Book Two: KOTLC One-shots and More

The List

"Are you ready for this?" Grady asked Sophie as she came downstairs for breakfast.

A few weeks had passed since Keefe announced he had a date, and Sophie had been too afraid to ask him how it went.

Fitz, however, had gotten a kick out of pestering Keefe for details. Keefe had been surprisingly unwilling to share very much, but according to Fitz, Keefe had seen Anabel a few times since that first date.

Sophie hated it.

And hated herself for hating it.

She was dating Fitz.

She'd liked Fitz from the moment she'd met him.

Keefe was her friend. Nothing more.

And today?

Today, Grady and Edaline were going with her to the matchmakers to pick up her first list.

Fitz was going to get his, too, and they were going to open them together.

Sophie reached up and tugged out an itchy eyelash. "Ready or not," she said.

Edaline laughed. "It's just one list," she reminded Sophie. "If you don't like the results you can request another one."

"I know," Sophie grumbled.

"Have you made a decision about holding a Winnowing Gala?" Edaline asked. "I know you've been dating Fitz for over a year, but it would still be fun to get all dressed up and have lots of boys sign up to dance with you. Fitz would have to remind you why he's your favorite," she added with a wink.

"Or she could, you know, not do that," Grady grumbled. "Dancing with boys."

"Don't listen to Grady," Edaline said, smacking him on the arm. "It could be a fun night, even if you're sure you've settled on Fitz."

"We're getting ahead of ourselves," Sophie told them. "We don't even know if Fitz will be on my list."

The thought still made her queasy.

But not as queasy as it used to.

Was that because she trusted that Fitz was right—or trusted him to stay with her regardless?

Or was it for some other reason?

"True," Grady said. "Who knows what names will be on your list."

"Only one way to find out," Edaline told them.

On that note, the three of them prepared to leave for Atlantis.

A couple of hours later, Fitz leapt to Havenfield, his hand clutching a scroll. He took Sophie by the hand and they wandered over to the Panakes.

But before she could open her list, Fitz leaned in and kissed her. "This is it, Sophie," he whispered when they broke apart. "We're about to receive confirmation for what we've known from the start. You'll see."

So on the count of three, they both opened their scrolls.

And there was Fitz's name, filling the #9 slot. Sophie breathed a sigh of relief before looking at the other names. Most of them she didn't recognize, but a few she did.

And her number one—Sophie's heart clenched when she realized...

Her #1 match was listed as Keefe Sencen.

"I knew it!" Fitz's voice sounded far away and Sophie had to force herself to focus. He was holding out his list for her to see.

She was listed as his #6.

His #1 was Linh, but he didn't seem to have noticed.

There was a time when she'd have been jealous and worried about Linh ranking higher on his list than she did.