Mortified, Sonya only covered her face with her hands.
‘Enzo! What have I told you about teasing Sonya?’ she warned, putting a protective arm around Sonya’s shoulders.
Sonya removed her hands from her face to see Enzo holding his hands up in defense.
Kiri brought a cup of tea, saying, ‘Caden was teaching Sonya how to dance for the wedding, and Azam stepped in to help.’
‘Ah,’ Winnie said, as if that explained everything. She took a sip of tea, then smiled devilishly. Enzo played a quick tune that somehow encapsulated Winnie’s pleased expression, and she scowled at him. ‘Will you stop that? You’re ridiculous.’
She took Sonya’s hand, and they went up to Sonya’s bedroom.
Sonya’s heart was still pounding, and she fell back onto her bed, catching her breath.
Winnie lay beside her. Sonya felt Winnie’s hand reaching for hers, and she clasped her fingers. ‘You have to be brave,’ Winnie said, turning to look at Sonya.
Sonya looked over. ‘In what regard?’ she asked. She was only attending a wedding, not fighting off villains.
Winnie gave her a small smile. ‘You’ll understand, if you don’t already, deep down.’
And Sonya had a feeling that she did understand what Winnie meant, though she couldn’t think about it now. She sat up. ‘I need to pack! Tell me which dress to wear.’
She went to her closet, pulling out her nice dresses. She tried each one on for Winnie—the baby-pink, sage-green, custard-yellow, and lilac. The others she would wear during the travel.
Winnie considered each one carefully, before they both decided on the lilac.
‘It’s very fashionable,’ Winnie said, ‘and isn’t her wedding dress blue? Purple will go well.’
With that decided, Sonya packed her things. Winnie pulled a bundle of fabric strips from her bag, handing it to Sonya. ‘For your hair,’ she said. ‘You can do it up into curls!’
‘How on earth will I do that?’ Sonya asked, undoing one of the strips.
‘Let me show you.’ Winnie grabbed the strip and showed Sonya how to curl it into her hair, then tie it at the end. ‘Do it at night before you sleep and, in the morning, the curls will be perfect!’
She showed Sonya in the mirror. The tied strip looked a bit silly, but it reminded Sonya of when Elspeth used to do Sonya’s hair.
She was suddenly overcome with missing Elspeth. She wondered how she was getting on, and if Elspeth missed her, too.
When Sonya was at the castle, she had just wanted to get out. She hadn’t realized how much she would miss some things from her old life.
But she was glad she had new friends to hold on to.
‘Make sure no one recognizes you,’ Winnie ordered, ‘though I doubt anyone will. Keep an eye on your accent, and stick to the sidelines.’
‘Yes, I will,’ Sonya agreed.
Winnie smiled, releasing a breath. ‘And most important of all—remember every single detail because I want to hear all about it when you’re back!’ Winnie finished. She and Sonya squealed. While Sonya was excited to go, she couldn’t wait to come home and tell Winnie all about it.
19
Kiri and Dania walked them to the door to see them off. Dania was hardly bothered by Sonya and Azam leaving now that she had an entire weekend at Caden’s to look forward to.
‘Daani, I need a hug,’ Sonya said, after she’d said goodbye to Kiri. Dania was being finicky, in one of those moods. ‘Dania, please!’
Dania sighed, as if she was being asked for too much, then trudged over, offering herself to Sonya for a hug. She tried to scurry off immediately after, but Sonya grabbed her arm, pulling her back in.
‘And a kiss!’ Sonya said. Dania groaned, then gave Sonya a quick kiss before going off. Sonya shook her head, laughing. Dania’s mood swings used to cause her anxiety—she would think Daniasuddenly didn’t like her anymore—but now she knew that was just how children were: adoring one moment and indifferent the next.
Azam caught Dania, pulling her back. ‘Oh no you don’t.’ He threw her up in the air and Dania laughed. He hugged her goodbye, and she fidgeted, but then she hugged him tight. Azam closed his eyes, a crease between his brows.
