Shades of Starlight (Hiatus)

Book Two: Chapter Sixteen

 Councillor Terik was surprised to hear from us so soon, and even more surprised by what we asked him. Apparently, Sophie's human things had been packed up and taken to Eternalia to be inspected. They'd found nothing significant, and Councillor Terik had no idea if they were still there or not.

"May I ask what you're looking for?" He asked us. Sophie and I exchanged a glance.

"We'd rather not say," I told him, hoping that it wasn't against the law. Councillor Terik laughed.

"I've always admired your gumption. I'll do my best to find what I can and be in touch tomorrow." His image disappeared from the screen. Sophie stared at it for a minute, blinking away tears. I knew that she was used to seeing Alden on her Imparter.

"Tomorrow, Soph. Don't worry, we'll find it," I said in soothing tones. She let out a shuddering sigh and nodded. I just wished that I could Beguile myself into thinking that everything was going to be okay.

Sleep was hard to come by that night. Sophie fell asleep immediately, but even though I was incredibly tired, my mind was going a mile a minute. Why hadn't Bronte looked impressed by our performance? Did I do something wrong? Wasn't the teleporting a good thing? Was the journal even going to be with the human things? What if they'd thrown Sophie's old stuff away?

I must have fallen asleep at some point during the night, because I woke up the next morning to Edaline knocking on Sophie's door.

"Why are you sleeping in my chair?" Sophie asked sleepily, sitting up in bed. I did a double-take, looking down. She was right. I was sprawled on her desk chair, a pencil in my lap. I didn't remember that.

"Wow, did you do these?" Edaline asked, indicating the drawings on Sophie's desk. I glanced at them, vaguely remembering doing them last night.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, picking them up one at a time. There were six drawings, all just in pencil.

The first was of Sophie sitting on Silveny in the valley we teleported to, surrounded by mountains under a cloudless sky. The second was of Keefe smirking next to the twelve arguing Councillors by Silevny's pasture. The third was of Stormy batting at Iggy on Sophie's bed. The fourth, of me in the air mid-flip, Silveny in the act of swooping under me. The fifth was one of two that weren't of yesterday's events, a portrait of Biana, Fitz, and Alvar in Everglen's kitchen. And the last one... I stared at the paper, confused. What was that from? It was a drawing of Mom standing in my room, wearing a long, dark cloak. She looked slightly concerned and a little scared, looking at something that wasn't in the frame.

Something tugged at my brain, trying to break free. Did that actually happen? I didn't remember anything like that. Maybe it was... from when I was recovering? But I could see my bed behind her... maybe from when Elwin first brought me to Candleshade to rest in my own house? That could be it, though I didn't recognize her cloak. Artistic license, maybe? I didn't remember much about drawing these. It had been so late last night.

I brushed the strange feeling off. It didn't matter, anyway. What mattered was that Edaline was carrying two full plates of food, and I was starving. Once we'd eaten, I got ready for school with the things I'd quickly leaped back to Candleshade for last night. After helping Vertina give Sophie some tips on hairstyles-her bedhead looked like a pineapple-we were ready to go.

"What's going on with you and Keefe?" Dex demanded during orientation, glaring at Sophie. I smirked evilly.

"Nothing. Yet. If I have anything to do with it." Sophie gave me a dirty look. Dex turned pale, then hardened. Of course, everyone knew Dex had a crush on Sophie... except Sophie. It was so obvious, though, that Sophie only thought of Dex as a friend. She needed to establish that, once she actually knew. Sophie could be pretty oblivious sometimes.