Mirrored Conflicts (a Sokeefe story)

Chapter 19: The Destruction

Biana had been highly insistent that Sophie not attend the Peace Summit in Lumenaria ever since they'd picked out a dress for her, which was funny considering the speech she'd given her about making a statement despite her youth.

She'd stayed by her side at Havenfield almost constantly, making it very difficult to get Keefe the food he needed for his last day in her closet. She painted her nails red "to match her dress," all the while attempting relentlessly to convince her that the summit was a waste of time and probably dangerous. "I mean, we have to be missing something, right?" Biana pushed. "Ooh! I have these really great gold earrings I should lend you, it'll bring out the gold flecks in your eyes⎯"

"Biana!" Sophie interrupted. "I can tell when your excessive best friend behavior is turning into excuses to keep trying to convince me to not go," she told her, giving her a look. "And don't understand it."

"I mean, the Summit getting moved up immediately after Brant, Ruy and Alvar are captured? That can't be a coincidence."

Sophie rolled her eyes fondly. "It's not. The Council wants to interrogate the three of them as soon as possible. That's literally the reason the Summit was moved up."

Biana sighed, looking frustrated. "I just can't let you go, okay? I mean... it has to be dangerous with all those prisoners there."

"Okay. You know something. So tell me what it is." Sophie raised her eyebrow. "You aren't coming up with this out of nowhere. Something changed."

Biana pursed her lips. "I'll tell you what I know if you don't ask me why I know."

"That's ominous," Sophie pointed out. "And really concerning. So I can't promise I won't ask you how you know. But... this sounds important."

"It is," Biana agreed. She lowered her voice, even though the two of them were the only ones in the room. "Ruy, Brant and Alvar have been practicing outward channeling for a long time, apparently. And Gethen's been saving his strength. And apparently... there's some kind of other prisoner too. The point is, there isn't going to be an interrogation⎯there's going to a be a prison break. One that brings down all of Lumenaria on the heads of those at the gala for the Peace Summit."

Sophie blinked.

That made too much sense.

And it was exactly the sort of thing the Neverseen would do.

But... "This is why I didn't promise to not ask you how you knew," Sophie said with a pointed look. "Care to explain?"

Biana's eyes shifted.

"Biana."

"Why don't you ask the boy in your closet," she hissed so quietly that Sophie thought she must have misheard. But no, that smirk was definitely a signal that Sophie had heard her perfectly well.

"You talked to Keefe?!" Sophie whisper-shouted.

"Yes, well, now that we've covered that, care to explain what he's doing in your closet?" Biana raised an eyebrow.

Sophie's cheeks colored. "That's not—focus Biana! The point is that the Neverseen are going to cause a lot of destruction today and we have no way to stop it from happening!"

"We can. You just have to come clean to Mr. Forkle about whatever perfectly valid reasons I'm sure you have for having the golden boy of the Neverseen in your closet."

"Will you stop saying it in that voice?"

"Absolutely not," Biana said with a smirk, and Sophie didn't mind the teasing as much as she normally would have, because she needed a distraction from the gravity of the most recent revelation. "But if you just explain it to Forkle, he'll find a way to make it happen. Maybe if they speed through the Summit or something, or move the prisoners..."