Ugh it did the code thing I'm so sorry yalls but here it is, hopefully fixed. THis is chapter one of the THRILLING conclusion to my trilogy, The Truth, Through the Gap in the Curtains, and now Scattered Stars. It is rated... I think I rated it T but I might have forgotten to do that... it SHOULD be rated T for some blood and gore at the end, and maybe a bit of kissing, but nothing mature, I promise. Also, this chapter isn't that exciting because I was trying to come to terms with the setting, what's happened, etc. Next chapter will be better, I promise :) Also, I think I'm going to kill somebody at the end. But it will be a very heroic death, and the Neverseen will be deafeted. ALSO, if you haven't read The Truth, that's fine. I'm glad you didn't, because it was the first thing I ever wrote on here, so the first chapters are terrible. I do like the last one though. You probably SHOULD read Through The Gap in the Curtains before reading this one, but you'll probably pick up on most of the details even if you don't. Okay, done rambling now. Here's the chapter!
"Is that everything?" Sophie called over her shoulder to Fitz, who was back from his light leap to Everglen. She set down the box in her hands with a thump, rubbing her aching back.
"Yeah, that's all from my house," Fitz called back, coming into Sophie's new bedroom.
It was moving day in the Foster-Vacker household. Three months after their wedding, Sophie and Fitz had finally found a house to share. It had been a long day- ferrying boxes back and forth between their old houses, making sure they hadn't missed anything, unpacking a bit- Sophie was exhausted, but happy. They had started in the early morning, and now the sun was just beginning to dip lazily behind the mountains.
Sophie smiled softly as Fitz wrapped his arm around her, watching the sunset. God, she loved this boy. She loved spending time with him by her side. She loved the house they had bought together, loved the way it perched atop the hill. Loved the rolling hills all around, loved the uncovering of old memories and the promise of new ones.
The one thing she didn't love? The goats. Those things were everywhere, roaming all around outside their fenced-in garden, and one had managed to jump the fence and terrorize Iggy while Sophie had been unpacking inside. However, it was a small price to pay for this… bliss.
Well, almost. Keefe and Tam were doing fine, they had moved into their new house the week after they got married- but Biana was still living at Everglen with Alden and Della after Dex… no. she wasn't ready to think about Dex. It scared her too much.
There had been nothing out of the Neverseen for months now. Three whole months, almost four. And Dex had been one of Sophie's closest confidants- so Dex knew… everything. All their secrets.
Sophie shook her head slightly, and pushed those thoughts away, determined to let this day remain untarnished.
"Do you want to set out a table and have some dinner?: Sophie asked Fitz, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Then we could go see Keefe and Tam. Does that sound good?"
Fitz sighed contentedly. "It sounds perfect. I'll ask Ubalia to whip some stew for us."
Sophie nodded. "Perfect." Fitz kissed her on the head and slipped away to do that, and Sophie made her way downstairs and into the room they had selected to be their dining area. Frowning and closing her eyes, she snapped her fingers, and their table appeared with a pop. Sophie grinned in relief.
Her relatively new conjuring ability was still a work in progress. Sometimes nothing would happen when she snapped her fingers, and sometimes the thing she was thinking of would appear- but not all of it. It was a bit of a gamble every time. She closed her eyes, and snapped her fingers twice more. When she opened them, the table was set with a pristine white tablecloth, (she knew it would get a stain within the first meal, but oh well.) forks, knives, and spoons. The plates and bowls were in the kitchen.
Boxes were still stacked around the room, and Sophie hit her shin on one as she made her way out of the room, across the sparkling foyer, and past the stairs into the kitchen. The smell of stew cooking flooded the air here, making Sophie's mouth water.
She peeked around the corner, where she could see Ubalia, their resident gnome, stirring a pot of something hot and steaming. She was humming something that was making the roses outside the window open and close, like a time-lapse of a flower blossoming. Sophie watched the roses dancing for a moment, reminded of her magical wedding night with Fitz.
"That smells delicious, Ubalia," she said, and the small gnome jumped.
"Oh! Thank you, Miss Foster," she said, halting her stirring and turning to face Sophie. "I'm so sorry, Miss, I didn't see you there."
Sophie smiled uncomfortably at the formality of the greeting. She still didn't quite get the elf-gnome partnership.
"Please, Ubalia, call me Sophie. I just came to see if you would like some help in here?"
"No, Miss- Sophie. Don't worry about me. I can manage," said the gnome, wringing her green-tinted hands.
"Are you sure? I could just wash those dishes," Sophie said, her eyes flicking to the sink, where a behemoth pile of dirty dishware was stacked.
"Well…" Ubalia said, flushing a pretty shade of green, "If you really don't mind, the dishes… if you could do the dishes, that would be nice."
"Of course!" Sophie said, smiling at her kindly. She walked over to the sink and ran the water. She grabbed a sponge and some soap and began to scrub down a small pot. If felt good to be able to help somebody- even if it was just a single gnome, and not the entire elven world.
"Ubalia, this seems like a lot of work for you, and I don't want you to get lonely- I think I'll ask on of my friends back at Havenfield to come and work here. She's really nice, you'd like her."
"Oh, Sophie- please don't go to any trouble over me. I'm supposed to worry about you, not the other way around. That's what everyone says."
Sophie frowned. "Who's everyone? What do they say?" she asked, her hands still submerged in the warm, soapy water.
Ubalia gave the stew one last stir, and took it off the heat. "I don't mean to offend you, but they say… you're very accident prone. They also say you're our only hope. I took this job to protect you from what's coming. The Neverseen have reached the final phase of their Lodestar Initiative."
Ooooh exciting right? Haha we'll see. I hope you enjoyed, my lovely taco people! Thank you! alsoreviewswouldbejustgreatimneedysorry.
xoxo,
Cress