Шеннон Мессенджер - Keeper of the Lost Cities

“Thank you,” she said, proud of the strength in her voice.

“That being said, you stand before us today accused of very serious charges. What have you to say in your defense?”

She’d spent all night drafting the perfect apology for her actions, but she’d thrown it away before leaving Everglen. She wasn’t sorry for what she’d done, and she wouldn’t pretend otherwise. Oralie would know she was lying, anyway.

Sophie cleared her throat and addressed the entire Council—even Bronte. “I never wanted to break the law, and I don’t plan on doing it again. But people were losing their houses. People were dying. I know they were humans, but I couldn’t sit back and let it happen. I’m sorry if that’s a crime. I won’t argue if you punish me for my choice, but I firmly believe it was the right decision. I’d rather be punished for making the right decision than live with the guilt of making the wrong one for the rest of my life.”

Murmurs and whispers filled the room until Emery cleared his throat. Silence fell as he closed his eyes and placed his hands over his temples.

Most of the Councillors ignored her as they debated, but Terik glanced her way, shooting the tiniest wink when their eyes met. She hoped it was a good sign, but she couldn’t be sure. Emery held out his hands to silence the arguments raging in his head. His eyes locked with Sophie’s, his face unreadable.

“Thank you for your honesty, Miss Foster. While some of us”—he glanced at Bronte—“feel that your attitude is disrespectful and rebellious, none of us can deny that your actions uncovered a problem and conspiracy we ourselves had overlooked, and for that we owe you our gratitude. We can’t, however, simply ignore the fact that laws were broken.”

She sucked in a breath, preparing for the worst as the whispers and murmurs buzzed in her ears like static.

“There was much debate on what proper punishment would be,” Emery continued, with another sidelong glance at Bronte, “but a decision has been reached—and it is unanimous.” He cleared his throat. “Considering the fact that we, as your rulers, failed to protect you from recent unfortunate experiences, we feel that it would be inappropriate to assign any further punishment. Your transgressions will go on your permanent record, but your punishment will be marked as ‘already served’ and that will be the end of the matter. Is that understood?”

It took a second for the words to sink in—and another after that for her racing mind to realize he expected a response. “Yes,” Sophie practically sang, as the murmurs turned into chatter around her.

Punishment already served. Could that really be it? Could it really be over?

“Which brings us to the matter of your Foxfire admission,” Emery shouted over the din, his words like a giant pin bursting the bubble she’d been floating in.

The room fell silent. Sophie’s heart thundered in her chest.

“Miss Foster, you were admitted to Foxfire on a provisional basis, and the matter was to be revisited once we’d seen your performance in your sessions. Due, however, to the aforementioned unfortunate experiences, you missed all of your final exams and are currently failing all of your sessions. And in order to preserve the integrity of our testing process, we cannot allow the exams to be made up at this time. So we’re at a bit of a loss as far as how to proceed.”

Bronte opened his mouth and Emery cut him off. “Your suggestion has been noted, Councillor Bronte. We are, however, hoping to hear a few other suggestions before we decide. I open this up to Miss Foster’s Mentors. Can any of you see a solution to her grade issues?”

Whispers hissed through the auditorium as all of her Mentors rose from their front row seats and bowed their respect.

“If I may offer a suggestion,” Tiergan said, smoothing his intricate blue cape as he stood and bowed. He’d dressed up for the occasion—it looked fancier than Lady Galvin’s.

“Ah, Sir Tiergan,” Emery said, his voice with a harder edge. “It’s been a long time since you’ve stood before us.”

“Yes. And I hope this time my appeal will be more successful,” he murmured.

Emery waved his hand, signaling that the floor was his.

Tiergan shuffled his feet. “Sophie is the most talented Telepath I’ve ever worked with, and I cannot imagine failing her for any reason. If you need proof that her skills hold up under test, well, I can’t think of any better proof than the fact that she managed to transmit halfway across the world to Fitz and send a mental image to guide him to her location—all while her body was fading away. For that alone I’d give her one hundred percent, if the Council would accept it.”

Sophie resisted the urge to run across the room and hug him.

There was a moment of silence before Emery nodded. “We would. But if she were to continue her studies at Foxfire, she would require a Mentor, and our records indicate you aren’t planning to return.”

“I would be willing to extend my stay as Mentor, provided Sophie could remain as my prodigy,” Tiergan agreed, looking only at Sophie.

She nodded, hoping he knew she appreciated his sacrifice. She knew how much he despised being part of the nobility.

“Excellent.” Emery turned to the other Mentors. “Anyone else have anything to add?”

Lady Anwen stepped forward. “Sophie knows more about the human species than any prodigy I’ve had, so I’ll gladly give her one hundred percent in multispeciesial studies. She was already passing with flying colors.”

Several of the Councillors nodded their agreement. Bronte scowled.

“The fact that she was able to pull herself back from fading away settles the mind over matter debate quite nicely,” Sir Faxon added. “And should definitely count for one hundred percent in metaphysics.” He bowed, and stepped aside to let Lady Dara forward.

She dipped an elaborate curtsy. “Sophie didn’t just learn history, she made history. Textbooks will be written about her someday, and I’ll not have them saying she received anything less that one hundred percent in my session.”

Hope flared in Sophie’s heart, but she tried to squash it. She still had her toughest Mentors left. She held her breath as Lady Alexine stepped forward.

“I think the fact that Miss Foster was able to leap an injured friend without a nexus and both of them survived to tell the tale is more than enough to earn her one hundred percent on her physical education exam.”

“And she found an unmapped star,” Sir Astin added. “Not to mention she has the stars memorized . She definitely deserves one hundred percent in the Universe.”

All the Councillors were smiling at this point—except Bronte. He turned his murderous glare on Sir Conley as he bowed and cleared his throat.

“Sophie successfully bottled a sample of Everblaze—something I doubt even I could’ve done. It would be absurd to give her anything less than one hundred percent in elementalism.”

The room seemed to hold its breath as all eyes turned to Lady Galvin.

She stood behind the others, fingering the jewels on her dark purple cape.

“Anything you would like to add?” Emery asked when she didn’t say anything.

Lady Galvin cleared her throat. “This will not be a popular decision, but Miss Foster barely passed her midterm and has struggled with my session all year. There’s no way I can justifiably pass her.”

Silence throbbed through the room as Emery frowned. “Nothing will change your mind?”

She turned to Sophie as she shook her head. “I’m sorry.” She sounded like she meant it.

The crowd buzzed with murmurs of displeasure, but Sophie could hear Stina’s cackle rise above it all. Right then she would’ve given anything to be a Vanisher and disappear.