Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,68

room where she’d left Grady, Sandor, Della, Tiergan, and Vika earlier. But she also wasn’t the only one of her teammates who’d had a Councillor makeover.

Stina’s transformation was nearly as drastic as Sophie’s. No giant hair-sprayed bangs—sadly—but her new look might’ve been even better. Something about her peach cheeks and glossy lips and tamed curls had turned Stina into someone who actually looked… friendly.

Her smile even seemed sincere when she spotted Sophie—though the mascot the Council had chosen for the silhouette in Stina’s pink-bordered patch was a kraken. So clearly everyone still had realistic expectations.

Wylie’s dark hair was too closely cropped for there to be much change to his overall style. But the regal finery definitely gave him a much more confident air.

Sophie had a feeling that out of all of them, Wylie would have the most people bowing and curtsying—though she also noticed that one of his hands kept fidgeting with his new golden cloak pin. He probably missed his Endal crest as much as she missed her Ruewen one, which was now pinned to the chain of her home crystal and tucked under her cape.

His patch had an opalescent border that changed colors as he moved, and his mascot was a huge winged lizard—which she assumed was a dragon until she noticed the ridge of spikes down its back and the fact that it only had two legs. She didn’t know enough about wyverns to guess why the Council chose that particular creature to represent Wylie. But it sure made him look cool.

Dex’s mascot, on the other hand, was… probably not what he would’ve chosen. If it weren’t for the two tiny eyes stitched onto the round, fluffy silhouette in the center of his green-bordered patch, Sophie wouldn’t have even known it was a tomple. But the dust-eating poofball actually did seem like a good fit for Dex once she thought a little more about it. Tomples weren’t just adorable—they were useful. And even though they might look cuddly, they also had six spindly insect legs hidden under all their fur and could cause plenty of chaos.

And while Dex’s makeover wasn’t the hilarious Emo-tasticness that Sophie had been wishing for, his hair had been styled with a cute little swoop in the front that really suited his features, and his new silver cloak made his shoulders look extra broad. His glowing circlet also gave his periwinkle eyes a proud twinkle, and Sophie wished she could be there to see the joy on his parents’ faces when he walked through the door to Rimeshire in his new finery and explained his appointment. She’d known Dex was special from the minute she’d met him—and his family had always believed in him. But now everyone was going to see him as Lord Dex—a handsome, important Regent, and a member of Team Still-Needs-a-Better-Name.

And then there was Biana—proof that some people were born for moments like these. Now that she had a circlet, Sophie already couldn’t imagine Biana without it. And the look in Biana’s eyes seemed to say, I’ve just made my own Vacker legacy, and I can’t wait to show you what I’m going to do with it.

Her overall style was more muted than normal—neutral tones on her eyes, cheeks, and lips, with her hair pulled back into a simple knot at the base of her neck. And yet somehow that made her even more striking. The Council had chosen a kelpie for Biana’s mascot, and while Sophie—once again—didn’t know much about the creature, she did know that kelpies were beautiful and elusive and a tiny bit sparkly. So it seemed like an excellent decision.

And when she noticed that Biana’s patch was bordered in purple, she realized that each of their patches’ colors matched the colors of their spotlights—which made her wonder if the Council had somehow known that her spotlight would be Inflictor red before she’d gotten there, or if their gnomes had set to work as soon as she stepped foot in the Seat of Eminence. She also realized that the jewels in the centers of their circlets were color-coordinated to their spotlights—ruby for her, pink tourmaline for Stina, opal for Wylie, emerald for Dex, and amethyst for Biana.

The Council had truly thought of everything. And Sophie had been so busy studying her friends that she’d forgotten they weren’t the only ones who’d been waiting for her—until Grady lifted her into a crushing hug, spinning her around a couple of times before he set her down and leaned back