The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 16.3

The next morning Sabrina woke to find Mara curled up on the other side of her bed, with Tristan occupying the space between them, his head pillowed on Mara's arm and his back legs pushed up against Sabrina's hip. Sabrina swallowed a flash of jealousy at how quickly and completely the cat had taken to the Queen and shifted her weight to a more comfortable position. Tristan lifted his head and blinked sleepily at her, then gave a soft, interrogative "Rrr?"

"Social climber," she whispered to him, smiling. She ran a finger along his hind paw, and he reacted immediately, coiling up and springing to his feet to attack her still-moving finger. They played for a while, until Sabrina realized they had awakened Mara.

"I like your latest protégée," Mara yawned. "I will have to see about importing some more of them."

"Marie wants a kitten," Sabrina remarked. "Your household's going to be worried about you."

"No," Mara said, "I often sleep in the nursery when I've been away awhile."

Sabrina chuckled as Mara slid off the far side of the bed. "Well, if I'm to be Ford's little sister, I guess that does make me your adopted daughter."

"I like that," Mara said. "I have a breakfast appointment with Rassir, but if I don't see you today, I'll stop by again tonight. Get some rest, Sabrina. And...please don't fret about anything I said to you last night. I did not intend to reproach you. I must have been more tired than I realized."

"It was good to clear the air," Sabrina said. "I'm sorry if I hurt you with anything I said."

"Truth between friends is always the best course in the long term," Mara replied. "Have a good day, my friend."

"Don't work too hard!" Sabrina called after her.

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The days quickly settled into a pattern. Sabrina saw Mara in the morning, usually for breakfast, then attended to her own business until lunch, which she nearly always ate with one of her other friends. It was usually Aurora after she returned from visiting her parents; they seemed to have a lot to talk about, exchanging stories of their own and Scotty and Ford's youths. Sabrina found herself intrigued by Aurora's view of the years she had been away. It was odd, seeing from the perspective of someone who had only known Mara in the context of an authority figure and wise parent. Sabrina tried to adjust her own perceptions, but the image of the lost girl she'd first met, and all the stages Mara had grown through until the Regency, refused to be supplanted. Still, she thought, she had to keep trying, or she would never be able to build a relationship with the person Mara was now.

Afternoons were devoted to what Sabrina thought of as her re-assimilation. Currently that meant making arrangements for swearing a new Oath of Service and being officially presented to the court. She and Mara had agreed to postpone any celebrations until Scotty's return, or at least until his fate was settled, one way or another. They had also agreed that Sabrina ought to thoroughly familiarize herself with Praxatillus' recent history and current status, so that she would know what she was getting into by entering the Queen's service again.

And that was another point. No one seemed certain what this new service would entail. Sabrina had refused all offers of positions in the government or civil service, and there were no open positions in Her Majesty's Household at the moment. Sabrina had no objections to swearing a generalized oath, since she felt committed to Mara no matter her defined responsibilities at any given time, but Mara was hesitant.

"I don't want you taken advantage of, Sabrina," Mara tried to explain over breakfast, on the fourth day since her return. "I want there to be room in your life for you to have a life. Not like last time."