the emeralds on the collar. The one you’ve always said brings out the flecks of green in my eyes.”
He batted his lashes and Sophie had to smile.
But the real Oralie looked ready to cry.
And her projection seemed eager to smack him.
“You’re ridiculous,” she whisper-hissed, reaching up to make sure her hood still covered her circlet before glancing over her shoulder. The memory was too shadowy for Sophie to tell where they were, but the silence in the background made it seem like they were alone. “Tell me about Elysian, Kenric! And stellarlune! And anything else you’re investigating! You came to me for help, so let me help!”
“You already have, far more than you know,” he assured her. “Fintan was calmer with you there, and that allowed me to finally slip past his guard.”
“You breached his mind? Why?”
Kenric backed away, resuming his pacing. “The same reason I always breach someone’s mind—but I didn’t find the information I was looking for, in case you’re wondering. That’s probably good news, though. At least this mess is a little more contained than I’d feared. I just wish I could find the source of the leak.”
“I’m getting tired of your vagueness and riddles,” the projection of Oralie warned.
Sophie snorted. “Welcome to my world.”
“The truly strange thing is,” the real Oralie murmured, “I can’t recall any part of the conversation I apparently had with Fintan. And if the Washers erased it, there should be a second jewel in my cache—or this memory should start much earlier. I suppose it’s possible that Kenric washed it himself, but—”
“Kenric was a Washer?” Sophie interrupted.
“One of the best. It was often his job to wash the minds of the other Washers, to make sure they hadn’t inadvertently learned anything from their assignments—but he was under oath to never wash the mind of anyone on the Council, even if they asked him to. And I can’t see him breaking that vow—especially with me.”
“I can, if he thought he was protecting you,” Sophie argued.
“I suppose.” Oralie studied the tiny versions of herself and Kenric, who seemed to have entered into some sort of epic staring contest. “Actually, now that I think about it, there was another time when my mind felt like it does right now. I woke up in my sitting room, and Kenric was there with… someone. I can’t remember who—which is strange. I know we weren’t alone, but…” She rubbed the center of her forehead, like she was trying to massage the detail loose. “I also have no memory of letting them in. But I remember Kenric teasing me about drinking too much fizzleberry wine. And I had indulged in a second glass that night with dinner, so that seemed like a logical enough explanation at the time. But… I do also remember thinking that something about his smile felt off. I was just too tired to ask him about it. My head was so… fuzzy.” She frowned, rubbing her forehead harder. “I have that same fuzziness now. It’s like… trying to feel my way through fog, except there’s nothing on the other side, if that makes sense.”
“Do you think that other memory has something to do with stellarlune?” Sophie asked. “Or Elysian?”
“It could. But let’s not forget that it’s equally possible that I truly did have too much wine.”
Somehow Sophie doubted that. “And you have no idea what Elysian is—not even a guess?”
She wasn’t surprised when Oralie shook her head—but that didn’t make her any less ready to scream, Just once, couldn’t you guys call it something like “Our Massive Conspiracy to Control the World” and stop with all the fancy words that don’t mean anything?
“This is such a classic Kenric move!” Oralie huffed, glaring at his projection. “He always kept me out of anything he’d decided was ‘too intense.’ That’s why there’s only one Forgotten Secret in my cache.”
“Um… it sounds like the real reason for that might be because Kenric stole some of your other memories,” Sophie had to point out, which made her want to throw a full-fledged tantrum—complete with kicking and flailing.
Sometimes it felt like all she ever did was try to help fill in someone’s mental gaps after someone else messed with their memories. It was enough to make her start hating Telepaths.
Oralie turned away, stretching out her hand to catch several of the pinkish, purplish, bluish petals raining around them. “I know what you’re thinking, Sophie. But Kenric would never do anything malicious—especially to me. He and I…”
She didn’t finish the sentence—but