Rectify Injustice (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 6)

by Sarah Noffke

  “When do you plan on going up that beanstalk with Hiker?” she asked, calmly folding her hands in her lap.

  Sophia finished her bite and wiped her mouth. “Well, I had a meeting and then an impromptu case and—”

  Mae Ling waved off the reasons. “Those things needed to take precedence. Also, Hiker needed to manage the situation with the city of New York. It’s good for him to flex his diplomatic muscles. Helping Ainsley starts with fixing Hiker, and I’m sorry to say that won’t be easy.”

  Sophia’s thirst hadn’t registered until a glass of ice-cold milk in a frosted mug appeared in front of her. She nodded appreciatively. “Thank you. The beanstalk mission will fix Hiker?”

  Mae Ling gave her a kind smile. “It has the potential to help him to find balance for his powers, which is key to the solution, but no. Mending things for those two is not going to be easy and will require many different strategies.” She sighed heavily. “I can’t guarantee they will work. That’s the thing…” The fairy godmother looked around the grounds of the school. “What we do here at Happily Ever After isn’t an exact science. Issues of the heart are never black and white and solutions are relative, depending on the person. It’s funny that this school is called Happily Ever After because there is rarely a happy ending. Usually it’s a series of happy things punctuated with new beginnings caused by something that is not so happy. You see, no one ever starts over because everything is okay. Without beginnings, there are no new chapters in the storybook.”

  Sophia took in the complex things her fairy godmother had shared with her. It made sense, and yet it made her head hurt.

  “So, Hiker and I need to go up the beanstalk,” Sophia mused, regarding her brownie as if it were a map that offered the key to her next question. “Any clues about what we will find up there?”

  “An experience,” Mae Ling said simply.

  Sophia nodded, realizing she should have expected that answer.

  “You know,” Mae Ling began, a speculative glint in her wise eyes. “The leader of the Dragon Elite has lived many unfulfilling years since the events occurred that changed everything for him, Ainsley, the dragonriders, and the world. He’s lived with a lot of regrets during that time. A lot of frustration. Those emotions have a way of coloring the way one sees the past. I’d go so far as to say they make one forget what happened or tell it differently in their heads.”

  “That makes sense,” Sophia related. “It has been a very long time.”

  “If there’s a way to show Hiker what he’s forgotten, or who he used to be, well, that could have far-reaching effects,” Mae Ling hinted.

  Sophia thought for a long moment. The pointed expression her fairy godmother was giving her was because she was waiting for her to figure the answer out on her own. She worried she wasn’t going to and it would lead to a riddle—which she loathed. Then an idea popped into her head.

  “The gold token!” she exclaimed. “I have the reset point, and that will take anyone back to events that happened right before the Great War.”

  Mae Ling grinned at her proudly. “That’s right, my child. I’d advise using it for any other task you need it for first.”

  “Oh,” Sophia said, remembering she needed the gold token to visit the Midnight Lunar Eclipse. “Why is that?”

  Mae Ling toggled her head back and forth. “Just take my word for it.”

  There was the riddle. Sophia just nodded, glad for the amount of information she got.

  The fairy godmother turned her focus to the students trying to wrangle wild horses in the distance. A few had been successful at turning theirs into luxury vehicles, but some had transformed theirs into junker cars or mopeds.

  Mae Ling stood and the armchair behind her disappeared. “Well, it appears a teacher’s job is never done. I’ll leave you to your missions.”

  Chapter Ninety

  Hands open, Sophia created a portal to Roya Lane. She held out her hand to her sister, indicating she should walk through first.

  Liv gave her a hesitant expression. “If Rudolf Sweetwater is on the other side of this portal, I’m running back through before he can talk at me.”

  Sophia laughed. “Why would he be on Roya Lane? It’s late.”

  It was true King Rudolf was often on Roya Lane, running errands or campaigning or having a silent disco. However, Sophia thought it was unlikely he was hanging out there at this time. They’d decided to go to the magical candy shop, Midnight Lunar Eclipse, since Liv didn’t have any missions until bright and early the next morning. Good for them, it didn’t matter when they went to Roya Lane, only that they were there when they used the reset point because it made it more likely it would put them in that spot, which was where they needed to be to visit the candy shop. If they were at the House of Fourteen, it would show them events during the reset point at that location. Same with the Castle or any other place they were.

  “Ru is always on Roya Lane when I go there,” Liv grumbled. “It’s like he knows I’m about to show up there and I need a headache.”

  Sophia laughed. “Yeah, I see him there a lot too.”

  “He needs to get a job,” Liv said, shaking her head before stepping through the shimmering portal.

  Sophia continued to be amused by her sister as she stepped through. She was glad she stepped through immediately after Liv. As soon as she did and saw the scene in front of her, she closed the portal before her sister could escape.

  Liv stopped short of the portal closing and gave Sophia an annoyed expression. “He’s here.”

  “Of course I’m here!” Rudolf called loudly. “It’s Mother’s Day, so where else would I be?”

  Sophia waved at King Rudolf as Liv spun around.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Liv said, annoyance in her tone. “How about with your children?”

  He sighed as if about to educate the magician. “No, my sweet little blonde bimbo. Mother’s Day is when the Captains’ mum has to care for them. Hence the name, Mother’s Day.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m not considered a genius by most standards, but I know that. I really thought you would too.”

  “By most standards?” Liv grilled. “Don’t you mean by any standards?”

  Like he hadn’t heard the questions, he tilted his head, a question ruminating in his eyes. “Have you considered going to college, Liv? I mean, you need to be able to rely on your brains since you don’t have the luxury of leaning on your good looks like me.”

  Sophia spied Liv roll up her fists and could tell she was restraining herself. The Warrior was obviously overworked and not in the mood to deal with the king of the fae.

  “What are you doing here?” Sophia interjected, trying to break up the tension.

  Rudolf blinked at her and shook his head. “Wow, this cluelessness runs in the Beaufont family.” He pointed to the ground. “I’m standing here. It’s pretty obvious to most, but I guess that escapes you sisters.”

  “Right,” Liv said, drawing out the word. “Well, we’d stay and chat, but I don’t want to get prosecuted for your death.”

  “Oh, too bad because it was brilliant timing that I ran into you both,” Rudolf began. “I have a business proposition for you.”

  “No,” Liv pronounced flatly.

  Rudolf gave her an offended expression. “I’m sorry, I’ve not gone through the normal niceties. Let’s try again, shall we?”

  “No,” Liv chirped again.

  Good naturedly, Rudolf smiled, undeterred. “How great is your day so far?”

  Liv sighed. “First off, don’t suppose my day is great. That’s putting words in my mouth. Secondly, I’m talking to you, so there’s less great about my day. Actually, do you have a painkiller?”

  Rudolf patted his pockets and shook his head. “No, do you have a headache?”

  Liv shook her head. “No, but I will very soon. I always do after talking to you.”

  The fae frowned. “Do you think it’s my cologne? Maybe my devilishly good looks that take your breath away? Or the fact
that you can never have me causing you despair?”

  Liv gave Sophia a commiserate expression. “No, I’m certain it’s nothing like that. Never mind. I’ll get over it. Just talk fast and tell me what you want.”

  Sophia realized Liv knew Rudolf wasn’t going to leave them alone until he got an audience with them. She also knew that although Liv was more stressed than usual, her annoyance at Rudolf was mostly an act. The Warrior was endeared to the king of the fae who had walked her down the aisle. He was like family, and as with any family member, they had the ability to get on one’s nerves but were also loved unconditionally.

  “Well,” Rudolf started, flashing a convincing grin at the sisters. “I was wondering if one of you had access to that treasure trove of dragon eggs we’ve heard so much about.”

  Liv turned to Sophia. “Do I punch him in the face, or do you want to?”

  She didn’t even feel like laughing at this, her protective instinct kicking in. “What do you want with the dragon eggs?” Sophia asked Rudolf.

  “I actually don’t want the dragons,” Rudolf declared, holding up his hands as if in surrender. He must have sensed his life was in danger. “I just want the shells after they hatch. Liv, I thought I could work with you and Hester at the House of Fourteen to create a concoction with the ingredient to help disadvantaged fae and magicians.”

  Liv’s mouth fell open. Sophia was even momentarily stunned.

  “Rudolf, for as brain-dead as I always think you are, you have some surprisingly brilliant moments,” Liv remarked, awe in her voice.

  Sophia had to agree. “The dragon eggs are useless to us after the dragons hatch.”

  “They would have medicinal properties if used by the right people who know what they are doing,” Liv mused, working out the details in her head. “It will probably require some other special ingredients and clearance from the council.”

  “That’s where you come in,” Rudolf told Liv before turning his attention to Sophia. “If you don’t need the eggshells, then we’d take them off your hands, make them into potions and find disadvantaged magicians and fae they could help.”

  Liv nodded, excitement building in her eyes. “Yes, they could cure many ailments like disease, arthritis, chronic ailments—”

  “Ugliness,” Rudolf stated. “I thought it would mostly be used to cure ugly magicians so the rest of us didn’t have to look at their faces.”

  Liv deflated. “There’s the Rudolf we all know and loathe.”

  He smiled wide, showing a toothy grin. “I love you too, but the word is pronounced with a ‘v’ dear Liv.”

  She shook her head and looked at Sophia. “It’s a good idea. Do you think we can have the shells?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Sophia agreed.

  “Okay, well, when we’re not traveling into the past or saving the mortal world, let’s look into this project,” Liv said.

  “In the meantime,” Rudolf instructed and winked at the sisters as he backed away, “you girls read a book. Enroll in a college class. You know, get an education.”

  Chapter Ninety-One

  “Called out in the dark,” Liv began when Rudolf had disappeared and Roya Lane was mostly theirs. “All to find a stick of magical chewing gum.”

  It appeared the House of Fourteen was doing as they promised and enforcing having magicians stay inside at night. Hopefully this would prevent any of them from going missing by Mika Lenna’s hands. Although it was unlikely the diabolically evil man could get onto Roya Lane since he wasn’t a magical creature and didn’t have portal magic, it was best not to underestimate the crazy Frankenstein.

  For that reason, the House of Fourteen had dictated that no magicians could be out after hours, even on Roya Lane. It appeared they were listening, and even other magical creatures were heeding the warning, as none of them were present on the dark street.

  Taking in the eerie sight of the empty street usually congested with shifty gnomes making bad deals and elves pushing their hippie agendas, Sophia had the urge to run up and down the road singing loudly.

  “Now would be the perfect opportunity to film that horror movie we’ve wanted to do,” Liv said, a sneaky grin on her face.

  Sophia gave her a confused expression. “Horror movie? I missed the memo on that aspiration.”

  Her sister shrugged. “A film noir, then? Or a parody, maybe? I’m good with whatever. It’s just a good opportunity to take advantage of this as a film set.”

  Laughing, Sophia shook her head. “I think that project will have to wait. Magic chewing gum, remember?”

  Liv sighed. “Yeah, that’s right. What does it do again?”

  “It’s supposed to make the chewer happy no matter what,” Sophia explained, remembering what Lee from the Crying Cat Bakery had told her when prepping her for the upcoming mission.

  “And the reason you need that?” Liv asked.

  “I don’t know. Lee hasn’t told me yet, or even where to find the magical katana once I collect all the ingredients for this mission. I’m apparently on a need to know basis.”

  “Which reminds me,” Liv said, digging into her cloak. She pulled out various things, shaking her head at them, the objects obviously not what she was looking for. “Here, hold this for me while I find where it is.” She stuck a broken yoyo, a plastic unicorn, and a jar of putty in Sophia’s hands before she knew what was happening.

  Glancing down at the random objects, Sophia giggled. “What, did you raid a kindergarten classroom? What is all this?”

  Liv shook her head. “Don’t pet the unicorn unless you want to be flattened by its real form. I’ve made that mistake by accident a time or two.”

  Sophia gave her a sister a skeptical expression. “You’re not serious? This isn’t a real unicorn.”

  “Not right now, it’s not,” Liv answered, continuing to dig around. “Pet him and call him Polly, and you’ll learn unicorns are real fast.”

  Sophia shivered, remembering meeting the Phantom, a dark unicorn she’d had to defeat to bond to her mother’s sword, Inexorabilis. “I’m well aware they are real. Actually, did you know they are Scotland’s national animal?”

  Liv nodded, still digging around in her pockets. “Because it can defeat the lion.”

  Blinking at her with astonishment, Sophia shook her head. “How do you know that, and why do they need to defeat lions?”

  “Because I don’t sleep,” Liv told her. “The lion was commonly used to represent English royalty.”

  “Oh, sneaky Scots,” Sophia said admiringly.

  “Really, if anyone’s animal should be a unicorn, it should be yours,” her sister commented absentmindedly, handing over more strange items.

  “Why a unicorn? Why not a dragon? That seems like the obvious choice for me.”

  “Dragon?” Liv asked, looking up, confused. “Why a dragon?”

  Sighing, Sophia shook her head. “Because of having a dragon. You know, being a dragonrider.”

  Liv stared blankly at her for a moment before returning her attention to checking her pockets. “Oh, Gerald. Right, I totally forgot about him.”

  “Lunis,” Sophia corrected.

  “I was saying that your spirit animal or whatever you want to call it should be a unicorn because of what they represent,” Liv continued.

  “Purity and strength?” Sophia asked.

  “That,” Liv agreed. “However, in many depictions of the unicorn, they could choose to use power and strength to overcome their enemies, but most of the time, they used their gifts to help others. If we believe folklore, the unicorn could have dominated all other animals, and yet, it didn’t use its powers for such things.”

  Sophia smiled at her sister, who was still busy going through her cloak that was about like Mary Poppins’ carpetbag. “Thanks. That’s really nice to hear.”

  “Didn’t say it to be nice,” Liv remarked matter-of-factly. “Bam! Here it is!” She pulled out a small compass with a wide grin.

  “That’s the elfin
made compass?” Sophia had her hands full of all the things Liv unloaded on her.

  Realizing the problem when she tried to hand it over to her, Liv swiped her hand, and all the objects disappeared from Sophia’s arms. “Yeah, and I’m loaning it to you for this upcoming mission.”

  Sophia smiled when she took the compact device. She didn’t know why she needed a magical compass to get to the katana. She also didn’t know anything else about the mission, like why she needed Zac Efron or magical chewing gum. “Thank you. I’ll keep it safe,” she said, slipping the compass into her own cloak, which wasn’t as full as her sister’s. There was another object in her pockets that they needed to find the Midnight Lunar Eclipse candy shop.

  Sophia removed the gold token from her pocket and showed it to Liv.

  “A bit unassuming for what it does, huh?” her sister asked, sounding impressed.

  “Yeah.”

  Liv laughed. “I think the same can be said for us. Definitely for you.”

  Sophia smiled fondly before extending her hand to her sister. “I think this is the only way you’ll travel back with me.”

  Liv winked. “Are you certain you just don’t want to hold my hand?”

  “No,” Sophia teased. She activated the coin, the same way she’d done the times she’d used it at the Castle and House of Fourteen. The goal was to travel back into the past to the reset point, which was right before the Great War broke out. That also happened to be on a night of a lunar eclipse, the only time the candy shop was open.

  To Sophia’s surprise, the gold coin was different. Before, it had the House of Fourteen, Castle, and the Great Library on it. Now on the top right side was a road she recognized as Roya Lane. Written across all the images was the word Present.

  Flipping the coin over in her fingers, Sophia read the other side: Reset Point.

  She glanced up, wondering if it had worked. At first, she thought it hadn’t, but then she saw the telltale signs it had and felt a wave of relief.