Keeper of the Lost Cities

TWENTY-SIX

DAME ALINA’S OFFICE WAS A tri-angular room with glass walls and a high, pointed ceiling at the apex of the pyramid at Foxfire. Morning sunlight streamed through the clear windows, but every other pane was a mirror, tilted at just the right angle to show Dame Alina’s reflection as she sat behind her mirrored desk, examining her hair from all sides.

Sophie kept her eyes on her hands as she confessed her crime. She didn’t want to see the disappointment on Alden’s or Tiergan’s face, or Dame Alina’s reflections glaring at her from every direction. This was so much harder than telling Grady and Edaline before she left for school. They’d just nodded, forgave her, and hoped she didn’t get in too much trouble.

“What do you think, Dame Alina?” Alden asked when Sophie finished. His voice was neutral. Not angry, but not gentle either.

Dame Alina pursed her lips. “She violated the ethical regulations of telepathy.”

“She did indeed,” Tiergan murmured. “And I’m sure some here feel she should be exiled for that.” He glared at Alden.

Sophie froze. Would the Council exile her? And here she’d thought all she was facing was expulsion.

Alden sighed. “No one is suggesting anything of the sort.”

Sophie released the breath she’d been holding.

“Right,” Tiergan grumbled, “because it would be absurd to exile an innocent girl. But a man with a family to care for—”

“I will not have this argument again, Tiergan. It was the Council’s ruling. I had no choice but to obey.”

“There’s always a choice,” Tiergan insisted quietly.

Sophie knew they were talking about Prentice, and she knew she should be curious. But ever since she realized he was the one who’d abandoned her, she didn’t want to be interested in what had happened to him. It hurt too much to think about.

“Now, now, boys,” Dame Alina said, rising from her chair with an elegant flourish. She smoothed her hair in her dozens of reflections. “Can’t we play nice?”

No one said anything.

Dame Alina sighed. Then she turned to Alden, flashing a wide smile. “What do you think the punishment should be?”

Tiergan snorted. “Yes, let’s leave it up to him. Why bother asking her telepathy Mentor how she should be punished for violating the rules of telepathy?”

“He’s the one reporting on her to the Council,” Dame Alina argued.

Sophie had to stifle her gasp. Alden was reporting on her too? How closely was the Council watching her?

“Yes, everyone knows he’s good at that,” Tiergan growled.

Alden sighed but said nothing.

“Don’t forget your place, Sir Tiergan,” Dame Alina said icily. “As long as you are a Mentor you will respect my authority. And I’d like to know what Alden advises.”

“Of course you do,” he said under his breath. “Everyone knows how you favor him.”

“Excuse me?” Dame Alina hissed.

Alden closed his eyes, shaking his head. But Tiergan straightened his shoulders, like he wasn’t backing down. “It’s hardly a secret that you tried to stop his wedding to Della.”

“Really?” Sophie blurted, unable to stop herself.

Dame Alina flushed bright red, and her mouth flapped a few times, like she wanted to speak but couldn’t get her tongue to work.

Alden ran his hands through his hair. “All of that is neither here nor there.”

“Isn’t it?” Tiergan asked. “This whole process is pointless. Sophie won a pardon from the splotching match. Can’t she hand that over and consider it punishment served?”

“And allow her to believe that cheating is tolerated?” Dame Alina huffed, still struggling to recover her dignity. “Certainly not.”

“But she didn’t actually cheat,” Tiergan pointed out.

“And the fact that we’re here at all tells us she regrets it. She didn’t have to confess,” Alden added.

Tiergan stared at him for a second, like he couldn’t believe they were on the same side.

“She should still have to serve detention, at minimum,” Dame Alina insisted.

“That’s ridiculous,” Tiergan argued.

“Can I say something?” Sophie asked, stunned by her sudden courage. Her mouth went dry as they all turned to stare at her. “I’ll serve the detention.”

Seeing how she’d disappointed everyone made her ill. She didn’t deserve to get off easy. And the smile hiding in the corners of Alden’s mouth told her she’d made the right decision.

Dame Alina nodded. “Good. Then I’m assigning you detention until the end of midterms, and you are not to tell anyone the reason you’re being punished, is that clear?”

“What will you tell Lady Galvin?” Sophie asked.

“I’ll explain the situation to her. No reason to worry.” The warmth in Alden’s voice melted the sickening guilt in her stomach. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but at least she’d be able to sleep at night again. Well . . . once she stopped worrying about her midterms. And Bronte.

One problem at a time.

It was becoming a theme in her life.

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” DEX asked when Sophie turned to head away from the cafeteria. So much for her plan of slipping away unnoticed.

She stared at her feet. “I can’t sit with you guys today. I have detention.”

“Detention?” they all repeated, loud enough to turn a few heads.

“How long do you have it for?” Dex asked.

“Till the end of midterms,” she mumbled.

“The end of midterms!”

Jensi whistled. “Dude. What’d you do?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She gave a small smile and bolted before they could ask more questions.

The detention hall was in the glass pyramid, one floor beneath Dame Alina’s office. The ceiling was low and the windows blocked more light than they let in, giving the room a gloomy atmosphere. Sophie tried to sneak in without being seen by the twenty or so other kids, but Sir Conley recognized her from their elementalism sessions.

“Welcome, Miss Foster,” he announced, and every head turned her way. He brushed a hand across his long dark hair and waved toward the rows of uncomfortable desks. “Take a seat and settle in. I have quite a treat for everyone today.”

She ignored the stares as she sank into the first empty chair. She caught Keefe’s eye from a desk in the corner. He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Ready for more siren song?” Sir Conley asked.

Everyone groaned.

“You have no appreciation for art or nature,” he grumbled, clapping his hands. An earsplittingly shrill whine—part whale song, part nails on a chalkboard, with just the right amount of screaming toddler—reverberated through the room. “Uncover those ears—I am broadening your horizons, and you will listen to every note!”

Everyone glared at him as they lowered their hands.

“What are you in for?” Keefe asked with a crooked smile. Somehow he’d slipped into the empty desk behind her.

“None of your business,” she whispered.

He laughed. “You keep claiming you’re not mysterious, but who are you kidding?”

She sighed. “What are you doing here?”

“Remember the reekrod someone put in Dame Alina’s office a few months ago?”

“That was you?”

“Of course. Took her long enough to trace it back to me.” He laughed, not even a little repentant. “Will you at least tell me how long I’ll get to enjoy your company here?”

She bit her lip. “Till the end of midterms.”

“Sounds like Miss Foster did something very bad. In the future you should leave the mischief making to me.”

Sophie cringed as a shrill whine rang through the air. “Is it always this loud?”

“Oh, no. That’s just Sir Conley. Tomorrow it’s Lady Belva.”

“What’s her brand of torture?”

“You’ll see.”

BALLROOM DANCING—THAT WAS LADY Belva’s idea of punishment. Given the choice, Sophie would have taken the screeching sirens any day.

The desks were shoved aside so the dances could be done in a line, like at old Edwardian balls. Keefe tried to grab her as his partner, but Lady Belva claimed him for herself and paired Sophie with Valin, one of Jensi’s greasy, ponytailed friends. His palms were cold and sticky and a blob of drool settled in the corner of his mouth and never went away. Keefe snickered every time it was her turn to promenade through the other dancers on Valin’s sweaty arm. She’d never been so happy to hear the bells chime the end of lunch.

“I hope you know Valin is in love with you now,” Keefe teased when he caught up with her in the hall.

“And you would know that because . . . ?”

“Please. You could see the stars in his eyes all the way across the room. They shined brighter than that blob of spit on his lips.”

She couldn’t help laughing. “You’re terrible.”

“I know.” He grinned wickedly. “But I’m serious. I bumped his arm on my way out the door, and he was crushing hard. The Sophie Foster Fan Club has a slobbery new member.”

She opened her mouth to argue when she caught what he’d said. “Wait—are you an Empath?”

He winked, reaching for her hand. “Want me to tell you what you’re feeling?”

She jerked away. “Thanks, I’ll pass.”

“Too bad I can read what you’re feeling even without physical contact.” His voice shifted up a few octaves as he fanned the air. “I hope Keefe’s right about Valin liking me. Guys who drool are so cute.”

“Will you keep your voice down?” she hissed, glancing around to make sure no one was within earshot.

Keefe laughed. He fanned the air again. “Hmm. Now I can tell you’re embarrassed. And a tiny bit irritated.”

“You’re wrong. I’m just irritated.”

“Nah. You’re flattered.” He scooted away before she could shove him.

They walked in silence for a minute before Sophie’s eyes dropped to her feet. “Could you really feel that I was irritated or were you guessing?”

“You look worried—you wouldn’t have something to hide, would you? A secret crush, maybe?”

“Never mind. Forget I asked.”

He cracked up. “It’s almost too easy to annoy you, you know that?”

She sighed.

“Oh, all right. If you must know, yes, your emotions are a little stronger than others. I can’t really understand what they are, but I can feel them—and no, I don’t know why, in case you’re going to ask. Scored me major points with my empathy Mentor when I told him, though.”

She wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so they walked in silence until the hallway forked and she went left at the same time Keefe turned right.

“See you tomorrow in detention,” he said with a smirk. “It’s Lady Galvin. Hope you’re good at ironing. It probably wouldn’t be good to burn more holes in her capes.”

He was gone before she could ask him if he was joking.

KEEFE WASN’T JOKING. LADY GALVIN brought an enormous stack of capes for the detained prodigies to iron and hang as their punishment. Sophie wasn’t allowed anywhere near them, forced instead to sit alone in the corner while Keefe winked at her and Valin stared and drooled. She wasn’t sure which was worse.

She spent most of the time glaring at the level on her nexus, which still hadn’t increased, despite practicing leaps with Grady. He kept telling her to give her brain time to get used to it—she was learning an entirely different way of making her mind work—but it was still annoying.

She flipped the nexus over so she couldn’t see the meter anymore, and her eyes found the sparkly aquamarine stone. Her mind wandered automatically to Fitz.

Someone cleared his throat.

Sophie locked eyes with Keefe. She turned away when he raised one eyebrow. It was a coincidence, she told herself. There was no way he could feel what she was feeling from all the way across the room. No Empaths were that powerful.

Still, she kept her mind on mundane things until the bells chimed.

“Oh, Miss Foster,” Lady Galvin called when she was halfway out the door. “How’s your studying going?”

Her mouth went dry. “Good.”

“Glad to hear it. You’re going to need it.”

She nodded and turned to leave.

“You might want to brush up on iron purification,” she added quietly.

Sophie spun back around. “Iron purification?”

“In case you’ve been wondering what to study. Your exam will be in that vein. Even you should be able to handle that.”

Lady Galvin waved her away and Sophie left the room in a daze.

Did she really tell her what would be on the test?

Did she really pick iron purification—the easiest transmutation in alchemy?

“How was detention?” Dex asked when she found him at the lockers.

“Good,” she said, still struggling to wrap her mind around what happened. Actually, it was better than good, but he was looking at her like she was a freak, so she didn’t elaborate as she traded books. “Hey, Dex?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think you can help me practice iron purification this weekend?”