Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-44907704-20200201232939/@comment-44907704-20200204211340

"WHAT?" A surge of dread and anger bounced around her imaginary force field until everything inside was breached by Lord Cassius's fixated glare.

But she stood her ground as her mind flashed to the word, ''Why? ''

Would Keefe's father really prefer to be married to one of his matches over being single?

The brilliance of his mind would've compensated for more than enough, certainly more than two individuals. Would it have boosted his status in the nobility, perhaps, assuring the public that he was loveable?

But Councillors weren't allowed to have kids or families — did he not have enough confidence in himself to join their ranks?

Sophie suddenly felt sick. The point of the matchmaking system was to ensure "Progress, Prosperity, Permanence, and Proliferation," as her adoptive father, Grady, had told her. But there was nothing about "real" or "true," as if it should've been obvious from the beginning.

Which, okay, it was. The moment she'd stepped into the hub, she'd known that this was serious business — not to forget that the Matchmakers had trained for this job for centuries. Maybe they never assumed this would be taken for granted or misused in the way Lady Gisela wanted Cassius. This kind of defiance was flushed out by the Council and the Matchmakers themselves, with every step of theirs in sync.

And round and round her thoughts went, until...

Maybe he was desperate, a tingly voice buzzed excitedly in her head. ''He was desperate for love and Gisela was his only chance. ''

They both saw potential in each other, enough potential to be on each others' matchmaking lists. "But potential isn't something it always lives up to, is it?"

"It's also neither good or bad," she pointed out, suddenly feeling very irritated, "and wouldn't it be better to never know how much of it you have? That way you're not constantly thinking about it?"

Lord Cassius shook his head darkly. "There's a point potential reaches so that, when you cross that line, it's impossible not to notice. That's changed, of course, with people flaunting their talents and trying to show that their potential exceeds what is within their capability. But, yes, very few of us know our true potential, and the person who knows it best — aside from a Descryer, of course— is..."

"Ourselves," she finished, almost smiling.

There was something she was in control of, after all.

"I assume that's why me and Gisela were Counterparts," Lord Cassius dramatically heaved a sigh when Sophie tugged out an eyelash in confusion, "it's when two people are ranked similarly or, in our case, the same on each other's lists. Gisela was my number thirty-nine on my first list, and I was her thirty-"

"Ninth," Sophie interrupted, earning an eyebrow raise in question. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Why did you love her?"

She cringed at the word, not knowing if they deserved "love."

"She chose me," Cassius said simply, "it would've been foolish to refuse. I was quite flustered, really," he added when he noticed her annoyance.

This must've been what it was like for Keefe as a child. He would be running up stairways, desperately seeking answers and some purpose or explanation for why he was doing what he was doing — and he got the simple way out.

"I trust that you'll keep all of this confidential, Miss Foster?" Lord Cassius asked icily, as if he was guessing what she was thinking, "This is only for you to get a better insight into my son's life. I—" The rest of his words were drowned out by her thoughts.

''Did your parents push you as hard as you pushed Keefe? So hard you don't know how else to parent him?''

''Did you try anything Magnate Leto wanted you to do, aside from the Empathy lessons? Maybe Keefe doesn't want to get better at Empathy, no thanks to you.''

Do you think I'd take him for granted like Lady Gisela did to you?

''Why are you suddenly worried about this now? Couldn't you have talked with him earlier, or is love stupid now that yours was ruined?''

''What was the promise Keefe made Alden? Don't you admire him?''

So many questions — and none of them would be answered.

Except this one.

"Is being a Counterpart... common?"

To her surprise — and his too — Lord Cassius nodded, then winced from the effort. "It's not as rare as you might think, but it only appears to be rare when at least one of the matches has an interest in the other. Being a Counter is much more common, as I assume is the case with Grady and Edaline?"

She thought it might be. "Grady was number three on Edaline's list and Edaline was number seven on Grady's. Wait, so if you're within four ranks of each other, you're a—"

"Counter," Lord Cassius smirked, "It's the closest you can get to a Counterpart without being one, and it stirs up a lot of talk and confusion, more than a typical match."

Her stomach suddenly felt like she'd swallowed a drop of limbium. This felt even more uncomfortable than the talk she and Grady had a few months ago about boys, probably because Lord Cassius was involved. Talk about an unexpected twist.

An idea formed and she collapsed backwards, groaning at the pain — not just of falling but of the thought, too.

"Everything we've discussed in here stays in here, Miss Foster. Do you agree?"

She shut out the rest of the outside world as she transmitted,

Do you think Lady Gisela mesmerized you?

And another thought came to mind...

Would she have the ability to rebel and be a part of the Black Swan if she'd been matched with Fitz or Keefe, knowing they'd have an entire life ahead of them?

They were just genetically compatible, like Lady Gisela and Lord Cassius. And yet...

She didn't think she would.