17. SOPHIE
Sophie woke the next day with a newfound brightness in her heart and mind. The darkness and sorrow still existed, lurking, though it lay dormant much like Cerberus guarding the entrance to Hades.
After test day, Ash walked her back to her place. They were leagues away from where they were mere weeks ago when Sophie punched him . . . on purpose.
Come on, it was a serious case of mistaken identity. Still, Sophie felt a little bad for it. Just a little.
On the way back home, Ash mentioned that he had a small library at his villa that she was more than welcome to peruse. Sophie wasn’t so sure about their friendship before, but the moment the word “library” left his lips, she knew they were best friends for a reason. Better yet, he was only three doors down from her.
Sophie had spent the morning moving, stretching and of course making questionable, dying whale sounds. Her entire body was sore. Unbelievably so. She wasn’t sure if she’d even make it to Ash’s door, but after weeks of eating well and moving her body, her muscles were almost back to their fullest. Colour had finally reached her cheeks courtesy of the Isle sun, and the work she put in to moving and doing something had started to pay-off.
As she opened her villa front door, another crocheted gift was waiting for her. We don’t have servants, echoed through her head. She picked it up. It was another draekin, this time it was black with its tail attached and large green eyes. Sophie smiled and popped it into her bag.
Closing the front door behind her, Sophie took a deep, relaxing breath. The setting Isle sun warmed her face. The birds chirped freely, and the crisp Isle air filled her lungs with joy. She could get used to this, living in the Godlands.
With quick, steady steps, Sophie walked three doors down to a villa shaped similarly to hers. The exterior white domes were a little bigger. Where her door was white, Ash’s door was black. Catmints had been planted along the three-step staircase and unlit sconces donned each side of the door. It was perfectly kept and not at all what she’d imagine for Ash.
She knocked on the door. She knew no one would be home but thought it would be the polite thing to knock anyway.
She waited a moment. No one responded.
Turning the gold-brushed doorknob, she pushed the door open and stepped in. Finally, it was time for stimulation of the literary kind. She had gone so long without it.
The only way Sophie could describe Ash’s home was Scandinavian, Norse Viking meets farmhouse living. Hung up against the dark-navy walls were wooden sculptures. Large, dark brown leather couches covered in thick furs surrounded a stone fireplace. It felt warm and lived in. Above the mantelpiece hung a polished wooden draekin head, baring its teeth. Ash had mentioned his library was downstairs. Head to the draekin and pull the right horn, he said.
Sophie was just tall enough to reach the draekin’s horn. She pulled it down firmly, the smooth edges cool to the touch. The stone fireplace just below groaned to life, rotating to reveal a newfound entry way.
Hanging gracefully on the ceiling was a tiered rustic candelabra that cast beautiful shadows and shimmers. It hung above a spiralling black staircase just wide enough to fit one person. The warm light of the chandelier danced enticingly along each step, as if to welcome her. Sophie obliged.
Eagerly, she made her way down the spiral staircase. When she reached the bottom of the stairs . . . well, let’s say she hadn’t been this excited since the day she discovered what a Kindle was.
Sophie let out an audible and awfully dramatic gasp. Ash’s personal library was the size of his entire villa. His entire villa. Floor-to-ceiling oak shelves with sliding ladders lined each wall. Books, embossed with gold-leaf bindings, packed the shelves. The floor was covered in lavish dark green rugs. Dark brown leather chaises were strewn around the room, perfect for lazy Sunday mornings spent reading. A giant candle chandelier took centre stage of the room, filling the library with a warm, inviting light, and the smell? By the gods, it smelled like the pages of books, new and old. Heaven.
Sophie walked along each shelf, surveying the titles, her head tilted sideways. The books ranged from the history of the Godlands, to war tactics and what Sophie saw next stopped her in her tracks. In fact, this discovery deserved one loud cackle.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Sophie shook her head. The coloured covers of red, green, pink, blue and grey of her favourite fantasy series lay in pristine condition on the shelf closest to the stairs. “You dirty, smut-loving angel! I’m totally giving you so much shit for this!” She laughed as she brushed her fingers against the spines. She read the next few titles . . . all her favourite books were easily ticked off. These were plainly mortal book titles and yet, they were here. Clearly, a lieutenant in the Tienthan had a lot of time on his hands. Sophie couldn’t wait to embarrass the living daylights out of Ash the next time she saw him.
Quickly, she deposited a few of her favourites into her bag, hoping they’d bring her comfort over the next few days. Sophie kept moving along the shelves until she came across what looked like leather-bound sketchbooks with some dating as far back as eighteen years ago. They called to her. She was a moth to their flame. The spines were worn as if they were opened and closed every day, in various weather conditions. She had her finger pressed against the spine of the sketch book from nine years ago, when a soft knock sounded from upstairs.
Her Fae ears twitched at the noise. She stilled with a Fae-stillness she never thought she’d ever possess. The knock sounded again. It was the front door. Sophie sent out tendrils of her mana to sense her visitor. A warm, golden power thrummed back in greeting. She knew who it was.
Sophie pushed the spine of the sketchbook she fingered back into place and rushed up the stairs. As she crossed the threshold of the hidden entry way, the stone fireplace groaned back into place as if nothing had changed. As if nothing lay behind it or rather, underneath it.
A sense of unease clung itself onto Sophie’s chest as she approached the front door. She hadn’t fully forgiven her mother for lying to her or for keeping her from her truth. She understood why her mother had to do it, but now that she was in the Godlands and the gods clearly didn’t care she was here, the cobweb of lies her mother spun seemed all for naught. Sophie opened the door slowly.
“Ash said you might be here. I bring apology donuts and ground coffee from Sotera.” Danna stood at the door, dressed in a golden-spun sundress. Her silver hair billowed on a phantom wind and her tan skin was covered in a golden, shimmery glow. This was her true goddess form.
Sophie eyed the box of donuts and coffee grounds with reasonable suspicion. “This isn’t me forgiving you by the way.” She pried the goods out of her mother’s hand before moving through the front door and closing it behind her. Sophie learnt on her trips into town that coffee did not exist in the Godlands. She couldn’t think of anything more absurd or outrageous. The locals eyed her warily when she tried to source some to have with her breakfast. “Let’s walk back to my place.” Sophie tucked the bag of ground coffee into her mesh bag, slinging it over her shoulder.
They walked in silence to Sophie’s villa.
It was Danna who broke first. “How’ve you been feeling?”
Sophie opened her front door swiftly. “Worse for wear.” She took out the box of donuts and sat on one of the white velvet couches. “I guess that’s what happens when you find out that your mother has lied to you your whole life and when you find out that the guy who you thought was your soulmate is in actual fact a psychopath culpable for killing one of your best friends.” Sophie shrugged as she took a bite of her cinnamon donut. “Sprinkle in a bit of identity crisis, anxiety, fatigue, oh and coming to terms with knowing you’ve got a decent chunk of your memories missing . . . I think I’m doing okay,” Sophie was as sarcastic as they came. She took another bite of her cinnamon donut and revelled in its sugary goodness.
Danna winced. “I’m sorry I asked.”
“What’s that line the kids these days are saying? A mental break down a day, keeps the doctor away?” Funny, because no one was saying that these days.
Danna remained quiet.
After a beat, Sophie tensed, sensing her mother’s unease. “So . . . what brings you to my humble abode tonight, Mother?”
Danna leaned back on the chaise opposite Sophie’s, with a delicate hand on her forehead. She closed her eyes and sighed. “The council is giving me a headache.”
The council were a group of gods, goddesses and other holy beings that ruled over all realms including Sotera, Faery and the Godlands. And by the sounds of it, Sophie knew it was made up of a whole bunch of dinosaur-aged males who had no business running a realm let alone several. “What do they want?”
Danna breathed another heavy sigh before opening her eyes. “The wall between Sotera and Faery has been compromised.”
Sophie stilled. Her heart stopped. She could only utter, “. . . and?”
“The council has it on good authority that an attack has been planned. Queen Calliea and Terr are making a move to rule over Faery by purging anyone who doesn’t support their union. They’re sending hellhounds out to slaughter.” Danna swallowed and sat up straight, looking at Sophie. Worry creased her brow. It looked like she had more to add to that.
Fear shot through Sophie’s heart. “Say it.”
“Queen Calliea has a blood-oathed leading the charge. It’s . . . Kaine.”
Sophie almost vomited the donuts she’d just consumed across the white marble floor. She stood up from her chaise and paced across the room. Her hands clasped her mouth in a deadly concoction of fear and shock. “I need to go back. I need to stop him. It’s all my fault.” Sophie started burning a trail on the marble floor. Her chest was about to explode with anthills full of anxiety.
“Sophie, honey, this is not your fault at all.” Danna stood.
Sophie shook her head. “It is!” If Sophie hadn’t stumbled into Faery, if she hadn’t given into basic desires, if she hadn’t given Kaine any attention . . . this all wouldn’t have happened. She would just be another human ticked off the list. Faery wouldn’t be suffering. Cam wouldn’t be dead. The thought struck through her like a serrated knife and that dark monster that lay dormant inside her came out to play once more. “I need to go back to Faery. I need to stop this before it’s too late. Maybe I can talk some sense into him.” Sophie made to rush to her room, but Danna caught her with a firm grip of her arm.
“And do what?” Danna breathed. “Sophie, my darling, please. This isn’t your fault. It is Queen Calliea’s. She’s the mastermind. The driving force behind this all.”
“It may have been her plan, but I set it all into motion.” Sophie pulled her arm out of her mother’s firm grip. “I was the one who started it all, and I’m the one who needs to end it. He’ll listen to me. I know it. But I need to leave now.”
“You can’t. I won’t allow it! You’ll be up against Queen Calliea for Faery’s sake. The limits of her power are unknown. You’re up against Terr himself, the king of the Shadow Realm and that little demon-spawn of his, Kaine,” Danna seethed, almost shouting now.
“What, and you don’t think I can handle it? Like how you thought I couldn’t handle the truth of who I am?” Sophie shouldn’t have said it.
Danna took a step back, clearly hurt. She took a deep breath, eyeing Sophie with a sort of hesitation. It was like for the first time, her mother was seeing her. Actually seeing her. Who she was. What she was and how she was no longer a vulnerable six-year-old girl who needed her mother’s protection.
Danna pulled Sophie into an embrace and said, “Go, if you must. All I ask is that you are physically and mentally prepared for it. Go with a plan, Sophie, please. Don’t rush into what could be a battle to last the centuries.” Danna pulled away from the embrace to search Sophie’s face. Her mother’s golden eyes watered. Oh how Sophie hated when her mother cried.
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, her mother was right. How could she go up against a god, his spawn and an evil queen, when there were still days where she could barely get out of bed? How could she go up against such a force when barely a spark of mana left her fingers? It wasn’t a viable option – as much as she wanted to rush into it. She needed a plan. She needed to find Elowan and Zala, and she needed to right her wrongs. She needed to master herself and her mana before she stepped foot back on Faery soil. She needed as much power as she could to stifle her enemies.
Sophie paused a moment longer and then nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. “A plan it is then.”
Danna pulled Sophie into another embrace.
After Danna left, Sophie crawled into bed without having dinner. She came up with a plan that started with lessons – demigoddess lessons – and she’d have to do more than train with the Tienthan to be prepared for whatever she was going to face in Faery.
Sophie tossed and turned in her bed. Her stomach grumbled violently but she wasn’t bothered walking to the kitchen to satiate her hunger. She groaned out loud, frustrated.
A soft knock sounded at the front door. Sophie sent out tendrils of her mana. That familiar dark, powerful mana reached out in response.
“Come in!” she called, sitting up in her bed.
A moment later, her bedroom door busted open as Cal came bounding over. He jumped up with excitement and knocked her onto her back again.
“Cal! Down! Now!” Ash ordered with his deep, rumbling voice. Cal whimpered. His butt shook with excitement and his tail wagged furiously but he listened like the good boy he was. “Sorry, Sofreya. I told him not to do that, but he hadn’t seen you all day . . .”
Sophie wiped the slobber from her face and grinned wide as she beheld Ash at her bedroom door. His tattoo-covered arms held a tray of what smelled like meats and roast vegetables.
“Is that for me?” Sophie beamed.
Without a word, Ash held it out for Sophie to take.
Sophie shot out of bed and grabbed the tray. “Oh, I could kiss you silly!”
“I heard the rumbling of your stomach from all the way in the Elysian Fields,” Ash smirked as he leaned against the door.
Sophie gave him a flat stare. “Sorry, did I say kiss? I meant kill.” Sophie pretended to lunge for him, but he dodged, laughing as he did. She moved to the fireplace with her tray of food, doing a little happy dance. She swore she felt Ash’s eyes on her the whole time, but she didn’t want to check.
Cal quickly found himself a spot at Sophie’s feet, ready to catch any scraps.
Ash hovered at the door.
Sophie’s eyes softened as that silly warm feeling filled her chest. “Thanks again, you didn’t have to.” She pointed at the tray of warm food.
“My pleasure. I was up anyway and thought you’d appreciate it.” Ash turned to leave.
“Wait!” Sophie jumped up from her chair and ran to her bedroom door.
Ash turned in place, his majestic white wings tucked behind him. His smoky eyes shimmered with something like hope. He raised an eyebrow in question.
“I was in your library today.”
“And?”
“Care to explain why a mighty warrior like you has a smut-filled, fantasy romance collection large enough to rival a bookstore?” Sophie grinned mischievously. She raised her eyebrows, daring him to give her any sort of excuse.
Ash turned white and she swore a bead of sweat rolled onto his forehead. In an instant, the strike of dread or embarrassment on his face disappeared. He turned without another word and stalked toward the front door. “Goodnight, Sofreya!” His expanse of muscles worked with every step he took.
Sophie gaped. “Hey, I asked you a question!” She called out behind him, a smile spreading across her face. She scoffed. There was no way in hell that Ash didn’t think she would find his secret spicy-book collection. Her afternoon discovery was currency. Leverage she could use against him should he ever try to embarrass her, as he always did.
Sophie returned to her warm meal. She liked it here in the Godlands. Her being here felt right. Simply and truly right.