Love Through War

C h a p t e r T w e n t y n i n e

Sophie's POV.

Keefe's arms went stiff around Sophie and she pulled away, smile wavering.

On the outside, Keefe was a fun-loving prankster without a care in the world. But Sophie saw past that, past the mischievous twinkle in his ice blue eyes that hid a mask of pain.
Of course, Keefe was still incredibly artistic and teasing, no one could take that away from him.
But if you looked deeper, you'd see what lies underneath. Pain, self-doubt, self-loathing.

And now, Sophie saw his eyes flash with those feelings he kept bundled up.

"Keefe?" She asked and followed his gaze.

A few feet away stood Lord Cassius and Lady Gisela, scowling at their son bitterly.

Sophie wanted to slap herself. Keefe was supposed to be at Exillium. What were his parents thinking now that he'd escaped?

"Uh, hi," Sophie said and stepped closer to the clan leaders. "Um, so, Keefe here—"
What was she supposed to say? That Keefe had escaped banishment after only week at Exillium? That she'd secretly been seeing their son for about a month now? No. She should approach the topic delicately.

But before Sophie could say anything more, Lady Gisela started speaking.
"Keefe Sencen," she snapped, eyes ablaze. "How are you here? This is an interrupting a vary important moment in our history."

Keefe didn't respond, though Sophie could've swore she heard him mutter "Good to see you too," before turning to her.

"Foster," he started. "You should go back to your parents, I can handle them."

"No," Sophie fought. Why wouldn't Keefe want her to be there? "I'll stay with you."

"Please," Keefe stared at her pleadingly.

Sophie searched him face. Could his relationship with his parents be that bad?
The family Keefe had arrived at Eternalia with seemed to sense what was going on, and moved away closer to the stage to give them privacy.

The boy Keefe's age was not-so-subtly glancing over his shoulder at them occasionally.

"Fine." Sophie exhaled and turned away.

"Thank you," Keefe said, relief evident in his voice as he walked over to his glaring parents.

What didn't he want to her to hear?

Curiosity took over Sophie and she dashed behind a wide tree trunk to eavesdrop.

She knew it was wrong. She was listening to private conversation that Keefe obviously didn't want her to be a part of. But why?

Sophie watched as Keefe stared at Lord Cassius and Lady Gisela. No one spoke for a long moment, but eventually Lord Cassius broke the crushing silence.

"Son," he started harshly. "I have no idea why your here or how he could've possibly gotten out of Exillium given he didn't order a release, you better have a good explanation."

Keefe exhaled. "Look, I know it's probably a disappointment seeing me but I thought that if you guys were going to sign a peace treaty then it wouldn't matter as much that I escaped." He looked down at his feet, but Sophie knew he felt no guilt.

"Wouldn't matter?" Gisela asked, flaring. "Wouldn't matter that you escaped banishment? Wouldn't matter that even though you were exiled for murder no one would care? How could have you think this wouldn't matter? Of all the thoughtless things you could've done—"

Sophie was ready to punch Lady Gisela at that point.

"So what?" Keefe asked, shooting them his own glare. "Are you going to send me back? It is so bad that wanted to see Sophie again—" he broke off, realizing what he'd said.

"Sophie? The First Lady?" Lord Cassius's face was growing increasingly red now. "How do you even know her—? What do you mean—? I don't understand—"

Lady Gisela rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Cassius, don't if daft." She focused back on Keefe. "Care to explain what was going on to your father?"

"It was nothing," Keefe insisted, and Sophie felt a pang of hurt. "Really, I just met her at their ball—"

"The ball?" His mother asked. "You know what, I don't want to hear. Keep yourself out of sight, Keefe. We have to get this treaty over with, come on Cassius."

But Lord Cassius wasn't done with Keefe.
He thrashed Keefe with insulates with sudden fire, saying how much of a "Useless, traitorous brat" he was and how he'd never been fit to lead the Neverseen.

And Keefe just stood there, face blank. Like he was use to it, to the yelling, the arguing, the verbal beatings.

It made Sophie's blood boil. He deserved so much better. Keefe had never told her what his parents were like to him. He'd never seemed vary open to talk about it. How could he?

And with that, she snapped. She stormed up to Lord Cassius and Lady Gisela from behind the wide tree, eyes ablaze, a disgusted scowl frozen on her lips.

The words flooded out of Sophie like a waterfall. She barely knew what she was saying, but the looks on the Neverseen's leaders faces told her that it was good.

Sophie caught her breath, it took her a moment to notice Lord Cassius and Lady Gisela's stunned expressions, before they turned to walk away back toward the stage, giving Sophie matching death glares. But no one was more surprised then Keefe.

He stared at Sophie was wide eyes. "I...wow."

Sophie smiled softly and moved closer to him.
"Keefe, I hope you know that you can talk to me. About anything. I'm alway here."

"I know," Keefe said. "That's why I like you."

She leaned into him and rested her head on his chest. "You can trust me."

"I do," and she could feel how strongly he meant those words.

They were interrupted by bellowing voice coming from the center of the stage, Sophie recognized the voice as Mr. Forkle's.

"People of the clans!" Mr. Forkle greeted. "I am pleased to inform you that your clan leaders have some to an agreement. This signing begins now!"

~

Hello everyone!
So, uh, how's it going? I don't know what to say lol.
Ok, well, bye and thanks for reading!
~T