Swan Song

Chapter Twenty Nine

oH SHOOT I FORGOT TO POST IT ON THIS ACCOUNT.

Fairly fast update, right? Don't get too used to it, lol, it's only a matter of time before I go on a six month hiatus like I did with KOTLC Reads KOTLC over on Fanfiction.net- but I'm back, so go read it! (Shameless self promotion!) Just kidding, I won't disappear for six months-

Crowd: Darn.

-but I might get a heck of a lot slower with updates at some point, so enjoy this while you can!

Guess what, guys? YOU GET A GIRLS' NIGHT! YAYYYYYY!

Sophie was very stressed.

Well, she was always stressed, really. But especially so right now.

Everything she and Stina had learned had been relayed to the council, and Sophie was so stressed that she almost forgot to tell Oralie. For once, she thought, these incompetent fools better do something right. The mental list of real names that Blur had given them was given, and she hoped that the council would arrest everyone as soon as possible- though a few of those names weren't in the registry, meaning that they had probably already been banished, which was unhelpful, and it seemed like there were more members listed by ability than by name. The Level Four mesmer's real identity remained unknown- that was frustrating.

They had two weeks to get all of Gildingham's security measures into place. And no matter how many times Sandor insisted that they were already strong beyond belief, it didn't feel like nearly enough. A few Councillors decided that they would send someone to go into Nightfall. Sophie doubted that doing so would work- after all, she and her friends barely escaped, and Biana's scars proved just how dangerous that was.

The Black Swan had countless meetings within the next few days. Plans for fighting, trying to guess what the Neverseen's battle tactics would be (Blur and Axel didn't know,) working with the goblins on their own battle tactics, figuring out counterattacks for the various abilities the Neverseen had. And training. And training.

And training.

Mr. Forkle- as Magnate Leto- had excused Sophie and her friends from their schoolwork in favor of training. Any other time, Sophie would have been overjoyed to not have to write essays on Elvin History- but even that would be preferable to the anxiety that this whole "Neverseen Attack On Gildingham" thing.

In conclusion, Sophie was very stressed.

And just when she thought her stress levels couldn't get any higher, as they got closer and closer to the day of the attack, they did.

Two days remained before the attack was scheduled when Sophie's friends decided to, in Biana's words, "De-stress the Fos-Bos." No matter how much Sophie protested, insisting that they couldn't waste time, that they would focus on surviving the rest of the week and then worry about her mental health, that there were much more important things to be done, Biana was relentless with organizing a Girls' Night. To her dismay, Marella and Linh agreed. And then her parents agreed that it would be a great idea for Sophie to take a few hours off of work and training and STRESS to hang out with her friends and be a normal teenager.

Those traitors.

And that was how Sophie ended up standing right outside Everglen, a backpack slung over one shoulder and a sleeping bag in her hands. Right before the door opened, Sophie's stress about the Neverseen almost completely blotted out her stress about the love triangle... and then Fitz opened the door.

She didn't know how to feel when she stared into his teal eyes. Sort of a combination between instant forgiveness and hugging him and strangling him and throwing him at a chandelier.