The Matchmakers

ONE

SOPHIE AWOKE TO BRIGHT sunlight at an impossibly early time. Again. She must have forgotten to close the blinds the night before. Again. She sighed and stretched, accidentally knocking Iggy off the pillow next to her as she fell—bleary eyed—out of her bed. "Sorry Iggy," she mumbled, placing him back on the still-warm blankets before stumbling across her flowered carpet to her closet. Her uniforms were all hung near the entrance, so she tugged one off its hanger and headed to her bathroom, where she splashed some water on her face in an attempt to wake herself up.

It was her first day of Level Six at Foxfire. The last year she would ever have classes in the main building. She smiled at that thought as she hopped in the shower. The steam quickly heated her bathroom, and she felt her body slowly waking up as the hot water trickled over her skin.

She was excited, but Sophie would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous for the first day of school. The majority of her sessions were in the Silver Tower this year, and she didn't really like the idea of being around Master Cadence any more than she absolutely had to. Her relationship with her Linguistics mentor hadn't improved much over the past three years, but they were working on it. At least Master Cadence didn't groan anymore when Sophie tried to mimic.

Done with her shower, she turned off the water and threw her hair up in a towel. As she brushed her teeth, she contemplated her new uniform. The lame shirt-vest-half cape combo hadn't changed, and neither had the skirt. Except the color. Now they were plain white, devoid of the colorful excitement of the lower levels. She rinsed her mouth and pulled on the uniform, pausing to make sure the cape was securely fastened with her new yeti pin before heading downstairs.

Edaline was making breakfast, and Grady was reading some scrolls in the breakfast nook. He looked up with a smile when she entered, and laughed when he saw her hair. "I hope you're not going to school looking like that!"

"Very funny," she said, making a face and pulling off the towel. "My hair is still wet."

Still smiling, Grady returned to his papers.

"No matter how early I get up, I still can't beat you guys down here," Sophie groaned, collapsing onto the chair across from him. "I've decided you just don't sleep."

Edaline conjured three plates and three bottles of youth to the table as she sat next to her adopted daughter. "'Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,'" Edaline quoted.

"How do you know Ben Franklin proverbs?" Sophie asked, digging into her tubers and swizzlespice.

"You forget that the all elves in the nobility participated in the Human Assistance Program," Grady said without looking up from his scrolls.

"Let me guess"—Sophie cleared her throat and mimicked Grady's voice perfectly—"an elf actually came up with that particular proverb."

Grady rolled his eyes and finally looked up from his paper. "I never thought anything would be more annoying than Jolie conjuring things right out of my hands. I was wrong."

Sophie and Edaline shared conspiratorial smiles, and the scrolls in Grady's hands suddenly disappeared.

"Very funny," Grady said sarcastically. "Now give them back."

"Very funny," Sophie repeated in a perfect mimic of Grady's deep voice. "Now give them back."

The scrolls appeared in Sophie's hands. "Thank you, Edaline," she continued in Grady's voice. "Now let me get back to my very important business. Is mallowmelt more delicious than custard bursts?" Sophie stroked her chin in mock thought while staring off into the distance, and Edaline laughed so hard she started hiccupping. Sophie quickly followed.