Good Leaders were normally hard to come by, but it seemed that our Haven knew no other kind of leader. I was especially proud of the leader in charge of our people, Princess, well Representative, Sutemos. Or Sute.
She was not like the kings and queens or the parliament I had learned of in the books of my people. She cared about the common man, and wanted for peace with her neighbors, a radical ideal that was far from acceptable, which was why she was exiled to our fishing village on her 'good will tour'.
This benevolence did not stop when she handed in her crown. Although Sute was no longer a princess and now served under a different ruler, she was still given a fair bit of autonomy for representing her people in our multicultural city. And there was where she shined. Sute was an expert at interracial mediation, so much so that she was apointed the leader of the Peacekeepers. It was not a random assignment, it was given to her specifically because she was good at helping people talk through problems. That was because she cared about people. And not just on a grand scale. She cared about people on an individual level as well.
Every time I thought Sute could not be a better leader, she always seemed to outdo herself. It had become apparent that Sophia and I would need some time to adjust to our new home, shop for furniture, get into a new routine, all of the things that normally happen when people move in together.
Sute had recognized that.
The morning after we arrived we were given a letter, ordering us to take 6 days leave, with a note being written in for 'bonding'.
Sophia and I already got along very well. But I was thankful to spend more time with her.
So the days came and went. Sophia practiced the [greater shadow clone] spell, and it was amazing. She could not keep up perpetually at its currently level, but she could keep it active long enough for us to sit and enjoy breakfast together. Sophia still didn't have a sense of taste with her clone, but she did seem to enjoy the cooking part with me.
Also, more thankfully, Sophia no longer had to borrow my voice. It had taken a bit of practice, and strangely enough, the eureka moment of shifting the vocal perspective from my own voice to hers came one morning, the last morning of our Leave together.
I was sitting nearby on my new reading chair. Sophia and I had arranged the furniture in a way that I could stay in one place and she would have a fairly high range of movement. Although if an outsider came in and saw the reading chair situated at the absolute center of the floor and all the room decorations were designed around that, it would probably throw them off. I liked to think this was a temporary measure until Sophia gained more control. Then we could have the home decorated normally.
There was a knock on the door.
[I will get it!] Sophia said to me within my mind. Sophia moved quickly and carefully around the furniture. Being a physical being had its drawbacks, it seemed.
When Sophia got to the door, there was a small boy, recently plated. The sight of the being of darkness in front of him interrupted his normal greeting.
He dropped his letter he was carrying and yelped.
This elicited an unbidden "Eep!" from Sophia.
That was what it had taken.
"Sophia, did you make that sound?"
After a few tonal movements, what sounded like moving through octaves and several dozen mouth movements, then a few practice words, then finally words.
"Le-ark."
"Yes?"
"L-ahre-k!"
"Yes??"
"Lark!!!"
Sophia was crying. No tears flowed, but I knew what she looked like when she cried. And that was before her shadow had gained such definition. Where before her [shadow clone] was humanoid and most likely lybringer in shape, the [greater shadow clone] created what Sophia saw herself as, only in black and grey of a body of shadows. Sophia could change between outfits, and even put the outfits on if she chose, although she said this took more effort to maintain. But this time I could hear the tears as they would have flown.
She had spoken. She sobbed for a few moments. Then, as if she had planned for this moment for a long time, she pulled the storybook she had kept from our time at the clinic, and read the children's story about the Shadow and the Giant. I recognized now that she related us to these characters, and it made her happy to make such a connection
By the time she had reread this story to me, she was in full control of her voice. She looked at me with a smile on her face, and took my hand in hers.
"It's good to talk to you with my own voice, my darling Lark."
"It is nice to hear your voice and be able to speak back, Sophia."
Sophia smiled, then a bit of surprise hit her. "The Letter!"
Sophia ran to the door, slipping on the new rug she had gotten, also learning that gravity affects greater shadows that day. After getting up and adjusting the rug back, she went to the door, grabbed the letter, then she returned and sat next to me, opening the letter with the letter opener from the desk drawer she had grabbed along the way.
As she opened and read it, she smiled. I still was not the best at reading the intricate script of handwritten letters, so she normally took the lead, now also doing the writing for us.
"What is it Sophia?"
"Lark, we have a mission."