Secrets Revealed: a KOTLC story

Under the Panakes tree

    Sophie leaned against Calla's Panakes tree with her eyes closed, trying to keep her mind off of her worries, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Alver. What had he done to lose the trust of the Neverseen, and what had he known that was so important that they had to  wipe his memory? And what was Lady Gisela planning with Vespera? What if they had kidnapped more humans for experimentation? Sophie felt like they weren't getting any closer to finding the answers they needed, and it was so frustrating!

    "Hey," said a familiar accented voice, bringing her back to the present. Her eyes snapped open to find Fitz smiling down at her.

    "Hey," she replied, trying to ignore the stupid fluttery thing that her heart kept doing when she looked at him.

    "I brought you something," he told Sophie, handing her a box as he sat down beside her.

    A major sense of deja-vu overcame her as she opened the box to find it full of custardbursts. She smiled at the memory of the last time she and Fitz were alone under the Panakes tree, when they had what may have been a moment.

    "I know I already gave you some, but I think these ones turned out better."

    "I don't know what you're talking about. The other ones were delicious! Besides, I ate them all, and I really don't mind having more," Sophie told him, popping one of the custardbursts into her mouth, her eyes fluttering in appreciation. "Okay, you were right. These are good," she said through the mouthful of dessert.

    Fitz laughed. "I'm glad you like them."

     "Not that I mind, but seriously, Fitz, what's with all the gifts lately?" Sophie inquired.

    He shrugged. "I just thought it might cheer you up," he replied, smiling saddly.

    She smiled back at him. "Honestly, Fitz, I'm fine. If anyone needs cheering up, it's you." She looked away, "You know, because of Alver and whatnot..."

    "Well, something's been keeping you up at night," he said, gently brushing the hair out of her face to reveal the bags under her eyes.

    Sophie turned away to hide her blush. "Nothing's been keeping me up at ni-" she yawned, cutting off her own sentence.

    Fitz cocked an eyebrow. "You can't lie to your cognate."

    "Ugh!" she complained, "You sound like Keefe!" At that, he burst into laughter, and Sophie soon joined in.

    After the laughter died down, they sat in silence for a while before Fitz finally spoke up, "I was thinking we should do some cognate training to get our minds off of... things."

    Sophie nearly choked on the custardburst she had just put into her mouth. Unable to meet his gaze, she looked down at her hands and mumbled cautiously, "I... don't think that's a good idea."

    He sighed, "You're nervous about telling me that secret of yours, aren't you?"

    Hesitantly, she nodded. Why, oh why did she say she'd tell him her secret the next time they did cognate training? She was already regretting agreeing to tell him how she felt.

    Fitz sighed again. "Sophie, we're going to have to do cognate training in telepathy anyways, so why don't you just tell me now, when we're alone. Or would you rather tell me in front of Tiergan?"

    Reluctantly, she nodded again. He had a good point, but that didn't make her any more eager to tell him. "Okay," she whispered uncertainly. 

    "Thanks," Fitz grinned at her, making her heart flutter again. He stood up and offered Sophie his hand. "But let's go someplace where Keefe can't interrupt us this time," he advised.

    She was pretty sure he was referring to the first time she almost told him how she felt, back when they were at Alluventere, and had been interrupted by Keefe, moments before she telepathically spilled her heart out to Fitz. But again, the memory of their moment under the Panakes tree that had also been cut short when Keefe showed up and told her that her human family had been abducted flashed through her mind. Nodding in agreement, she took his hand and he pulled her up. 

    "We can go up to my room. We should be able to get some privacy there," Sophie suggested.

    "That sounds great," Fitz agreed as she led him towards the house.

    Thank you for reading Secrets Revealed! This is my first story, so if you could please comment below and tell me what you think, that would be great! Also, please vote for this story!

    The next section is called: Confessions.