Swan Song

Chapter Forty Four

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Well, that was a lovely opening. I'm sure it got your attention, at least.

Swan Song is complete. This isn't the last chapter, it's the second to last, but I wrote the last chapter as well and posted it in a double update. So I finished this book. But I'll leave the novel-length author's note to the end of next chapter.

All right, enjoy the (sniff sniff) second to last chapter!

Days passed, both slowly and quickly all at once. Keefe, Biana, and Linh were all healed and cleared to leave the Healing Center. The group went on a shopping trip to Atlantis and got Tam a stuffed bat, with Mr. Saltlord as the decided name.

It was odd, being normal teenagers. The day after the battle, the council made an announcement that the Neverseen were no more. School was cancelled for a week in celebration, but Sophie was looking forward to when she went back and her only worries were failing a linguistics test, instead of whether or not she'd die. Parties were thrown constantly, though Sophie didn't attend many of them. She was content to stay at home- baking with Edaline, eating with Grady, playing games or just talking with her friends.

Even stranger was walking around- in public- without bodyguards nearby. Sophie had gotten a little more used to it than her friends, and still constantly missed Sandor- though she had to smile when Keefe and Ro arranged to meet up and wreak havoc every Saturday afternoon. Biana said that the house felt strangely silent without Woltzer yelling "MISS VACKER, UNVANISH RIGHT NOW! I AM YOUR BODYGUARD AND IT IS MY JOB TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!" or Grizel trying to hold Mr. Snuggles hostage if Fitz didn't stop sneaking off. Dex cackled at the thought of staying up later to work on gadgets now that Lovise wasn't around to nag him about sleeping.

Sophie and Keefe started going on dates- actual dates, where Biana would give Sophie a makeover and dress her up, Keefe would try to flirt while tongue-tied, and Grady would stand threateningly with his boy bat when Keefe came to pick her up. Now that she wasn't worried about survival, she had far more time to be head over heels in love with Lord Hunkyhair. Ro occasionally stalked their dates, eating popcorn and screaming about "ships" and "OTPs."

Sophie had never gotten to be a normal elf before. But now that she got the chance, she decided that she liked it. A lot.

Two weeks after their battle with the Neverseen, the council held the tribunal for any surviving members. Oralie- who Sophie was now on speaking terms with- assured her that the Neverseen members would almost certainly be exiled, and the tribunal was just a formality. Sophie began planning a speech to give at the tribunal, consulting Mr. Forkle when necessary.

The day arrived after a girls' night at Everglen. Biana's jaw almost fell off of her face when Sophie willingly asked for a makeover, but quickly overcame her shock and enthusiastically obliged. With light makeup, braided hair, and a red dress (with pockets!), she looked both smart and, in Marella's words "Almost as beautiful as Linh, which is seriously high praise."

The tribunal itself was rather boring- an eternity of Emery's droning voice reciting names and listing charges, ending with each person being sentenced to a lifetime in Exile. Sophie cheered every time a Neverseen member was convicted. Finally the last one- Ruy- was taken away by goblins, and Sophie stood up.

"Hello," she said, clasping her hands to avoid pulling eyelashes. She hoped her voice didn't sound shaky, and mentally thanked Biana for making her look so good- almost every elf in the Lost Cities was staring at her. "My name is Sophie Foster. You probably know that already, and you know me as the Moonlark. And, of course, as the person who defeated the Neverseen."