Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(69)

“Fine,” he whispered. “Have it your way. You want my name?”

It took Sophie several seconds to remember to nod.

“Very well, then.” Mr. Forkle paced the room twice more.

When he finally spoke, his voice had turned soft and whispery, a ghost in the shadows. “You also know me as Sir Astin.”





THIRTY-TWO


SIR ASTIN,” SOPHIE repeated. “As in . . . my Level Two Universe Mentor.”

“That would be me, yes.”

She tried to picture Mr. Forkle looking young and pale with long blond hair, but her brain refused to cooperate.

His new whispery voice did sound awfully familiar, though . . .

“How else do you think you got assigned the list of stars to find Elementine?” he asked.

The room tilted sideways—or maybe that was Sophie.

She needed to sit.

That Universe assignment had changed everything. She went from being the slightly weird “human girl” to Project Moonlark. She’d also had to face a Tribunal, and the Council had ordered her to keep a memory log, and she’d had to be descryed by Councillor Terik and . . .

“Wait—Sir Astin testified at the Tribunal that the lists for that assignment were given at random,” she argued.

“Of course I did! I couldn’t exactly say, ‘I’m with the Black Swan and this was part of our plan!’ This is what I mean, Miss Foster. Disguises require lies. I had to be so careful of every word I spoke to you, every gesture I made, to be sure I didn’t remind you of this.” He waved his arms around his Mr. Forkle-shaped self. “You’d just spent so many years seeing me every day, I knew the slightest cue might trigger a connection. And up until that Universe assignment your mind had been so sweetly unsuspicious. I was there simply to build your confidence as you struggled to adjust to life at Foxfire. Wasn’t my session one of the few you didn’t worry over?”

It definitely had been.

“But . . . Sir Astin was surprised when I showed him the bottle of Quintessence.”

“Well, yes, because I never thought you’d bring it to Foxfire! Or carry it around in your satchel, letting it get shaken and jostled all day! It’s amazing you didn’t blow the school to pieces. That was when I learned to never make assumptions about what you’ll do. I’d foolishly figured you’d run straight to Alden. Just like I’d figured Mr. Dizznee would have you two wearing protective gloves—proper starlight bottling procedure. Instead you burned your hands and called for Elwin, and then you showed up to your session and plopped the bottle on the table. Of course I panicked! I knew I’d have to make a report to Dame Alina, and you’d face a Tribunal, and all kinds of other consequences we could’ve avoided if you’d gone to Alden.”

“Oh.” Sophie stared at her hands, remembering the burns. “So . . . you really were Sir Astin?”

“I still am Sir Astin. Mind you, he’s taking some time away from Foxfire now that you’re a Level Three. But as far as our world is concerned, Sir Astin is off mapping stars.”

Sophie wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or laugh. All the time she’d spent wondering about him, and he’d been right there, teaching her for two hours a week.

“So . . . should I call you Sir Astin now?” she asked.

“I’d prefer you didn’t. It’s easier to compartmentalize my life. When I’m here, I’m Mr. Forkle. Though you are welcome to tell the others.”

“Oh, I will.” Even if part of her still struggled to believe it.

She kept replaying her Universe sessions, searching for any clue that might have given him away. But there were none. He’d played his role perfectly.

“Are you satisfied now?” Mr. Forkle asked.

“Satisfied” wasn’t the right word.

It all felt a little anticlimactic. She’d asked. He’d answered. He hadn’t even taken one of those callowberries and morphed into Sir Astin. And she couldn’t think of any of the “slips” he’d mentioned earlier.

“Is that your only identity?” she asked. “Or are there others?”

“Sir Astin is the only one I’m willing to share.”

“How many are there?”

He sighed. “One for my actual life. Another for a role I’ve taken on. Another for the fertility doctor I played to your human parents. I couldn’t be their doctor and their next-door neighbor, after all—but I’m assuming you already guessed that.”

She nodded, even though she hadn’t really thought about it.

Yet another layer of weirdness to her life.

“And that’s all I’ll say for now,” Mr. Forkle said firmly. “Can you accept that?”

Sophie studied his eyes, still not seeing Sir Astin staring back at her. “You’re not Alden, right?”

Mr. Forkle laughed. “Even with every elixir ever made, I could never be that handsome.”

He had a point.

“What about Tiergan?” Her telepathy mentor had always been a mystery. And he’d been close with Prentice.

“You can stop guessing. Even if you get it right, I’m not going to tell you.”

“So that’s a yes, then?” she pressed, not sure what she’d do if it were true.