cascade | kotlc

9. King Dimitar and Punishments

"Or worse," June pointed out. "They might force Sophie into not being able to use her special abilities, considering her Telepathy is what triggered- the thing that I couldn't protect her from because none of you bothered to wake me up!"

"We tried. But you also needed the sleep, and we gave it to you," Edaline said firmly. "It's not your fault."

"It's mine," Sophie said. "Would they actually stop me from using my abilities?"

"It'd be hard to monitor," Tiergan said, "especially with skills such as Telepathy and Inflicting. But it- might happen, but it's a very small chance. It'd be much more likely for you to work at the Sanctuary."

"Before you go smiling too widely, Sophie," Alden said, "know that it will be hard, filthy work, probably involving a large amount of animal feces, most of which will not be sparkly. And you will likely serve there for the rest of the school year, and perhaps longer."

"It's better than an ogre work camp."

"It is, indeed."

"Let's hope that you don't do anything like this again," June grumbled. "I hope you learned your lesson and never break ethics after this."

"Believe me, I've learned my lesson," Sophie promised, staring at the stain where the King had spit on her. June noticed and her gaze softened and hardened at the same time.

"He spat on you?"

"Yeah. I deserved it-"

June gritted her teeth and instinctively reached for Glistensteel. She almost pulled it out of her pocket when Edaline put a hand on her shoulder, and she took a deep breath, calming her mind.

Fintan first. The rebels -- no, murderers -- first.

"I'm not sure you've learned, so you can count on us spending a lot of time reviewing the laws of telepathy," Tiergan warned her. "We clearly also need to discuss the differences between our minds, and the minds of other intelligent creatures. You're very lucky you were spared the pain of the grusom-daj. Fitz, Biana, and Keefe weren't so fortunate."

"He used the grusom-daj on them?" June asked, this time actually pulling out Glistensteel, which extended into a dagger. "Are- are they okay?"

"They are. It won't happen again."

June slashed Glistensteel through the air.

"You cannot beat him in physical combat, June," Tiergan told her. "No one has ever beaten an ogre hand-to-hand."

"I haven't tried yet."

"Do not try."

"I will if I ever get a reason -- or a chance."

Alden sighed again. "This does tie the Council's hands. They can't accuse King Dimitar of not exercising enough control over his populace when one of our own just broke a fundamental rule -- at a public ceremony, no less."

"Which wouldn't have happened if someone woke me up," June said passive-agressively.

"You needed the sleep," Edaline said again. "You would've fainted if you tried to even light leap, perhaps faded."

"So I made everything worse," Sophie mumbled miserably.

"Sadly... yes," Alden admitted. He took her hand, waiting for her to look at him. "I know you want to catch these Neverseen-"

"Who?" June interrupted.

"The Neverseen. It's the name of the rebels. But we're going to have to be patient, Sophie. Our Council is incomplete. Our people are scared and divided. And now we have the ogres on high alert, ready for a fight. It is not the time for investigating leads and demanding answers about their involvement. It's the time to focus on restoring peace. And you must work extra hard to prove to our world -- and the Council -- that you are not the out of control problem they fear."

"I probably am," Sophie whispered.

"You're not, sister. You are not," June said sharply.

"I guess I'd better get along," Alden said, pulling Sophie close for a hug. "I'll see if there's anything I can do to help smooth over the Council before they decide on your punishment."

"I'll go with you," Tiergan told him, sounding anything but happy about it.

Grady promised he'd join them soon, once he'd dealt with other matters. In other words, punish the shit out of Sophie matters.

Alden and Tiergan both gave her sympathetic smiles as they leaped away.

"Let me guess," Sophie said after another painful silence. "I'm grounded for the rest of eternity?"

"I'm considering it."

"If you're going to do something dangerous next time, at least bring me," June whined. "At least I can relatively protect you from evil organizations and giant, ten-foot tall ogres that can literally inflict pain."

Grady sighed. "I know your heart was in the right place, even if your brain had clearly gone on vacation for the afternoon."

"Seriously," June agreed. "I know I make stupid decisions sometimes -- a lot of the time -- but at least I get myself out of them."

"Plus, I have no doubt that with Bronte on the Council, whatever punishment they settle on will be as miserable as possible, so I won't add much to it. Only this: It's time to brush Verdi's teeth again, and I think that should be your job."

June winced. "Watch out. She spits with more force than a ballistic missile. Even I get knocked around when I try it, and I can fly."

Sophie didn't argue.

"Also, since you don't have school right now, I'm going to make it your job to get my office clean and organized," Edaline added. "You're not done until every single thing is either cleared out or put away."

"Do I get to punish her too?" June asked hopefully.

Edaline smiled at her. "Why not?"

She giggled gleefully, her brain spinning with potential punishments, most of which involved her feet, Sophie's apparel, and a lot of alone time with Keefe, preferable in an enclosed space.

"I'll get back to you later," she said, her grin downright wicked.

Sandor snorted. "You're all far too soft. If she were my child, she'd be locked in her room for the rest of her life, for her own protection."

"You won't even allow her to get a boyfriend?" June asked.

"She'd be too chaotic to get one."

"That would definitely be easier," Grady said, hugging Sophie so tightly she coughed. "But I'll settle for the rest of the night, and a promise to keep the war starting to a minimum from now on."

"If you really want to start a war, bring me along. It'd be fun. Somewhat," June told her.

Sophie tightened her hold. Edaline and June joined the hug, and June lost track of how long they sat there clinging to one another. But by the time she let go, the sun was already starting to set.

June joined Sophie for the rest of the night in her room, examining Jolie's mirrored compact for clues, which turned out to be a more miserable punishment than anything Grady and Edaline could've given her.

"I think you're supposed to use the mirror for reflecting something," June observed. "Not physically use the mirror as a clue. Has Vertina given you any useful clues yet?"

"Still need the code word," Sophie said miserably. "I don't know what it is. We'll have to get to know Jolie -- or the Black Swan -- better."

June nodded. "Searching Edaline's office will help. Perhaps we'll also know who she's talking about, the person that wasn't who she thought she was. Goodnight, Sophie. Get some sleep. We'll continue this tomorrow."