“Dietrich,” Sophia said in a warning tone. “If you two start going at it, I’m going to leave. Apologize.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry, that was unkind to you. Please forgive me.”
“Only if you come pick out a book to read,” Beatrice said, a wicked glint in her eye.
Dietrich shuddered. “Maybe I’m not that sorry.”
Beatrice laughed. “I was only teasing you. But don’t forget, the library is always there if you need anything.”
Dietrich shook his head. “Not likely.”
“I know,” Beatrice said with a smile as she stood. “I’ll be there nonetheless.”
Thea arrived with a steaming mug for Beatrice. “Just bring it back before you go home for the night,” she said, handing it over along with a wrapped muffin. “And here’s this. I imagine you probably forgot lunch again, didn’t you?”
Beatrice grinned. “You’re the best, Thea.”
“I know,” Thea said with a wink as Beatrice rushed off again, back to the library.
Thea mothered everyone who came to the café. It was one of Sophia’s favorite things about visiting her.
Sophia stayed a while longer, chatting with Dietrich, Thea, and a few other friends who came and went. Her days off rarely aligned with everyone’s, but she had come to love everyone she’d met at the Cozy Cat Café, and loved seeing any of them who were able to pop in on her day off.
All too soon, it was time to head for home.
“Here, dear, have a muffin,” Thea said, hurrying behind the counter. “I think I made too many.”
Thea made too many muffins on purpose, she was sure of it. And yet, she couldn’t resist taking it. She breathed in the scent of the spicy, pumpkin-y muffin and closed her eyes in a moment of pure happiness. “Thank you,” she said.
“Just a little treat,” Thea said with a wink.
Sophia wrapped her shawl around her shoulders as she let herself out the door. The breeze was cool, but her shawl kept her warm as she ate her muffin on the walk home.
She kept an eye out for the stranger, but there was no sight of him.
Maybe he was just passing through.
Maybe she was overreacting.
She made her way to the kitchen for some bread and cheese, eating it as she prepared for bed, and settled on the cot in the room that she shared with some of the other maids.
“Did you see that new guard?” one of the girls asked.
“I heard he’s just arrived from Riyel,” another said.
“He’s so handsome,” a third said.
Sophia kept her head down. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself, and she didn’t like gossiping—though she didn’t mind listening to it.
A handsome new guard seemed like an apt description for the stranger in the barn, which was some comfort. It didn’t change her mind, though.
The other girls could stare all they wanted.
She would avoid the stranger.
Chapter two
Caspian
