Page 50 of Enchanted Kingdom
The four sets of hoofbeats clomping forward signaled our start. In just three hours’ time, I would be home.
* * *
I had only been gonea short time, but the differences in the castle and life in Nerede had never been clearer. Nerede lacked the colors of the other levels of the kingdom, Rallis included. It was like we lost more color the farther down the mountain we came. I’d take the dust and dirt though.I was home.
The door to the bakery dinged as we entered.
My mother hollered, “Be with you in a moment!”
I smirked at Owen and watched her work, her back to us as she began whisking some eggs. True to her word, she was doing it all and looked to be doing just fine. But I knew at night her hands were more than likely aching and her back tired. It was just so much easier for two to carry the daily load.
“Mother,” I said gently.
She spun, the whisk in her hand clattering to the floor. “Jorah!”
“Mother,” I repeated, feeling the mist in my eyes. How had it only been six days since I saw her last? It felt like a lifetime ago I got my letter and everything changed.
“You’re home!” she exclaimed, running for me.
“But only for a few hours,” I told her, not wanting her to get too excited.
After hugging me thoroughly, she looked to Owen, clearly trying to figure out who he was.
“This is Officer Owen Raikes. My personal guard,” I told her and gestured toward Owen. “Owen, this is my mother, Eleanor Demir.”
Owen reached out to shake my mother’s hand.
“Well, thank you for keeping my daughter safe, sir,” she said kindly before turning her attention back to me. “I have been wondering how you are constantly, Jorah. This is a most pleasant surprise.”
I smiled and headed for the aprons on the hook in the corner.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I’ll help you. I can only stay for a few hours, but I’m not going to put you behind all day because of it. I just wanted to see you; it doesn’t matter what we do.”
Mother squinted. “Fine, but at least let me make some tea.”
I nodded.
Owen rubbed his hands together from his perch by the window. “I don’t suppose you are going to make those dinner rolls again, Jorah?”
Mother’s breath caught from where she stood over by the door where she was flipping the sign to show that the bakery was closed for business. “You made the cinnamon ones? Your father’s favorite?”
Just before grabbing a large bowl, I said, “I forced Owen to take me to a kitchen and was rage baking one night.”
She laughed. “So not much has changed, though you certainly look lovely.”
I was wearing a light blue day dress. And even the day dress made me look like I didn’t belong in Nerede. While the water heated on the stove, I pulled my hair that had been down into a low knot on my head so I could help with the dough.
“Can you tell me how it is?” Mother asked as she started the tea. Then she frowned as her eyes went to Owen. “I don’t wish for you to get in trouble. I’m just not sure what we can and cannot talk about.”
“Well. As Ivy might have relayed to you, I am in Prince Keiran’s Assemblage,” I began as I stirred the yeast and water. “I was shocked to find out I was staying, as I pretty much insulted both princes on the first night.”
Owen snorted, though his back remained to us.
My mother’s eyes went wide, and she looked to Owen’s back as if concerned I shouldn’t be speaking so freely around him.
“He knows I’m mouthy, Mother,” I told her. “He’s gotten the brunt of it also.” I paused. “My strategy was to get sent home the first night. It just didn’t work.”
