After the ball, Sophie decided she officially hated dancing.

She was so grateful that Vertina hadn't managed to convince her to wear heels, because not only would they have made her super clumsy, she'd be rubbing her feet at the moment like Biana.

Biana had just twirled with a whole bunch of boys and never had a real dance partner. She flirted with Tam and Keefe, and Sophie didn't know what to make of it. And even though she'd looked nice in her violet flowy dress, she practically hurled it down the aisle when the dance was over and threw on some jeans and a shirt.

Biana stumbled out from under the violet dress that had enveloped her. "Not nice, Sophie. And this is a really good dress!"

"You can keep it if you want," Sophie responded absently. She honestly didn't care about her wardrobe, so long as there were some clothes actually worth wearing in there. She still hadn't forgotten the shirt Elwin had made her wear covered in scorpions.

Biana gasped in delight and immediately stuffed the dress in her locker. "Yes! Hey - what's that in your locker?"

Sophie almost flushed thinking it was something from Fitz, but then she froze.

It was marked with the symbol of the Neverseen.

The one eye stared at her.

Biana made her way over. "Come on, open my brother's gift! It's probably some jewellery, although I don't remember him going to Atlantis recently - still, he sneaks around a lot! Maybe he-" Biana caught sight of the Neverseen symbol and put her hands over her mouth.

Sophie glanced at it. It was a simple letter tied to a small envelope, which was weird because they should have put the letter in the envelope. But why did the Neverseen do anything? She slowly removed the letter from her locker and fingered it gingerly.

"I wonder if they want Alvar and Vespera back," Biana said uneasily.

Sophie snorted. "The Neverseen aren't stupid. They know there's no way we're giving them back. What would they want Alvar for anyway? He wasn't even that useful to them."

"But maybe Vespera," Biana cut in.

Sophie thought for a moment, but then she shook her head. "Lady Gisela and Vespera don't get along, remember?" She also didn't remember any members of the Neverseen having any special bond with Vespera.

"Fair point," Biana replied, but she was half grumbling. "I thought we were onto something!"

"We still are," Sophie promised. "It's a lead."

***

"You got a letter from the Neverseen, and you didn't tell me immediately?" Fitz demanded.

"How many people were in the corridor? It was already bad enough that Biana was there!" Sophie protested.

Fitz took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "Right, I'm sorry. Have you opened it?"

"No," Sophie admitted.

Fitz stared at her as though she'd sprouted an extra head. "What are you waiting for? Open it!"

Sophie took the letter out of her pocket, her hands trembling. She still had the envelope, but she wasn't going to open that one yet.

She carefully removed the sticker holding the letter together and opened it up.

𝓓𝓔𝓐𝓡 𝓢𝓞𝓟𝓗𝓘𝓔 𝓔𝓛𝓘𝓩𝓐𝓑𝓔𝓣𝓗 𝓕𝓞𝓢𝓣𝓔𝓡,

𝓞𝓤𝓡 𝓟𝓐𝓣𝓘𝓔𝓝𝓒𝓔 𝓘𝓢 𝓦𝓐𝓝𝓘𝓝𝓖. 𝓨𝓞𝓤 𝓗𝓐𝓥𝓔 𝓝𝓞𝓣 𝓟𝓡𝓞𝓖𝓡𝓔𝓢𝓢𝓔𝓓 𝓐𝓢 𝓔𝓧𝓟𝓔𝓒𝓣𝓔𝓓. 𝓨𝓞𝓤 𝓦𝓘𝓛𝓛 𝓝𝓔𝓔𝓓 𝓣𝓞 𝓓𝓔𝓛𝓘𝓥𝓔𝓡 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓢𝓗𝓐𝓓𝓔 𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓜𝓨 𝓢𝓞𝓝 𝓣𝓞 𝓜𝓔 𝓘𝓜𝓜𝓔𝓓𝓘𝓐𝓣𝓔𝓛𝓨. 𝓜𝓔𝓔𝓣 𝓜𝓔 𝓐𝓣 𝓐 𝓥𝓔𝓡𝓨 𝓢𝓟𝓔𝓒𝓘𝓕𝓘𝓒 𝓗𝓘𝓛𝓛. 𝓓𝓘𝓡𝓔𝓒𝓣𝓘𝓞𝓝𝓢 𝓐𝓡𝓔 𝓘𝓝𝓒𝓛𝓤𝓓𝓔𝓓 𝓘𝓝𝓢𝓘𝓓𝓔 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓔𝓝𝓥𝓔𝓛𝓞𝓟𝓔. 𝓘 𝓗𝓞𝓟𝓔 𝓨𝓞𝓤 𝓡𝓔𝓐𝓓 𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓢 𝓘𝓝 𝓟𝓡𝓘𝓥𝓐𝓣𝓔. 𝓘 𝓔𝓧𝓟𝓔𝓒𝓣 𝓨𝓞𝓤 𝓣𝓞 𝓒𝓞𝓜𝓔 𝓐𝓛𝓞𝓝𝓔 𝓦𝓘𝓣𝓗 𝓜𝓨 𝓢𝓞𝓝. 𝓘 𝓓𝓞𝓝'𝓣 𝓔𝓥𝓔𝓝 𝓦𝓐𝓝𝓣 𝓨𝓞𝓤 𝓑𝓡𝓘𝓝𝓖𝓘𝓝𝓖 𝓨𝓞𝓤𝓡 𝓟𝓡𝓔𝓣𝓣𝓨 𝓑𝓞𝓨𝓕𝓡𝓘𝓔𝓝𝓓. 𝓘 𝓓𝓞𝓝'𝓣 𝓗𝓐𝓥𝓔 𝓣𝓘𝓜𝓔 𝓕𝓞𝓡 𝓚𝓘𝓢𝓢𝓘𝓝𝓖 𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓦𝓐𝓘𝓛𝓘𝓝𝓖. 𝓑𝓡𝓘𝓝𝓖 𝓜𝓨 𝓢𝓞𝓝 𝓣𝓞 𝓜𝓔. 𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓢𝓗𝓐𝓓𝓔. 𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓖𝓛𝓘𝓜𝓜𝓔𝓡. 𝓑𝓤𝓣 𝓘𝓕 𝓖𝓛𝓘𝓜𝓜𝓔𝓡 𝓘𝓢 𝓣𝓞𝓞 𝓣𝓡𝓐𝓘𝓣𝓞𝓡𝓞𝓤𝓢 𝓣𝓞 𝓡𝓔𝓣𝓤𝓡𝓝, 𝓐𝓝𝓨 𝓕𝓛𝓐𝓢𝓗𝓔𝓡 𝓦𝓘𝓛𝓛 𝓓𝓞.

𝓨𝓞𝓤 𝓗𝓐𝓥𝓔 𝓣𝓗𝓡𝓔𝓔 𝓓𝓐𝓨𝓢 𝓣𝓞 𝓖𝓘𝓥𝓔 𝓜𝓔 𝓨𝓞𝓤𝓡 𝓐𝓝𝓢𝓦𝓔𝓡.

𝓛𝓐𝓓𝓨 𝓖𝓘𝓢𝓔𝓛𝓐

Sophie passed it to Fitz. "Can you read this horrible penmanship?"

Fitz squinted at the letter. "Um... I think it says 'OUR PATIENCE IS WANING. YOU HAVE NOT PROGRESSED AS EXPECTED. YOU WILL NEED TO DELIVER THE SHADE AND MY SON TO ME IMMEDIATELY. MEET ME AT A VERY SPECIFIC HILL. DIRECTIONS ARE INCLUDED INSIDE THE ENVELOPE. I HOPE YOU READ THIS IN PRIVATE. I EXPECT YOU TO COME ALONE WITH MY SON. I DON'T EVEN WANT YOU BRINGING YOUR PRETTY BOYFRIEND. I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR KISSING AND WAILING. BRING MY SON TO ME. AND THE SHADE. AND GLIMMER. BUT IF GLIMMER IS TOO TRAITOROUS TO RETURN, ANY FLASHER WILL DO. YOU HAVE THREE DAYS TO GIVE ME YOUR ANSWER. LADY GISELA'. You have to wonder why she wrote in in caps. And was does she mean by kissing and wailing?"

"I look like Lady Gisela to you?" Sophie asked. "And do we even want to meet with her?"

Fitz pondered for a moment. "She's clearly desperate. She needs Keefe for something, and she needs a Flasher and a Shade. Well... pretty sure Rayni won't agree to that, and we're definitely not bringing Wylie. I don't know any other Flashers, do you?"

"Other than Elwin? None," Sophie responded.

"Elwin! That's true! And he's your father. He'll do anything for you."

"They didn't say if they'd give us anything in return, though," Sophie pointed out.

"True," Fitz noted. "Well, what's in the envelope?"

Sophie fished it out. There was a map with an X marked out for a small hill, and an old Imparter that read            'ＯＮＥ ＵＳＥ ＯＮＬＹ'.

"I think we can hail Lady Gisela with this," Sophie said out loud.

"I do too," Fitz said. "Wanna try?"

Sophie whispered, "Lady Gisela."

The battered Imparter flickered to life and a sour face filled the screen.

"I told you this is a one-use Imparter!" Lady Gisela snarled. "And I asked you to use it to hail Glimmer, not me!"

Sophie fumbled around the envelope and found a note that read: '𝓓𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼. 𝓗𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓖𝓵𝓲𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓻. 𝓗𝓮𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓡𝓪𝔂𝓷𝓲 𝓐𝓻𝓲𝓪.'

"I can talk to Rayni any time I want. Didn't you know that?" Sophie asked.

Lady Gisela's mouth curled into a smile. "Rayni isn't really your friend. You just think she is. She's always loyal to me, and I come first."

"Why would Rayni be loyal to you?" Sophie snorted.

Lady Gisela's face flickered in and out of view. "Because I rescued her and gave her a place. Because I looked after her as though she was my own daughter. And because Rayni has stuck with me for three years."

"She had nowhere else to go."

"She had the Neutral Territories. And believe me when I tell you that you can't trust Rayni." Lady Gisela smiled wickedly. "Only I can trust her. Remember this, Sophie: Rayni is broken. Her family was sent to Exile and she was banished. Rayni was a complete outcast until I found her, and I'm the one who raised her, taught her, educated her. I'm basically Rayni's mother. So think again when you think Rayni's on your side."

Sophie couldn't conceal her shudder and Lady Gisela saw it.

"Rayni is a master of acting. She'll spout lies to get what she wants." Lady Gisela smiled again. "I taught her."

"I still trust Rayni," Sophie said evenly, but her voice was shaking slightly. Fitz reached for her arm and she didn't even pull away. He wasn't shaking in the slightest.

"Acting all confident, are you, Vacker?" Lady Gisela asked evilly. "Well, that's fine. Overconfidence can get you killed, but I don't mind you dead! Which is brilliant. And you, Sophie, remember that my son loves you more than this brat of a Vacker ever could." Her disgusting plastic-surgery-like face twisted into a wicked smirk. "I know where he's weak. He cares about you more than he should. Especially considering you ditched him for a Vacker!"

"I never had any romantic intentions with Keefe," Sophie said firmly.

"But he did with you. He loves you, Sophie. And he'll do anything for you." Her voice went down to a whisper. "Even come to me. Doesn't he miss his mother?"

"He doesn't," Sophie snapped.

"Well, too bad. You have three days, Sophie. Make it count."