ɢʀᴇᴇɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ

t h e l e t t e r

Sophie

Sophie was about to leap home, her head still spinning, when she realized not even Havenfield was safe ground. Her parents had been avoiding her, not answering her questions--and they'd kept a huge secret from her. If Sophie hadn't found out what being unmatchable meant from Biana and Linh, would she ever have known?

Sophie sucked in deep breaths to calm her growing anger. She had to give her adoptive parents the benefit of the doubt. They usually had a good reason for everything they did.

But she still didn't feel like going home.

She could probably stay at Everglen, but she didn't feel like doing that either. She'd definitely encounter Fitz at some point, and she was not ready to see him.

Which left...well. Where did that leave? There was really nowhere to go.

Sighing, she walked out of Everglen's gates to where Sandor said he'd meet her--Sophie had begged to meet Biana and Linh alone, so Sandor said he'd go back to Havenfield to check on something and be back for her in an hour. He'd only agreed because Everglen was now heavily, almost impossibly, guarded.

Sure enough, he was standing outside the gates, scowling. Surprisingly, he was alone. None of her other bodyguards were present.

"What took you so long?" Sandor demanded. "We agreed on an hour. Grady and Edaline have been waiting for you."

"They have?" she asked stupidly. "Why?"

Sandor hesitated, and then released a squeaky sigh. "Come along, Miss Foster," he said, his voice softer. He held out his hand to her. "You must see for yourself."

~~~

Fitz

Fitz was...surprised.

Surprised that he was having such a good time. He'd forgotten how fun Keefe was. Keefe could make anyone laugh even at their lowest, and he almost always had a joke or sarcastic comment ready to quell any awkwardness.

Fitz...was...enjoying himself.

Which made him feel even more like a jerk. He'd come so close to losing his best friend because of his own stupid actions--honestly, he wouldn't have minded if Keefe had cut him off completely. He deserved it. And yet, Keefe was still here, still hanging out with him.

They were arguing which color Dex should dye Iggy next when Fitz's imparter rang loudly, interrupting Keefe's lengthy explanation of why the imp's next color should be the color of shimmery alicorn poop ("In honor of the two Glitterbutt Jrs., Fitzy, come on!"). Fitz grudgingly answered the call when he saw it was Alden.

"Dad?" he asked. "What's--"

"Grizel isn't with you, is she?" Alden asked.

"Uh, no, she said she had to check on something at Havenfield. Why?"

Alden closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, exhaling. "I assume Ro isn't there, either."

Fitz gave his father a funny look. "No..."

"Keefe is with you, right?"

Keefe leaned over to the imparter's range, giving a two-finger salute to the screen. "Hey, Alden."

Alden nodded back in return, but he looked distracted, his brows furrowed in worry. "I apologize for interrupting your fun," he told them, "but you both need to come to Havenfield immediately."

"Is Sophie okay?" Keefe and Fitz asked at the same time.

"For the time being, yes," Alden replied. "She's here at Havenfield now. I'll see you both soon."