Page 27 of The Fifth Soul

Sofia stops kicking and turns to him with an affronted look of betrayal. “Are you leaving to visit your family?”

“I would take you with me if I could.” He takes her hand in his. “You know I would.”

She looks down at their hands, then sighs. Before I can ask anything, Sofia turns to me. “His family hates me.”

“They don’t hate you. They just think you are not the best of influences.” His face heats up.

“Like anything you do is my fault.” Sofia turns to fully face me. “He took me to a party back at his village and he got so drunk he started swimming laps around the town's fountain. Let me tell you, he thought he was swimming laps. He was, in fact, just splashing water.”

“Sofia.” Santiago gulps. “I know it wasn’t you. The punch just got out of hand.”

She waves at him. “Don’t be so embarrassed. Your parents want something to blame that is not their precious smart boy. Working for the King as his Library keeper is an honor.”

“An honor for the whole village,” he tells me. “Most of the people in my village are farmers. I was made fun of for my love for books growing up, but as the official library keeper I’m looked at with respect.”

“Who hasn’t drunk too much punch here and there.” Sofia shrugs like everyone has. “Since you’ll be gone, and I will be left all alone, I might be persuaded to join the maids to the taverns.”

“Or you can study for your exams. You’ve been doing great,” Santiago says.

“Or I can do that,” she agrees.

The creaking bridge announces the presence of someone approaching. We all look up to see Jesse closing the distance between us with furrowed brows.

“What’s going on here?” He eyes me curiously. “Well, this is a development I expected.”

“Your wisdom lets you see the future now?” Santiago taunts.

“Perhaps you could’ve seen me get my finger burned this morning.” Sofia pushes a finger in the air for everyone to see. “How dare you not warn me!”

“You anticipated us being in the garden?” I ask.

“No, I anticipated these two dragging you around and befriending you.”

Crossing my arms, I lean back and say, “I wouldn’t go as far as to say we are friends.”

“After all we shared with you?” Sofia gasps, offended.

“You would tell anyone your business.” Jesse shrugs.

Santiago stretches his long legs before turning back to Jesse. “Is there a reason you’re interrupting our peace?”

“Did you forget that she’s a thief?” He gestures in my direction. “I came here to remind you.”

Sofia yawns. “That was so long ago, Jesse. Move on.”

Jesse leaves us in a huff, and we go back to talking. Well, they go back to talking. I simply sit and listen. When dinner time comes, we walk to the dining hall. I decide to get food with them instead of heading to the room with Lexi Blue and Isabel. When we arrive, the dining hall is full of people milling around.

Several guards stand by the entrance. The details on their uniform catch my attention. In the training circles, everyone wears the same clothes, but as I look around, I realize there are two types of uniforms. The colors are the same, green and black, but one has far more green accents. Those are for the castle security. I spot some of them standing guard at different posts by the walls.

The uniforms with more black than green accents must be part of the Royal Force. Some of them have black stars on the top right arm sleeve.

“What do the stars on the sleeve mean?” I ask my companions.

“Ranks,” Sofia tells me while leaning over. “There are five levels. An officer is one star.”

“Roman sits on top of that?” I ask, referring to the Royal Force officer's titles.

Sofia and Santiago nod simultaneously. They’re enjoying spoonfuls of yogurt and fruit. It looks delicious, but I force myself to finish my food first. It’s a mixture of veggies and chicken. Only after I finish this do I allow myself to get the dessert.

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