Chapter 23 #2
His voice was strong and sure, as if he was trying to convince them all.
Sonya believed him. She had tried her own way, and what had it gotten her? A broken heart and nothing more.
She finished what little she ate of her breakfast in silence, and then she had a meeting with her father and Celeste. Her father sat beside her, listening intently as Celeste ran over the schedule for the tourney with Sonya, going over the events and expectations.
Sonya’s attention drifted. They would direct her every step of the way, she didn’t need to think. Not even a few hours and already she was slipping back into the old, passive version of herself, doing what she was told.
‘May I retire?’ she asked, after some time. ‘My head aches.’
Her father was immediately worried. ‘Yes, jaani, of course, do rest,’ he said. ‘You’ve had quite the ordeal these last weeks. Celeste, we will go over the plans for the tourney with the princes and ensure they know all that will transpire.’
It had been less than two months since she ran away, which meant there was less than a month until her birthday. She had four weeks to choose a spouse. Fantastic.
Summer had been the queen’s favorite season, and Sonya used to love that her birthday marked the beginning of summer, but now the prospect filled her with dread.
She went back to her room, watched by guards every step of the way. The maids had changed shifts, but still Sonya did not see Elspeth.
Sonya asked one of the other maids, who bit her lip. She looked around nervously before taking a step toward Sonya, lowering her voice.
‘She was fired,’ the maid whispered. ‘Just yesterday, after they found you.’
Anger bit through Sonya. She returned to her father’s rooms, where the princes had joined him and Celeste. The advisor was going over the tourney with the princes now, but Sonya interrupted without hesitation.
‘I would like to see Elspeth brought back,’ she said, face pinched. ‘Immediately.’
The king blinked, surprised for a moment before he barked out a laugh. ‘After she assisted you with your foolish plan? I do not think so. We only kept her at the castle so long so that she would not alert others to your running away.’
‘Baba!’ Sonya snapped. ‘She had nothing to do with it! I tricked her! Bring her back. Now.’
Her father jolted. He glanced at her brothers, who looked equally shocked. It was the first time Sonya had raised her voice in such a manner.
‘Alright,’ Shahmir said, voice placating. He scratched his beard. ‘But no more colluding, understood?’
Some of the anger left Sonya, and she nodded. ‘Understood.’
Her brothers all looked at her as though she were a stranger, and perhaps she was. She surely felt like an entirely different person than who she had been when she had seen her brothers last.
‘Celeste,’ Shahmir said, turning to her. She immediately straightened her back, alert. ‘See to it.’
Celeste bowed her head immediately. ‘Of course.’ She did not question the crown prince, and irritation flashed through Sonya. Why couldn’t her word be enough? Why couldn’t she be listened to?
Feeling unsteady, Sonya went back to her room, where she sat on a lounge chair and waited.
The room was spacious and, even with all of her furniture and things, looked hardly full.
Two maids stood to the side, waiting for orders.
Sonya tapped her shoe on the marble floors, the sound filling the silence as she waited.
Then, after a few hours, she heard a slight knock on the door. Her mood lifted at the familiar rapping. Elspeth was back.
‘Come in!’ Sonya said, standing as the door opened. Elspeth entered, wearing her uniform, her red hair pulled back in a simple braid. ‘You’re here.’ Relief flowed through her, until she noticed Elspeth didn’t meet her gaze.
‘Yes, Your Highness,’ Elspeth said. She was so quiet.
Sonya turned to the other maids. ‘Please leave us for a moment.’
The women exchanged a glance, not moving. They must have been told not to leave Sonya alone with Elspeth. With a frustrated sound, she grabbed Elspeth’s hand and pulled her into the closet.
‘Your Highness!’ one of the maids called in surprise, but Sonya closed the door, locking it before the maids could do anything about it.
Elspeth’s green eyes were surprised as Sonya let out an exasperated breath.
‘I’m sorry I got you in trouble,’ Sonya asked, still holding Elspeth’s hand. ‘Will you forgive me?’
Elspeth blinked, thinking before responding, and it unnerved Sonya to see the usually chatty girl so silent.
‘Elspeth, please,’ Sonya said.
Elspeth took her hand from Sonya’s, tucking a stray strand of red hair behind her own ear.
Guilt knifed through Sonya as Elspeth looked away.
‘I know I am just your maid, so it was silly of me to think it, but I—I thought we were friends,’ Elspeth said, her cheeks red with embarrassment.
Sonya felt horrible. ‘We were friends—we are, still, if you’ll have me,’ Sonya replied, and Elspeth looked up at her. ‘Elspeth, you were the first friend I ever knew.’
Elspeth smiled a little at that. ‘If you had told me what you wished, we could have come up with a better plan together.’
She was right. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You’re forgiven,’ Elspeth said, smiling.
There was that old spark in her eyes. Sonya let out a relieved breath.
‘Anyway, you got me my job back, so there’s nothing left to be cross about, really.
Where were you, anyway? That stitch-witch was meant to be tracking you down, but he took a mighty long time. ’
The mention of Azam felt like a knife between her ribs. Before she could answer Elspeth’s question, there was knocking on the door.
‘Sonya, please open the door before these guards break it.’ It was Mustafa.
She opened the door of the closet to reveal a handful of guards standing behind Mustafa, ready to break in. Mustafa gave her an incensed look, the ones reserved by elder brothers for their younger sisters. ‘You’re meant to be behaving,’ he said pointedly, but he wasn’t the only one who was vexed.
Sonya glared at her brother. Elspeth ushered the guards and other maids away, giving Sonya and Mustafa privacy. ‘I’m tired of behaving,’ Sonya replied, stalking past him to head into her room. She sat down at her vanity, pulling pins out of her hair.
Mustafa trailed after her, looking confused. She undid the twists and braids in her hair, letting it all fall down. The tension in her scalp eased, but she still felt pulled taut, on the verge of snapping.
Mustafa came to stand in front of her, and she felt his gaze analyzing her. She could almost feel him thinking.
‘I don’t understand,’ he finally said, and when he spoke, his voice was gentle. He rested a hand on the vanity table, and she saw the ink stains on his fingers. They were always there, but she hadn’t seen them these past weeks while she’d been away.
For some reason, the sight now made her irritation evaporate. She was angry with all of them, but she had missed them, too, and she didn’t know how to stay angry.
Sonya glanced up at her brother to find that he seemed equally conflicted: upset that she had left, but happy she had returned.
He sighed. ‘Can we stop being angry with each other now? I missed you.’
Her eyes welled up with tears as she nodded. ‘I missed you, too.’ Then the tears fell.
‘Oh!’ He pulled her up into a hug, and she held on to him tightly. ‘What is it?’
How could she tell him? About Azam, how she had fallen in love only to be deceived?
Mustafa rubbed her back. ‘There, there, all will be well.’ She pulled away, sniffling, and he gave her a smile. ‘Princesses always get their happy endings, don’t they? I’m a writer. I know these things.’
She tried to smile, but couldn’t quite manage it. Azam had told her a story about a princess, once, but she couldn’t recall the ending.
‘Were you all terribly worried?’ she asked.
Mustafa looked away, then nodded. ‘And hurt, too. Why did you run away? Is it the tourney? No one would have forced you, Sonya. The suitors are all good men. You’ll be safe and taken care of.’
‘It was all too much,’ she said. ‘I just … I couldn’t bear it. I wanted to fall in love on my own.’
But now she saw just how foolish that was.
‘You can still fall in love, silly girl. You have three handsome, well-bred suitors vying for your affection and your affection alone. One of them may yet be the great love of your life.’
She doubted it. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘And I am sorry for making you all worry.’
‘I’m sorry, too,’ Mustafa replied. ‘I wish I had known how you felt.’ He hesitated. ‘From now on, will you tell me if things are too much? I will stand by you.’
That made her smile. She nodded, and they walked out of her room together.
She left the youngest brother and went down to the kitchen.
There, the kitchen-witches were busy with preparations for dinner, two boys chopping vegetables while another two stood by the stove, stirring.
Sonya inhaled the familiar scent of browning onions and garlic as her eyes searched for one kitchen-witch in particular.
And then she saw her, coming in from the garden door, hand clutching a bunch of rosemary. Arabella’s dark hair was tied up in a twist, messy as ever, and there was a streak of flour across her brow. The familiar sight of her made Sonya’s heart warm.
But when Arabella glanced up, she froze the moment she spotted Sonya across the kitchen. Before Sonya could say anything, Arabella’s voice cut through the room: ‘Everyone out,’ she demanded. The kitchen-witches hesitated, and Arabella raised her voice. ‘Out!’
They cleared the kitchen, leaving Sonya and Arabella alone. Onions sizzled on the stove, undercutting the silence that stretched between them.
‘Um, can I have a glass of warm milk, please?’ Sonya asked.