Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities) (48 page)

She focused on the rush, and imagined her concentration wrapping around the flow and shooting it into Alden’s mind.

Nothing happened.

She concentrated harder, transmitting images of Alden’s family and friends and sending them along with the rush as she told him,
People love you, Alden. People need you.

Come back for them.

She repeated the call over and over and over, and with each repetition the warmth rose.

Feeding it.

Fueling it.

She was close.

He
was close.

But she needed something else to push him that last little bit, something to convince him he
had
to come back. And that’s when she realized what was missing.

I can fix Prentice.

The words had barely entered Alden’s mind when the warmth exploded around her in a geyser of heat and sparks, launching her consciousness up up up, blasting away the darkness and the cold and uncovering fragments of memories that slowly started piecing themselves together.

Alden?
Sophie called, trying not to panic in the endless second that followed.

Then Alden’s weak voice transmitted,
I’m back.

T
HE MINUTES AFTER ALDEN OPENED
his eyes were such an overwhelming flurry of laughter and tears that all Sophie could do was hold on and soak it up as everyone cheered and sobbed and crushed them both with hugs and kisses.

Then Elwin stepped in, made sure Sophie was okay, and herded everyone except family out so he could check Alden over.

As soon as they were downstairs, the Councillors started an intense debate over what to do now, and soon Grady, Edaline, and Tiergan had all joined in. But Sophie couldn’t think coherently enough to participate. She was too stuck on the fact that Alden was back.

He’d looked at her and smiled as she left the room.

A real smile. An
Alden
smile.

“We did it,” Keefe said, wrapping an arm around her and fist pumping the air. “Team Foster-Keefe triumphed! Clearly this is proof that we should work together more often. I’m sure Glitter Butt would agree.” His smile faded. “How’s she doing, by the way?”

“Her bones haven’t responded to any of our healing elixirs. We’ll have to wait for her to heal on her own. And she can’t move her wing right now because of the splint, so we won’t be able to tell if she can fly until it’s removed. But she was able to walk, eat, and drink this morning—and she’s still transmitting like crazy.”

“Wow, really? I figured that would’ve stopped.”

“Yeah, me too.”

She tried to keep her emotions even so he wouldn’t guess that she had anything to hide, but she could still feel him staring at her as she reached up to tug out an itchy eyelash.

Fortunately, Elwin came to the rescue.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said as everyone fell silent. “Alden would like to have a word with Sophie.”

“IT’S STRANGE HOW MUCH HAS
changed in two weeks,” Alden whispered, after he’d asked her a billion questions about what had gone on while he was out of commission. “I feel like I’ve missed everything.”

“Don’t worry. With the way things go around here, I’m sure there’s plenty more excitement to come.”

“I’m afraid you might be right.”

So was she—though after facing all of this, she felt like she could handle
anything.

“I’m just glad it worked,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t sure if it would, since you hadn’t been trained to retreat to the nook or save any part of yourself. How did you know?”

“I don’t think I did.” Alden stared out the window. “I’d been fighting the break day by day. Minute by minute. The only thing that kept me going was my family. I knew it would destroy them if I shattered, and I tried to hold on for them. But when I saw Prentice in Exile, I thought I was done. I felt the cracks form, felt myself fall through, and I thought,
I’ve failed
.”

“That was a break?”

Alden nodded. “I didn’t tell anyone because I came back, and I thought that meant I’d fought to stay with my family. That I was strong enough to keep fighting. That I was safe. But then I saw Wylie and I thought about him growing up without a family—because of
me
, and—”

His voice broke and he wiped away a tear. “I think you must’ve pulled me back that first time in Exile—maybe my mind was so newly cracked that your ability could still work, I don’t know. But it had nothing to do with me. I was weak. And the second time, the cracks were too big, too deep. I sank into them and everything collapsed.”

“You must’ve held on somehow. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

“Maybe. I do remember thinking about my family as I shattered, so it’s possible some small part of me held on. But if it hadn’t been for you . . .” He took her hand, staring at the star-shaped bruise. “I don’t know how to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Sophie—and for my family.”

“You’re back. That’s all the thanks I need. Just, take care of yourself, get stronger, and if you start to feel any more guilt, remind yourself that I
will
fix Prentice. As soon as the Council lets me.”

And if they wouldn’t let her, she’d find a way to do it anyway. She could teleport now. She didn’t need their permission to get to Exile.

“Leave that up to me,” Alden said, interrupting her scheming. “The Council and I will be having a very long talk about—well, a lot of things.”

“Are you up to that?”

“I will be soon. No reason to worry.”

She smiled at the familiar words, relieved when Alden smiled too. And for the first time in a long time, she actually believed them.

“WE STILL HAVE TO DISCUSS
the matter of the alicorn,” Bronte announced as Sophie joined the Councillors outside. Elwin and Tiergan were inside, helping the Vackers, but Keefe had stayed with Grady and Edaline.

Sophie had to bite back her groan. “You can’t be serious, Bronte.”

“Oh, but I am. Treason is a very serious matter.”

“Treason?” she repeated.

“Bronte, we are not going to discuss exiling this family after everything they’ve done today,” Councillor Emery said firmly.

“Everything
Sophie
has done today,” Bronte corrected. “And while
I
don’t personally subscribe to the notion that a good deed can erase a bad, I’m not a fool. I know I’ll be overruled on that.”

Kenric, Oralie, Emery, Terik, and two Councillors that Sophie didn’t know all nodded. She made a mental note of her supporters.

“I do, however, remember that Grady admitted to granting permission for this treasonous act—and before you go arguing that he was trying to help ‘fix’ his daughter, need I remind you that when he was reinstated as an Emissary, he swore an oath to put the good of our world above his own life? It’s the same oath we’ve
all
sworn and
all
made tremendous sacrifices to uphold. Are we going to allow Grady to subvert it with no consequences, especially given that his actions led to the likely crippling of the most important creature in our world?”

“Hey—it’s just a broken wing,” Keefe argued, backing up when Bronte reeled on him.

“
Just
a broken wing? That wing is the primary method of transportation for this creature—not to mention there will surely be psychological effects as well. Animals lose their instinct to breed—even, at times, their will to live—when they
suffer so serious an injury. And I doubt I need to remind any of you how vital it is that Silveny thrive.”

“You want to blame someone, track down our attackers,” Sophie snapped. “
They’re
the ones who hurt her.”

“Oh, we intend to,” Bronte told her. “But Grady still allowed her to be in harm’s way.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “Please, she was in harm’s way in our pastures! The attackers have clearly been watching and planning. Sooner or later they would have found an opportunity.”

“But they didn’t need one, because Grady handed it to them on a silver platter.”

Edaline reached for Grady’s hand as several of the Councillors murmured among themselves.

“Even if we do concede to your point—which has
not
been decided,” Councillor Emery said after a second, “I hardly feel such an offense merits exile. Especially considering the alicorn may very well recover.”

“ ‘May very well’ and ‘will’ are not the same. And the timing must also be considered.” Bronte had the gall to smile as he folded his hands and said, “Grady gave his word that he would have the alicorn ready to present to the Sanctuary during the Celestial Festival amid great fanfare and spectacle. In light of that promise, we announced a tremendous celebration. It was partially to repair the rift caused by Alden’s loss—which is obviously no longer needed. But we also aimed to prove to the
people of our world that they should have hope and trust and faith in their Council. What message will it send now when we not only cannot deliver—but present them with a wounded alicorn who could very easily never recover?”

No one seemed to have an answer, and each second of silence felt heavier as it passed.

“Silveny might still be able to fly,” Sophie mumbled, knowing even as she said it that the chances were slim. The Celestial Festival was only four days away.

“Might, Miss Foster? You expect us to hang our hopes on
might
?”

“He’s right,” Councillor Emery said—though he didn’t look happy about it. “We’ll need to cover with an alternate spectacle,
and
find a way to make it clear to the people that the change is not a sign of our incompetence.”

“And the best way to do that is to be able to inform them that the person responsible is being punished to the fullest extent of our laws. It’ll send a message to the attackers, too, hopefully deterring any further attempt.”

Kenric stepped forward when no one else did. “I will not concede to a Tribunal, Bronte. No matter how you try to twist it, there’s nothing about what happened that would merit us locking Grady away in Exile like a murderer.” He turned to the other Councillors. “That’s not justice. That makes us just as cruel and reckless as the rebels we’re trying to prevent. And if that’s the kind of action we would consider to try and prove
our worthiness, then we deserve every bit of criticism we’re getting.”

A stunned silence followed, until Oralie moved beside him. “I agree.”

“As do I,” Councillor Emery said before closing his eyes. “And it appears all the others agree as well.”

Bronte’s frown looked more like a snarl. “So we’re just going to let him go unpunished?
That’s
the precedent we’re going to set?”

Councillor Terik sighed. “Perhaps we can come up with an alternative punishment.”

That sparked an enormous debate, where the Councillors suggested everything from a public scolding, to relocating Grady to a permanent position at the Sanctuary, and everything in between.

“Can I say something?” Sophie asked when she couldn’t stand it anymore.

She took a deep breath as everyone fell silent, letting the idea settle in so she could accept it.

“We’re waiting, Miss Foster,” Bronte snapped.

She glanced at Grady, reminding herself why she was doing this as she said, “I can make sure that Silveny still makes a dramatic appearance during the festival.”

“How?” Bronte demanded. “Light leaping doesn’t count, and last I checked, flight was a key element to her teleporting.”

She’d thought so too. But she’d realized why the sensation
felt familiar as she teleported them away from their attackers. She’d done it before—when she made that impossible jump during base quest.

She wasn’t blinking. She was making tiny, unplanned “slips.”

Which meant she didn’t have to fly.

She just had to
fall.

“I can give you guys a far bigger ‘spectacle’ than you ever imagined,” she said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. “And if I do, everything will be exactly the way we promised it would be, so no punishment would be needed.”

“And what is this alleged spectacle?” Bronte demanded.

“It’s . . . a surprise,” Sophie stalled, not ready to reveal her secret. She’d have to now—and she would. But she would take any extra time she could get.

Bronte snorted. “You expect us to just blindly trust you to surprise us with some phenomenal thing—”

“Yes. I do. I think what I’ve done today more than proves that I can do things everyone thinks are impossible.”

Several of the Councillors murmured in agreement. Bronte rolled his eyes.

Sophie turned to Councillor Emery. “But I’d need your word that there will be no more discussion of punishment—for any of us. Grady. Edaline. Keefe. Sandor. Me. We’re all safe or no deal.”

“And why do we need
your
spectacle?” Bronte snapped. “We’re perfectly capable of making one on our own.”

“Maybe. But mine will deliver on the promises you made and save you from looking bad—which I thought was the whole point.”

“It is,” Kenric agreed. “I say, deal.”

“Deal,” Councillor Terik agreed, along with several others.

Bronte’s scowl was so deep it looked like his face had sunken in. But he knew he was trapped. “Fine, I’ll agree to this
deal
—for now. But if anything goes wrong . . .”

He didn’t finish the threat, but it wouldn’t have mattered.

Sophie was afraid of many, many things.

But she wasn’t afraid of herself anymore.

She could do this.

She just had to trust. And be willing to take the first leap.

A
RE YOU READY FOR THIS?
Sophie transmitted as she stroked Silveny’s shimmering nose.

The earth’s shadow had just started its slow path across the moon, making a red-orange eclipse in the starry sky. The Celestial Festival would be well under way, which meant she and Silveny were almost to their cue.

They were the finale.

Ready
, Silveny transmitted, but without her usual enthusiasm.