"Is your leg okay?" Sophie asked.

Fitz stopped rubbing it and paused. "Yeah - I mean - I'll deal with it."

Sophie still looked worried, and Fitz let out a pained laugh. "It's funny when you get all worried about me. Really, I'm fine. I'm no stranger to pain."

"Right," Sophie agreed uneasily. "That doesn't make pain good."

"I never said it was," Fitz said, puzzled.

Sophie shrugged. "Okay. Whatever. I... need to go home for another training session. And I don't think you should join me if your leg's already hurting you."

Fitz gave her a pained expression that had nothing to do with his leg. "Please, Sophie? I'll just watch you. I just... need to be around somebody I can talk to."

Sophie thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

***

Sandor wasn't pleased about the added person and forced Fitz to sit behind a wall of goblin muscle (a.k.a. Grizel) and he was not happy.

"I can't even see Sophie," Fitz whined.

Sandor glowered at him. "That's the point! I can't have you distracting Sophie with your... with your..."

"Flirting," Bo cut in. Sophie flushed.

"We're not flirting, we're just..."

"Dating?" Tarina asked. "Same thing as flirting. And if we want any training done, Sophie, I suggest you stop talking now."

Sophie went through the next three most grueling hours of her life. She missed killing Tarina by a hair's breadth four times, but her troll bodyguard didn't even seem shaken. Even Fitz stopped watching after the fifth near-death incident. Grizel, Sandor, Bo and Nubiti didn't look concerned in the slightest. Flori was the only bodyguard who covered her eyes, and Flori was hardly a bodyguard anyway.

𝘚𝘰... 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯? Fitz asked when Sophie was done.

𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘥. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘦 - 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵, Sophie explained.

𝘚𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦? 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘎𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴, Fitz transmitted.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘨𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺-𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 - 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, Sophie assured Fitz.

"We'll solve this somehow," Fitz murmured. Sophie nodded, her eyes welling up.

"I just don't want anyone else to die," she whispered.

Just then, a familiar voice blared in her head.

𝘚𝘖𝘗𝘏𝘐𝘌! 𝘏𝘌𝘓𝘗! 𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘕!

"It's Silveny!" Sophie gasped. She manually counted the time. It was about right - but Silveny hadn't gone for a check-up at any point in her pregnancy. "Fitz! Hail Vika Heks. We're going to need her. Grady! Edaline!"

Her adoptive parents poked their heads out. "Yes?" Edaline asked.

"Silveny is in labor," Sophie said. Mentally, she sent, 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘯!

𝘚𝘖𝘖𝘕! 𝘉𝘈𝘉𝘠 𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌 𝘚𝘖𝘖𝘕! 𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘕! 𝘏𝘌𝘓𝘗!

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, Sophie sent. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

Silveny sent images of the same hills. Sophie grabbed Fitz's arm. "We're going to need to Teleport there!"

"What?" Vika Heks asked warily from his Imparter.

"Teleport to where Silveny is! Can you light leap to Havenfield now?" Sophie panted.

Vika nodded, and in a flash of light, Sophie caught sight of her in Havenfield's pastures.

She dashed outside immediately and Teleported Grady, Edaline, Vika and all their supplies to Silveny.

She didn't have time to think that she'd left Fitz behind. Her bodyguards had caught her at the last minute so they were there.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, Sophie sent.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, Fitz replied in a teasing way, but Sophie couldn't find humor in the current situation.

They located Silveny and Vika said, "I think there's twins. But she seems okay."

𝘉𝘈𝘉𝘠 𝘖𝘒𝘈𝘠? 𝘉𝘈𝘉𝘠 𝘖𝘒𝘈𝘠? Silveny demanded, but she sounded exhausted.

𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, Sophie encouraged the mama alicorn.

𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯, Silveny whispered.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, Sophie's mental voice was a whisper in Silveny's head.

𝘚𝘛𝘙𝘖𝘕𝘎! 𝘉𝘈𝘉𝘠 𝘚𝘛𝘙𝘖𝘕𝘎! Silveny agreed.

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰𝘰, Sophie reminded her.

Time went by in a flash, and soon, two disgusting, slimy baby alicorns were nursing from Silveny.

𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦? Silveny asked.

Sophie thought for a moment. 𝘓𝘶𝘯𝘢? 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, she suggested.

𝘓𝘜𝘕𝘈! 𝘓𝘜𝘕𝘈! 𝘓𝘜𝘕𝘈! Silveny shouted eagerly.

Keefe appeared suddenly. "Ah! Yes I found you! Ohhhhh!!! Naming baby alicorns!!! Let's see... how about Keeferina and Keefie?"

Silveny winced.

"Sorry, the girl's already Luna," Sophie informed him.

Keefe grasped his chest dramatically. "That won't do! But fine... although Keeferina is so much better. So, no Keefie, then? Let's see... how about Keefo?"

𝘒𝘌𝘌𝘍𝘌 𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘝𝘌! Silveny sent.

Sophie laughed. "Nope, Silveny isn't happy with you."

Keefe spread his arms. "Well, how about Wynn? Since we're winning against the Neverseen!"

𝘞𝘠𝘕𝘕! 𝘞𝘠𝘕𝘕! 𝘞𝘠𝘕𝘕! 𝘓𝘜𝘕𝘈! 𝘞𝘠𝘕𝘕! 𝘓𝘜𝘕𝘈! 𝘞𝘠𝘕𝘕! Silveny shouted excitedly.

"That's a yes," Sophie beamed.

Keefe sighed. "Seriously? Wynn, but not Keefie? You have bad taste, Glitter Butt. But we'll work with it. Somehow."