Chapter 9
The next day, Sonya set about cleaning the rest of the upstairs, though she left Azam’s and Kiri’s rooms alone. She cleaned the bathroom and the hallways, then cleaned downstairs, emptying out the grate, brushing away the ashes, sweeping and mopping as she went.
Then, she went to work on the garden outside, which was overgrown. She trimmed the grass and picked tomatoes and dug up potatoes. Then, she familiarized herself with the herbs: rosemary, sage, basil, coriander; each of them smelling heavenly.
She finished with most of her chores by midday, working in silence.
Azam was in his room for most of the day; he must have been writing to someone because when he came down later, there was a sealed letter in his hands.
He went off to post it before she could see or ask who it was addressed to, and she chided herself for being nosy.
She couldn’t help it! She wanted to know everything there was to know about Azam. He was so interesting to her, and the more she learned, the more she wanted to, like reading the first book of a series and loving it, then waiting for the rest.
When he came back, it was just in time for lunch, which consisted of sandwiches of sliced tomatoes from the garden topped with milky cheese and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt and crushed black pepper.
‘Mm, delicious,’ Azam said, taking a bite. He was sitting across from Sonya, his maroon waistcoat buttoned up.
‘Who did you send the letter to?’ Kiri asked, pouring him a glass of strawberry lemonade.
Sonya’s ears perked as she nibbled on her lunch.
‘The tailor,’ he said, his focus trained on his lunch. ‘I’ve been assigned to a project that I can work on at home, so they don’t need me in the shop for at least a few weeks.’
‘But that’s wonderful!’ Sonya said, immediately thinking of their conversation from last night. She was determined to convince him. ‘That means you have more than enough time to reopen the shop!’
‘Opening the shop?’ Kiri asked, delighted. ‘What a marvelous idea!’
‘Isn’t it?’ Sonya agreed, joining forces with Kiri sitting beside her.
‘I mean, I haven’t quite decided—’
‘It’s what you’ve always wanted!’ Kiri said. ‘What better time than now?’
Sonya could see that he was hesitating to take the step. ‘We know you can do it.’
He took a long sip of his lemonade, then set it down, giving her a wry smile. ‘I’m still thinking about it—but, right now, we’re going somewhere.’
‘Are you only saying that so we won’t pester you?’ Sonya asked, arching a brow.
‘Perhaps.’ He finished off his sandwich, then stood. ‘Come along!’
‘Wait!’ She finished the last two bites of her sandwich, then wiped her hands along her apron. She was wearing the uniform dress beneath it since she had been cleaning. ‘Do I need to change?’
He shook his head. ‘No, we’ll be outside.’
Dania stood up on her chair next to Azam’s. ‘Me, too!’
Azam bopped her nose. ‘Next time, sweet.’
Dania stomped her foot, pouting, but Kiri reached across the table for her hand. ‘If you leave too, who will help me bake?’ she asked. ‘There’s some browning bananas we must see to! I was thinking banana bread?’
Dania’s face lit up. ‘And we’re going to add chocolate chips?’
‘And we’re going to add chocolate chips,’ Kiri confirmed. Dania sat back down, placated.
Thank you, Azam mouthed at Kiri. Kiri waved a hand, then winked at Sonya.
After finishing off her lemonade, Sonya took off her apron and followed Azam to the hallway, where they put on their shoes. Hers were still a bit big, no matter how tightly she laced them, but she had added folded napkins to the back, which helped a bit.
They headed out, and the day was warm. Sonya had noticed that the weather in the Outskirts was warmer than what she was used to in the castle, but that might have been because of the castle’s cold stone walls.
They walked through the Outskirts toward Castletown—it was easy for Sonya to tell the way because they were going uphill. As they got closer to the border, Sonya’s chest tightened with apprehension. Tucked away in the Outskirts, it had been so easy to forget she had run away.
Her fingers fidgeted as she tried to think of an excuse as to why she didn’t wish to go into Castletown. The chances of her being recognized there were higher, but she couldn’t exactly say that to Azam.
But when they reached the forest that divided the Outskirts from Castletown, he turned to the right.
‘Where are we going?’ Sonya asked, as they moved further into the forest. It didn’t matter to her; she was happy to just be walking alongside him.
‘To one of my favorite spots,’ Azam replied. He gave her a dazzling smile. Sunlight streamed in through the gaps between the trees from above, a slight breeze moving the branches.
Sonya watched as a family of bunnies hopped across her path toward their burrow. She gasped. ‘Look!’ she said, pointing. ‘They’re so tiny.’
‘You haven’t seen bunnies before?’ he asked.
She shook her head. She had never been in the forest before the night she’d escaped, never gone exploring.
‘They aren’t too different from mice, you know,’ he teased. She wrinkled her nose, and he laughed.
As they continued, he pointed things out to her as they passed by them: plants with medicinal qualities, ribbiting frogs, capped mushrooms, colorful winged butterflies. They came across some flowers, and he picked a few.
‘Snowdrops for you,’ he said, offering them to her. She took them, inhaling the scent: they smelled a bit like honey and almonds.
As they continued, she spotted a flower she recognized and plucked a pink hyacinth, which smelled sweet and even a little spicy.
‘For you,’ she said, offering it to him. He smiled.
‘Why, thank you,’ he said, taking it from her. He stuck it into the pocket of his waistcoat, right over his heart. She bit back a smile.
They kept walking, and truly, she didn’t care if there was a destination in mind or not; she didn’t want the path to end.
Until they arrived at a beautiful lake. Her eyes went wide, taking in the glittering waters.
‘We’re here,’ he said, and they stopped walking. ‘This is one of my favorite spots.’ He pointed to a section of rocks at the other end. ‘There’s a waterfall there, if you can see it.’ She did spot the slight trickle. ‘It’ll get stronger once we have more spring rains.’
It was lovely, all of it: the green trees, the shining sun, the bright blue waters.
She turned to tell Azam just how beautiful she thought it all was when she saw he had taken off his waistcoat and was pulling his shirt from his trousers. Her stomach flipped violently. Alarm rang through her.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked, eyes wide.
He gave her a crooked grin. ‘I’m not going swimming in all my clothes.’
‘Swimming?’ she sputtered. ‘But I don’t know how to swim!’
‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘The lake is only deep in the center; we can stay along the shore.’
He continued undressing, and she looked away, her pulse quickening.
Even though she couldn’t see, she could hear as he took the rest of his clothes off, the articles falling to the ground, and she felt slightly faint.
At the same time, she was mightily tempted to turn and take a peek.
He had seen her in her chemise and drawers, after all.
Before she could decide how bold to be, she heard the splash of water. She turned, and he was gone, a pile of clothes left behind. But she didn’t see him in the lake, either.
‘Azam!’ she cried, panic beating through her.
Then he broke the water, and relief flowed over her.
He pushed his wet hair back, and she felt unsteady for entirely different reasons as she took in the sight of his bare arms and chest, the way his fingers moved as he wiped his face.
Droplets of water ran down his brown skin, which appeared golden in the sun.
Her heartbeat felt erratic.
She glanced at the pile of clothes and noted that he wasn’t entirely naked; he hadn’t left his drawers behind.
‘Come on!’ he called. ‘It’s a little cold, but you’ll get used to it. Promise!’
While she was frightened by the prospect, there was an undercurrent of thrill running through her as well. She had never done anything like this before—it was an adventure! Surely one the heroines of her favorite novels would take, and she wanted to be more like them.
‘Alright,’ she called back. ‘Turn around!’
He did, swimming around, and for a moment she was mesmerized by the way the muscles in his back moved as his arms stroked through the water.
Her mouth felt dry. She swallowed, then turned around.
After stripping down to her chemise and drawers, she walked close to the water. She stopped just at the edge of the lake, watching as the waves lapped against the sand.
Taking a deep breath, Sonya stepped in, until her ankles were covered. The water was cold, and she stepped further in, surprised by how the water was moving. It was astounding.
The waves were stronger than she had expected, like a living, breathing thing pulling her in and pushing her out.
When the water came up to her waist and she felt covered enough, she called out to him. Azam turned back and swam over, until he was standing across from her. She tried very hard not to gawk at his bare chest as he held both hands out for her.
Trembling slightly, she put her hands in his. He walked backwards, gently pulling her along with him until she was deeper and deeper in the water, just on her tiptoes to keep her head above. She tightened her grip on his hands.
‘That’s it,’ he said, encouraging her. ‘You’ve got it.’
‘Don’t let go,’ she said. The water was over her shoulders now, and she was glad, for her chemise was surely see-through from being wet, which also meant she needed to stay submerged to preserve a modicum of modesty.