Chapter 5 #2
She picked up the paper and bounced over to Sonya, grinning as she bequeathed it to her. ‘For you,’ she said.
Sonya’s heart melted. ‘Oh.’ She crouched down so that she was eye level with Dania, who came to stand beside her.
‘See, that’s me,’ Dania said, pointing on the paper to a drawing of what was obviously meant to be a little girl, though her head was twice the size of her body and the same size as the sun drawn in the corner.
‘And that’s you!’ She pointed to the other figure, who was holding hands with the little girl.
They were the same size, but this figure had short hair.
‘Dania, it’s lovely,’ Sonya said. She felt special. ‘Thank you.’
Dania giggled to herself, pleased, then lifted her arms. Sonya hugged the little girl as Dania wrapped her arms around Sonya’s neck. Warmth spread across her chest.
Kiri smiled. ‘Come, you two.’
Sonya placed the drawing in her pocket; she would treasure it always. Kiri opened the door to the hallway and Dania ran out, putting on her shoes and heading for the front door. She threw it open, and Sonya’s heart lurched.
‘Dania, wait!’ she cried.
‘It’s alright,’ Kiri said. ‘She knows not to go far.’
Sure enough, when they exited the front door, Dania was waiting for them. It was so strange to see the confidence with which Dania moved, how unafraid she was. Sonya didn’t think she had ever been like that, and she most certainly wasn’t like that now.
Even as they made their way down to the market, Sonya was on alert, constantly checking her surroundings.
For one thing, she didn’t want to be recognized.
She was anxious, but no one in the Outskirts had ever met her before and any staff that might recognize her would be at the castle.
Besides, her hair and outfit were a good disguise.
She really was in terrible shape, especially after cleaning all day.
She felt bedraggled, so if anyone was looking at her it was most probably because of that.
Even so, she kept an eye out for any castle guards on the prowl. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any.
They entered the market, and Sonya very vaguely recognized it from the previous night. She looked around, eyes wide. In the daylight, everything was so big and bright.
‘Anything you need can be purchased here,’ Kiri said. She pointed out shops: shoes, fabric, paints, books. There was an apothecary, an inn, a blacksmith. The bakery, the butcher’s, the vegetable and fruit stands.
The storefronts had their names painted in different styles, though they were a bit old, the paint chipped. Even so, it was spectacular. A marvel. Sonya tried to hide her awe. Kiri believed her to be an average girl from Castletown. An average girl who would’ve seen a market before.
Sonya’s eyes snagged on the bookshop. It hadn’t hurt her to leave behind her closets full of dresses and shoes and shawls, nor did it ache to leave behind the vast kitchens and pantries stocked with all sorts of food, but it had pained her to leave behind the library, with its never-ending shelves of books.
She had been sad even to leave behind the small collection of all her favorite books in her room’s bookshelves.
Kiri followed Sonya’s gaze, then smiled. ‘Why don’t you take a peek in the bookshop while Dania and I get the meat?’ she said. ‘The owner, Jerome, is a good fellow, and his daughter, Winnie, is lovely, too.’
Excitement sparked through her. ‘Okay!’
She had spent most of her time at the castle reading about great adventures in books—it was what had given her the idea of how to run away.
She had also read grand, sweeping love stories, which fueled in her the desire for true love.
How could she settle for any suitor her father or brothers chose for her when she knew a love like that might be out there for her too?
Sonya walked over to the bookshop and peered in through the door’s window.
The doorbell above her rang when she entered. She gasped in wonder at the sight of the shelves packed with books, the big ladder on one end. There were stacks of books on every table and even the floor.
Before Sonya could move, a voice called out, loud and clear. ‘ENZO! I swear to GOD if that’s you again, I will GUT you and wear your intestines as a NECKLACE!’
Sonya froze in place as a figure came out from behind a bookshelf. Her black shiny hair was pulled back in a braid, her dark eyes stern behind a pair of glasses. Her face was contorted with anger until she spotted Sonya.
‘Oh.’ The girl looked surprised, then sheepish. ‘Sorry, I thought you were someone else!’
‘Well, if I ever see this Enzo, I shall warn him,’ Sonya said, with a small smile.
‘Good!’ the girl said, smiling as well. ‘Though he’s surely too stupid to listen.’ She rolled her eyes.
Before she could introduce herself, a man came out from a door, which seemed to lead into an office. He was wearing a tweed waistcoat with a pocket watch on a chain in one pocket. He sighed. ‘Insulting my apprentice again, Winnie?’ the man said.
‘Papa!’ Winnie pouted. ‘Why you have chosen the most insufferable boy in the village to teach is beyond me.’
‘Enough,’ the man said. ‘Do tend to our customer now, darling.’
The man went back to his office, and Winnie huffed. She came over to Sonya, and Sonya suddenly felt self-conscious in her dirty uniform dress while Winnie was wearing a neat and clean navy dress with a gray cardigan.
‘Sorry about that,’ Winnie said. ‘That was my father. We own the bookshop. I’m Winifred, but call me Winnie. Only my mother calls me Winifred, and that’s when she’s very cross with me.’
Sonya smiled and introduced herself.
‘You’re not from here, are you?’ Winnie asked, eyes curious.
Sonya hesitated. ‘Erm, no. I’m staying with Azam Mirza, the stitch-witch?’
‘Oh! Azam’s a dear. We all love him.’ Sonya still felt a bit apprehensive, but Winnie waved a hand. ‘Don’t look so worried! You’ll get wrinkles.’ She winked. ‘Now tell me, what can I do for you? Are you looking for anything in particular?’
‘I was just looking around,’ Sonya said. ‘I love reading. Would you happen to have any of Mirabel Summer’s books?’
Winnie’s eyes widened. ‘Oh my god. You’re a Summer fan? Nobody in the Outskirts has even heard of her, let alone read her work, but I am obsessed. You know Artine?’
Artine was one of the old, dead languages. Mirabel Summer only wrote in Artine. Her books were very popular in Castletown amongst the aristocracy, Mustafa always said. Sonya was surprised Winnie had read them.
‘I learned Artine when I was a girl,’ Sonya replied. ‘You know it?’ Winnie nodded, and Sonya couldn’t hide her surprise. ‘I didn’t know they taught Artine in the Outskirts.’
Winnie laughed. ‘They don’t. I’m a tongue-witch.’
‘Ah.’ Sonya knew this meant that Winnie would have an affinity for languages.
‘My father is a tongue-witch as well, and he taught me the basics, then my magic took over,’ Winnie explained, walking over to a bookshelf. Sonya followed as Winnie led her to the back, to a shelf in the corner. ‘These are all my favorites.’
Sonya saw a sign that read Staff Picks above the shelf.
Winnie pulled one of the copies of Mirabel Summer’s books out, showing Sonya. Comfort immediately poured through her at the familiar sight of the leatherbound book. Sonya touched the cover, holding the book in her hands. She paged through, inhaling the scent of paper and dust and ink.
Then she realized something, with a start. ‘I don’t have any money,’ she said, cheeks hot. ‘I just came in to look.’
But Winnie’s face was kind. ‘You can come over any time and read the books here, if you’d like,’ she said.
‘That would be wonderful!’ Sonya said. ‘Thank you.’
‘Not at all. I’m bored out of my mind in the shop all day, and I’d be happy for the company!’ Winnie replied. ‘And you look like a calm person. Maybe you can help me quell my murderous impulses toward my father’s apprentice.’
‘That sounds fun.’ Sonya laughed. ‘I should get back now, but it was nice to meet you.’
‘Likewise,’ Winnie said. ‘May the moon and stars be with you!’
Sonya smiled at the familiar goodbye from Mirabel’s books. Winnie really was a fan.
‘May the moon and stars be with you,’ she returned, setting the book down.
She walked out of the bookshop, back into the market, and looked around.
Luckily, the butcher was right across the way and easy to spot.
Sonya went over, but Kiri and Dania weren’t there.
She searched her surroundings and spotted them next door at a vegetable stand.
Dania was munching on a carrot the size of her arm.
‘She’s back!’ Dania said, when she saw Sonya. She left Kiri’s side and latched onto Sonya’s arm. ‘Carrot?’ She offered her the carrot, and Sonya shook her head.
‘No, thank you, darling,’ she said, stroking Dania’s hair. She turned to Kiri. ‘Let me take that.’
She took the basket with the meat, while Kiri held onto the basket with the vegetables: perfectly capped mushrooms and russet potatoes, along with long orange carrots and bright green peas. Kiri paid the grocer, then turned back to the girls.
‘Let’s go home,’ Kiri said.
Holding the basket with one hand and Dania’s hand with her other, Sonya walked alongside Kiri as the little girl led the way.
The sun was setting by the time they made it back to the cottage, and the sky was a bright pink and purple, the colors mixing together like paints dancing on a canvas.
Sonya stopped in front of the door, looking up.
Birds flew in the air, spiraling around one another.
She had never seen anything like it. The view was so different from down here.
Of course, she had seen beautiful sunsets from her tower in the castle many times, but this was something else entirely.