KOTLC After Stellarlune-A Sokeefe Story

Plans (Keefe POV)

"I think I want to ask Sophie to marry me."

Whoa, saying it out loud for the first time was...wow.

Fitz dropped the book he'd been holding back onto his desk. "Wait, what? Are you serious? When?"

"When will I propose, or when would I want to get married?"

"Both."

"I don't really know. I hadn't admitted it out loud until just now. It's just been on my mind a lot lately. I don't know if I can wait two years, for her to finish her Elite levels."

"Is it even possible not to?"

Keefe shrugged. He'd have to figure that out. "I have no idea. I just know that I love her. And we both know we'll get married—in fact when I gave her that promise ring, part of my promise was that it would eventually be followed with a proposal—so lately I've been thinking why wait?"

"But...what's the rush? You have an eternity to be together."

"I know. And I don't know if it's the time I spent in the Forbidden Cities, with the urgency the humans have for everything due to their short life spans, maybe that's rubbed off on me a little. Or if it's the years of fighting for our lives, the number of times we watched her almost die. I just know that it's hard to imagine waiting two more years. And I think she feels it too."

Fitz was looking at Keefe in shock. That wasn't a good sign. What if Sophie looked at him like that?

No...no, she wouldn't. Even if they did have to wait two years, even if that's what she wanted, she'd be happy to wait as his fiancée instead of his girlfriend, right?

Fitz sank onto his bed, apparently lost in thought.

"Dude, you're freaking me out. What are you thinking?" Keefe asked.

Fitz looked up at him. "I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame you for wanting to move forward, and I know Sophie loves you." He grinned. "Don't let me freak you out. It's just big news, that's all. How can I help?"

"Maybe eventually you could help me pick out a ring. What if we went to the Forbidden Cities and got her a human-made ring? They might be more her taste, don't you think?"

Fitz nodded. "I've never seen an elf, especially a girl one, so averse to all the jewels and glitter we have here." He laughed. "Yeah, she might be happier with something a bit simpler. Though you might could find one here in the Lost Cities that's less flashy too. Are you sure you want my help picking out a ring?"

"Of course. You're my best friend. And you're one of her best friends too, not to mention how in tune you are as Cognates. We are the ones who know her best, aren't we?"

Fitz smiled. "You know, you make me wish I had someone to love like that. I can't wait to find her."

With that, they resumed their studies, since final exams started the next morning. But Keefe could barely focus.

A few days later, exams were nearly over. Keefe managed to get through them, relying on that photographic memory to help him even though he was distracted. But he had come to a decision. Today was the perfect day, Sophie was at Everglen with Biana. Alone in his room, he pulled out his Imparter. "Show me Grady Ruewen."

Within minutes, he was at Havenfield. Keep your cool, he told himself. They like you now. It'll be fine. Still, he kind of felt like he might throw up all over his boots. Deep breaths, deep breaths.

Edaline opened the door, took one look at him and said "you look nervous" with one of her knowing smiles. Keefe tried to smile back, but wasn't sure he was successful. Get a grip!

She just laughed and pulled him in for a hug. "Come on, Grady is waiting in the living room."

Grady just sat and stared at him in stunned silence for a moment.

Keefe wished he could read Grady's emotions but couldn't think of a natural way to get physical contact without giving away his purpose. He intended to wait Grady out, but instead he found himself begging "please say something."

Finally, Grady found his voice. "Keefe, we have known for a long time that this was coming. We can see how much you love each other. I just didn't expect it quite this soon," he mumbled, that last part mostly to himself.

Keefe took a shaky breath. "So..."

Grady seemed shaky too, but he smiled kindly at him. "Keefe. Eda and I already view you and love you like a son."

Keefe knew that, but actually hearing Grady say it made his heart swell. In that moment he realized that marrying Sophie meant gaining a set of wonderful parents too. "Does that mean...?"

Grady laughed. "Of course you have my permission and my blessing. I'm actually rather impressed that you asked. But, when do you plan to ask her? Do you already have a date in mind for the wedding?"

"I'm not sure on either count. For the proposal, hopefully soon." Just the thought of that made him ridiculously excited and nervous at the same time. "If she wants to wait, we'll wait. Until she's ready. But I know it's been hard for both of us this year, balancing our studies and our time together."

"Won't that be harder if you get married before you're done?" Grady asked him kindly. "Marriage isn't just a game, it's hard work."

Keefe nodded. "I know. But it's also hard not being together. Wouldn't it be easier to balance everything if we were able to come home to each other every night?"

Grady shrugged. "Only you and Sophie can decide that."

Just then, Edaline entered the room. She had tears in her eyes. "Can I stop pretending I'm not hiding around the corner listening now and come join the conversation?"

Grady rolled his eyes while Keefe laughed. Edaline quickly crossed the room and threw her arms around Keefe. "The moment you called Grady I knew what was coming." She smiled happily at him. "But I have an important question for you too."

"What's that?" Keefe could feel Edaline's happiness and peace and certainty. And he was thankful for it.

"Do you already have a ring?"

"Not yet. Fitz and I are talking about maybe trying to get to the Forbidden Cities to find one a little less...big and flashy than a lot of what we have here."

Edaline looked at Grady, who nodded. "Well, Grady and I have talked about this before. What if you gave her this?" She snapped her fingers and a beautiful but simple—by elf standards—diamond ring appeared in her hand. A sad smile played across her features and Keefe knew what she was about to say before she said it. "This was Jolie's."

Now Keefe was speechless. "Oh, wow," he finally managed to whisper. "Are you sure? It won't...make things harder?"

Grady shook his head. "When we adopted Sophie, we hoped she'd get to inherit Jolie's ring one day. Even after we discovered the truth about Brant, we knew we'd love to pass this ring on. For a long time, Sophie felt like...like we were trying to pretend we had Jolie back, or like we were comparing her to Jolie. But that's not the case. So many times we've wished they could've known each other. How nice it would've been for Sophie to have had a big sister. If she wears Jolie's ring, it'll be a little bit like having Jolie with her. They would've loved each other."

Keefe looked at Grady, then at Edaline. "She will love this. She often talks about how she wishes she'd known Jolie. She does love her, even though she never met her." His voice trembled and his hand shook as he accepted the ring from Edaline.

"So, now what?" Grady asked him.

"Now, I need to have a conversation with Magnate Leto."