He took a sip of the tea and was surprised to find that it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. It was actually rather good.
“Thank you for the tea and the food,” he said. “I appreciate it very much.”
“You’re very welcome. I’ll see you at lunch.” She stood and took her mug with her. “I’m just going to go check on the goats.”
He didn’t know how to tell her that he wouldn’t be at lunch with the rest of the servants and guards today, so he just nodded, though it was the coward’s way out.
Caspian watched her leave, a sinking feeling in his chest growing as she walked away. He was starting to have feelings for her, and he was no closer to figuring out his plans for his future. He was going to hurt her, hurt himself, and he needed to stop.
He went to clean up before lunch with his family, and when he walked through the door of the dining room, his little sister launched herself at him with a squeal. “You came to lunch,” she said, dragging him to the chair next to her. “Come sit with me.”
There was a lump in his throat as he pushed Liliana’s chair in for her before taking his own seat. He’d made Liliana happy, but Sophia would be looking for him, and he wouldn’t be there.
He was stuck between two worlds, and he couldn’t be in either one.
He needed to make a decision, and soon.
Chapter nine
Sophia
Sophia’sstomachsankasshe stared at Ivy. The grumpy, ornery goat was staring back, obviously plotting some sort of mischief.
“We have to get to the woods by the north pasture,” Sophia said sternly. “You have to behave, or I’m going to leave you behind.”
This wasn’t going to end well.
The problem was, if she left Ivy, Tack, and Ned behind, they wouldn’t stop hollering for her the entire time she was gone with the others.
She’d been asked to bring them to browse at the edge of the woods, and taking all seven of them was asking for trouble, but she didn’t want to subject the rest of the manor to Ivy’s frustration if she was left behind.
But really, she shouldn’t be taking them to the woods by herself. It wouldn’t do if she lost one of them because they got away from her.
Maybe Caspian was around. He and Liliana had joined her more than once in the past couple of weeks, and he was always willing to help. Her cheeks heated at the thought. It was flattering that he spent so much time with her…though she was still getting used to the idea of someone wanting to spend time with her.
It didn’t seem real, and yet, somehow, it was. He was genuinely interested in spending time with her and had continued to seek her out since he’d arrived a few weeks ago.
The question was, how long would it last?
She narrowed her eyes at Ivy, hoping her stern demeanor would impart the seriousness of today’s outing, before making her way outside the barn to look for Caspian.
If she didn’t have help, she’d just have to leave some of the goats. She couldn’t take all of them that far by herself, especially since there was no pen. They would be far too excited about getting to browse in the woods for her to manage all of them.
As Sophia scanned the courtyard, she found Caspian in the training yard, dueling with another guard. Her breath caught in her throat as he guarded himself against an attack, before moving to counterattack.
She’d never spent much time watching the guards dueling and training, but maybe she should have.
She walked closer, not wanting to startle him by calling his name, the details becoming clearer. Sweat beaded on his brow, his chest muscles straining against the confines of his sleeveless shirt, his biceps flexing with every move he made.
Sophia’s mouth was dry, and she swallowed as the two men nodded at each other and lowered their swords. They broke into grins and clasped arms, pulling each other into a partial embrace as they congratulated each other on a fight well fought.
“Caspian,” she called, and he immediately turned and smiled when he saw her.
Butterflies filled her stomach at his reaction.
“Would you be willing to help me with something?” she asked as the other guard turned to her also.
Caspian sheathed his sword and walked over to her. “That depends on what you need help with,” he said, the corner of his mouth turning up.
