“I don’t know, but I need help,” Trin answered. “If left to my own devices, I throw divorce parties and prepare Evan food he doesn’t like because I want him to know I care.”
“What if you stopped trying and were simply yourself?” Sophia suggested. “That way, you know he likes you for you, which is important.”
Trin nodded, the gears in her neck making noise. “Yes, that’s a good idea. I know that these things take time, and I have that. But we’re always surrounded by everyone else at meals.”
“Look,” Sophia began, “I’ll feel Evan out and lay the groundwork. You be yourself and don’t give him any special attention. He likes you for you, after all. When the time is right, I’ll find a way to throw you two together. If things are meant to be, then it will work out.”
“And if they aren’t?” Trin asked, fear in her somewhat robotic voice.
Sophia offered her friend a sensitive smile. “Then at least you know you tried and were the real you, bits of human and bolts and wires and all.”
Chapter Seventy-Nine
It felt like it had been years since Sophia had set foot on Roya Lane. That was what battles and adventures did to her. They skewed the time and made everything feel longer. However, no matter how much time went by, there were certain things she never forgot.
“Seriously magician, you need some Heals Pills,” King Rudolf Sweetwater yelled from the front of a new shopfront that sat right next to the Rose Apothecary. Hurrying away from the fae was an older magician who had her head down, her face red with anger. “Have you looked in the mirror this century? Oh, or maybe you’ve cracked all the mirrors you’ve glanced at. I’d understand that.”
The woman sped up as she stomped down the road and disappeared into the crowd.
Rudolf shook his head, turned, and glanced up at the shiny new sign. It was neon green and pink and read, Heals Pills—the One-Stop Elixir.
Sophia had to give it to him. The king of the fae had pulled off an entire inviting storefront, and all without much involvement from her. That had been their agreement. She’d supply the dragon egg shells, and he’d do all the rest of the work, having Bep make the potion and setting up the business.
Before, they’d talked about simply selling the products that healed and also beautified in stores, but Rudolf again surprised Sophia by coming up with a business plan for their retail store. He’d stated that they could maximize profits if they sold it directly and also create exclusivity.
“This looks great,” Sophia said at Rudolf’s back. “But are you making a habit of scaring away customers?”
He spun, and his face lit up with a broad smile that made his eyes dazzle. “Sophia! You got my message. That’s great. And Liv said that it didn’t work.”
“Message?” Sophia pulled out her phone and glanced at it. “I didn’t. What message?”
“My telepathic message,” Rudolf explained. “Your sister likes to play games with me and say that our telepathic link doesn’t work.”
“She’s not playing games,” Sophia stated blandly.
Rudolf wagged his finger in the air. “No, no, no. You’re here.”
She pointed at the Rose Apothecary. “I’m here to see Bep about that fix for Happily Ever After College.”
“Yeah, you need to get that fix from the potions lady and get back over here before I tear down her store,” Rudolf whispered.
“Tear down her store? Why would you do that?”
“We have to expand, baby!”
Sophia clenched her eyes shut for a moment. “If you ever call me baby again, I will have my dragon scorch every single hair off your head.”
Rudolf screamed suddenly, like a schoolgirl falling off the monkey bars on the playground as he grabbed for his full head of blond locks. “Such vicious threats. Is that necessary?”
“If you insist on the name-calling,” Sophia stated firmly.
“Fine, no pet names.” He sighed.
“We just opened this retail store,” Sophia argued. “We don’t need to expand now or maybe ever. The Rose Apothecary is an important shop on Roya Lane, and we’re not going to run Bep out of business. Besides, who will make the elixir?”
“All right,” Rudolf acquiesced. “We’ll stay small. I think it will be fine anyway. Sort of quaint like one of those barbeque places with only a few tables but the best food in town. When there are only a few customers in the store, it looks like it’s crammed full and makes people on the street pause to see what’s so popular.”
“Well, we do sell a magical elixir made from dragon egg shells that heals many ailments,” Sophia pointed out.
Rudolf held up a finger. “Most importantly, it might be what keeps magicians from not dying out since your race is too ugly to want to mate with each other.”
Sophia shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a real issue.”
“Well, not for you and that boy toy of yours.” Rudolf tilted his head. “Are you sure that you’re not a halfling? Maybe your boyfriend Kyle is too, and you have fae blood.”
“I’m one hundred percent magician and so is he. Remember, I’m from one of the founding families. And my boyfriend’s name is Wilder.”
The king grimaced as though he was suddenly in pain. “It’s bad enough when I’ve had to look at him. I thought that looking at ugly magicians was difficult, but that one, well, he might be more attractive than me, which I’ll remind you in my kingdom is a Class Seven offense, punishable by imprisonment.”
“Such a civil and just government you run,” Sophia said dryly.
“And I refuse to call Kyle by his real name.” Rudolf shook his head. “He has too many good things going for him. I bet he made a deal with an imp.”
“He didn’t.” Sophia felt her patience wane.
“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you if some imp insists you name your first child after him,” Rudolf stated. “That will be the final payment that Kyle owes the sprite.”
“Thanks for the warning, but I think we’ll be good.” Sophia pointed at the shop. “So is everything in place? Are we really in business?”
Rudolf waved her into the store. “We are. Things have been going great. I can hardly keep the product on the shelves.”
“Wow, it’s already starting to sell out?” Sophia asked.
He shook his head and looked back at her over his shoulder. “No, I’ve had awful vertigo lately and keep running into things. As I said, the shop is small.”
Sophia didn’t know what Rudolf meant by small because the shiny new store was plenty large to display the one product they sold. In the roughly one thousand square foot shop, there was row after row of iridescent bottles of Heals Pills. The labels were modern yet artistic. Everything about the store was visually pleasing.
“This looks amazing, Rudolf. Great job.”
He beamed but glared around. “Yeah, it’s okay.”
Sophia glanced at the fae. “Why do you have vertigo? Maybe try some of the elixir?”
Rudolf shook his head. “No, you’re not supposed to dip into your supply. Haven’t you heard?” He waved his hand. “It’s fine. It’ll pass. I get a spell every few centuries. It’s usually related to something insignificant, like a real battle for supreme authority in the world. The last time I had this was right before the Great War. Once the evil magicians took over the House of Fourteen, changed it to the House of Seven, and made it so mortals forgot magic and the Dragon Elite were seemingly ineffective, the vertigo went away.”