Unlocked: A Sokeefe story

Chapter 6

SOPHIE POV

The announcement of Sophie's Regent title loomed just around the corner, and she was a mess of nerves and jitters. Biana, Dex, and Keefe were all trying to convince her that she was going to be fine, but she couldn't help but wonder what reaction everyone would give, seeing as a child was being appointed to the nobility. That's all she was, right? An inexperienced, small-minded child? The thought of that made her want to hand her Regent articles to an adult, saying, "Isn't this your job?"

She could not, however, do anything of the sort. The entire elvin world was relying on her to take down the Neverseen, as the Moonlark, and a Regent. At least, she thought, her friends would be there to cheer her on and support her.

Everyone but Fitz, that is. He was bitter about something, and it had driven her crazy the past few weeks, wondering what she could have said or done to make him feel like that. She pushed the thought from her mind, though, only because she had a much bigger problem to worry about. The Counselors were expecting her to give a speech, one that was supposed to ensure the Elvin world that the Counselors had everything under control, and give another, much shorter speech to inspire them.

Panicking about everything, from witch Regent articles to wear to the speech that was due in four days' time, she hailed Keefe. He responded to her invite with much enthusiasm, and in minutes, he was knocking on the door of her bedroom. She stood up and ran to the door, yanking it open and throwing her arms around him, mumbling a semi-incoherent "Thank you."

"No problem, Foster. Glad to be needed." She pulled away, and the expression on his face could only be described as cocky. Pondering about what that meant, then shoving it out of her mind to focus on the bigger problem, she started talking way too fast to be understandable.

"Slow down, Foster. I can't understand a word you're saying." She took a deep breath, then tried again.

"In four days, I have to make a speech to the entire Elvin world about how we're winning the war against the Neverseen, even though we're clearly not, and write the whole thing myself. Also, I have no idea what to wear, and I didn't want to ask Biana about it because I knew she would give me a full makeover and not help me at all with the speech, the one thing I need the most help with. So will you please, please, please, please, please help me?" She let out a sigh of relief when he agreed, a warm smile spreading across his face.

o0oOo0o

"Are you trying on every dress in your closet, or actually picking out ones that you like?" Keefe called from Sophie's bedroom, "Because if you keep this up, the speech is never going to get done." He was right, which she was unable to admit, that she was trying on every dress because she had no idea what to wear. She had a few in mind, but wasn't sure if they were actually pretty or just looked really comfortable. She slipped into another dress, certain at least that Ro would like it. It was a yellow ball gown that had a train that was too long in her opinion, and it dipped and squeezed in a way that made her blush. She stepped out of the closet, meeting Keefe's gaze.

"Do you want me to sugarcoat it, or just give you the truth?" he asked, eyes lingering on her chest for a split second before returning to her eyes.

"The truth would be helpful." she replied. He took a deep breath, then spoke.

"Don't get me wrong, it's really pretty, but... it's not you, if you know what I mean. You look uncomfortable, to say the least, and you wouldn't last a minute before tripping over the train." She shot him a pointed glare at the last comment, then slipped back in her closet and gratefully removed the dress. She walked over to the opposite corner of her closet, searching for anything that looked even remotely comfortable. Then she remembered the other dresses.