Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Honest-to-god,the only reason I was awake right now was because it was fucking cold. I wanted my warm bed back. Preferably with Theon in it. We’d had a lovely time last night before actually going to sleep. Theon hadn’t wanted to do penetrative sex; he’d said it would make my ride miserable, and he was likely right on that. I wasn’t here to brag or anything, but the way that man gave oral was just *chef’s kiss.* I would much, much rather have been having an encore of last night than waking up this way.
Mornings, grumble grumble. Genuinedislike.jpg
We were all in the courtyard, loading up bags and organizing the two wagons going with us. We had supplies for the journey to Goldenleaf—literally a Mom-packed-sandwiches-and-snacks-before-a-road-trip vibe, there—plus the potions and tonics to sell, and room left over for the seeds we’d bring back with us. It was a sort of slow-moving, somewhat organized movement from a dozen people. Me, I had my bag in the wagon, so I just stood next to Theon’s horse, waiting. Might as well stand while I could.
Theon rode an impressive stallion named Digger. No idea why the horse was named that, but I was sure I’d learn in time. He was jet black, taller than any horse I’d seen, and seemed half asleep as he stood there waiting on us. I gave him a pat on the nose. You and me both, buddy.
A female voice called to me. “Jake!”
I turned to look, recognizing the voice. Why was Rachel up to see us off? Barely anyone was—most were sensibly still in bed at this hour. I lifted my hand to acknowledge her hail and moved to meet her halfway.
“Rachel, what’s up?”
“We finished,” she explained with a tired smile. Truly, she looked exhausted. Hair escaping out of its bun to lurch to one side, serious panda eyes, but her smile was one of triumph—a woman who’d succeeded in her mission.
I was still lost. Utterly. “Finished?”
“We,” she said with dramatic effect, “made more potions.”
For a second, this didn’t compute whatsoever. Grandma Olive and Rachel had already made all the potions I’d requested, fulfilling the contract I had in place. So what the hell was she talking about? There was a genuine possibility I was too asleep on my feet right now to remember.
“Uh, okay?”
Rachel found my reaction amusing, if her grin was anything to go by. “We wanted to give you some more capital to work with. You’ve already made so much out of basically nothing. If you have more income, we’re sure you could do something amazing with it. So Grandma and I stayed up all night making as much as we could.”
My eyes started burning with unshed tears. The faith these people had in me was touching enough, but more than that was their genuine love. Despite barely knowing me, they gave me full support in ways I’d never expected or asked for.
“We made another dozen crates,” Rachel tacked on, still grinning.
Another…dozen?! Each crate held twenty-four jars, so if there was another dozen then the total was two hundred and eighty-eight?—
Oh. My. God.
Another two hundred and eighty-eight potions?!
Words failed me. Utterly failed me. On the one hand, I was flabbergasted they could do that much work in just two days and two nights. On the other, I was worried about them because that had to be rough, staying up that long. Hopefully they had taken good naps or something. On the other, other hand, for someone to sacrifice that much to help me was…god. I really did love these people.
I hugged her, hard, lifting her off her feet for a second. Rachel laughed, hugging me back; I could feel her laugh vibrating through me and it was like shared joy. A rare feeling in my life. I vowed to experience it more often.
“Jake?” Theon moved quickly to our side, taking in our embrace, his brows beetled up in a confused way.
I let Rachel go, still feeling choked up, but managed to say, “Two hundred and eighty-eight more potions.”
“What?!” His head whipped about to stare at Rachel. “You made even more?”
“We did.” Rachel thrust her chest out proudly. “Grandma Olive fell asleep an hour ago, and I couldn’t wake her, so I chose to bring them all over here myself. They’re being loaded into the wagon by Sampson and Jory.”
You could see some of the stress lift from Theon. His smile was dazzling. “Thank you so much, Rachel. You and Grandma Olive take the next few days off. You both deserve it.”
“We will! Thank you, Your Grace.”
We’d estimated that each potion would likely fetch roughly the equivalent of ten dollars each, with the tonics making half that. Which didn’t sound like a lot for our world, but here? Where a family could live off a thousand dollars for a whole month? Yeah, that kind of money would add up quick. Our profit margins wouldn’t see huge returns immediately, but it would make for a very good start. We could do more than just buy essentials. We could buy things of comfort.
Hell yeah!
Oooh, that would be amazing seed money for a business. I could feel the ideas coming on strong even now.
I took Rachel by the hand, as I wanted her to believe what I was about to say. “You and Grandma Olive absolutely deserve a reward for doing all of that. What do you want from the capital? I mean it, Rachel, tell me something.”
She almost demurred, I could see it in her expression, then it changed to something more wistful.
“Could we…could we have a proper dish set? Ours is all chipped and broken, but we’ve never been able to replace it.”
Did I want to transport pottery from that far away over what would likely be rough roads? No. But I’d do it. “How many settings?”
“Enough to feed eight? That’s how big our family is.”
She was getting a twelve-plate setting whether she wanted one or not. “Done.”
“We really need to go,” Theon urged. “I just got the signal we’re all ready to mount.”
“Then safe journey. And make lots!” Rachel disengaged, stepping back a few paces.
Theon mounted first, with me borrowing a stirrup to swing up behind him. Between the heat Digger gave out and Theon, I’d warm up fast. Might have to ditch my cloak at some point. I’d love to ride solo but they didn’t have an extra horse.
Theon lifted a hand in signal and waved it down. He didn’t say anything, but apparently didn’t need to, as everyone fell into place behind him, riding out of the courtyard caravan style.
The second we started moving, I warned him, “I’m going to need some of those extra funds for seed money. For a business venture.”
Theon snorted like I was being amusing on purpose. “That money is entirely yours.”
Uh. Come again? “What?”
“Rachel and Grandma Olive made those extra potions for you. So that money is entirely yours to do with as you like.”
While I appreciated Theon wasn’t materialistic, I did wish upon him some measure of greed. People needed to be at least a little greedy to get everything they needed out of life.
Man had better brace himself. Once we got into a proper town, I was spoiling him.
Theon,having traveled this route for decades, knew all the places to stop. We hit a small town right on the highway—please read that word as “slightly bigger dirt track”—at about sunset, just as planned. The small town made Rehobath look like a metropolis. It looked more like a pit stop kind of place to me. A single inn, about five houses all tucked in close, and a smithy. That was it. Ever felt like you were wandering around on the set of Robin Hood? Yeah. Totally the vibe.
I, for one, was very glad to get off Digger. My god, I’d forgotten how sore riding could make you in the thighs and buttocks. I really should have kept up my riding; it was one of the few hobbies I’d really loved.
The inn didn’t look all that impressive. Two stories tall, and it was fairly good sized, but it looked like a really large house in need of a coat of paint. I could hear people talking through the open windows. It seemed to be a dining/tap room? And busy as hell. I felt bad for the servers.
Theon strode right in through the open doorway, heading for the reception counter at the far back of the room, tucked in right next to the stairs leading up. A harried-looking man with thinning white hair and glasses perched on the end of his nose glanced up, then smiled.
“Your Grace! Welcome, welcome. Usual party?”
“For the most part. This time, I have someone special with me.”
The inn keeper didn’t translate this as Theon intended him to. Instead, he looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, Your Grace, we’re full up at this point. If not for your letter to me reserving rooms, I wouldn’t have any at all to offer you. Would you be willing to share with your guest?”
He did not just say that. He did not. Oh my god he did. Ha! Ladies, gents, and gentlefolk! The “having to share a bed” trope happened in real life.
I took a half step forward to address the innkeeper and assured him brightly, “That’ll be just fine.”
Theon looked askance at me, but with some suspicion, like he knew what was going through my mind right then. And he’d be correct.
“Excellent. Then, your usual room. The common room has been set up for everyone else, also as usual.”
I let them work things out, focusing on getting my bag from the wagon and carrying it up. At least two people tried to stop me, insisting they do it, but I wasn’t dying here, people. I could carry a single bag the size of a duffel up a flight of stairs.
Can you tell I’m not used to being waited on?
I got to the room, and it was simple and plain, much like the rest of the building. It had a nice queen-sized bed in the middle of the room, nightstands on either side, and a chair near the window. That was it. Well, we were only sleeping here, not moving in. It was fine.
I put my bag on the bed, fished out my bingo card, and promptly drew more boxes so I could fill in another space.
One bedwas all I wrote. Then promptly crossed it out.
Theon entered, slinging his bag onto the bed as well—ha! See? He carried his own up too—before coming around the bed to give me a kiss hello. Simple in essence, but every touch of this man’s lips on mine thrilled me.
I tossed bingo card and bag aside, seized his hips, and flipped him onto the mattress. Theon landed with a bounce, laughing, which delighted me. I loved hearing him laugh. This was how I always wanted to see Theon—laughing and smiling.
Or moaning my name as I drove him insane. Y’know.
I threw a leg over his hips and settled in before leaning in and kissing the man senseless. His hands found my ass as his tongue wrapped around mine, and mmm, lovely. Sparks of pleasure drifted through my body, desire heating me. Those blunt-tipped fingers carded through my hair, and when his fingernails scraped my scalp, I just about groaned. How dare he pinpoint one of my weaknesses so quickly.
That was it, shirts were coming off.
Theon’s hand snapped out and caught mine before I could get more than one button undone.
Eh? No-go?
“Wait,” he panted out, “someone’s coming up the stairs for us.”
I paused, although I had to ask, “Just how good are a Fae’s ears?”
“Probably as good as a dire wolf’s?”
Damn. Those guys heard everything, so that was saying a lot.
A knock sounded on the door. “Uh, Master Jake? There’s a merchant in the taproom who’s really eager to talk to you.”
“Of course duty calls.” I was put out, but at the same time, making some money on the way to the capital was a good idea. We were short on funds. I could always tackle Theon later.
Read that as, the man wasn’t going to fall asleep before I tackled him.
I gave Theon one last heated kiss, then I threw my legs off the bed, heading for the door. “Coming.”
I did not mind a little business before pleasure.