Becoming Magical [2]

C H A P T E R - 1 1

After the fiasco of falling into alicorn manure, Sophie thought it couldn't get worse but truly she hadn't met her fate.

"This is who we're trusting with the most important creature on our planet?" a sharp voice barked as Sophie flailed in the stinky waste—which was surprisingly glittery. Apparently, she'd found the one thing sparkles didn't make better.

And if she weren't already nauseous from the wild flight and the gagging smell of manure, the sound of that voice would've done it.

Sophie wiped the shimmering poop off her cheek as she stood to face not just Bronte—a smallish elf with cropped brown hair and features as sharp as his voice—but the entire elvin Council in full regal garb, standing just outside the enclosure.

Sophie dipped an ungraceful curtsy and stared at their circlets, each encrusted with different-colored jewels to match their elegant capes. She tried to remember their names, but it was hard when they weren't in front of their conveniently labeled thrones in Tribunal Hall. She could only recognize five of them.

Two goblin bodyguards flanked the group on each side, and next to the closest one stood Alden, his lips twitching with the smile he was fighting back.

"Yes, Bronte," Alden said, offering Sophie a silky handkerchief from a pocket in his navy blue cape. "And Sophie is more than worthy of the task. Though clearly we've caught her in the middle of some excitement."

Sophie's face burned as she moved closer and reached through the purple bars to accept the handkerchief. The stench followed her with every step, and all the silky cloth did was smear the filth more.

"So, you can fly with Silveny?" Alden asked, a hint of awe in his voice.

"Apparently," Grady answered for her as he exited the enclosure and approached the Councillors. He inclined his head in a slight bow. "To what do we owe this honor?"

"I know we come unannounced," Councillor Emery—the spokesman for the Council—said in his deep, booming voice. His eyes were the same shade as the sapphires covering his circlet and his shoulder-length hair was almost as dark as his skin. "We were eager to see this remarkable discovery for ourselves."

The others murmured in agreement, their eyes glued to Silveny, who was preening the feathers on her glistening wings, looking gleaming and majestic and without a single fleck of poop on her anywhere. Sophie started plotting revenge.

"Can you really communicate with her?" Kenric asked. With his vivid red hair and wide shoulders he was the easiest to recognize—and one of Sophie's favorite members of the Council, thanks to his warm smile. Meredith stood on her side who grinned at her.

"Not only can they communicate," Grady answered for her, "but Sophie discovered this morning that Silveny can transmit to her—even when she's trying to block her."

Several Councillors gasped.

Alden frowned. "Most curious."

"Indeed," Councillor Terik said, sweeping back his wavy brown hair. Sophie remembered him from their private consultation a few months back. He was a Descryer—able to sense and interpret potential—and the Council had ordered him to take a reading of her. Unfortunately, all he'd felt was "something strong" and hadn't been able to translate what it meant.

"How did you find her?" he asked, his cobalt blue eyes focused so intently on Sophie she felt like he was trying to take another reading.

"It was kind of an accident," she admitted. She explained how she'd followed Silveny's thoughts, assuming they came from the sasquatch.

Silveny trotted to her side as she spoke, and Sophie pretended not to see her, not ready to forgive her for the manure situation.

"Incredible," Councillor Terik breathed as Silveny nudged Sophie, refusing to be ignored. "Our long-lost elf, and the most searched-for creature on the planet, stumbling across each other in the middle of a forest in the Forbidden Cities. It's almost impossible to believe there were no other forces at play. Especially when you consider the unique connection the two appear to have. It seems unlikely that it happened purely by chance."