Page 6 The editor seemed as unhappy as they were. The story was run in place of an article on the arsonist terrorizing the city—and they were still trying to figure out how the mistake had happened.
Page 41 Mr. Forkle could always be found there, rearranging hundreds of garden gnomes into elaborate tableaux.
Page 43 Mr. Forkle might be on the old side, but he was a large man, and when he straightened up to his full height, he made quite an intimidating figure. They stared each other down for a few seconds. Then the jogger shook his head and backed off.
Page 45 She couldn't even remember hearing Mr. Forkle's thoughts—now that she thought about it—and she could always hear his.
Page 53 "You've never had to watch someone fade away. Perhaps if you had, you would be more cautious."
Page 57 Kenric was built like a football player, with wild red hair and a big, toothy grin. Oralie looked like a fairy princess—rosy cheeks and long golden ringlets. And then there was Bronte.
Page 58 "We don't know," Kenric said, scooting his chair a touch closer to Oralie's than he really needed to. "No one's died of old age yet."
Page 60 Kenric's and Oralie's jaws dropped.
Page 61 "You're thinking that you're the only one at this table with any common sense," she announced. "And you're tired of watching Kenric stare at Oralie." Bronte's jaw fell open and Kenric's face turned as red as his hair. Oralie looked down at her plate, her cheeks flushing pink.
Page 62 "Fitz also saw her lift more than ten times her weight with telekinesis yesterday." "You're kidding!" Kenric gasped, recovering from his embarrassment. "At her age? Now that I have to see."
Page 63 Kenric applauded. "Excellent control."
Page 64 Kenric clapped her on the back, pulling her out of her worries. "I've never seen such natural talent. You're even a natural at our language. Your accent is perfect. Almost as perfect as these guys'." He pointed to Alden and Fitz.
Page 65 Kenric shrugged. "I can't think of what that would be."
Page 79 "That’s an understatement." He stared at Sophie long enough to make her squirm. "You really found her—after all these years?"
Page 80 "So this is why Prentice sacrificed everything," Quinlin breathed, staring at the glowing double helixes as though seeing a long-lost child.
Page 81 Sophie counted the seconds as they ticked by. Two hundred seventy-eight passed before he pulled away—so much for less than a minute.
Page 81 "It means she'll be the greatest Keeper we've ever known, once she's older," Alden said through a sigh. Quinlin snorted. "If she isn't already."
Page 81 A second passed before Alden answered. "Some information is too important to record. So we'll share it with a Keeper, a highly trained Telepath, and leave them in charge of protecting the secret." "Then why would I already be one?" "Quinlin was joking about that." Alden's smile didn't reach his eyes, which made it harder to believe.
Page 83 "They're burning white hot—against the wind. Like they were set by someone who knew what they were doing. Plus… doesn't it look like the sign?"
Page 83 Alden frowned. "No. But you were the only one who knew what I was up to." "Not the only one," Quinlin said quietly.
Page 85 "Bronte has his babysitter sitting outside my office all day, taking notes though," Quinlin grumbled. "He could've at least picked someone who's a decent receptionist."
Page 85 "Bronte had specifically ordered us to ignore the evidence we found of your existence," Alden explained. "He thought the DNA we'd discovered was a hoax and that my search was a waste of time. That's why he was so hard on you today. He doesn't like being wrong. And he really doesn't like knowing that I've been working behind his back."
Page 91 Tiergan spun toward her and his eyes did a quick inventory, widening when they locked with hers.
Page 91 The way Tiergan was staring at her—like he'd just watched someone kill his favorite puppy—was officially weirding her out.
Page 92 Tiergan raised a hand, silencing him. He took a step closer to Sophie, waiting for her to meet his eyes. "Being a Telepath around humans is quite a burden. I'll bet you've had terrible headaches and heard all kinds of things you didn't want to hear. Right?" She nodded, stunned by his sudden change in mood. He sounded almost… kind. He frowned and looked away, mumbling something she mostly didn't understand. But she thought she caught the word "irresponsible."
Page 101 "You don't know who sent this to you?" she asked. "I have a few theories. No reason to worry." "You keep saying that." A hint of irritation crept into her tone.
Page 112 She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see her family's limp bodies, and counted the seconds until Fitz returned.
Page 122 "All I know is I woke up in the hospital and my parents were freaking out, saying my neighbor had called nine-one-one and that I'd been unconscious for hours."
Page 132 "She's still in pain," she said, not entirely sure how she knew.
Page 152 "Had to come see for yourself, Juline?" Grady asked. "I'm allowed to visit my sister, aren't I?" she asked, her eyes riveted to Sophie.
Page 166 "I'm Jensi—whoa—you have really weird eyes—cool—anyway—so—everyone wants to talk to you—but they're all afraid—so I decided to show them how it's done."
Page 175 But Sir Astin—a pale blond elf with a soft, whispery voice—said she was a natural.
Page 183 "Of course not. But please just call me Tiergan. I am not a member of the nobility—Mentor or no."
Page 184 He frowned, like his mind had wandered somewhere else again. "I have no doubt you are exactly the way you were intended to be."
Page 186 But Tiergan warned her that her impenetrable mind would make it hard for anyone to trust her—she could hide something too easily.
Page 195 "You must be lost." The boy's deep voice brought her out of her trance. He wore a green Level Four uniform, and was sprawled across a bench, watching her with curious, ice blue eyes.
Page 301 Sir Astin was always pale, but he looked downright ghostly as he jumped back and screamed, "Don't move!" She froze. "Should I wrap it back up?"
Page 302 "No, Sophie. I never taught you that name. No one teaches that name." His voice was hushed—barely audible. That explained why Dex and Elwin had never heard of it. "But I had to learn it here," she insisted. "How else would I know it?" "I have no idea. Elementine is one of the five unmapped stars. Only the Councillors know their exact locations—and no one is allowed to bottle their light." He swallowed loudly. "You’ve broken a very serious law, Sophie. This will merit a tribunal to decide how you should be punished."
Page 304 Kenric's was sturdy and simple, made of polished wood encrusted with large pieces of amber.
Page 306 Oralie nodded again and Sophie finally understood. Oralie was reading her emotions—a living, breathing lie detector.
Page 306 A Telepath could monitor Sir Astin's thoughts for honesty. His mind wasn't impenetrable, like Sophie's.
Page 312 "I was thinking how strange it is that you don't know the name of one of our most common trees—and yet you knew the name and location of a star only a handful of us have ever heard of, and only the Councillors know how to find."
Page 320 The Council was right. Information had been planted in her brain.
Page 323 "Only blue crystals take you to the Forbidden Cities, and only certain members of the nobility are allowed to have them."
Page 325 "Sophie, look at me," Tiergan said, waiting until she did. "Prentice was exiled because he was hiding your existence—not because he was responsible for it."
Page 325 "Prentice was a Keeper for a group called the Black Swan, and the information he was hiding was you. Where to find you. I'd warned Prentice there would be consequences for helping the Black Swan, but he didn't listen."
Page 326 "A small group of insurgents in our society adopted the name. A brewing rebellion—a black swan—in a society where rebellion isn't supposed to exist." "How do you know so much about them?" she had to ask. "You're not the only one with secrets you'd rather not share."
Page 356 A book was waiting on the center shelf of her locker: An Insider's Guide to Pyrokinesis. It came with a note: "Hope this helps you find what you're looking for."
Page 361 "Did you know that this is a moonlark?" A chill ran through her as she shook her head. She'd barely paid attention to the cover. "Suldreen," Alden said quietly. "Moonlarks lay their eggs in the ocean and let the tide carry them away. The babies hatch alone, and must learn to survive without family. That's what the Black Swan called you. Project Moonlark."
Page 361 "Prentice was a Keeper for the Black Swan, so the Council ordered Quinlin to probe his memories. His mind broke in the process, and Quinlin was only able to extract two pieces of information. A strand of your unregistered DNA, and your code name: Moonlark. You were the egg they cast out into the sea of humans, hoping you'd survive."
Page 362 "Your human parents had trouble getting pregnant, so they saw a fertility doctor. I believe that doctor was a member of the Black Swan—posing as a human—and that he implanted your mother with your embryo to keep us from knowing about your existence."
Page 363 "I never said you were a weapon. I don't know why they made you, or why they wanted me to find you." He smiled sadly when her eyes widened. "It's safe to assume they're the ones who sent me that article about you. I'm sure they wrote the article—I doubt it's a coincidence the title uses the word 'prodigy.' They even burned their sign around the city where you lived to get our attention."
Page 367 "Stop!" she screamed. "Stop right now. Stop!" STOP! Her mental plea was so desperate it transmitted. Iggy froze and turned to look at her—eyes wide with shock. Let go of the paper!
Page 387 "Balefire was Fintan's trademark. It's a blue flame that requires no fuel. You've seen it in Atlantis—he sealed it inside the crystal spires to light the city. That was back when he was one of the Councillors. He retired when pyrokinesis was banned—which he fully supported after what happened."
Page 387 "Fintan retired from the Council because he couldn't serve without a special ability. But he's stayed close friends with most of the Councillors, and he's the only elf alive who can start Everblaze, so can you see why the Councillors might have a hard time believing he's capable of this?"
Page 389 "I can't even begin to guess, but everything they've done has put you at risk. They gave you an illegal leaping crystal as a necklace. They made you collect Quintessence. Now they're trying to get you to make a very serious charge against a former Councillor—without evidence."
Page 395 Her eyes blurred with tears as she tore off the brown paper, unwrapping a silver orb and a note. "You must help them." Followed by three names: "Connor, Kate, and Natalie Freeman."
Page 427 "It's not important." His voice sounded clipped, giving her nothing distinct she could recognize. "Why are you helping me?" "It's my job." His job?
Page 460 "It's not a good idea to inflict pain on him." Her jaw dropped. "Inflict?" Alden nodded. "It seems you're an Inflictor."
Page 467 "But… why could I hear his thoughts? Shouldn't his mind have been silent?" "Another part of his disguise. A highly skilled Telepath can broadcast thoughts the way humans do. He gave you what you needed to hear to not suspect him. I bet that's how they planted some of the memories in your brain. He certainly had enough access to you to broadcast subliminal messages when he needed to."
Page 471 The Council didn't take the threats seriously, but they forbade human contact of any kind and recruited Telepaths like myself to keep our minds open for suspicious activity. All talk of rebellion vanished, and the Council was satisfied. Crisis solved."
Page 471 "The Council has been forced to admit the rebellion exists, and you can rest assured that this threat will be resolved. We have tremendous power at our disposal. We just haven't been using it."
Next, I give my thoughts about what some of this might mean. Stop
reading NOW if you have not read the later books.
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In this post, I lay out my theory about who Mr. Forkle really is. I don't come out and say exactly what I think in these comments, although I do hint at it. For that reason, you really should stop reading if you haven't read through all the books.
I am obsessed with Kenric, which is why I include so much of what he says and does.
I picked up on the importance of Sophie's neighbor, Mr. Forkle, the
first time that I read this book. It seemed odd that he was in his
front yard all the time, and he was rather protective of Sophie for an apparently grumpy old neighbor.
He appears to force the jogger to run away through some kind of mental
trick.
I'm certain that Kenric and Oralie's mouths drop open because they are both faking their surprise. We learn in later books that both Councillor Kenric and Councillor Oralie knew specific information about Project Moonlark long before Sophie ever arrives in the Lost Cities.
It's important to note that Kenric has "wild red hair," since he would have trouble controlling his hair if he were to disguise himself.
Both Kenric and Astin use the word "natural" to describe Sophie. I don't think this is just a coincidence.
Only certain members of the nobility are allowed to possess the blue crystals for leaping to the Forbidden Cities. Since Forkle must have a blue crystal, he must be one of the elite nobility.
It's significant that Sophie was given the location of the five unmapped stars. Only the Councillors know of their location. This means that someone in the Council is involved with the Black Swan, and perhaps that Councillor is also Mr. Forkle, who just happens to have one of the elusive blue crystals.
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