Broken

Fighting Back

Ro was liking Blondie more and more. She had fire in her eyes even as she paced nervously across her ridiculously flowered carpet. If only Keefe were here to see how adorably worried she was over him, how determined she was to get him back. She must be in pure denial and oblivion to not recognize the deep love she obviously felt for him. The obvious love that he reciprocated right back, ten times as much.

The train of thought was enough to bring her back to the more pressing matters at hand.

"What are we gonna do about the Neverseen?" she asked, knowing that Blondie had a plan. She'd seen the clever light behind the girl's eyes as she'd mentioned transmitting to Keefe, and knew there was more to it than a simple weirdo elfy telepathic conversation. "When do I get to storm their castle and bash their faces in for taking Lord Hunkyhair?" She'd said it like a joke, but she knew that her face was dead serious as she faced the powerful elf pacing in front of her.

Blondie kept pacing.

"If you don't stop walking a hole through your carpet I'm going to tear your feet off and stick them to the ceiling." She halted, her balance faltering enough that she accidentally crushed a flower pedal beneath her still-booted heel.

"If you had kept an eye on your charge as you were supposed to, we wouldn't be in this situation," Sandor reminded Ro. She winced internally, while anger and pride formed a shell on the outside.

"Have you seriously nev-"

Ro's argument was cut off by a sharp "Hey!" coming from the side of Sophie's bed. Both bodyguards turned to look at the disheveled girl, her hair coming loose from the braid Edaline had formed this morning, her tunic wrinkled, and her fingers dancing an anxious dance at her sides.

But she stood completely straight, that fire burning brighter than ever as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"It doesn't matter how this happened, what matters is that we get Keefe back as soon as possible. To do that we need to get along, okay?" Sandor conceded with a hesitant nod, so Ro gave Blondie a smirk to show that she agreed.

***

Sophie sighed. "Okay, good. Now Ro, can you take me to the closet Keefe was in?"

Sophie's futile hope that Keefe had just been playing some sick game of hide-and-seek was crushed as she looked into the closet at the Shores of Solace. The room was large and notably devoid of clothes, the shelves completely empty. On the floor, however, was a dark green rug, the Neverseen's white eye emblem sitting in the center of the plush carpet. And in the very center of that emblem lay a carefully crafted paper swan.

"I...I didn't see that the first time," Ro said, eyes wide as Sophie plucked up the paper and unfolded it. She read the contents out loud.

"Your empath is strong, and we have motives for keeping him. His mother looks forward to the reunion. We would be willing to make a trade, however. Moonlark, meet us at Brant's old residence tonight before sunset with your ability restrictor on and we'll allow the empath to return home safely. We can't promise the same of you."

"No. No way. Sophie, this isn't worth the risk. We need to plan-"

"Sandor, this is Keefe we're talking about!!" Sophie argued.

"Yes, and Keefe can take care of himself until we're prepared to handle the situation properly."

"I'm in."

The words shocked Sophie, and she turned to Ro with a triumphant grin as she continued. "Keefe may be a royal pain in the butt sometimes, but he's my charge. We're getting him back tonight. You can come if you want to, ya big grump of a goblin, but Sophie and I are getting our boy back."

"I go where you go," Sandor said to Sophie, his folded arms and stern tone a stark contrast to his squeaky voice. His loyalty made her heart warm a bit, and gave her a bit more hope in the success of the plan she had formed.