Shades of Starlight (Hiatus)

Book Two: Chapter Twelve

 "Aah!" I cried, dropping to the floor with my head in my hands. A sudden pain was rippling through my temples, making me want to scream and run and cry all at once. My Alchemy Mentor, Lady Kirera, set down the bottle of liquid silver she was holding and strode over to where I was crouching.

"Miss Sencen? Are you all right?" She asked, looking concerned. I groaned, wincing in pain.

"Just a headache," I muttered, taking a deep breath. "May I get my headache elixir from Elwin? I'll be right back."

"Of course," Lady Kirera told me. All of my Mentors knew about the headaches I got from time to time, and they always let me see Elwin for it. I was glad that they didn't think I faked the pain. It was probably because I was such a good student-if Keefe suddenly started having headaches like mine, I'm sure nobody would believe him. Speaking of Keefe... as I walked into the Healing Center, he and Sophie were inside, talking with Elwin. What were they doing here?

"Cass? Headache again?" Elwin asked, already opening the cabinet I knew held several bottles of his special headache elixir. I nodded.

"What are you two here for?" I asked Sophie and Keefe as I downed the elixir.

"Councillor Bronte apparently tried to prove something by hurting Sophie with his Inflicting, and Keefe cut his hand on a bottle he broke trying to catch a tornado," Elwin responded.

"Hey, it was more like a scratch," Keefe protested. Elwin snorted.

"A scratch that needed three coats of Wound Wipe to seal." Sophie and I laughed. Keefe looked indignant.

"And you get on me for being bad at Elementalism," Sophie teased.

"I'm great at Elementalism," Keefe informed her. "I just... couldn't concentrate today." I winced again, but not from the headache. I was pretty sure that I knew why he couldn't concentrate. It definitely had to do with... the Vackers.

"Everything okay?" Elwin asked worriedly. Keefe glanced at me. Here it came.

"You tell me, Cass. I tried to stop by Everglen yesterday and the gnomes wouldn't let me in. They said the family wasn't accepting visitors. And Fitz won't answer any of my hails. What's going on with them? You should know." I hesitated. Sophie stared at her cape's tassels.

"I... Keefe, you probably don't-"

"Come on, Fitz is my best friend, and you know I love Biana and everyone else, too. Please." Keefe actually looked... stressed out. He never looked like that. I turned to Elwin.

"They're going to tell everyone in a few days, anyway, right?" I asked him quietly. He nodded, looking solemn. Sophie wasn't meeting anyone's eyes.

"Tell everyone what? Cass, how would you feel if your best friend had something major going on and no one would tell you what it was?"

"I know," I said, taking a deep breath. "It's Alden. His-his mind is broken." Silence met my words. Keefe looked speechless, as if he'd just been told he had a day left to live. He swallowed, hard, as if he was trying to force the quiet down.

"You mean-you mean he has a wound from where he cracked his skull, right?" He turned to Elwin. "That's what she means, right?" Elwin shook his head slowly. I let out a moan, covering my face with my hands and sitting down on a cot. Elwin explained everything, Keefe getting paler with each word. He started to sway, Elwin grabbing his shoulder before he could fall.

"Are you okay?" Elwin asked him. Clearly, he was absolutely, one hundred percent not okay whatsoever. Keefe leaned down, putting his head between his knees. After a few deep breaths, he sat back up, wiping sweat off of his brow. I looked up at him, probably looking like a hot mess, tears smearing eyeliner all over my face.

"I just-I can't-I mean, it's Alden. He's always been like a..." I broke down again, his words triggering so many memories where Alden was the loving father I never actually had. He was everything Lord Cassius wasn't. I knew that Alden was like a father to Sophie, too, ever since she'd arrived in the Lost Cities. He was just-he was always there for me when I needed him. My actual father was never there for me.

Keefe sniffled, wiping away a tear. "Sorry," he mumbled. "It's just that I never thought... and there's nothing we can do?" His voice cracked. Elwin sat down next to him.

"Apparently not. All of the Telepaths who have checked him have said that it can't be undone." Elwin told him.

"Is that true?" Keefe asked Sophie. She hesitated, then nodded. Keefe's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything else. I thought it was slightly suspicious, too. Was she planning something? Could she bring Alden back with her incredible powers? Elwin gave me permission to go back to class. We'd all missed our detention for our medical emergencies, somehow. We would have to make them up tomorrow.

Later, Sophie and I were walking to study hall together in silence. I was touching up my makeup when Keefe came up behind us and grabbed Sophie's arm. Sandor moved to shove him away from his charge.

"Whoa, calm down, Gigantor. I just need to talk to her and Cass for a second," He told the paranoid goblin.

"I'll be watching closely," Sandor warned him. Keefe pulled Sophie and me to the side of the hall.

"I know you too well, Foster. You obviously know something about Alden that you're not telling me, something that's helping you stay so calm about this. Clearly, you haven't told Cass yet, but I can tell you know Sophie knows something too, little sis." I nodded and turned to Sophie.

"I could tell you weren't saying something back there when Keefe asked if what Elwin said was true. What is it? Neither of us is going to tell anyone if that's what you're worried about. We're both going to want in, and if we work together it'll happen three times as fast." Sophie looked between the two of us.

"Guys, there's nothing anyone can do to fix a broken mind."

"I'm not talking about anyone. I'm talking about you. And I know you're up to something. I can feel it. I can feel your hope. It's not much, but it's there. And there has to be a reason for it. Besides, you're going to need our help. Who knows the Vackers better than the two of us? Keefe was making a good point, and Sophie knew it.

"Sophie, please. I can tell that Keefe's going to go crazy if he doesn't do something, and actually, so will I." Sophie sighed and glanced around at all the other prodigies. A lot of them were very obviously eavesdropping on us.

"We can't talk about it here," she whispered. Keefe grinned.

"Look at you, wanting to ditch study hall. Some people might say I'm rubbing off on you-which would be an awesome compliment, by the way." I rolled my eyes. His flirting needed... some work.

"I didn't mean now. But... you two can come to Havenfield after school."

"Yesssssss!" I mouthed. Sophie walked away quickly, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"It's a date, Foster!" Keefe shouted, turning every head in the hallway. I laughed.

"Looking forward to it," he said with an evil smirk.

That made two of us.