Becoming Magical [2]

C H A P T E R - 3 8

"You okay?" Dex asked as she leaned on him during orientation.

Sophie yawned and straightened up. "Sorry. I'm just tired."

She'd stayed up late trying to force more of the memory back, and when she finally gave up and went to sleep, she had weird dreams about mysterious boys jumping out from behind trees. It didn't help that Silveny had added Keefe and Meredith to her nighttime projections. Meredith regal flew through the air while Keefe kept weaving through the nightmares calling her Glitter Butt, and it made her want to whinny and run in circles.

She tried to focus during elementalism, but managed to crack three bottles trying to catch a small storm cloud. Lady Veda, a wispy woman with waist-length braided black hair, did not look impressed.

Her afternoon session was even worse. Agriculture was held with all the Level Threes in a garden tucked behind the main building, filled with trees, vines, and bushes that grew up and down and sideways and diagonally. A group of gnomes explained that they would be learning how to cultivate the food served in the cafeteria during lunch so they could properly appreciate the work and energy that went into it. But Sophie discovered that it would be another subject where her human upbringing interfered. By the end of the session she'd been corrected for digging, planting, and raking in ways that apparently destroyed the soil/plants/seeds/entire universe, or might as well have, given the way Barth—the ultra-short, green-haired gnome who'd been assigned to work with her—had panicked.

"Add to that another stinky lunch detention with Lady Cadence, and Sophie thought the day couldn't get any worse. Then Dame Alina's projection appeared on the walls of study hall.

"Attention, prodigies. I've just gotten word from the Council that a special announcement will be made tomorrow morning. Your parents are being contacted as we speak, but make sure they know to look for an official scroll to be delivered to your homes tomorrow morning with specific instructions for when to read."

She blinked away without any additional explanation, leaving the prodigies to whisper and speculate about what might be happening.

Sophie already knew.

She tried not to cry, tried to remind herself that it didn't change anything.

But all she could think was, Tomorrow it will be real.

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The letter from the Council was delivered the next morning by a courier in a bright green cape, and came with the instruction to open it at precisely 10:00 a.m. The hour-and-seventeen-minute wait was agony—and even though Sophie knew what the message would say, she still burst into tears when she read the precise black script.

It is with our deepest regrets that we inform you that Alden Vacker has been lost to us all. A seed will be planted in the Wanderling Woods at midday for any who would like to pay their respects.

"You don't have to go," Grady told Sophie as she wiped her eyes.

She shook her head. She didn't want to go—and she was not going to say goodbye. But of course she was going to be there.

Grady and Edaline didn't argue, and Sophie excused herself to go to her room. She tried to figure out what she was feeling as she rifled through her clothes—clothes Della had personally picked for her after Fitz and Meredith brought her to the Lost Cities—but it was a mix of too many emotions.

Calm! Silveny told her, filling her mind with a rush of warmth. Sophie used it to fuel her as she showered and changed into the emerald green gown she'd chosen. Tiny diamonds dotted the bodice, and the full skirt had so many layers of tulle she was guaranteed to trip at least a dozen times. She felt completely ridiculous as she fastened a jeweled velvet cape across her shoulders, tied part of her hair back with a green satin ribbon, and brushed gloss on her lips. But she knew Della would want everyone to dress their best.