‘Dania, it’s lovely,’ Sonya said. She felt special. ‘Thank you.’
Dania giggled to herself, pleased, then lifted her arms. Sonya hugged the little girl as Dania wrapped her arms around Sonya’s neck. Warmth spread across her chest.
Kiri smiled. ‘Come, you two.’
Sonya placed the drawing in her pocket; she would treasure it always. Kiri opened the door to the hallway and Dania ran out, putting on her shoes and heading for the front door. She threw it open, and Sonya’s heart lurched.
‘Dania, wait!’ she cried.
‘It’s alright,’ Kiri said. ‘She knows not to go far.’
Sure enough, when they exited the front door, Dania was waiting for them. It was so strange to see the confidence with which Dania moved, how unafraid she was. Sonya didn’t think she had ever been like that, and she most certainly wasn’t like that now.
Even as they made their way down to the market, Sonya was on alert, constantly checking her surroundings. For one thing, she didn’t want to be recognized. She was anxious, but no one in the Outskirts had ever met her before and any staff that might recognize her would be at the castle. Besides, her hair and outfit were a good disguise. She really was in terrible shape, especially after cleaning all day. She felt bedraggled, so if anyone was looking at her it was most probably because of that.
Even so, she kept an eye out for any castle guards on the prowl. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any.
They entered the market, and Sonya very vaguely recognized it from the previous night. She looked around, eyes wide. In the daylight, everything was so big and bright.
‘Anything you need can be purchased here,’ Kiri said. She pointed out shops: shoes, fabric, paints, books. There was an apothecary, an inn, a blacksmith. The bakery, the butcher’s, the vegetable and fruit stands.
The storefronts had their names painted in different styles, though they were a bit old, the paint chipped. Even so, it was spectacular. A marvel. Sonya tried to hide her awe. Kiri believed her to be an average girl from Castletown. An average girl who would’ve seen a market before.
Sonya’s eyes snagged on the bookshop. It hadn’t hurt her to leave behind her closets full of dresses and shoes and shawls, nor did it ache to leave behind the vast kitchens and pantries stocked with all sorts of food, but ithadpained her to leave behind the library,with its never-ending shelves of books. She had been sad even to leave behind the small collection of all her favorite books in her room’s bookshelves.
Kiri followed Sonya’s gaze, then smiled. ‘Why don’t you take a peek in the bookshop while Dania and I get the meat?’ she said. ‘The owner, Jerome, is a good fellow, and his daughter, Winnie, is lovely, too.’
Excitement sparked through her. ‘Okay!’
She had spent most of her time at the castle reading about great adventures in books—it was what had given her the idea of how to run away. She had also read grand, sweeping love stories, which fueled in her the desire for true love. How could she settle for any suitor her father or brothers chose for her when she knew a love like that might be out there for her too?
Sonya walked over to the bookshop and peered in through the door’s window.
The doorbell above her rang when she entered. She gasped in wonder at the sight of the shelves packed with books, the big ladder on one end. There were stacks of books on every table and even the floor.
Before Sonya could move, a voice called out, loud and clear. ‘ENZO! I swear to GOD if that’s you again, I will GUT you and wear your intestines as a NECKLACE!’
Sonya froze in place as a figure came out from behind a bookshelf. Her black shiny hair was pulled back in a braid, her dark eyes stern behind a pair of glasses. Her face was contorted with anger until she spotted Sonya.
‘Oh.’ The girl looked surprised, then sheepish. ‘Sorry, I thought you were someone else!’
‘Well, if I ever see this Enzo, I shall warn him,’ Sonya said, with a small smile.
‘Good!’ the girl said, smiling as well. ‘Though he’s surely too stupid to listen.’ She rolled her eyes.
Before she could introduce herself, a man came out from a door, which seemed to lead into an office. He was wearing a tweed waistcoat with a pocket watch on a chain in one pocket. He sighed. ‘Insulting my apprentice again, Winnie?’ the man said.
‘Papa!’ Winnie pouted. ‘Why you have chosen the most insufferable boy in the village to teach is beyond me.’
‘Enough,’ the man said. ‘Do tend to our customer now, darling.’
The man went back to his office, and Winnie huffed. She came over to Sonya, and Sonya suddenly felt self-conscious in her dirty uniform dress while Winnie was wearing a neat and clean navy dress with a gray cardigan.
‘Sorry about that,’ Winnie said. ‘That was my father. We own the bookshop. I’m Winifred, but call me Winnie. Only my mother calls me Winifred, and that’s when she’s very cross with me.’
Sonya smiled and introduced herself.
‘You’re not from here, are you?’ Winnie asked, eyes curious.
