Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,224

her head down, hiding her face behind her ringlets, and standing in the center of all the other Councillors.

Sophie pretended not to notice her.

She also pretended not to notice that Fitz had chosen to stand on the opposite side of the room from where she was hiding in the shadows of the staircase.

“Everything okay?” Keefe asked, and Sophie jumped, wondering how long he’d been there.

Surely long enough to read her mood, so she told him, “Um, the Neverseen just gave us an ultimatum—and they tied it around Wynn’s and Luna’s necks.”

“Yeah, and their notes didn’t even rhyme!” he added, clicking his tongue. “I mean, seriously, how hard is it to shape a threat into a clever couplet or two?”

He elbowed her when she didn’t laugh, and sighed when she glared at him.

“In all seriousness,” he told her, “you don’t have to worry. I’m not going to let my mom hurt anyone.”

“See, and I’m more worried about her hurting you,” Sophie countered.

“Nah. She needs me. Remember: I have a legacy. In fact, I should probably give myself a title at this point—but the Legacyanator doesn’t have quite the right ring, does it? What about Lord Legacy? I could see that embroidered on a tunic.”

Sophie shook her head. “You’re not going to make me laugh about this.”

“Challenge accepted!”

Keefe said something else, but it was drowned out by the arguing, which seemed to have reached a whole new decibel. Sophie hadn’t been paying attention, since it was basically the same conversation they’d had before the Celestial Festival—in that exact same room, no less—with everyone fighting over who should and shouldn’t go and trying to anticipate what the Neverseen were planning.

They’d had an equally long debate before their venture into Nightfall—and before the ogre Peace Summit in Lumenaria. And before they’d headed into Ravagog. And before they’d tried to ambush the Neverseen on Mount Everest.

Even the night Sophie had gone to have her abilities healed had taken all kinds of discussion.

That’s what they did.

Overanalyze.

Overprepare.

And it never worked.

We can’t keep doing this.

The words started out like static in the back of Sophie’s mind, but the more they repeated, the louder and louder they grew until she heard them ringing through the room and realized she’d actually said them.

All heads turned her way, and Sophie tilted her chin up, trying to look confident as she repeated, “We can’t keep doing this.”

“Doing what?” Mr. Forkle asked.

“This.” She waved her arms at everyone. “All of this exhausting scheming. It never works. The Neverseen always have some twist planned, and then everything falls apart.”

“That’s how these things go,” Mr. Forkle reminded her gently. “For every move, there’s a countermove.”

“But this isn’t a game!” Sophie snapped. “It’s a battle in a longer war.”

“The same principle applies,” Mr. Forkle noted.

“Yeah… well… I’m tired of guessing and reacting,” Sophie informed him. “There has to be a better way.”

“Like what?” Councillor Emery wondered.

Which was a very good question—and Sophie was about to admit that she had no idea, when she realized… she might.

“I think it’s time to take a stand,” she told everyone. “Time to show the Neverseen they’re not in charge, like they clearly think they are—and go to Loamnore on our terms.”

“And what would those terms be?” Mr. Forkle wanted to know.

“Well.” Sophie pictured the Neverseen’s notes in her head. “First… we position ourselves in the Grand Hall instead of the main marketplace, and make the Neverseen come to us. That way, they don’t get to rely on whatever trap they’ve laid—since we all know there has to be one—and instead we make them come to the safest, hardest-to-reach place in the entire city.”

“Um… but doesn’t that mean we’d all have to go through the King’s Path again?” Biana asked, turning a little pale.

“I’m sure once we tell Nubiti what’s going on, she can get us enough magsidian to make it so we pass through unaffected,” Sophie told her. “Especially since being in the Grand Hall puts us in the best position to protect King Enki.”

“Really?” Marella asked. “Kinda sounds like we’d be leading the Neverseen straight to him.”

“Assuming they even come after us,” Stina added. “Which they might not.”

“They will,” Sophie assured everyone. “I don’t know why, but they clearly need us in Loamnore—otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to get our attention. And I’m sure they’ve been planning this all along, so we have to assume they have a way past all of the city’s security—even the King’s Path—and that they picked the main marketplace for