‘You are perfectly nice, I don’t understand why Winnie—’ she said, thinking out loud before she could stop herself.
‘—can’t stand me?’ he finished good-naturedly, as he laughed. Sonya nodded. Enzo leaned forward, dropping his voice to aconspiratorial whisper. ‘Winnie is holding a grudge from when we were children. I beat her at the annual spelling bee.’
‘Ah. I can see how that would upset Winnie, of all people.’
‘I’ll admit, I was a bit rough around the edges when we were children, but I don’t purposely do things to irritate her, you know.’ He paused, then cracked a smile. ‘Well, not all the time.’
Sonya laughed. Then, the meat was ready, and she paid for it.
Even though Azam said he could not pay her for her cleaning services, every time she went out he gave her money, and whenever she tried to give him the change back, he never took it, so she had a good amount of savings now.
About eighty silver coins equaled one gold coin, and about a hundred bronze coins made up a silver coin. Having grown more familiar with money, she finally understood the mistake she’d made at the tavern trying to pay with gold coins on the night she’d run away.
Once the meat was paid for and safely in her basket, she said goodbye to Enzo and went on her way. Now she needed to remember the way home. She was terrible with directions and found herself wishing Azam was with her.
Don’t be silly, you can do this. Just concentrate.
She was so focused that she didn’t notice the soldiers until they were heading her way. Even though they wore armor, she could make out the captain quite clearly. And there was only one reason a captain of the guard would be roaming the Outskirts.
They were looking for her.
Heart racing, she ducked into the nearest alleyway. She pressed herself flat against the stone wall, the cold of it seeping into her skin. She held her breath, listening to the stomping feet, the sound of clattering growing closer and closer.
They would pass the alley soon; if they looked in, they would see her. She inched further from the corner, toward the shadows. Her grip on the basket was tight, her hands shaking.
Footsteps approached. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Then, they passed.
She opened her eyes, peeking out of the alleyway. The soldiers had gone on. She released a long breath, pressing a hand over her chest. She was safe.
Or so she thought.
‘Why are you hiding from castle guards?’ a familiar voice asked.
Sonya froze. She had been so focused on evading the guards that she hadn’t noticed that she wasn’t alone in the alley. She turned very slowly to face Winnie, who looked confused.
‘Winnie,’ Sonya breathed. Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of an excuse, but she couldn’t think of anything. She was no good at lying!
Winnie’s eyes narrowed behind her glasses as she approached Sonya. ‘What’s going on, Sonya?’
Sonya knew there was only one thing for it: the truth.
‘Winnie, if I tell you a secret, will you keep it?’ she asked, meeting Winnie halfway.
‘A secret,’ Winnie repeated, face lighting up. ‘Delicious. Tell me at once.’
Sonya’s heart pounded. ‘Um. Well. You know the princess?’
‘Mhm.’
‘The Princess Sonya Tahir?’
‘Yes, what other princess do we have?’ Winnie laughed.
‘Well…’ She trailed off.
Winnie looked confused for a moment, until everything seemed to click into place. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropping open. ‘Sonya!That’s…you? But how?’
