“He started it.” Evan pointed across the table at Wilder.
His mouth fell open. He held up his hands in surprise. “How? I’ve been here, thoughtfully listening to your incessant complaints like a good friend. I haven’t interrupted once while you whined like a little baby and went on and on about your hunger pangs.”
“You mock me,” Evan fired back.
Hiker halted his pacing. “Enough. We’re all hungry.” He pointed at Sophia. “Go and find out what’s taking Trin so long to bring breakfast.”
“Me?” she asked, offended. “Why me?”
“Because you’re a girl and know where the kitchen is,” Evan replied at once.
“Because Trin likes you,” Wilder added.
“Because I want the job done right,” Hiker argued and narrowed his eyes at the two riders before looking at Sophia.
She didn’t budge. If the leader of the Dragon Elite wanted information from his new housekeeper about the status of breakfast, he could find out for himself. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.
He threw his hands and chin into the air while sighing dramatically. “I swear, if I want anything done around here, I have to do it myself.”
Sophia’s stubbornness paid off though, because Hiker stomped toward the kitchen. She knew that he wasn’t having an easy time since Ainsley left. He had to deal with more than the loss of his housekeeper for the last few hundred years.
However, she didn’t think that coddling him with Trin would do him any favors. Whereas Hiker and Ainsley had been nothing but confrontations, the Viking was almost avoiding Trin, as if he hadn’t come to terms with the fact that she’d formally replaced the elf as housekeeper.
“Oh, good,” Mama Jamba sang as she strode into the dining hall. “I’m not late.”
“Late?” Evan laughed. “You have time to do your hair and makeup and press your track suit and you still won’t be late for breakfast.”
Mama Jamba glared at the dragonrider. “I’ll have you know that I’ve already done all those things.”
Wilder glanced up at Mama Jamba and batted his eyelashes. “And may I say that you look lovely and all your efforts weren’t lost on me? Although I don’t think you need anything to enhance your elegance.”
Evan coughed, and it sounded very much like, “Suck up.”
Mama Jamba didn’t seem to notice as she slipped into her seat and bounced her hand under grayish-blue curls. “You know, I did a lot of things right on the day I decided you’d be born, Wilder.”
“You’re the only one who understands me, NO10JO.” Evan groaned and patted the cyborg dog’s head who was stationed beside him.
“Ainsley didn’t want the dog in the dining room.” Sophia gave him a pointed glare.
“I don’t see Ainsley anywhere around here, do you?” Evan looked around the dining hall.
“I think,” Mama Jamba began, good naturedly, “That just because Ainsley is gone, doesn’t mean her rules are.”
Evan shook his head and continued to pet the dog under the table. “Of course they are. It’s a new era. One where I can finally have a little freedom. Which is good because I’m going to stock up on food for the next time that Trin falls asleep on the job.”
Hiker strode out of the kitchen, his face uncertain.
“And?” Mama Jamba looked at the placemat before her, as if wondering where the food was and hoping it would magically appear.
“It’s going to be a little longer,” he answered, little confidence in his voice.
“The Castle and her…” Sophia’s voice trailed away.
He nodded and sat. “They’re working things out. It seems that the more I tried to help, the worse it made things.”
Wilder laughed. “By help, you mean you yelled?”
Hiker’s face blossomed to a fine shade of red. “No, not at first…I didn’t understand what the problem was. The food was sitting there on the main counter, appearing to get cold while we all waited.”
Sophia lowered her chin and sighed. “You do know that even if the Castle has created the food, it doesn’t mean it’s ready until the timer goes off, right?”
He narrowed his eyes at Sophia. “That’s why I told you to go and check on the kitchen. I didn’t know that, but apparently you did.”
She shrugged. “It’s in the Complete History of Dragonriders.”
“I wouldn’t know since I’m not allowed to read the book,” he grumbled.
“That’s bizarre.” Wilder looked sideways at Sophia. “So the food will appear but can’t leave the kitchen until the timer dings?”
She nodded. “Sometimes. The preparation is different every day, depending on multiple factors.” Sophia had taken it upon herself to brush up on this part of the history of the Castle, interested in some of the challenges that Trin would face. The factors that dictated food preparation or cleaning or maintenance were dependent on who was in the Gullington, the climate around the Expanse, the morale worldwide, and how many crickets were hiding in the Caves. It was quite the strange equation.
Quiet and Mahkah entered the dining hall. The gnome halted as his eyes narrowed on the cyborg dog, then Evan. He muttered under his breath, and Sophia felt his hostility.
“Speak up, little guy. I can’t hear you,” Evan sang and continued to stroke the dog. However, he disappeared a moment later—simply vanished from his spot. NO10JO also disappeared from the floor.
Sophia stood and looked around. Wilder did the same, then pointed.
“Looks like the dogs will be taking breakfast al fresco.” Wilder motioned to the Castle window where Evan and NO10JO could be seen sitting outside on the Expanse, surprise on both their faces.
Mama Jamba shrugged. “I told him that just because Ainsley was gone, it didn’t mean her rules were.”
Quiet nodded and sat next to Mother Nature.
“Can we not talk about that?” Hiker seethed.
He said “that” but he meant “her,” and Sophia knew it.
They all missed Ainsley, but each of them showed it differently. Many of them tried to be respectful to Trin, knowing that she was filling a big void in the Castle—or at least trying to.
The cyborg strode through the kitchen door with her face covered in sweat and her many electronic parts hissing. She carried a tray of buttermilk pancakes, which she set down in front of Mama Jamba with great relief, as if they weighed a ton.
“Very good,” the old woman said proudly.
“About time,” Hiker muttered.
Trin spun around to face him. “That’s all I could manage after you stormed in and spooked me. The rest of you will have to settle for a store of protein bars that I have.”
“I love protein bars.” Wilder smiled.
“That’s fine,” Sophia stated.
“Absolutely,” Mahkah echoed.
Quiet didn’t at all look pleased, but simply kept his chin down.
“Fine, but you’ll need to work on this,” Hiker scolded.
“I have done nothing else,” Trin assured him, hurrying back for the kitchen.
Evan stomped back into the dining hall, appearing madder than hell. However, NO10JO didn’t follow him past the threshold. The cyborg dog stopped at the door and cowered as Quiet looked over his shoulder at him.