And it won’t, because I’m going to end it first.
“Go ahead,” I tell Lavinia, pushing away from the wall. “Want to get a drink?” I ask Milo.
“There’s a lineup at the bar, which is a pain,” he says.
“I say we get out of here,” I decide. “I’ve got to ditch these shoes.”
“What about your girl?” Milo glances back at Mera, still working her magic.
It’s no longer magical for me. “Her, too.”
1
Sophie
“…tofilmtheCastleCats so at least I don’t have to run around trying to take cute pics...”
I tune in and out of Kate McKibbon’s monologue like the cell service in parts of Battle Harbour.
My friend is the private secretary for the royal family of Laandia, and yes, she has a lot on her plate when it comes to wrangling everything royal, which now includes six extra cats that have been gifted to King Magnus, just because of an off-handed comment the king made about having a cat in the castle.
I don’t even remember what it was—something about how Prince Kalle’s cat was adorable but he wished it would cuddle with him more. Apparently, there are many women in the world who like the thought of the king of Laandia cuddling with a cat. And six of them sent him actual animals.
Of course he had to accept them, because if he didn’t, they would have become the newest residents of my sister’s pet rescue, Catch a Pet.
There were many stuffed cats sent to the king, but he donated them to the children’s wing of the hospital. Couldn’t donate the real ones, so now there are six cats roaming the castle.
The scene of this cat conversation is the King’s Hat pub in Battle Harbor, owned by the king’s heir, Prince Kalle, which is hosting the birthday party of Silas Bell. The New Year’s Eve decorations have changed to birthday balloons and streamers, and an awkwardly designed sign hangs over the bar. The gathering is fun, festive, and filled with everyone I know in Battle Harbour, but I am not in the mood for a party.
“Everyone here is in love.”
The reaction from Kate and Princess Lyra of Laandia, the third of our trio, is as if I had declared my intention of stripping off my boots to dance barefoot along the bar.
In the winter. In Laandia. Toes might freeze.
“That doesn’t sound like Sophie Laz.” Lyra has been one of my best friends for most of my life. That is, if you don’t count the ten-year blip in the middle where my mother did her best to poison me about everything that had to do with the royal family, including Lyra and especially my father, the chief advisor to the king.
Divorce. It’s complicated. And messy. And cost me—the youngest daughter and having nothing to do with the breakup of their contentious marriage—years of friendship.
Which I’m happy to say, has been repaired as if nothing ever happened.
“I’m not in love,” Kate points out.
There’s a pause as we wait to see if she adds anything about Jackson. The one who might have been someone special to Kate, had he not left Battle Harbour without a word of explanation to my friend.
She doesn’t mention his name, so we move on.
“But you are in love with your job, so that counts,” I say. Kate truly does love her job, as busy and chaotic as it can be.
I am the assistant manager of Ye Olde Fish and Chips restaurant, and I definitely can’t say the same.
A roar of laughter comes from the table in the centre of the room where Silas sits wearing a birthday hat and pink boa draped around his neck. The feathers compete with his new love, Fenella Carrington, who undoubtedly caused the fun.
Of course, I’m happy for Silas, the birthday boy, especially since he’s found love with Fenella, she of the billionaire bank account and million social media followers and thousand and one ways of helping Battle Harbour become a tourist destination. It still boggles my mind that Silas fell in love with her.
Actually, it has nothing to do with Silas, because he is the ultimate cinnamon roll hero, full of sweetness and goodness and who swears that the lattes he makes are calorie free.
Silas is amazing, but the fact remains that he is a small-town barista whose claim to fame is creating unicorn foam and a viral video of him making coffee for Fenella.
