Grady and Edaline seemed overwhelmed by the crowd. They went straight to their first mentor appointment, while Sophie and Valerie celebrated with their friends. They made their way down the Level Four wing to drop off presents for Fitz and Keefe.
Walking back to the Level Two wing, Sophie crashed into Sir Tiergan, "Sorry," she exclaimed as he tried to regain his balance.
"Sophie, Valerie!" He glanced around, a slight furrow forming between his brows. "What are you two doing here?"
"We just came to drop off some gifts. Why? Is everything okay?"
"Of course. I just didn't expect to run into you girls here. Especially so literary," he smiled at his joke. To which Val grinned in amusement.
"Well, well, who do we have here?" A tall, slender man appeared, standing beside Keefe. The resemblances between the two were uncanny; it was obvious that was his father.
"These must be the girls who were raised by humans," he said, louder than what is considered polite. "How curious to find them in the Level Four wing, talking to Foxfire's most infamous Mentor."
"Infamous?" Sophie couldn't help asking.
"Few Mentors have resigned, then returned years later to train a mysterious prodigy," he said, his tone knowing, as if he knew exactly who the prodigy was.
"Interesting theory, Cassius-"
"Lord Cassius," he corrected.
Tiergan's jaw clenched, "Lord Cassius. But do you believe I could be tempted by one little girl? Especially one performing so unremarkable in her sessions?"
Sophie knew he didn't mean it, but his words still stung. A lot. Valerie glanced at Sophie, a little relieved her name had yet to come up in this uncomfortable conversation.
"Come on, Dad," Keefe said, looking between the girls. His eyes exuded apology after apology for his father's harsh words. "I'm sure they have somewhere they need to be."
Lord Cassius turned to Sophie with another fake smile, completely disregarding Valerie, "Fascinating to meet you. I look forward to seeing what you can do."
Sophie nodded and pulled Val with her, practically sprinting down the hall to escape. They felt bad for leaving Keefe and Tiergan but needed to get away quickly. The conversion left them both feeling unnerved by Cassius and sympathetic to Keefe.
The girls were both incredibly thankful to reach the Level Two wing. Prodigies were running around everywhere, some looked excited, some nervous.
They met up with Dex and gave him two gifts, one from each of them. Sophie gave him a Disneyland watch she had worn while moving to the Lost Cities, whereas Valerie gifted him a photo book consisting of her favorite memories with Dex.
He grinned, "I slipped both of your presents in before you got here. I hope you like them."
"I'll love it. Just let us drop off Biana's gifts and we'll go to the cafeteria," Sophie said as she began to pull Valerie with her.
"I'm sure your present will be perfect," Valerie said.
"Ugh, why did you two have to buy her a present?" He complained.
"She's our friend," Sophie defended.
Biana walked into the atrium, followed by Maruca; it looked like they were arguing over something. "Oh, hey, Sophie, Valerie," Biana greeted them.
Sophie cleared her throat, "Sorry. We wanted to drop this off." She and Val handed Biana two different shades of pink boxes. One had a charm bracelet from Sophie and the other contained a set of colored pens and a journal with Biana's name engraved on it.
YOU ARE READING
Beyond the Veil
AdventureValerie's story began in the quiet town of Hallow Haven, where she was born into a family of ordinary humans. Her childhood was marked by a sense of curiosity and an insatiable thirst for knowledge. But as Valerie grew older, she discovered that she...
