by Sarah Noffke
Chapter Five
Sophia was deep in thought, wondering where to look for the mysterious closet first when she came down to breakfast. That’s why she nearly tripped over Evan lying in the middle of the floor in front of the long dining room table. He was staring up at the ceiling, a bewildered grin on his face.
Halting suddenly, Sophia glanced down at Evan and backed up to avoid trampling him. “What are you doing?” she asked him. She watched as he squinted up at the ceiling as if he was trying to make out a complex code.
He pointed up toward the rafters. “I’m staring at the beautiful stars.”
Following his gaze, Sophia looked up at the ceiling to find the same stone she was used to seeing up there, punctuated by large wooden support beams. “So, these stars you’re seeing…”
“Aren’t they pretty?” Evan asked with a dreamy quality in his voice. “Will you help me count them?”
“They are something else. And no, I think I’ll skip the counting,” Sophia answered. She gave Mahkah, the only other person at the dining room table, a tentative glance that said, “What the hell is going on?”
He shrugged good-naturedly and returned to shuffling his eggs around on his plate.
Stepping over Evan, Wilder casually strode into the dining hall. “I see the young lad has gotten into Ainsley’s pantry again.”
Mahkah nodded and picked up a piece of toast from the top of a pile and started to butter it.
Wilder glanced back at Evan lying on the stone floor and shook his head. “When will you learn? You can go after the dried fruits and nuts but stay away from the confections. Ainsley knows those are your weakness, so she spells them.”
“How can I resist them?” Evan asked, clasping his hands to his chest and looking longingly up at the ceiling.
Sophia shook her head as she joined the guys at the table. “Ainsley did this to him for breaking into her pantry?”
“I sure did, S. Beaufont,” Ainsley sang, buzzing through the swinging door, carrying a breakfast tray. “And I’ll do it again and again until he learns.”
Wilder cast a thoughtful stare at Evan. “I’m not sure it will ever happen, dear Ainsley. He wasn’t chosen as a dragonrider because of his brilliance.”
“Well, then he’ll lose a day to hallucinations each time,” Ainsley answered.
Her head perked up at the sound of footsteps in the entryway, and she quickly shapeshifted into the form of Quiet, dropping the tray onto the table. She appeared almost exactly like the squatty gnome with his rugged appearance and red nose, save for her trademark small scar on the side of her head. She pulled Quiet’s cap down low, covering the scar as Hiker Wallace marched into the dining hall.
He halted abruptly. His face turned red at the sight of Evan laid out on the floor. “Damn it! Ainsley! You’ve done it again!”
The leader of the Dragon Elite looked around for the housekeeper before his gaze went to the door to the kitchen. “Where is that woman? She knows damn well I told her to stop spelling Evan when he broke into her pantry!”
Wilder and Sophia exchanged tentative glances. Mahkah continued to appear placid as he chewed.
Ainsley, in the form of Quiet, simply shrugged.
Hiker shook his head and walked to his normal seat at the head of the table. “For the love of the angels. Don’t I have enough to do trying to manage things? Now I have a dragonrider who is good for nothing for the better part of the day.”
Quiet muttered.
Mahkah nodded.
Evan said, “The stars are so pretty, sir. Staring at them can’t be wrong when it feels so right.”
Hiker grunted and tucked a napkin into his collar. “When will you learn, boy? Stay out of that woman’s pantry.” He looked around the table. “Where is that elf anyway? Where is my coffee?”
Ainsley, in the form of the groundskeeper, hurried off for the kitchen just as the real Quiet materialized in the entryway, his face windswept from being on the Expanse.
Hiker realized what had happened and narrowed his eyes. “I should have known.” He gave Wilder and Sophia punishing looks, apparently not thinking Mahkah should be given a scornful expression for not confessing the truth. “You lot didn’t feel like telling me that woman was in disguise?”
Wilder glanced at Sophia. “Oh, was that Ainsley? I just got in here.”
Sophia busied herself with scooping eggs onto her plate. “Me too, sir. I don’t even know what’s going on here. Why is Evan lying on the floor?”
“Because my housekeeper is a horrid woman who doesn’t understand disciplining dragonriders isn’t in her job description,” Hiker answered.
Quiet mumbled something as he took the seat next to Sophia.
Hiker shook his head at the gnome. “I don’t know what you said, but I’m certain I disagree with it.” He banged his fist on the table, making the saucers vibrate. “Where is my coffee?”
“Coming right up, sir,” Ainsley sang as she came through the door, carrying a cup of coffee and a platter of food. She laid both down in front of Hiker and gave him a pleasant smile.
He narrowed his blue eyes at her. “What did you do? Explain yourself.”
She sighed. “Evan knows if he messes with my pantry, then he’s going to get into trouble. I have to remain consistent and can’t make exceptions, or he’ll never learn.”
He shook his head. “No, I mean, my coffee and food? Why are you bringing it out individually?”
“Would you believe because I want it to be fresh?” Ainsley answered innocently. Mama Jamba walked into the dining hall, wearing a starched pair of white jeans and a matching jean jacket like she was going to pop off to a summer concert after breakfast. Sophia couldn’t help but think the woman looked like spring with her fresh appearance and bright eyes. It was a nice sight on the frigid winter morning.
“No, I wouldn’t believe it,” Hiker said, lifting the coffee and sniffing it. “What did you do to this?”
“I didn’t do anything, sir,” Ainsley said, taking the now empty tray of eggs.
Hiker took a sip. “It tastes weird.”
“It shouldn’t,” Ainsley answered. “Caffeine doesn’t make coffee taste any differently.”
Hiker peeled back from the cup and shook his head. “This is decaf? Why would you do that, woman?”
“Well,” Ainsley began, “I figured with all the stress of the goings-on, you should cut back on the caffeine. We don’t want you kicking the bucket, do we?” Ainsley looked around, expecting an answer from the others. When no one said anything, she shrugged. “Okay, maybe some want you to kick the bucket, but can you really blame them?”
“Ainsley…” Hiker said, holding the cup of coffee out. “Fix this.”
“Fix it how, sir?” she asked. “Are you going to start taking it with sugar after all these centuries? I think a little sweetener could do you good. Maybe sweeten you up.”
“I want you to caffeinate it,” he said tersely.
“I think Ainsley is right. Too much caffeine can’t be good for your heart, Hiker,” Mama Jamba said in her beautiful Southern accent as she glanced over the breakfast options. “Ainsley, are you going to serve anything not vegan?”
Hiker pushed back from the table like his food was toxic. He looked over his breakfast platter of sausages, beans, toast, and mushrooms. “Vegan? What does that even mean?”
“It means none of this has a face,” Wilder supplied. “Or at least it didn’t used to have a face. That’s how I understand veganism.” He looked to Sophia for clarification.
She nodded. “Yeah, that seems about right. No animal products.”
“What is the meaning of this, Ainsley?” Hiker asked the housekeeper.
“Well, Mahkah liked the eggs,” Ainsley argued, pointing an arm in the stoic warrior’s direction.
Mahkah nodded, digging back into his eggs.
Sophia thought the eggs appeared different and now saw it was because they weren’t actually eggs but just a yellow gelatinous material.
“Ainsley!” Hiker bellowed. “What are you up to?”
“Well,” Ainsley began. “I was going to dust the Castle after breakfast, but it depends on how it’s feeling. It was quite ticklish yesterday, and I’m not sure of its mood now. And—”
“You know what I mean,” Hiker interrupted.
She sighed. “I don’t read minds, sir. I really don’t know what you mean.”
“Ainsley!” Hiker repeated. “I want real food! Stuff that once had a face. What are these sausages even made of?”
“You don’t want to know,” Sophia muttered.
“Fine, be that way,” Ainsley said, picking up his untouched plate. “I just thought we could try something new. I mean, I don’t want you to live terribly long, but I don’t want you to die anytime soon. Not before I find a new position. With your stress because of the new situation and all, I figured a vegan lifestyle and a cut-back on caffeine would help.”
“Would you kindly get me and my riders some real food?” Hiker asked tersely.
Mama Jamba nodded. “Yes, I would really love some pancakes with real butter and all the good stuff.”
Ainsley nodded and left for the kitchen.
“So, you don’t support the vegan lifestyle?” Wilder asked Mama Jamba curiously.
She smiled at him good-naturedly. “Oh, you thought because I created all things on Earth, I’d want to preserve it, don’t you?”
He blushed, his dimple on his right cheek surfacing. “Well, it’s just that…”
“It’s a good assumption, Wilder,” she said with a wink. “But I also respect the circle of life, which vegans love to graze right over, just like sheep.”
Everyone laughed at this, Quiet and Hiker included.
Sophia tensed and gave the leader of the Dragon Elite a strange expression, which he caught.
“What?” Hiker questioned. “That was funny. I didn’t even know what vegans were until now. I’m guessing you, Sophia, have something to do with teaching Ainsley about this?”
“She wanted to watch some cooking shows,” Sophia explained.
Ainsley returned a moment later with another cup of coffee and a platter of pancakes.
“Would you get—”
“I’m working on it,” she interrupted Hiker, turning back for the kitchen. “Mama Jamba first, then you, sir.”
Mother Nature smiled and pulled the platter of pancakes in her direction.
“Sophia, why don’t you tell Mama how you aren’t training this morning,” Hiker said, lifting his cup of coffee to his mouth and giving her a rueful smile.
Sophia pushed her plate away. She thought she might choke on her last bite and then remembered she hadn’t really had one while she’d been consumed with watching the normal and yet unique antics of breakfast at the Castle. “Oh, I want to train. It’s just, I was thinking I also needed to do some investigating based on this new magitech I’ve found.”
Mama Jamba looked at Quiet, who had his attention on Ainsley as she set a fresh platter of meat and fried eggs in front of the group. “What do you think, Quiet, my dear? Is it okay if Sophia takes a side quest?”
“What?” Hiker interrupted. “Why are you asking him?”
Everyone ignored Hiker.
The gnome was about to reach for a piece of bacon when his attention snapped to Mother Nature. He pursed his mouth and deliberated before reaching for a pastry. Finally, the gnome muttered something inaudible.
Mama Jamba nodded appreciatively. “That’s what I thought.”
“What is what you thought?” Hiker asked, looking between Quiet and Mama Jamba.
Quiet shook his head and smiled, a rare sight on the gnome’s face. He whispered something that almost sounded like “Soon but not yet.”
Sophia leaned forward. “What did you say, Quiet?”
He stuffed a pastry into his mouth, his eyes bulging.
“He said, you should go on this magitech mission,” Mama Jamba stated as she buttered her pancakes.
“He did?” Hiker and Sophia said in unison.
Mama Jamba smiled wide and winked at the pair. “That was cute. And yes, he did. We’re not ready for Sophia to continue training and definitely not ready for her to finish it.”
“What?” Sophia questioned.
“What does that mean?” Hiker asked. “Why is my groundskeeper in charge of this decision?”
Mama Jamba daintily cut into her pancakes, relishing the first bite. “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just it would be good if Sophia did something else for a bit.”
“I thought you said there was nothing more important than her training,” Hiker argued.
“I did,” Mama Jamba said, through a bite.
“So, what’s changed?” Hiker asked.
“Nothing,” she answered. “It’s just there is a season for everything, and right now we are in winter.”
“And?” Hiker questioned.
“I think it would be better if…” Mama Jamba looked to Quiet, expecting him to supply an answer. He gave her a pointed glare. “Yes, it would be good if Sophia finished training later in the winter. Maybe closer to the start of spring. Yes…spring would be good…maybe.”
Hiker gave her a strange expression. “What are you up to, Mama?”
“Nothing,” she answered, but there was definitely a hint of mischief in the old woman’s voice.
He shook his head as he looked between the woman and the gnome. “I don’t know what you two are up to, but I’d like to be in the know.”
“And you will, dear Hiker,” Mama Jamba answered. “But really, there’s nothing to tell. Quiet doesn’t think the Expanse is in ideal condition for training, and I think this magitech Sophia has is worth investigating. Let’s delay training a bit longer. It can’t hurt.”
“You thought training was all Sophia should be doing, and now you’re changing your tune,” Hiker argued.
“Well, a woman can change her mind,” Mama Jamba sang. “Can’t she?”
“She can,” Hiker said skeptically.
“Yes, she can,” Mama Jamba added, taking another bite.
Hiker blinked at her, not convinced as he took his first bite of food. “Anything else?”
Mama Jamba smiled. Winked at him. “Yes, you have eggs in your beard, dear.”
Chapter Six
The warm Santa Ana winds were a stark contrast to those that had nearly knocked Sophia off the crumbling cliff in the Gullington in Scotland. It felt strange to shed her layers as she made her way to John’s Electronics Repair shop, where she expected to find her sister, Liv Beaufont.
She wadded up her cloak, missing the cold where she’d just been. All her life growing up in Los Angeles, she had never questioned this city was her home, but it didn’t give her the same fond feeling it used to. She wished it was colder since the warm air didn’t feel very holiday-like.
As she passed display windows covered with fake snow and garlands, Sophia began to miss the decorations she’d had at the Castle. They hadn’t lasted, but they were far better than any of the ones on this street in West Hollywood.
“Whoa, did you just get finish jousting at the Renaissance fair?” a man asked at Sophia’s back.
She halted, immediately knowing he was referring to her. She glanced down and thought she should have changed before her field trip. Even though she was in West Hollywood, where everyone was strange, she managed to stand out with her silver and blue armored top and riding boots. Inexorabilis was strapped to her side, where it usually was when she left the Castle, and her roughly braided blonde hair hung down her back, windswept from her early morning ride on Lunis.
“I think you left your horse back there on Melrose,” another guy said with a chuckle.
Sophia let out a breath and thought it was better just to keep walking and leave the mortals alone. Then she asked herself the one question that would no doubt lead to trouble. “What would Liv do in this situation?”
Without hesitation, Sophia turned to find two hipsters
sharing the same ridiculous smile as they ran their eyes over her. They had their jeans rolled up like they’d just gotten finished wading in the Pacific Ocean. One had his collar popped, and the other had the brim of his hat sticking straight up.
“I ride a dragon, not a horse,” she remarked, her hands on her hips.
The guy with a popped collar and a bad skin problem smirked at her. “Yeah, right, sweetheart. You’re capitalizing on the new rumor dragonriders are back.”
His buddy slapped him on the arm. “I’ve heard there’s this whole group in Topanga Canyon who are welcoming any of the riders if they want to seek refuge with them.”
“Yeah, like riders want a bunch of dumb crystals from hippies,” his friend replied.
“I am one of the dragonriders you’ve heard about,” Sophia dared to argue, wondering what the point even was in trying.
“I heard there’s not many of them left,” Popped Collar said to the other guy as if he hadn’t heard a word Sophia said.
“Yeah, and I heard they are super old magicians,” his friend replied.
“They definitely wouldn’t look like you,” the first hipster said, pursing his lips at Sophia. “I’ll buy that sword off you if you’d like.”
“It’s not for sale,” Sophia said bitterly.
Remember you’re supposed to protect the mortals, Lunis said in her head, having witnessed the exchange.
She nodded and let out a breath. Shouldn’t that mean taking out the dumber ones, so they don’t bring down the rest? she replied.
Good logic, Lunis offered. Maybe just put them in their place if it comes to it. I’ll let you know.
Or point them to the closest community college, Sophia added. These guys desperately need some life skills and fashion advice.
I’m not arguing there, Lunis said just as the guy with the hat pointed to her sword.
“Seriously, I’ll give you like twenty bucks for that piece of junk,” he said with a laugh.
“Twenty bucks!” his friend exclaimed. “That’s a steal, girl. He’ll have to melt it down to get his money back.”
