wonder what the deal is with timing on all this stuff, her dragon continued, talking in her head. Multiple people have mentioned that now.
“Yeah, and why do you think he doesn’t think getting struck by Cupid’s arrow was a problem,” Sophia related. “I feel like he isn’t being realistic lately about our situation.”
I think this runs deeper than the two of you, Lunis suggested.
“That’s an interesting statement that by no means makes me want to know more,” she joked.
Cool, he said. I’m not telling you any more.
“Well, now I don’t want to know.” She tried using reverse psychology.
Then say no more, Lunis sang. You should head down here to the Expanse.
Sophia stretched out in front of the fire, having been lounging for the last few hours. “I’m cozy, though,” she explained to her dragon.
Yeah, but you said you wanted a dragon, and now you aren’t even taking care of it, he lectured using his best “mom” tone, which was pretty spot on. You said, and I quote, “If you get me a dragon, I’ll take it for walks and brush it and feed it every day.” And now your dragon sits alone in its cave with no one to pay attention to him.