Reversed

xli. forty-one

Sophie lost track of the time she spent outside with the alicorns, lying in a bed of Panakes petals under Calla's tree.

At some point, the family had roamed off, the twins off to cause some sort of trouble, Silveny and Greyfell attempting to keep them under control. The whole time, Silveny monitored her mind, sending happy thoughts and feelings of peace whenever she felt like Sophie needed it.

Sophie could definitely say that this was one of the most placid afternoons she'd had in a long time.

After about an hour or so, Edaline came out of the house and padded over to where Sophie lay on the grass. She carefully sat down, her light periwinkle gown blossoming out around her.

The sound of crinkling parchment floated towards Sophie as her mother as she held out a paper. "Hey," Edaline said, reaching out to rub her back.

Sophie tensed, unsure what to do. Edaline felt it, and dropped her hand. Sophie tried to ignore the guilt burning her cheeks.

"So," Edaline said, clearing her throat. "Elwin dropped off a list of elixirs we should pick up for you to make sure you completely recover from . . . everything."

Sophie nodded, hoping none of them would taste like moldy cheese or animal hair or something along those lines. Knowing Elwin, though, some of them probably did.

"I was going to go to Atlantis to pick everything up," Edaline continued slowly. "Would you like to come along? We could even stop into some other stores, too, if you'd like."

Sophie considered. On one hand, going into Slurps N' Burps again would mean running into Dex, Kesler, possibly Juline, and probably a lot of people she really didn't want to talk to right now. On the other, she kind of felt the need to make up to Edaline for flinching when she touched her.

Sophie offered a smile. "I'll go." She stood up, brushing of her tunic and pants. She offered Edaline a hand.

Edaline didn't need to brush herself off, because nothing had stuck to her. Of course nothing had.

"Um . . . you might want to go inside and change into—"

"Let me guess, a dress?" Sophie asked with a sigh. Her first day back, and she was starting to think that her time with the Neverseen would forever be more enjoyable solely for the fact that she never had to wear dresses or makeup if she didn't want to.

Edaline held back a small smile.

In her room, Sophie dug through her closet, sifting through piles and piles of chiffon, tulle, fabric, and sequins. Eventually, she settled on a dark red dress that cascaded down to her feet. It hugged her abdomen, outlining the curves and muscles she'd gotten from all the Neverseen training and fighting.

Sophie stepped over to the mirror and ran her hands down the dress, staring at her sorely uncomfortable face.

Vertina popped into the corner of the mirror, putting her little hands together. "Please, please let me tell you how to do your hair!" She begged.

Sophie glowered. "I'm only going shopping."

Vertina tsked. "That's no excuse to not look your best. It'll be simple, I promise."

Somehow, in the end, Vertina convinced Sophie to let her walk her through twisting her hair into a plaited braid that ran down in between her shoulder blades. She had Sophie pull and pin it in a way that made it look natural and lush. Sophie stopped her at the makeup, though. Some things she had to put her foot down for.

"Are you ready, Sophie?" Edaline called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Sophie yelled back, hopping down the stairs bare-footed, red shoes in hand. There was no way she would be able to make it down without snapping her ankle.