after unlocked: a sokeefe fanfic

Epilogue

Sophie stacked her sheaf of papers neatly at the side of her desk, photographic memory filing away the last treaty in the corner of her mind she used for work. Mentally, she opened another file cabinet, and ran through the contents it held quickly, making sure she had signed it like she thought.

It was faster this way, storing everything in her head. That way she didn't have to stand and walk into the next room where her secretary worked to retrieve the more simple treaties and contracts.

Sophie glanced at her window, marking the position of the sun. It was slowly descending from the sky, casting shadows of her half closed blinds across the floor. The room next to Sophie's was silent; Sheiva had gone home hours ago.

Sophie stared at the ground for a moment, then glanced at the never ending pile of papers that seemed to grow larger everyday.

She wrinkled her nose at the papers and stood.

Tomorrow was her day off.

She'd just work overtime later the next week. Besides, those papers were fairly unimportant, compared to the "urgent" and "important" responses from pompous leaders.

News flash, people only ever marked them urgent so you'd read them.

Usually, that was.

Sophie strode to the cabinet in the corner. She flicked open the latch easily, using her telekinesis, and rummaged through the orange folders. Retrieving the letter to King Dimitar, she scribbled a quick signature on the bottom line and sealed it in an envelope.

She smiled with a tiny bit of pride at the sight of her initials stamped into the ice blue wax of the seal.

Quickly, she called Flori into the room, who swished the envelope away and disappeared. The little gnome had been offered a position over in the Neutral Territories, overseeing the many tribes working to cultivate the land for all people. The gnome had refused, asking instead to stay on as a backup bodyguard/messenger/gardener of Sophie's office.

Sophie had gladly accepted Flori's request, though she tried not to have her take too many messages a day.

Sophie clapped her fingers and the lights turned off in her main office. It was a huge room, simply furnished really. Burnished, honey colored oak furniture took up the space with its huge desk and comfortable chair. Three sofas, one long and two small, took up one corner of the room, while a table stood on the opposite end of the desk. Two large filing cabinets flanked the desk, each tucked into the back two corners of the room.

Simple, linen curtains fluttered from the late evening breeze coming from the open window, and Sophie crossed to pull the blinds up all the way. The cleaning gnomes would close up the office completely, and they always cleaned the windows.

Finally, all across the walls were scattered pictures, drawings, and other mementos.

Many of the pictures were of Amy and her boyfriend, Amy and her new dog, and old photo of Amy, Sophie, and their parents, taken when they were still children. There was even one of Amy and Sophie, taken three months ago.

Some of the photos were of Sophie and her friends, taken immediately after Amy had been smuggled in for Sophie's coronation as a councilor.

The other mementos were her graduation slips from Foxfire. Another, a rough edged piece of parchment that showed she had passed Exillium's trainings. Finally, there was one of a statement from Foxfire—one that stated that all were welcome into the Noble Levels of Foxfire, so long as their grades spoke of their excellence academically and in their skills. That is, so long as they also passed Exillium training, both on Foxfire campus and in the field for a month-long camping trip.