Once they left the bustle of the market, Butterscotch ran ahead, Dania following closely behind him. Sonya quickened to chase after them, but Caden reassured her.
‘It’s alright,’ he said. ‘Butterscotch knows his way.’
He lived on the edge of the Outskirts, toward the open stretches of land. On their way, Sonya spotted a large group of people heading toward Castletown.
‘Isn’t the work day over?’ Sonya asked, a little surprised. She would have assumed people would be returning home.
‘There’s much work to be done to prepare for the tourney and the princess’s wedding, so many people have taken up evening shifts,’ Caden explained.
‘There’s a little over two months left now,’ Kiri added. ‘I think the suitors and their entourages are meant to arrive in a few weeks.’
Anxiety spiked through Sonya, making her heart pound painfully.
She chewed the inside of her mouth. Maybe she should have timed her escape closer to her birthday, but she’d known that once the suitors arrived, getting past the castle’s increased security would be near impossible. If only her father would cancel the tourney entirely and tell the suitors not to come…That would be ideal.
Hearing Kiri talk about her own marriage made Sonya realize she could only marry for love—for true love.
Stress made her shoulders tense, but she tried to push thoughts of marriage away as they reached Caden’s place, a thatched-roof cottage nestled in between verdant green fields. The sheep were intheir pen, lazily grazing on hay, but when Butterscotch ran over, they bleated loudly, bumping into one another.
Sonya laughed at the sight, and Caden shook his head. ‘I say this fondly, but sheep are incredibly stupid,’ he told her. ‘If old Butterscotch herded them over a cliff edge, they’d happily fling themselves to their deaths.’
‘Good thing Butterscotch is smart,’ Kiri said.
They went over to the sheep’s enclosure and Caden made a clicking noise with his tongue, calling to them. A few sheep ambled over and Sonya petted one of them, amazed at the feel. They were so soft.
‘They’re bulky now,’ Caden explained, ‘but they’ll get shorn next month and then they’ll be light as feathers, jumping around.’
Caden took Dania into the pen, where she wrapped her tiny arms around a sheep, practically getting lost in its wool. Sonya and Kiri watched on, smiling fondly.
‘I wonder if she’s a shepherd-witch,’ Sonya thought out loud. But as much as Dania loved the animals, they looked a bit harassed by her.
‘I don’t think so,’ Kiri said.
Then Caden walked them around, showing Sonya up the hill, where she could see even more fields, and other farms and cottages. It was getting a little chilly then, so they made their way into his home, where he made tea and pulled out a tin of biscuits.
‘My late wife’s recipe,’ he explained, as she bit into a biscuit studded with almonds. Sonya learned that Caden’s wife had passed away a few decades ago, back when his two daughters were very young. He had raised them by himself, and they were married with children of their own now.
‘They live in the Outskirts, so not too far,’ he said. ‘They’re coming to the opening, actually. I’ll introduce you!’
Sonya had met so many people these past few weeks. As a princess, shouldn’t she have met her people before? She knew her brothers often did princely things like go to events where they met their subjects, but she was never allowed to.
They drank their tea and chatted until the sun began to set and it was time for them to head back.
Caden walked them to the door with his hands tucked behind his back. ‘Thank you for coming,’ he said. ‘I’ll see you all on Saturday. And Kiri…’ He brought his hands forward, offering her a single red rose.
Kiri looked surprised but pleasantly so, and Caden smiled as she accepted the rose.
Sonya noticed Kiri was unusually quiet as they walked back to their cottage.
When they arrived back at the cottage, Kiri quickly put the rose in an empty milk jug and tucked it away on the windowsill before turning her attention to dinner. Sonya set the table and Azam soon came in from the shop, looking a bit disheveled with his shirt open at the throat. His hair was a mess of waves as if he’d spent all day running his fingers through it, and his face was drawn.
Dania ran over, jumping up into his arms. He lifted her up, holding her to his side as she kissed his cheek.
‘You smell like sheep,’ he said, wrinkling his nose and making Dania giggle.
‘We were at Grandpa Caden’s!’ she said. ‘I hugged all the sheep!’
‘Ah, excellent,’ Azam replied. ‘The sheep were waiting for your hugs. I know because they told me.’
