Dania didn’t even know where it was that Sonya and Azam were going, she just knew she didn’t want to be left out. Sonya tried to distract Dania, bringing up different topics, and it worked until Azam came in for dinner, and she ran over to him.
‘Where are you and Baji going?’ she asked. ‘I’m coming, too.’
‘I’m sorry, sweet, but you can’t come,’ Azam said. ‘You’re too little.’
Dania’s face scrunched with anger. She stomped her feet. ‘I’m coming, too!’ she yelled.
‘Dania, you can’t,’ Sonya said, trying to be soothing. ‘Who will stay with Grandma Kiri?’
Dania was still angry, and then she began crying. Azam picked her up, and she held on to him tight. ‘Don’t go without me,’ shecried. Sonya had a feeling Dania was upset Azam had been so busy as of late. She met Azam’s eyes over Dania’s shoulders, and she read the question in his gaze:Should we not go?
It was a good excuse, Sonya thought, but a part of herdidwant to go. She hadn’t been to very many parties, and she wanted to see Ximena wed and happy. And, more importantly, Azam deserved to have some fun. He could use some time off from everything.
Kiri must have had the same thought because she came over, coaxing Dania into her arms. ‘Dania, you don’t want to go with Bhai and Baji,’ she said. ‘Where they’re going is really very boring, and I thought we could have our own adventure.’
Dania sniffled, lifting her head to look at Kiri. ‘Own adventure?’ she asked, the tears subsiding. Kiri nodded. ‘Like what?’
Kiri pretended to think. ‘Hm, well, I was thinking we could go to Caden’s, and you could spend time with Scotchie and the sheep. But if you still want to go with Bhai—’
Dania shot up, tears forgotten. ‘Yes!’ She smiled. ‘Yes, yes, yes! Please! Can we? Can we?’
They all laughed. ‘Yes,’ Kiri said. ‘Caden said he would call tomorrow. We can ask him then!’
‘Yay!’ Dania hopped down from Kiri’s arms, twirling. The crisis was averted.
18
The next day, Caden called. They’d seen him pretty often since he’d given Kiri the rose and made his intentions clear. Sometimes he and Kiri went for walks, sometimes they had tea by the fire. Once, they even organized a picnic, for which Azam stitched her a special dress. Whenever Kiri returned from her time with Caden, she looked ten years younger, her eyes glittering.
‘Hello, loves,’ Caden said, entering with Butterscotch. He gave each of them a kiss hello.
Kiri explained how Sonya and Azam were going to the wedding, and Dania was upset to be left behind. ‘Until I told her we have better plans,’ Kiri said. ‘Don’t we?’
Caden caught on quickly. ‘Yes, of course!’ he said, and Dania perked up. ‘The sheep are waiting!’
‘Yes!’ Dania jumped up and down, excited, and Caden smiled.
‘Thank you,’ Kiri whispered, and he held her close.
‘And we’re going to stay at night so I can sleep with Scotchie,’ Dania said. Kiri opened her mouth to protest, but Dania’s lip began quivering. Kiri sighed. ‘Fine.’
Dania grinned, happy, then ran off with Butterscotch to the garden. ‘To hell with propriety,’ Kiri muttered to herself, putting the kettle on for tea. Caden sat on the sofa, Sonya beside him. A few minutes later, Kiri joined them with tea for everyone, along with biscuits.
‘So, have you prepared your best dancing shoes?’ Caden asked. Sonya stilled. Of course there would be dancing!
‘I have not…’ Sonya said.
‘I’ve been to a few weddings out in the country, and they have very specific dances, you know,’ Caden said. ‘A bit different to the usual dances at Castletown parties, which take their cues from the royal balls.’
Of course, Sonya only knew the dances from royal balls, things like the waltz and quickstep.
‘I actually don’t know any dances…’
‘You haven’t been dancing?’ Caden asked, shocked. ‘My dear, you haven’t lived!’
Caden took a long sip of his tea before clapping his hands together. ‘Not to worry,’ he said. ‘We can fix this. I’ll teach you, of course! But we need music…’ He looked around, thinking as he drank more of his tea. Then he smiled. ‘I’ll be back in a jiff.’
When Caden returned half an hour later, it was with Enzo in tow.
