“It is,” Sophie agreed, tugging on her eyelashes.

She’d started wishing on them every time one slipped free.

Please wake up, Keefe.

Please, please, please.

“It helps to keep busy, though,” Fitz added quietly. “That’s why I’m here. I know you haven’t wanted to leave Keefe alone. But… I’m guessing you’re dying to go home and take a shower, change your clothes—”

“You trying to tell me I smell bad?” Sophie interrupted, smiling when Fitz’s eyes widened. “I’m kidding. I know that’s not what you meant.”

“I know,” Fitz said, staring at his feet. “I just… wasn’t sure if you’d ever tease me again.”

Sophie sucked in a breath.

Fitz paced to the other side of the room, dragging a hand down his face so hard, it made his features get all stretched.

“The thing is, Sophie—I know this isn’t the right time or place to do this—and I know I’m the one who messed everything up. But… I just… I need you to know that I miss you, okay? I miss my girlfriend. So if there’s anything I can do to fix it… let me know. Even if all you want to be is friends, I’d take that. I just… I miss you. And I wanted you to know that. And now I can’t stop rambling, and it’s making this really awkward.”

It was.

But it also made it sweet.

And when their eyes met, Sophie felt the familiar flutter in her chest.

But.

“I miss you, too, Fitz. You have no idea. And I will do anything for us to be friends again. But… just friends. For now, at least. There’s just… too much going on. And it was so much harder than I thought it would be, and I don’t know if that means I’m not ready or… I just know I can’t handle a boyfriend right now. But I’d really love my friend back. Can we do that?”

Fitz closed the distance between them, grabbing her hand and giving it a soft squeeze.

A friendly squeeze.

“Yeah, we can do that.”

Sophie squeezed his hand back. “Thank you.”

They stood like that for a few seconds, and the really amazing thing?

It wasn’t awkward.

Not even a little bit.

Even when Fitz met her eyes and said, “Well then, as your friend—and Keefe’s best friend, by the way—how about you take me up on my offer? Even if you only go for a few hours to shower and change—”

“Back to the shower hints again,” Sophie interrupted. “You really must think I smell bad.”

“No. I think you just need a break,” Fitz corrected. “That’s all.”

A break.

Maybe he was right.

“Okay,” she decided, stretching her legs as she slowly crawled out of her bed. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Fitz plopped down on one of the empty cots. “And I’ll be here. Probably throwing Prattles at his head, but hey… might wake him up.”

Sophie laughed, loving how easily they were already starting to joke with each other again.

“Thank you,” Sophie told him.

Fitz flashed one of his perfect smiles. “Anytime, Sophie. Anytime.”

FIFTY-THREE

EDALINE TOLD ME I’D FIND you out here,” a familiar voice said behind Sophie, and Sophie curled her knees into her chest, too tired to sprint for the cliffs and teleport away.

She was also too tired to realize for several more seconds that she didn’t actually need the cliffs to teleport anymore.

And she was definitely too tired to tell Silveny about how she could teleport like Wynn and Luna now, and find out if there was anything she needed to know about that.

That had been her plan when she’d headed outside and settled under the swaying branches of Calla’s Panakes—she was going to have a nice long chat with the exuberant mama alicorn and take her mind off of everything.

But the thought of hearing Silveny chant, Keefe! Keefe! Keefe! had made Sophie’s stomach fill with bubbling lava.

So she’d just sat there, watching the petals fall and trying to pick out the words to some of the drifting melodies—but there was too much noise in her brain.

Too many unanswered questions.

Too many worries.

Too many truths she wished she could unlearn.

And the noise only got louder when the person behind her said, “We really need to talk, Sophie.”

Clearly, ignoring the person wasn’t going to make her go away.

Refusing to use her name hadn’t been working very well either.

So Sophie took a long, steadying breath and gave her eyelashes a soothing tug before she forced herself to face her biological mother.

Of course Oralie looked as pretty and perfect as ever, from her fluttering pink gown to the shiny pink gloss painted across her lips. She must be so disappointed every time she saw her daughter’s boring tunics and lack of makeup—which actually made Sophie feel a little better about the whole mess.

Until she let herself wonder if Keefe had felt the same way every time he’d defied his parents—and if that same thrill had played a role in why he’d gone to Loamnore after he’d promised to stay away.

The line between defiant and destructive was a razor’s edge.

“What do you want?” Sophie asked, needing to get this conversation over with.

Oralie lowered herself to the grass and fanned out her gown like a Disney Princess. “I can see why you like spending time out here. It really is remarkable.”

“What do you want?” Sophie repeated.

Oralie sighed, her gaze turning distant as she reached out her hand, catching one of the falling blossoms. “I want so many things, Sophie. That’s always been my problem.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m really not up for the whole ‘here’s my sad backstory’ conversation—”

“I know,” Oralie told her, blinking back to the present. “That’s not what this is. I’m here because I need you to help me.”

Sophie shook her head. “That’s a super-bad idea. I’m sure someone on Team Valiant—”

“It’s about Keefe’s legacy,” Oralie interrupted.

Sophie froze—wondering if she’d ever be able to hear that word without wanting to vomit.

She doubted it.

But her jaw also tightened. “If this is some ploy—”

“It’s not,” Oralie assured her. “I… think I know how to find out more about what Lady Gisela’s planning for him—and what she did to him.”

“You think,” Sophie emphasized. “Yeah… forget it—I’m done with theories and guessing.”

Oralie grabbed Sophie’s arm to stop her when she tried to stand. “So am I. Don’t forget—I was in Loamnore too.”

“Yeah, doing nothing,” Sophie muttered.

Oralie flinched. “You’re right. I didn’t do enough. None of us on the Council did—and not just that day. All the days before. King Enki’s treason didn’t happen overnight. And if we don’t change the way we do things, it could happen again. We have to start facing our world’s darker truths instead of washing them away. That’s why I’m here.” She stared at the sky for a second before focusing on Sophie. “In Loamnore, Lady Gisela said ‘stellarlune,’ and I can’t get the sound of it out of my brain. It feels familiar but unfamiliar, like it should connect to something—but that something isn’t there anymore.”