Chapter 20

Twenty

I sentword out to my knights that we needed to make a quick excursion beyond the Wall. I said quick because I didn’t want to overwhelm Jake, and really, we had no idea what was back there. No one had stepped foot past the Wall in well over a century. I wasn’t taking chances with Jake. He was too precious to risk, and I didn’t mean just because of his divine power.

Now, don’t get me wrong, my people were very supportive of me. If I asked them to do something, they were always willing. That said, the speed with which they pulled everyone together was new. The kitchen even put baskets of snacks together. Snacks. I never got snacks.

I had a feeling Jake had been making friends. Considering his effect on me, I had no doubt this was the case.

Anyway, within two hours, we had a full complement of knights—all armed and ready to do battle—and snacks. What more could a man ask for as he braved the unknown, am I right?

Jake fussed a little as we trekked back to the Wall and the gate leading beyond. “I don’t want anyone to be hurt by the miasma, though.”

“Short term, we should be fine,” I promised him. “Everyone here is Fae, Giant, or Orc, and we’re more immune to the miasma because of it. You’ll be fine because of the divine power you carry within you.”

“Got it. Still, let’s make this a quick trip in. I just want to see what I’m working with.”

I gave him a nod. I didn’t plan to go far today, anyway. We truly weren’t equipped for it.

Mina gave Jake a solid slap to the shoulder. “Don’t fret, Jake. We’ll be fine. This is nothing compared to when we first came to this place.”

Mina stood a good head taller than Jake and had in fact wrestled an alligator before strangling it, which was why I had her assigned to Jake’s left side. I stood on his right. Nothing could get past the two of us. Even if something did, Thigad and Luk were also with us, and nothing could get past the two Orcs.

Jake shot her a sweet smile. “Okay. Everyone, let me know if you start feeling off. I’ll sing immediately. All right, Theon, I’m ready. Let’s do this thing.”

Had I ever mentioned how much I liked that he didn’t call me by my title? Usually, I took it as an insult, because with other people, it was. But not with Jake. Jake was being friendly, not rude, and I understood the difference. It also gave me some hope that he wasn’t flirting for the hell of it. As Jake had said in the kitchen, don’t overthink it, and I was trying. I also didn’t want to overwhelm him when he was going through so much already. Slow and steady seemed the better approach.

Anyway, I opened the gate, bracing myself. Almost immediately I gagged, the miasma so thick it invaded my lungs in a truly unpleasant fashion. If you’ve ever gotten a face full of rancid cigar smoke, it was akin to that, only a hundred times worse. Damn my Fae nose for being so sensitive. I did not need that right now.

Jake gagged next to me, then coughed. “My god, that’s overpowering. I can see why people think it’s a curse. Sorry, guys, I promise I’ll make this quick. Eww, we’re all going to need a hot shower after this.”

“Shower?” Thigad repeated the word with no concept of what it meant. “Like spring showers?”

“Uh, not quite, my dude. I’m not talking rain.” Jake paused, head canted, which was his usual expression when he was trying to explain something. “So, it happens indoors, to start. There’s pipes that carry water into a bathing room, and the pipes are placed so that water can flow over you from the head down. Much easier for cleanup.”

I liked the sound of that very much.

“Has to be better in the winter,” Ara said. “If it’s indoors, it’s warmer to start with.”

“That’s definitely a plus. If you set up the system right, the pipes will carry hot water down to you.” Jake rubbed his hands together, gleeful and excited. “I worked out a deal with Coin so it would bring me books on how to make all of that. Theon, you’re okay with me altering your castle, right?”

“For hot showers? I absolutely am.”

“I figured you’d be on board.”

I agreed on that score. I placed a hand on his back and urged him forward. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Yuppers.”

His words and phrases were so cute sometimes. What was I saying, Jake was cute no matter what he did.

Focus, me. Focus. Not on his ass, either. My job was to protect him, not ogle him.

There was many a scrunched up face on my knights as we went through the gate. My own face wasn’t much better. It was just foul in here, and you couldn’t really see your hand in front of your face, which kicked my paranoia into hyperdrive. Literally anything could swoop in and attack us and we’d have no warning. The only thing I could rely upon were my ears.

“Ugh, fuck this.” Jake abruptly sucked in a breath and belted out, “Everybody wants miasma gone.”

Look at him singing without me playing. I was so proud of him I almost burst with it. Plus, it immediately gave us some breathing room, which we all appreciated.

Mina let out a laugh and slapped Jake on the shoulder. “Sing, little man!”

Jake shot her a wink and kept singing.

She had no idea how much he needed praise and support. I silently applauded this. The more Jake was praised for his singing, the easier it would become for him. No one deserved to huddle under mental scars for the rest of their life.

We kept walking, making slow progress, as no one wanted to move quickly. The air around us was better, but it only had a certain range. Jake had basically created a bubble of clean air with his singing. None of us wanted to go outside of the bubble.

The landscape looked strange to me. Nothing living that I could see, just the twisted, hollowed out tree trunks that somehow lingered in this dry ground. With only the shapes of trees visible in the distance, it was eerie, like I walked through a graveyard. Dusty, too, as there was no grass or vegetation to cage the dirt. Jake was right about that shower.

Abruptly, Jake stopped midnote.

I whipped around, concerned something had happened, only to find him staring intently off to the left.

“What is that?” Jake’s eyes narrowed as he strained to see. “Is there anything in here that would glow with a white aura?”

“No part of that question made sense to me.” Mina joined him in staring. “I see nothing like that.”

I didn’t either, which could only mean one thing. “Jake, if we can’t see it, odds are it’s divine power of some sort. It’s the only type Fae can’t really see.”

“Oh, we’re checking this out for sure.” Jake abruptly marched in that direction, singing as he went.

Without much choice, we all followed after him. What the hell was he even seeing? I didn’t think anything with divine power could even exist in this miasma soup, but on the other hand, I really couldn’t think of anything else that he could see but I couldn’t.

Jake stopped as abruptly as before, promptly kneeling down next to a plant. It was a rather innocent-looking flower-type plant, with pretty red buds and rich green leaves.

Wait.

Wait a damn minute.

If I could see it so clearly, the miasma must be nowhere near the plant. Plus, it was vital and healthy looking, which should’ve been impossible in this desolate place. Holy shit, was this plant capable of producing divine power?

Jake leaned farther in, sniffing it, before handling the leaves carefully. “Yup. Pure divine power coming out of this. Ha! This is amazing.”

A whirlwind of ideas and possibilities swirled through my head. If that plant could purify miasma, thrive despite it even, then…what all could I do with it? Was it edible? Could it keep the miasma away from the fields? Could we make potions out of it?

Garron immediately sank to one knee. “Jake, I’m going to dig this up and take it back with us.”

“Do it,” Jake encouraged. “In fact, I see even more over there, a whole patch of them. I say we take them all back with us.”

I thought I saw where he was going with this. “You want to plant them like a border.”

He flashed me the boyish grin that always got my heart racing. “You betcha. All along the top of the Wall.”

Brilliant. It would be like a protective hedge, keeping the miasma from overflowing the top of the Wall. I matched his grin with one of my own. “Bailey!”

My reliable captain of the knights immediately saluted. “Yes, Your Grace.”

“Take half of the group back, grab as many shovels, pots, and wagons as you can, and get back here double time.”

He gave another salute, calling people to him even as he started jogging for the gate. He had our rope trail in hand, so he was heading the right direction, and fortunately we hadn’t gotten in that far. Perhaps a dozen paces.

Mina cackled, looking more delighted than I’d seen her in a while. “Us knights are about to become gardeners, looks like. But I’ll take watering flowers over choking on miasma any day.”

She had the right attitude there.

Jory, the youngest knight of the bunch, threw up a hand. “I volunteer for flower duty!”

I chuckled, offering Jake a hand up. “You’re all on flower duty, trust me. Jake, what’s the radius of the flower?”

“Eh, not sure. I think it’s about four-ish feet? We’ll have to play around with the placement of our flower boxes once we get on top of the Wall. I want plenty of overlap.”

I didn’t know what a “feet” was but could figure it out later. “Truly. No sense leaving any gaps in our defense. Aside from that patch, do you see anymore?”

He left his hand in mine, lingering in the contact, as he panned his head about. I certainly didn’t mind. His hand was soft but firm, much like an aristocrat’s, a testament to the life he’d lived before coming here.

“Oh! There.” Jake pointed more northward. “Huh. It looks different than the flowers. Oooh, I like the idea of two different plants. More possibilities.”

So did I.

Jake led us there, and again it wasn’t a long distance, perhaps a dozen strides before reaching it. He knelt next to an odd-looking plant. It had slender green leaves and white blossoms on the top, but it was spindly in nature. Tall, without much girth to it.

Jake once again knelt, poking at it. “Huh. Whatever it is, the aura’s not coming from the top. It’s coming from underneath the ground. A root vegetable, maybe?”

Instinctively, I felt uneasy. This didn’t jive well with me. “Jake, we might want to leave that one alone.”

Without standing, he craned his neck around to look up at me, expression confused. “Why?”

“Anything that grows in the ground soaks up more of the miasma. It’s poisonous to eat.”

He blinked at me some more and then realization spread over his face. “Damn. You know, I didn’t realize it until this moment, but it’s true I’ve not eaten a single root vegetable since coming here. That’s why?”

“Well, yes.”

“Huh.” Jake turned back to the plant. “But this is clearly flowing with divine power. Maybe it’s the exception? Okay, either way, I want to know what this is.”

I wasn’t about to stop him. I didn’t doubt his eyes, after all. I just had no intention of trying something that came out of the ground.

Jake used a pocketknife Mina handed him to dig it up, getting his hands dirty, but he didn’t seem to mind or notice. He pulled the plant free and then laughed in pure delight. I didn’t understand his reaction, but gods above, he looked glorious like this—smiling in pure happiness. I felt so captivated I couldn’t look away from him.

Like a whirlwind, he bounced up to his feet, catching me in a strong embrace around my waist, vibrating with delight.

Um. I suddenly had an armful of delighted male, and I wasn’t sure what to do with my hands.

He tilted his head back to look at me, his happiness infectious. Jake was just so vibrant, so beautiful, he made my breath catch in my throat. His green, green eyes drew me in, with a pull as strong and irresistible as gravity. I couldn’t see anything but him. The desire to hold on to this man and never let go made my fingers tighten on his shoulders. I shouldn’t touch him. I knew that.

His lips looked so soft, parted and welcoming, and it would take no effort to reach down and kiss him, satisfy my curiosity on how he tasted?—

Dammit, me, stop this.

Surely one taste wouldn’t hurt? Just one, itty bitty?—

Mina cleared her throat pointedly. “Jake, what do you have there?”

The moment broke and we both took a step back. Me with reluctance. Jake seemed somewhat abashed, but it lasted for only a second before he was bouncing with joy again.

“This,” he said grandly, “is a potato.”