Chapter 22

Twenty-Two

I spentmost of the morning completely rehashing my knights’ patrols with my captain, Bailey, and looping some of the poorest farmers into their patrols to care of the flowers now dominating a decent section of the Wall. I also wanted to make another foray past the Wall to find more flowers, as they were proving to be so effective cleaning up the miasma. If we could scrounge up enough of them and plant them on the borders of the fields, it could be a second line of defense. The peace of mind it would bring to my people would be well worth the effort.

Knowing Jake, he’d want more potatoes too.

I really, truly didn’t know what to think of the vegetable. Despite watching him and Izzy eat a large bite of it and be fine, I…was a little uneasy about doing the same. My fear of anything that came from the ground was well rooted. All throughout my childhood, it had been drilled into me to never, ever try anything from the ground.

Jake had been so excited, like a child on his birthday, I hadn’t the heart to tell him he couldn’t have potatoes, or that they were probably not safe to eat. He’d lost so much, and complained so little, that it felt assholish in the extreme to deny him anything. So I’d let him have every single plant he could find.

Still. I had some very severe reservations about them.

Speaking of food, I was rather hungry. I glanced up at the fireplace mantel, checking the clock, only to find it nearly noon. Well, no wonder. Actually, I’d been smelling something delightful for some time now. Something I didn’t recognize, but the smell seemed to be a gestalt of butter, milk, and something fried?

I truly had no idea. And lately, when I had no idea what was going on, Jake was somehow involved.

This called for investigation. I got up and made a beeline down the very long hallway and toward the back of the castle, where the kitchens were. The second I breached the door, I had to pause and take in the scene. Mostly because it was adorable.

Usually, I had a full staff of twelve in here, as it took that many people to cook for everyone who worked in the castle. All sorts of stoves, cold storage boxes, and pantry shelves lined the walls, every inch of the space used. Gathered around the four large worktables in the center of the room were all the kitchen staff—and Jake.

Jake, who looked surprisingly in his element, with an apron tied about his waist and a fry basket in his hand. Jake, who had a spread of dishes arrayed on the table, none of which I recognized, all of which smelled heavenly. My mouth watered immediately, taste buds itching to try it all.

Jake caught sight of me in the doorway, and he went from smiling to this stunningly gorgeous expression. Like seeing me gave him the ultimate happiness. I felt my own heart still for a moment, as if needing perfect stillness to fully appreciate him.

Gods above and below, how was I supposed to resist Jake when he looked at me like that? There was not a person alive who could resist. I felt sure of this.

“Theon,” Jake called and waved me in closer. “Come try this.”

My feet moved to obey the summons without first checking in with the rest of me. Was Jake perchance part siren? Because I couldn’t help but move closer. I went right to him without a single thought passing between my ears.

He spoke as I approached, words nearly tumbling over each other in his excitement. “I made a whole bunch of stuff for you guys to try. I swear it’s not poisonous, I’ve had this triple- checked to reassure people. Start with a fry, they are legit my favorite food.”

Only then did I realize he had a long, thin rectangular object in his hand. With tomato jam on it. Was this possibly the portion of a potato? It must be, judging from what he said.

He was hand feeding me a slice of potato.

This man was offering to feed me poison with his own hand.

And I, apparently, was more enamored with him than I’d suspected because I leaned right in and took a healthy bite without asking a single question.

The flavor in my mouth distracted me from the thought. It was salty, and somehow sweet, but very crunchy at the same time. The mix of textures and flavors made my mouth very happy.

In fact, I wanted another one.

Survival instincts and common sense teamed up to screech in alarm. It didn’t stop me from taking the other half of the fry in hand, though. Just paused me so I could ask questions. “Jake, this is really, truly safe?”

He put his hand up for some reason, like he was making an oath in court. “Cross my heart and hope to die. Perfectly safe. We fed bites of potato to the pigs, dogs, and some birds outside. I have twelve witnesses right here who will attest all of them are fine.”

Head Chef snorted a laugh. “Begging for more, they were. It’s why we helped him prepare the rest of it. We’ve all had bites, Your Grace, while we were making it. I know it’s safe, and it’s all delicious to boot!”

I trusted my people, and apparently I trusted Jake with my life, so I ate the rest of the fry. Still very good. In fact, I was now curious about the rest of it. “Are potatoes this versatile? I see eight different dishes.”

Jake laughed like I’d told a great joke. “Oh, this isn’t even the half of it. You can also make liquor with potatoes.”

I blinked at him. “I thought you could only do that with grains or fruits.”

“Noooope. Vodka is what it’s called. Anyway, you should try the other dishes. Tell me what you like and don’t like.”

I figured I’d like it all. I wasn’t picky with food. I was very curious how this had all come about, though. “What made you think to make all of this for us to try?”

“Well, how else am I to prove it’s safe to eat? Not to mention delicious.” Jake shrugged as if this was common sense. “I’m just heartily glad you guys already have ketchup, as I have no idea how to make that.”

I didn’t know this word either. “Ketchup?”

“The, uh— Abby, what did you call it again?”

“Tomato jam,” she supplied.

Jake pulled a face. “That’s something totally different where I’m from, but anyway, that. I don’t know how to make that, and it’s traditionally one of the things you eat with fries.”

Ahh, hence why he’d dipped it like he had. It had been quite tasty.

“Ooh, try the scalloped potatoes next.” Jake picked up a fork before grabbing a bite and offering it to me.

I took the offer, a little timidly, as part of me was still screeching in alarm. The alarm died quickly as the flavor of white sauce and potato melted in my mouth. I could eat my weight in this. See if I couldn’t.

“I can tell you like it.” Jake made this happy, satisfied sound and used the fork to grab a bite of something else. “These are potato pancakes.”

He went through every dish, hand-feeding me a bite every time, and I must say I got a bit drunk on it all. His attention, the delight he showed every time I liked something, the wonderful flavor of food in my mouth—it all became a heady experience.

The kitchen staff grabbed platters after I tried them, going out to share them with everyone else. Which made me sad because I wanted to eat them all. As impractical as that was, my mouth had opinions.

With most of the staff dispersed and the dishes tried, I slowed down enough to consider what this truly meant.

I had another source of food for my people. All I had to do was convince them to try it.

“Jake.” I grabbed a fry because I couldn’t seem to help myself. “Are potatoes healthy?”

“Eh.” He waffled a hand back and forth. “Depends on how you cook them. Fried? Not really. Just fun to eat. But put them in a stew, or boil them, and they are pretty good for you. They’re a great source of carbohydrates, and considering people here aren’t getting enough calories, potatoes are a good fix for it.”

I didn’t understand completely some of those words, but I took his meaning. “Then we definitely need to hunt more down. How long is their growing season?”

Jake’s head flopped down for a second as he groaned. “How I wish for Google right now. I can’t begin to tell you, man. I’m not a farmer. I think three or four months? As that’s a typical growing season on my world.”

“Then this will call for some experimentation.” I didn’t mind. My people were amazing farmers. They had to be, otherwise nothing they planted would survive up here. “We’ll need to go back into the miasma with a great many more wagons and volunteers. Get everything we can before we lose the growing season altogether.”

“Yup. We’re on the same page.”

While all of this was heartening, I did have a few questions. “I’m surprised you cook?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Jake’s expression was complex, like my question had dug at old wounds. “I ended up cooking for myself after getting married. Takeout got old after a while. Took some cooking classes, too. I’m glad now, otherwise I’d be yearning for food I’d have no idea how to make.”

“You’re truly a man of many talents,” I murmured.

“Awww, you’re sweet. Thank you for the compliment.” He winked at me and shifted closer. One tantalizing finger trailed up my chest as he peeked at me from under his eyelashes. “I could make something special, just for you.”

If he was trying to seduce me, it was unnecessary. I already felt drunk on this man, and he’d barely touched me. I wanted to lean in, steal that tempting mouth, hold him so close he felt plastered to me.

A clatter came from the kitchen’s back door with a lot of “Shoo! Damn birds” followed by “Jake! Birds are trying to eat your potatoes!”

Jake’s eyes closed in a resigned way for a full second. “Right. Of course they are. Give me two seconds, Theon.”

“Sure.” I let him go, hard as that was. Part of my frustration with wooing this man was the constant interruptions. I wanted his undivided attention, but getting it for more than five minutes at a time seemed an impossible task.

Jake stepped outside, gave directions on how to store the potatoes, then was back in again. I wondered if he’d pick up where he’d stopped, but it seemed the moment was lost. As he approached, he paused at the table and picked up a plate of fries and tomato jam. “Let’s go into town and convince people to give these a try.”

I admired Jake tremendously because of all he could do. I think anyone in my shoes would feel the same way. But the reason why I was half in love with this man was because of moments like this, where he went out of his way to comfort and reassure. Jake had an incredibly good heart, and my own had no immunity against it.

If he’d asked me to take a romantic walk through quicksand, I’d have done it, but fortunately for me what he wanted was help in feeding my own people. That, I was always happy to do.

Jake chattered as we left the kitchen in step with each other. “Okay, so like I said, I’m not a farmer, but I know potatoes don’t have normal seeds. In fact, I think you have to dice up a potato, let it soak in water, and once it’s sprouted, you plant it in the dirt. I have vague, vague memories of growing a potato plant in grammar school. So half of what we scavenge from beyond the Wall definitely needs to become seed potatoes. How do you feel about giving each household a few plants? Let people plant them in their own kitchen gardens.”

“It’s a very generous thing. We want to educate them before handing the plants over, though.”

“Oh, for sure. I wasn’t just going to toss them a sack and say ‘good luck!’”

“I think it’ll help if we tell them how beneficial the potatoes are.” I tapped a hand to my own chest. “Aside from making my stomach happy, I feel much better. Rejuvenated. Likely because the potato is purging all the miasma I picked up yesterday.”

Jake came to a dead stop, eyes widening with a realization. “Wait. You’re saying eating the potatoes is like a tonic? A cure-all?”

“Well, yes? I feel better.” I lifted the hand I had scraped on something yesterday, and under my eyes, it healed a little more. It was no longer red around the edges, instead looking more like a week-old wound. “I’m even healing faster.”

An incredulous sound, almost a laugh, escaped his mouth as he stared at my hand. “You really are. It’s happening fast enough that I can see it with the naked eye. I wonder if the flowers are safe to eat and would have the same effect?”

“It’s quite possible. We should see if we can make them into a tea. It’ll make a fine potion that way.” And possibly give us another very good source of income. Look at me, now I was thinking like Jake.

“For sure,” Jake said, moving once more. “Flower teas always seem to be popular, no matter what culture you’re in. If we dry it into a powder form, it’ll transport really well. I have all those jars given to me?—”

He stopped dead again.

I stopped with him, not sure what he’d just thought of, but it must have been a doozy. Also, why was he cackling like that? Like a demented hag.

“Oh my god! Ha! Potato soup is a potion!”

“You can make a soup with just potatoes?” That sounded delightful.

Jake did a little happy dance right there in the hallway, ass shaking. “You most certainly can. Finally, finally, I am justified in saying that potato soup when you’re sick is the best cure. Because on this world it’s actually true!”

He was so cute like this. An excited, happy, dancing Jake was something I could watch all day. Although if he danced any harder, the fries would end up on the floor.

I rescued the plate from him, then offered an arm. “You can daydream and scheme while we walk. We don’t want the fries to get cold.”

“You’re absolutely right.” Jake put his hand on my arm, with that bounce still in his stride. “When we get more potatoes, though, I’m making the largest pot of potato soup in the history of the world and start canning things. I’ve got an order for potions to fill, and I now know exactly what to fill those jars with.”

“You have a contract in place already? I thought Melva wanted tonics.”

“She’ll take anything I put in a jar for her!”

I knew he was a go-getter, but… “Jake, do you even sleep?”

“Eh. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

I apparently needed to keep a better eye on this man. He might not be taking care of himself as he should. I wouldn’t ruin his fun right now, though. He’d worked hard on cooking to help all of us, and I wouldn’t let that hard work go to waste.