by Sarah Noffke
The brown basket wasn’t sitting on the moss-covered stone for more than a few seconds when all the twig and leaf creatures in sight took off. They didn’t flee as Sophia had feared they would. Instead, she realized they were moving to gather and bring things to her, depositing them into the basket she’d summoned.
The forest creatures were helping her. They had needed a place to put all the mushrooms. They moved efficiently, making quick work of something that would have taken Sophia and Lunis hours.
When the basket was full to the brim, Sophia knew they’d filled it with one of every type of mushroom in Sherwood Forest.
She smiled as they went back to gathering their own food, moving slower now, with less urgency. Sophia picked up the basket, not wanting to leave this enchanted forest, but grateful she’d been successful.
“Thank you for your help,” she said to the forest as she opened a portal for her and Lunis.
The leaf and twig creatures didn’t say a word back as she started for the portal to the Gullington, but Sophia somehow felt their gratitude for what she and Lunis had done, and it was as beautiful as the plant life all around them.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sophia should have been surprised to find Ainsley with her ear pressed to the stone floor of the Castle when she entered, the basket of mushrooms in tow. However, her short time at the Gullington had conditioned any sense of surprise out of her. At this point, she thought she’d be more astonished to find the housekeeper holding a mop or actually cleaning.
Beside Ainsley, who was wearing a pale blue gown made of the finest satin, was Trin, who gave Sophia a questioning expression as she stood next to the elf.
“Well, don’t be afraid,” Ainsley encouraged. “Pop down here already.”
“Not afraid,” Trin argued, irritation on her face. “It’s just that due to my cyborg technology, I have excellent hearing and don’t need to put my ear to the floor to hear something down there.”
Ainsley lifted up onto her knees and sat back. She appeared so strange in her elegant dress, on the floor—well, as strange as anything the eccentric shapeshifter did. Shaking her head of loose, red curls, arranged perfectly over her shoulders, she smiled politely. “It’s not about hearing anything, really. If you want to find out if the Castle is asleep, then you have to feel for it. The floors vibrate when it snores, but only slightly and usually most in this spot.”
“Why do I want to know if the Castle is sleeping?” Trin questioned, giving Sophia an expression that said, “What in the hell have you gotten me into?”
Sophia still stood by her decision to make the cyborg the housekeeper to replace Ainsley at the Castle. It would take some adjusting, but if anyone could fit in there, it was Trin. Filling Ainsley’s shoes, when she left, wouldn’t be easy. It had been Sophia’s goal not to find someone to replace Ainsley, but rather to add their own flair to the place. Once Trin was comfortable, Sophia thought the cyborg would be fantastic.
“You need to know when the Castle sleeps to prepare for the aftermath that will ensue when it wakes up,” Ainsley explained, looking around the entryway, an undeniable fondness on her face. “When it wakes up in roughly an hour or seventy-two, it’s usually full of energy which equates to mischief.”
Since getting her memories back, Ainsley spoke in a more refined way. However, there was still the old Ains with her typical playfulness lurking beneath the surface. Sophia knew that’s who she was at her core.
“Mischief?” Trin questioned, worry in her tone.
“Oh yes,” Ainsley answered, with a laugh. “This one time, it moved all the dining furniture. We spent a fortnight eating in the armchairs in the sitting rooms until we found the table.”
Trin scowled. “That sounds awful.”
Ainsley nodded. “Until we realized the Castle had put the dining furniture on the balcony.”
Trin’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t know there was a balcony. I didn’t see one from the Expanse when I walked around the Castle.”
“There’s not one anymore,” Ainsley explained. “We ate alfresco for a little over a week before the weather turned cold, and the Castle deleted the balcony and moved the furniture back into the dining hall.”
“So, when the Castle wakes up, I should be prepared for the unexpected, then?” Trin asked.
Ainsley shrugged. “Hard to say. Sometimes nothing changes. Sometimes it renovates itself. Usually, there’s a rearranging of things. Evan always ends up with a surprise or two. Now settle down here, and I’ll show you how to tell if the Castle is sleeping.”
“If the Castle is Quiet, can’t we just go and see if he’s sleeping?” Trin questioned.
Sophia glanced over her shoulder, looking at the stained-glass window of the angel on the front door of the Castle. Through the colored glass, she could see the gnome working on the Expanse. She’d passed him when she’d entered through the Barrier.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Ainsley told her. “You’ve got to get over this idea that Quiet is the Castle.”
“But he is,” Trin argued.
“No, the Castle is Quiet,” Ainsley said with conviction.
Trin rubbed her temple with her cyborg's hand. “I think we’re talking semantics at this point.”
Ainsley sighed. “I get that this is difficult to wrap your mind around, but you will in time. The magic that makes Quiet the Gullington is some of the strongest I’ve ever witnessed. It’s complicated.”
“I’m starting to sense that.” Trin looked up at the rafters high above, appearing overwhelmed.
“Think of it this way, the Castle is like Quiet’s heart,” Ainsley began. “The Pond is his lungs. The Expanse is his brain. The Gullington is his body. Just as your heart isn’t you, it is part of you, the Castle isn’t Quiet—it’s part of him.”
“Oh,” Trin said, understanding dawning on her face. “That makes sense, actually.”
Ainsley nodded. “Of course, it does.”
“So, in a way, my job is to care for Quiet’s heart,” Trin mused, her gaze falling to the floor.
“Your job is to care for the heart of the Gullington,” Ainsley corrected. “If you keep looking to the gnome to understand this place, then you’ll remain confused. He doesn’t like it much that we know he’s the one in charge of everything here, hence the reason he kept it a secret until you poisoned him.”
Trin blushed with embarrassment, several gears making screeching sounds on her chest. “Yeah, I was hoping we’d forget about that.”
Ainsley laughed, a high-pitched sound. “Fat chance. I dare say it’s the reason you got this job. Few would be so bold.” The elf nodded proudly. “I think you’ll do just fine here because you can’t be pushed around. If you could, then you would never be successful at the Gullington. The guys have tough skin and tease incessantly, Hiker is demanding and unreasonable, and Mama Jamba is always leaving crumbs behind even when she’s not eating. It’s quite perplexing.” Ainsley’s gaze connected with Sophia. “Then you’ve got S. Beaufont here.”
Sophia was surprised when Ainsley pointed at her. “Me? What did I do?”
“You ensure that things are always in flux,” Ainsley answered at once before turning her attention back to Trin. “Do you know we sat around this place not doing a damn thing for the better part of two centuries? Then S. Beaufont turns up, and she’s full of surprises. For one, she was a woman. You should have seen them guy’s faces. It was like they hadn’t seen a female all their life. Then she started sneaking off on missions, making Hiker madder than hell. She went and found Mama Jamba and brought her back, and things have never been the same ever since. I hope they never are.” Ainsley winked at Sophia. “Keep the men on their toes when I’m gone, would you?”
Sophia nodded, feeling that familiar pang of sorrow at the thought of Ainsley leaving the Gullington.
The shapeshifter settled back down on the ground, putting her ear to the stone. “Now, come on down here and tell me if you can feel the snoring, Trin. It’s
very subtle, but I think you’ll get the idea.”
The cyborg did what she was told, kneeling down and pressing the side of her face to the cold floor. A moment later, her face lit up with a smile. “I feel it. That’s so cool.”
Ainsley sat back, looking around. “Yes, it’s nice. If you want to find what the Castle did with your suitcase of stuff, now is the time. I, for one, need to find my flute. Apparently, the Castle doesn’t like it when I play it, but the stuffy old building can just deal.”
Sophia couldn’t help but laugh, considering the mischievous and playful ways of the Castle. She looked forward to it waking and seeing how it would renovate itself after its nap.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Speaking of napping, Mama Jamba was sleeping when Sophia entered Hiker’s office to find the old woman snoring loudly on the old Chesterfield sofa.
Sophia twitched her mouth to the side, giving Hiker an uncertain expression. From behind his large desk, his eyes drifted to the basket of mushrooms.
“I see you’ve been busy,” he said, his eyes fluttering with annoyance. “My riders going foraging for mushrooms seems like a waste, but…”
What he wasn’t saying was that arguing with Mama Jamba on the subject would have been futile. It was a strange task for a dragonrider trained for battle, but Sophia had realized there was no job too big or small for the Dragon Elite. Hell, she was prepared to scrub toilets if that’s what she needed to do to protect the dragons and the world at large. She didn’t see how it could, but Sophia also knew not to underestimate things, or she’d find herself sporting a toilet brush.
“We rid Sherwood Forest of a Chupacabra if that makes you feel any better about how I spent my time,” Sophia related.
Hiker considered this for a moment before nodding. “Marginally, it does. What was a Chupacabra doing there?”
“Lost dog, I’m guessing,” Sophia suggested.
Hiker arched an eyebrow, his gaze drifting to Mama Jamba. “Something tells me that woman was behind it.”
Sophia glanced at the old woman, sleeping peacefully and sounding like she was about to start vibrating the Castle with her snoring. “Well, I have what she asked for, but…” She held up the basket of mushrooms.
“She’s not asleep,” Hiker told her.
Sophia shook her head. “Of course she is. Why else would she be snoring and all?”
“Because I asked her a very direct question she didn’t feel like answering,” he answered.
Sophia laughed. “So, faking sleep was the way to get out of it.”
Hiker pursed his lips. “I’d prefer that over some other things Mama has done to avoid helping me. She disappeared for the better part of a century once when I asked her how to avoid another Bubonic Plague outbreak in major cities. Apparently, the answer was, ‘Figure it out yourself.’”
Sophia knew the leader of the Dragon Elite was exaggerating. Mama Jamba had gone into hiding a few times, the most recent occasion when Sophia’d had to track her down inside the center of the planet.
“I guess you did figure it out then,” Sophia guessed, remembering her history.
Hiker combed his hands through his long blond hair and nodded. “That’s what the Dragon Elite do. We figure things out and help the planet to avoid disasters.” He snapped his fingers in Mama Jamba’s direction, making a sharp, crisp sound. “Mama! Go ahead and quit the act. I won’t pester you anymore for information that would cost you little effort to pass along to me.”
At once, the old woman with Dallas hair sat up, looking quite alert. “Well, I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement on the matter.” She apprised Sophia with a scrutinizing expression. “You didn’t get all of the mushrooms like I asked.”
Sophia held her chin up firmly. “No, I didn’t. Instead, the twig and leaf people gathered one of each at my request.”
Mama Jamba considered this. “I’m sure the Celcidas were most grateful for your help with the Chupacabra.”
“The Celcidas,” Sophia repeated, vaulting the term for the leaf and twig people away in her memory.
“Yes,” Mama Jamba affirmed. “Lovely race. Very peaceful and great little helpers.”
“Are you the one responsible for putting a Chupacabra there?” Hiker asked, accusation in his tone.
Mama Jamba pursed her lips. “Son, why would I do that?”
“To create an extra bit of complication for Sophia,” he answered. “She obviously couldn’t just go to Sherwood Forest to gather mushrooms. That would be too simple.”
The old woman brushed lint off her velour tracksuit. “Son, despite the fact that you think I go out of my way to make things difficult for you and the Dragon Elite, I try and do exactly the opposite. I needed a place for the mushrooms to grow for the tracking spell for the demon dragons. Sherwood Forest was an ideal location. It just so happened to have a Chupacabra invading it. I figured it was a win-win situation. Have Sophia rid the forest of the little guy and also make it a place for the mushrooms to grow.”
Sophia laughed. “That little guy nearly ate Lunis as a snack.”
Mama Jamba nodded. “Disguising him as a kitten was a very clever approach. The guys would have tried to slice the thing in half and probably died in the process.”
Hiker looked between Sophia and Mama Jamba in confusion. “Wait, you disguised your dragon as a kitten? That’s highly dangerous. You could have really created problems for him.”
Sophia knew he was right, but shrugged. “As it was, he might need counseling to deal with the emotional pain. I caught him purring, but he totally lied about it.”
Casting an annoyed glare at Mama Jamba, Hiker said, “What do you mean, the guys would have died in the process?”
“I said, probably,” Mama Jamba corrected. “And it’s true. They use brute force, whereas Sophia employs strategy. I don’t know many who would have used a kitten to fight a Chupacabra.”
“Not anyone sane,” Hiker admitted.
“Hey, it worked,” Sophia argued.
“That it did,” Mama Jamba interrupted. “However, why is it that you only got one of each mushroom when you were instructed to get all of them?”
Sophia set the basket down on the coffee table in front of Mother Nature. “Because it felt wrong to take all of them.”
Hiker growled with annoyance. “We don’t make decisions based on how things feel.”
Mama Jamba’s eyes cut over to him, her chin down. “You don’t, son.”
“The Dragon Elite don’t,” he argued.
Sophia cleared her throat. “Feelings are a part of who I am. I contend they can be vital for my decision making.”
“Really? Well, they seem to have vitally misdirected you,” Hiker stated. “You didn’t do what Mama asked you to, and now we’ve lost time, and we’re that much farther from being able to track down the demon dragons.”
“Depleting the forest of every single mushroom was wrong,” Sophia told him with conviction. “It wasn’t right to take such an unsustainable approach for our purposes. We’re important, but not more so than others we are supposed to share resources and this planet with. If we just took everything, then we’d become the problem. We’d be the ones that others would need to protect mortals from instead of us being the ones who protect them.”
“Sophia, sometimes your self-righteous attitude goes too far,” Hiker complained, anger flaring on his face.
Heat made Sophia’s head tense with a sudden headache. She felt both frustrated and embarrassed. She was certain that what she’d done was the right thing, but arguing it with Hiker was making her angry in a way she rarely felt.
“Where’s the line, sir?” Sophia asked, throwing her arm wide. “Do the rules apply to everyone else and not us because we think we’re in charge? How are we supposed to garner trust with a ‘Do as I say and not as I do’ mentality?”
Hiker narrowed his eyes at her before spinning to look at Mama Jamba. “You thought she was ready for a leadership role. Now look at what you’ve done.
We’ve empowered a holier than thou, pious pain in the ass.”
“Son, I didn’t force you to promote Sophia,” Mama Jamba began. “I suggested it, but this was your decision. May I advise the mark of a good leader is standing by their decisions rather than blaming others when they think that things have gone wrong?”
“Fine, then I take responsibility for making the child a leader,” he grumbled.
Sophia narrowed her eyes at the Viking but decided it best to ignore him. “I stand by my decision not to wipe out all the mushrooms in Sherwood Forest.”
“Admitting when you make a mistake is a virtue, Sophia,” Hiker said, his voice rising.
“I didn’t make a mistake.” Sophia matched his volume, her fists by her side.
He sighed dramatically, stomping back over to his desk. “Well, now what are we going to do to track down the demon dragons, Mama?”
Calmly, Mother Nature leaned forward and picked up a single mushroom from the top of the stack. “I’m going to make the potion like I planned. It will take some time.”
Both Hiker and Sophia whipped around to face the old woman.
“What?” Hiker asked, shocked. “You don’t have all the mushrooms.”
She held up the one in her hand, studying it. “No, and I didn’t really need them.”
“But you told Sophia to get all of them,” he continued, confused.
“I did,” Mama Jamba said. “She used her own judgment to do what she thought was best.”
“She defied Mother Nature,” he argued.
“She listened to her heart,” she disagreed. “Just imagine how hard it was for her to do that knowing that one of the most powerful entities alive told her to do one thing, and she didn’t follow those instructions.” Smiling proudly, Mama looked at Sophia. “The mark of a good leader is following what they think is right when those more powerful than them advise them otherwise. Always listen to your moral compass, Sophia. It will never steer you wrong. Your feelings calibrate it. Listen to those too.”
