The Matchmakers

ELEVEN

"SO WHAT EXACTLY DID I do this time?" Sophie asked Alden as she flopped into the chair across his large desk. Over the years she'd come to view it as 'hers'—after all, she'd certainly sat in it more often than anyone else. Also, it was pretty comfortable, so in the scheme of things it wasn't too bad a place to get your daily dose of abysmal news.

Alden slumped down on the other side of his desk, straightening his line of pencils as he thought about how to phrase whatever news he was going to say. "It's not so much what you did as who you..."

When he trailed off Sophie sighed too. It must be bad if he was stalling like this. Alden wasn't usually a procrastinator. "Come on, Alden. Whatever it is, I can handle it. As long as you're not about to tell me someone died, I've definitely gotten worse news before."

Alden heaved a sigh and put his head in his hands. Although it frayed her nerves, Sophie let the silence drag on. She knew from experience Alden couldn't be rushed; he wouldn't speak until he was ready. And if she was honest wither herself, she was glad for the pause too. It allowed her to steel herself for the news that was to come, because obviously it wasn't going to be pleasant. Finally, he answered, "I wish things were different."

"But they aren't," Sophie said, forcing her voice to be light and cheerful. Not to say she didn't agree with him wholeheartedly, because she did. There were so many things she would go back and do differently if she could. For one, she would never have trusted Brant. She also would have saved Kenric from Fintan's Everblaze during the mind healing in Oblivimyre. Not to mention she would have found another way to save the gnomes. She should never have let Calla sacrifice herself. It was her responsibility to save the gnomes. They'd trusted her. Calla had trusted her. And she'd ultimately let them down.

Fighting her way out of the spiral of grief, Sophie cleared her throat and asked, "So what's the news?"

Alden slid a pile of papers across the desk. Sophie leafed through them in confusion. "This is my Matchmaker application, but why do you...? How did you...? What...?"

Alden cleared his throat. "The Council has decided not to approve your request for a Matchmaker's Scroll."

For a moment, Sophie didn't understand. "Excuse me?"

Alden heaved another huge sigh. "Frankly, I can't understand it either."

It seemed so inconsequential compared to the news she'd been expecting she almost laughed. In fact, she did. "Are you serious right now?"

Alden nodded hesitantly, frowning at her with concern, like her sanity finally may have splintered beyond repair. "I have to admit this isn't the response I was expecting from you."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm mad," Sophie said, the smile she couldn't erase from her lips slightly contradicting her statement, "but it just seems so small compared to what I expected. I have to admit I'm relieved."

"You're relieved you're not getting a Matchmaker's Scroll?" he asked, a puzzled expression crossing his face. Well, living with Della and Biana she couldn't blame him for being confused. He must think every girl was obsessed with the things.

"I thought you were going to say the Neverseen was back, or that we're at war with the ogres. Just give me a second to process." She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, careful not to let her fingers anywhere near her eyelashes as she sorted through her emotions. She had been excited about getting a Matchmaker's Scroll. Biana's enthusiasm was rubbing off on her. So she was a little irritated the Council's timing hadn't been better. Why couldn't they have decided this last week, when she still wasn't too keen on the idea?

She took a deep breath. That wasn't the real she was mad, though. Not if she was being honest with herself.

She retreated deep within her mind, trying to puzzle through it. And then it came to her. Slowly but surely, the Council was taking over the Black Swan's role. They were becoming her new handlers. They started out with controlling her class schedule. Then they tried to restrain her abilities. When that didn't work they restricted her use of them to in her classes—like with her Teleportation. Next they started trying to force her into a certain career. And now...now they were controlling her love life? That was too far, even for the Council. Didn't they have any sense of boundaries? No, they weren't going to get away with this. Sophie was done following them blindly. She had been done for a while. She just hadn't had the proper incentive to do anything about it until now.