Chapter 14 #2
Enzo held up his hands in defense, swiped a pastry from Winnie’s plate, then disappeared back into the crowd. After he’d left, Winnie allowed herself to giggle as she faced Sonya again. ‘No wonder Azam seemed so vexed. He was jealous!’
Jealous? Azam? Sonya suddenly felt overwhelmed by it all.
‘Hey, take a deep breath,’ Winnie said, noticing. ‘You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.’ She took Sonya’s plate and set it down while Sonya took in deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Winnie’s words helped—maybe she wasn’t weak, maybe she was strong.
The uneasy feeling passed, and Sonya released a long exhale. ‘Thank you,’ she said to Winnie. ‘You’re a great friend.’
Winnie flipped her shiny black hair. ‘I know!’
They chatted some more, then Sonya went to say hello to Caden, who introduced her to his daughters and their children, who were running around with Dania, remnants of jam in their hair. The sight made Sonya laugh.
All the food Kiri had made had been eaten and Azam was busy taking orders for new outfits. She sipped a cup of tea, taking it all in, glad to have been a small part in bringing this store back to life. She caught snippets of conversation as she walked around.
‘It’s lovely he’s reopened,’ one man was saying to a small group.
‘Glad we don’t need to trek all the way to Castletown for the womenfolk’s shopping,’ another replied.
‘Don’t have to pay Castletown prices, either,’ the first man agreed.
‘And now we won’t have to hear any excuses,’ his wife said to the other woman. ‘Oh, Castletown’s too far. Oh, Castletown’s too expensive,’ she mimicked in a gruff male voice.
The other woman laughed, agreeing.
Sonya moved on, smiling to herself.
‘I miss Bunto dreadfully, but Azam is a worthy successor,’ one old woman was saying to another woman, who looked to be her sister.
‘She would be so proud of her son,’ the sister replied, getting a bit teary-eyed. ‘What a fine young man he’s become.’
‘And we aren’t the only ones to notice,’ the old woman said with a mischievous smile, gesturing to a group of schoolgirls who were glancing Azam’s way and giggling to themselves.
They were just girls, hardly thirteen or fourteen. It was adorable. Sonya continued around the party, listening as two mothers discussed the sample dresses.
‘Such beautiful designs,’ the first mother said, taking a sip of tea.
‘Did you see the one with the pleated bodice? Perfectly neat!’
‘I especially liked the one with the sweetheart neckline, just daring enough, while still being modest.’
‘I’m going to order a dress for my Alaa’s birthday. She’ll be so pleased!’
‘I was going to order a dress for my Narjis for Alaa’s party,’ the other mother said, with a laugh. ‘Mind we don’t order the same one, or our daughters will send us to the butcher’s!’
Sonya smiled, happy for Azam and his success.
He was so hardworking, he deserved all the praise he was receiving, and more.
She hoped the store took off and did well and he didn’t have to go back to his job in Castletown.
It didn’t sound like he enjoyed it, or that they valued him as much as they should.
He had been waiting for a promotion for some time, it seemed, based on what Enzo said.
She flitted around the store, listening to snatches of conversation, pleased, until she suddenly felt uneasy.
She looked over her shoulder, and saw that a young woman was watching her.
She looked familiar, with red hair and freckles.
She was looking at Sonya quite closely and carefully, her green eyes never leaving her face.
And then Sonya realized why. The girl was the spitting image of Elspeth.
This must be Elspeth’s sister.
Oh no.
Her heartbeat quickened, but she tried not to show any outward panic as she ambled back over to Winnie.
‘Winnie,’ she asked, keeping her voice low. ‘That girl over there, with the red hair, who is she?’
Winnie glanced over, then back at Sonya. ‘That’s Dahlia,’ she replied.
Sonya stilled. So it was Elspeth’s sister. Sonya had heard enough stories about Dahlia; she was a few years younger than Elspeth, a similar age to Sonya herself.
‘What is it?’ Winnie asked, brow furrowed.
‘My maid,’ Sonya replied. ‘That’s her sister.’
Winnie laughed, as if Sonya had said something funny. ‘Come on, laugh,’ Winnie said, nudging her. ‘Don’t act strange.’
‘Oh—’ Sonya forced a laugh, keeping a smile on her face, though it was tight. ‘What do we do? Elspeth will know I’ve run away. Do you think she’s told her sister?’
‘Aren’t all castle staff trained to never let anything slip about castle affairs?’ Winnie asked.
‘Yes, but, it’s her sister,’ Sonya replied. ‘They’re very close.’
She watched as the gears in Winnie’s mind seemed to be moving. ‘We need to handle this with finesse,’ Winnie said, voice low. ‘If you go and hide, it’ll only be suspicious.’
‘So what should we do?’ Sonya asked, feeling sick with anxiety.
‘Follow my lead.’ Winnie smiled brightly. ‘Let’s clean up the tea table.’
Sonya didn’t know what that would accomplish, but she followed Winnie to the table anyway, her heart pounding as it brought her closer than ever to Dahlia. She was standing right beside them, with a perfectly clear view of Sonya. What was Winnie thinking?
‘Don’t tell me Marcus used that line on you?’ Winnie said, voice a little loud. She stacked up the dirty plates. ‘The boys need to get more original!’
‘I—I know,’ Sonya agreed, having no clue what Winnie was talking about, but she started stacking saucers and teacups.
‘You are pretty, but saying you are as beautiful as the Princess of Fairendelle is a bit far-fetched, isn’t it?’ Winnie continued, emptying crumbs from one plate onto another. ‘I’m sure the princess is fairer than you are.’
It was true that Sonya’s skin had tanned since she’d come to the Outskirts and spent more time in the sun.
‘Not to mention my hair,’ Sonya continued, catching on to Winnie’s ruse. She tried to adopt the same petulant tone as her friend. She rolled her eyes. ‘I heard the princess has hair down to her waist. It must be a nightmare for her maids to wash it.’
Dahlia had stepped closer, clearly listening, and at that, she said, ‘Oh, it is.’ Sonya and Winnie looked over at her, as if just noticing her.
Dahlia’s cheeks reddened. ‘Sorry to intrude on your conversation. My sister is a maid for the princess, actually. And she does say washing Her Royal Highness’s hair takes forever. ’
Sonya had heard Elspeth complaining about it more than a few times and didn’t blame her.
‘It absolutely must,’ Sonya agreed. She understood Winnie’s tactic: be confident. Sonya smiled, as if she had absolutely nothing to hide. ‘What is your name?’
‘Dahlia,’ she replied. ‘And yourself?’
Sonya could not lie about her name, not when everyone else already knew it, so she said the truth. ‘I was named for the princess since I was born a few days after her.’ Her heart pounded. ‘My mother was obsessed with the royal family,’ she said, with a quick roll of her eyes.
‘Another reason boys always try to use that line on you,’ Winnie quickly added. ‘Your mother should have thought of that before naming you after the princess.’
Dahlia laughed. ‘Boys and their lines,’ she said, shaking her head.
‘I feel sorry for your sister,’ Winnie replied. ‘The princess must be a real piece of work.’
Sonya tried not to be offended.
‘No, she isn’t,’ Dahlia replied. ‘My sister, Elspeth, really enjoys working for her. I haven’t seen her in a few weeks, though. She’s been quite busy with the tourney coming up, but I know Elspeth will miss the princess once she’s wed.’
Sonya was relieved; if Elspeth hadn’t visited, she hadn’t had the chance to tell Dahlia that Sonya had run away, or anything like that. And she knew Elspeth wouldn’t jeopardize her job by writing such a thing in a letter.
As the relief flowed through her, she also felt touched Elspeth liked working for her. She missed her dearly.
‘That’s good,’ Winnie said. ‘I don’t know many people who work at the castle.’
They chatted a bit more with Dahlia before Dahlia became a little sheepish. ‘You know, I thought you looked like the princess, too,’ she admitted. ‘For a second, I even thought you were her. I know that’s silly.’
Sonya forced a laugh, even as her heartbeat turned erratic.
‘Wouldn’t it be nice if she was a princess?’ Winnie asked. ‘I’d love to be best friends with one.’ They all laughed, and Dahlia took her leave.
Sonya felt faint again, the tension coming over her, but she steadied her breathing.
‘You’re okay,’ Winnie said, voice strong. ‘Let’s get these dirty dishes out of here.’ She piled a stack of plates into Sonya’s hands. They were heavy, but Sonya held them up, given no choice. She carried them back to the living room, where it was mercifully much quieter.
‘Phew,’ Sonya breathed, setting the dirty dishes down by the sink. Winnie did the same, close behind her. ‘Thank you, Winnie. You handled that brilliantly.’
Winnie smiled. ‘It was kind of fun! Maybe I should be a spy.’ She thought about it. ‘Hey, is the castle looking for any royal spies? Think you can put in a good word?’
Sonya laughed, a real laugh this time. She started washing the dishes, and Winnie helped dry them, until Winnie’s mother popped in and it was time for them to head out.
Soon, the rest of the guests also began leaving, and everyone had cleared out by around six in the evening.
Caden stayed on to help clean up, and Dania played with Butterscotch out in the garden as Caden, Kiri, Azam, and Sonya got everything back in order. By which point, they were quite exhausted.
Kiri had saved some sandwiches and scones for their dinner, and they also had some baked potatoes with salted butter and cheese.
‘I want to thank you all,’ Azam said, standing with his glass raised. ‘The opening was a success, and in no small part thanks to you all. I will have my hands full with orders!’
They all raised their glasses, overjoyed for him.
Sonya had never known it was possible to feel this much happiness for another person, and the joy stayed with her even after Caden had left and Kiri took Dania upstairs.
She and Azam sat on the couch by the fire, not going up yet, and she looked over at him.
He had taken off his waistcoat and looked relaxed in his shirt and trousers, sans shoes. She had her feet up on the couch. She was sitting sideways, leaning against the pillows, facing him.
‘I heard more than a few people saying that your mother would have been proud,’ Sonya said. ‘I thought you would want to know.’
He looked over at her, leaning back against the sofa. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I hope she would be. Everything I am as a stitch-witch is because of her.’ His gaze glanced back to the fire. ‘I wish I could have learned more from her, that we’d had more time.’
‘I’m so happy you had the chance to learn so much from her. Even if it wasn’t as much time as you would have wanted, it’s still something.’
‘You’re right,’ he said, turning back to her. ‘I’m sorry, that was insensitive, when you had no time with your mother at all.’
‘No, it’s okay,’ she replied. ‘I at least know that I look like her, based on—’
She broke off. She was going to say based on the late queen’s portraits, but ordinary people didn’t have portraits of themselves: it was a royal custom that only those at the very top of the aristocracy took part in, and even then, not often.
Sonya didn’t mean to draw attention to herself but she found herself slipping more and more around Azam. She cleared her throat, ‘—based on how my father and brothers describe her,’ she finished, swallowing.
Azam didn’t seem to notice anything off about the misstep in her speech. ‘Well, I shall never get the chance to meet her, which is a shame, but I know one thing about your mother for certain,’ he said.
She was curious. ‘What’s that?’
‘That she was very beautiful.’