Shades of Starlight (Hiatus)

Book Two: Chapter Twenty-Eight

 We had no choice but to come clean about everything. Sophie did it mostly, I just stood off to the side very awkwardly. Even though they weren't my parents, I could still feel the disapproval oozing out of them. I was used to that, though. Not because they thought I was doing things wrong, no, it was my brother. My parents disapproved of Keefe all the time.

"How could you not tell us about all of this?" Edaline asked, rifling through the Black Swan's notes for the dozenth time.

"I don't know," Sophie muttered under my breath. I discreetly scooted back a few inches.

"Sophie, if your health is in danger, you have to tell us. We could get you help and treatment and-"

"No, you couldn't have." It was the first time I'd spoken. "I was there when she blacked out at school a couple of days ago." Grady and Edaline looked shocked. I'd forgotten that Sophie hadn't gotten to that point yet. "Elwin said he's tried everything, inspected every single one of her cells himself. And... it's not an excuse for why she-why we-didn't tell you about everything, but Elwin said we should wait until we knew more."

"You guys have enough to worry about already," Sophie mumbled. It was true.

"We do have a lot to worry about," Grady sighed, staring out the window. "Bue 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. I was just... I guess I was just embarrassed."

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about," Edaline told Sophie, taking her hand.

"Of course I do! I'm the town freak. Haven't you seen how people react when they see me? How would you feel if you had people tell you that you were malfunctioning-especially if it was true?" She exploded. I sighed.

"None of that is your fault. And, hey, there are plenty of people who think you're the absolute best. Including me. So please... don't take it to heart."

Sophie looked away. Grady sat down next to her, examining the notes. "So is this why you keep fading, even with two nexuses?"

"It has to be." I'd been very surprised to learn about that at the time. It was unheard of.

"And... you really believe they can fix you?" Edaline quavered.

"They're her only chance," I said quietly. Grady stood up and began to pace. I watched as he trampled back and forth through the real flowers that grew from Sophie's petal-covered carpet. Edaline exhaled slowly before opening her mouth.

"I-I can't believe I'm saying this, but... I think we should let Sophie go."

"What?" Sophie, Sandor, and Grady asked at once. I let out an 'Oh!' and hid my smile behind my hand. I'd been expecting Edaline to be more on our side, and it seems I was right.

"They created her. If something's wrong, only they would know how to fix it. Otherwise, what do we do? We can't let her keep blacking out and fading. There's no way to know what instance she wouldn't recover from," Edaline pleaded.

"So we send her into a den of murderers?" Grady snapped.

"We don't know that for sure. We do know that if the Black Swan can find Sophie and leave clues for her, they could hurt her too, and they haven't. I can't believe that they mean her harm."

"I don't trust them," Grady said, shaking his head. My eyes went from one to the other, the situation becoming more uncomfortable for me with each line of dialogue.

"I know," Edaline whispered, hugging him. "But we have to try. For Sophie's sake."

"And not just for Soph," I reminded them. "Alden, too. If they can fix her, maybe she can fix him." Why did it seem like everyone was forgetting about Alden?

"Of course. I miss him terribly. But I'm not willing to risk Sophie for him. Do you remember 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. This was getting even more real. "And what I wanted to pay Alden back for was you. Bringing you into our lives." Aww, that was adorable.

"I'm glad he brought me into your lives too. And... I know you feel like you're giving up me for him, but you're not. They want to fix me, Grady. I need to believe that. I don't want to be broken anymore."

Wow, that was a heavy line. I shook myself. My brain was definitely not taking in this situation the right way. I told it to stop using humor to deal with everything. That was Keefe's thing, not mine. It did seem to work for him and me, though, so maybe he was onto something.

Grady stared down at the notes from the Black Swan he had in his lap. I noticed he was looking at one piece of paper in particular, one that has made Sophie especially angry. Patience. Trust. It wasn't all that impactful the first time I'd read it, but now it was.

"Okay," Grady mumbled finally, after an awkward silence that felt like it had lasted years. I couldn't believe that he was actually going to let Sophie go.

"So... you'll let me ride Silveny to follow wherever the compass leads?" Sophie asked.

"Yes."

I let out a tiny squeal and shook Sophie's shoulder excitedly. Sandor did not look happy in any aspect, but that was okay, he was always going to hate this plan.

"I'll have to go alone, though, right? I doubt the Black Swan will want-"

"Not necessarily," Grady told her. "There are two other people who Silveny trusts, and one who I'd actually trust you with."

"Yeah, having Keefe go with Sophie would be a terrible idea," I remarked. Grady smiled.

"I agree entirely." Sophie laughed and nodded. I grinned at her.

"Do you know what this means?" I asked, giddy, bouncing around.

"Uhh... I'm not sure that I want to."

"Girl's trip!" I burst out, sing-song. "Oh, Keefe's gonna be so jealous."

Author's note: I am so sorry it took so long to write just over 1,000 words. I really need to get someone to yell at me to actually sit down and write this because I love to write it. idk. Anyway, SoS just won second place in the Seasonal Contest, behind the first-place book by just one point. I'm so thankful that 1. people think my story is good and 2. the dozens of awards I entered months ago are finally releasing results. 

Thanks so much to my loyal readers, who don't seem to care that I update in crazy random patterns of time. I don't know a lot of things, guys, but I know that you're the best.

Back to writing!

-Twi <3333