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Chapter 53 - Keefe/Sophie

When Keefe arrived at Havenfield later that week, he spotted Sophie at her usual spot underneath Calla's panakes tree. What he wasn't expecting was for Biana and Fitz to be there too.

Keefe couldn't stop the sigh that escaped his lips.

Ro even laughed out loud when she saw the Vackers. "Based by the look on your face, I'm guessing Fitzy doesn't know about Team Foster-Keefe yet?"

"Not yet," Keefe mumbled, walking over to the side of the fields where Sophie and his friends were. He knew Fitz was going to find out eventually, but he really wanted to avoid it as long as possible.

Things had been better between him and Fitz since Eternalia when they'd had to work together. Keefe felt like he still hadn't fully processed that day. It was all over so quickly, that it almost felt too easy. What was the point of his mother attacking if she was just going to flee? If they lost so many of their members? It didn't really make sense to Keefe, but he was trying not to think about it too much.

The Black Swan had been interrogating the Neverseen they'd captured, but so far hadn't learned anything of value. The Councillors were working hard to repair the city and strengthen security systems—all of them had been humiliated that they'd been overtaken so easily. He was there when Mr. Forkle explained it, Keefe felt their embarrassment. Apparently, the Neverseen had somehow planted some type of gas bomb in all of the Councillor's castles, and the gas knocked out their bodyguards as well as the Councillors, making them easy to capture.

Keefe was trying to forget about that day because whenever his brain reminded him, he got this feeling that something wasn't right.

In the end... the Black Swan decided it was best that Keefe kept his ability. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to find Sophie or the rest of the Councillors, but he still felt guilty about the fact that they went through so much trouble to try and get the sunlight, only to end up not needing it. Everyone assured him it was fine, that it was better that he didn't try to get rid of it. But Keefe still felt bad.

Since there still wasn't really a clear understanding of what his ability was, he was going to need a few different people to train him. Although, the main elf who would be helping him was... Grady.

Councillor Alina had offered some insight since she was a Beguiler, and so had Councillor Noland, him being a Vociferator. But because whatever Keefe had was most similar to mesmers, it was decided Grady would help him learn to control it more.

And boy, was Keefe dreading it.

Sophie calling his name brought him out of his thoughts. He waved as he approached.  Fitz waved back, although he wasn't sitting with the girls. He was on the slope of the hill, leaning back on his hands in the sun.

Keefe walked over to Sophie and Biana first, who were whispering to each other and giggling, but they stopped the second he got close to them. He raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Hey...?"

"Hey, Keefe," Biana blurted out, a grin on her face.

Sophie smiled up at him too. "How's it going?"

"I'm fine..." he looked between the two of them, who both seemed to be holding back a fit of laughter. "What's going on?"

Biana looked like she was about to explode. "Sophie told me!" When Keefe still was confused, she continued on. "About, you know..." she looked knowingly between him and Sophie.

Instantly Keefe felt his face heat up. But he only smirked, looking down at Sophie. "Yeah, I definitely know."

Now Sophie's cheeks had become swirls of scarlet. "Sorry," she said quickly, "I didn't mean to, we were just talking and it slipped and I didn't know how to take it back and I didn't want to lie but I wasn't sure if you wanted to tell people and—"