Sophie woke up to a gentle hand on the side of her neck, the thumb against the side of her chin, and the rest of the fingers spanning from her collar bone to just under her jaw where the pointer finger pressed against her skin hard enough as if the person was trying to feel her pulse. She was a little startled at first, but after she sharply inhaled, she relaxed, knowing it was Fitz, as he always smelled like vanilla, mint, and pine, no matter what he wore, and no matter where he was. When she opened her eyes, the crowned prince pulled away, and she propped herself up on her elbows with a frown, "What's going on?" When Sophie looked around, she noticed that she was in Fitz's office, and that she was laying on the blue velvet lounge chair with Fitz's champagne-colored cape laid over her. Suddenly, the argument with Dex came back to her, and that her last memory before she woke up was crying behind Fitz's desk... and now she was laying in his lounge chair with his cape. Sophie flushed when she realized how weird and awkward it must have been for him to find her, asleep behind his desk.
"I was hoping you could tell me," Fitz looked at her intently, his teal eyes swimming with concern. "I found you behind my desk, asleep from crying for gnome knows how long, Please, tell me what happened, I want to help somehow."
Sophie sat up the rest of the way and pulled her knees against her chest, holding them loosely, trying to bide time and find the words to explain everything that happened and everything that she was feeling, "Dex and I... we got into a fight. He was upset that I haven't been spending more of my free time with the triplets, and that I was becoming a spectacle in court, insinuating that I was embarrassing myself. He basically said that I'm robbing the triplets by not giving them all of my free time, even though that was how it worked while he was at war, and they were completely fine with getting more time to play with their friends. It was all as if he was accusing me of not wanting to be part of the family anymore, and I do... I just..."
"You just, what?" Fitz asked patiently.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, looking up at Fitz hopelessly, "During the fight I realized that I don't really belong there. I'd only known Dex and the triplets for about two years before the ogres attacked, I didn't have to stay.. I mean, I love them, but I didn't have to give up my entire life for them."
Fitz seemed a little taken aback, and put his hand on her shoulder hesitantly, "You saw that they needed help, so you stepped up and took charge. There's nothing wrong with that, you were really brave, especially for a thirteen year old. It just shows you have a heart of gold."
Sophie sighed, "I know... but... I look around, and most girls my age are courting or married, and I just feel like I've been missing out." She turned to him, "Do you realize that other than you, Keefe, and your family, my only other friend is one of the cooks in the kitchen, Calla? I didn't have time to make friends at work, I had three mouths to feed, and my coworkers thought I believed myself too important to associate with them, so they all either hate, or steer clear of me."
When he didn't say anything, Sophie continued, trying to keep her voice steady as tears pricked in her eyes, "It was worse when Dex was gone and I was left on my own with the triplets, because I didn't really have anyone I could talk to except your father, and that was only when I cleaned his office twice a week. I was hardly ever truly happy, and what's terrifying is that I almost forgot the feeling... Things are better now, I have friends that I can selfishly call my own, and I don't have to spend all of my time on the family. I have a chance of having a life of my own with my family as only part of it instead of consuming it, and I want to take it, but Dex treats it as if I'm abandoning them. I want to be more than a caretaker, and in all horrible, horrible honesty... if I could go back in time, I don't know if I'd make the same choices I made back when I was thirteen. Does that make me a bad person"
Solemnly, Fitz wiped a tear off her cheek with his thumb, "Of course not, it only makes you human. I didn't realize how little time you've had to focus on yourself, and I'm sorry. From now on, I'll do everything I can to help you have a life of your own."
Sophie laughed lightly, "Talking with you is always an escape to my own life. You're already so good to me, I don't know how you can do much more."
"More trips to Moonglade, seeing the village, things to escape from the palace."
"That would upset Dex-"
"And what does that have to do with anything?" challenged Fitz playfully, "This is about you, not Dex. Dex can think what he wants, but what he thinks and what you are able to do are two different stories."
Smiling slowly, she replied, "You're right. If I'm really going to make my life my own, my choices don't need to become a group decision. If I want to go out every now and then in my free time, Dex can bring the triplets along with him and Biana if he doesn't like them in the nursery for so long."
"That's the spirit!" cheered Fitz, "Your family is important, but so are you."
Sophie nodded, sniffing, "Yeah... and right now, I don't really want to see them. I want to figure things out a little more, and things probably need to settle out between all of us for a while anyways. The triplets found out that I'm not their sister, they're upset, and they, like Dex, probably don't want to talk to me right now."
After thinking for a moment, Fitz suggested, "Why don't you move to a room of your own? That way you can have your own space, and you can be more independent from your family."
"Are there any more rooms?" Sophie asked hopefully.
"Keefe's old room is on the other side of my room," he offered. "It's farther from Biana's room, at the end of the hall, really, but-"
"It sounds perfect," she interrupted. "Thank you, Fitz."
"Of course," he gave her a brief hug, and as he pulled back, he announced, "now let's go get your stuff out of the room, Dex should be on duty, and the triplets should be in the nursery, so the room should be empty."
"Alright," Sophie swung her legs over the side of the chaise, and handed Fitz his cape back. "Thank you, for everything."
"I want you to never come close to forgetting what happiness is like," he offered her his hand and helped her stand up.
She wanted to say, You are a big part of my happiness, but she couldn't seem to form the words with her mouth, and could only smile as they stepped out of the office door, only to meet a couple of noble folk.
"What were you two doing in there all this time?" demanded a man with a strong jaw and large eyes, "No one has seen either of you since yesterday afternoon."
"You clearly stayed overnight," a woman with hair redder than her busty dress commented, looking Sophie and Fitz up and down with a critical eye.
"Oh! An affair!" purred a long-eyelashed woman with narrow teeth and a satin fan as she wiggled her eyebrows crassly.
Sophie flushed, and tried to find an excuse, but Fitz was the one who saved them, "No, not an affair. Sophie is my new assistant. When my brother-in-law passed, I took on all of his work in addition to my own, and Lord Keefe Sencen and I have been struggling to keep up with it all. I have been sending Lord Keefe Sencen to do more of the field work under my orders so I can organize things here at the palace and prepare for my eventual ascension to the throne. However, that also means that I am overwhelmed with the paperwork, and I decided for my health that I needed an assistant."
"But that doesn't explain-" the red haired woman began to ask, but silenced when Fitz held up his hand.
"Princess Biana now has a bodyguard, and does not require Miss Sophie's presence so often, and, in addition, has spoken highly of Miss Sophie's work ethic and dedication to serving the throne, so I decided to take her on as my assistant. We fell asleep last night from working so late," explained Fitz, and for the first time, she noticed how tired he looked. Dark circles rimmed his teal eyes, and the edges of his smile sagged slightly.
"But why not a noble?" the bug-eyed man demanded, his frowning brows not detracting from the size of his eyeballs at all. "Are we somehow not good enough for you?"
"You are all supposed to have duties of your own, are you not?" Fitz reminded them, "I did not want anyone over-burdened with work. That is, unless you're saying that you nobles are not receiving enough work."
"No, no, no!" the man waved his hands in assurance, "We have plenty of work, thank you, your highness. That is very considerate of you."
Fitz nodded, smiling charismatically, "Now that that is settled, please, let us through so we may go clean ourselves up for the day."
The nobles hastily nodded, and parted so Sophie and Fitz could walk through. Once the nobles were far behind them, Sophie asked quietly, "Am I really your new assistant?"
"Would you like to be?" he asked hopefully. "I wasn't kidding about being swamped."
She nodded, "I'll also make sure you're taking care of yourself."
"How so?"
"Instituting a bedtime, fetching your meals, forcing you outside every now and then," she listed with a laugh.
"Oh goodie, does it come with a lollipop and a bedtime story?"
"Naturally, and don't forget the field trips to see Silveny."
"I feel like a child again," remarked Fitz, "just what I needed."
Sophie smiled up at him, "Glad we can assist one another."
"We make a mighty fine pair."
"Indeed we do," Sophie laughed merrily, and that was the very start of their adventures as a team.
Character Bedroom Order In The Hallway