Chapter 26

Twenty-Six

I’d startedout today with all the ideas. I would have been perky just from my schemes, but I had an extra pep in my step because of the ring I now wore.

If Theon had been aiming for sexy and irresistible, he’d overshot the mark by a wide mile. I was already besotted with the man, and we were barely a day into dating! How could anyone be this sweet? This thoughtful? And unlike certain men I had dealt with on Earth, Theon had zero issues with commitment. I had a ring on my finger and a signed courting offer to prove that.

Seriously, he’d written me a contract because I liked contracts. Swoon~

I’d be the first to admit that my emotions were at baby stage while Theon was apparently well ahead of me. I was a little uneasy about the disparity there, not going to lie, but on the other hand, I wasn’t really worried. Theon was so incredibly easy to like, I couldn’t imagine it would take much for me to fall for the man completely. Plus I knew we were incredibly compatible in bed. My whole body tingled at the memory of last night. So, so deliciously compatible.

The way that man kissed me with his soft, soft lips… Internal me put a hand to their forehead and fainted away. Just…if the universe had chosen to spend a hundred years putting together the perfect man for me, it couldn’t have done a better job than Theon.

I knew he wasn’t perfect, of course, he was frank enough in the areas he struggled. What made him perfect for me was the way he communicated with me. I was his partner, his equal, and he gave me nothing but adoration and respect. That was all I’d ever wanted. It shouldn’t have been that hard to find, but apparently I’d had to switch worlds to manage it.

I, sadly, couldn’t spend the rest of the day with Theon. Despite my own deliberation that kissing him all day should take priority, the bills disagreed.

Money issues. Gah!

Okay, new goal: make all the money so I could lie about sexing up Theon all day.

Oh look, there was my motivation! Hi, welcome back. Let’s get cracking, shall we?

Taking my motivation in hand, I headed for the apothecary in the back of the castle.

Like most duchies, this place was basically a self-reliant small kingdom. It had all of its own makers, such as candle makers, leather workers, etcetera. The apothecary was one of them, run by a wizened old woman and her apprentice-granddaughter, both of whom were very eager to help me create “potions.”

Yes, I felt like I was a novice mage in an RPG, thanks for asking.

I stepped up to the open door, noting that the windows were also open, likely to let in some of the cooler morning air. With all the ovens and stoves I saw in there, it likely did get beastly hot.

“Hello?”

The Master Apothecary, Olive, sat on a stool at the large worktable stretching through the center of the room, and she was plucking flowers off stems when I came in. She looked to be three hundred, with her stooped posture and pure white hair, but in a charming way. Like I’d stumbled across a forest witch, but she was a good witch. I had no idea how old she actually was, since she was mostly Brownie.

“Why hello, Jake! Come in, come in, you’re in good time. We’re almost finished with the prep.”

“Excellent. Good morning, Rachel.”

Rachel nodded in return. “Morning.”

As an apprentice, Rachel had the heavier work, but she didn’t seem to mind. She was a tall girl, for a Brownie at least, which meant she was above my knee, and had her brown hair up in braids as a precaution against the heat. As I watched her, she moved a heavy cast-iron pot onto a stove.

I really should do more of the heavy lifting in here. Give them both a break. They certainly needed it.

“All right, which do you want to start with?” I honestly didn’t care.

“Before that”—Olive fixed me with a penetrating look—“explain to me why you want to use both. You didn’t say much when you asked for my help.”

“No, I didn’t. Sorry. Got distracted midconversation with you. So here’s my thought. I know there’s potions, but there’s also tonics, correct?”

“Correct. Ah.” Olive nodded approvingly. “Good thinking. The flowers we make into purifying tonics, the potatoes we make into a potion.”

“You got it.” I grinned at her, delighted we were on the same page. “You tried some of the potato soup I made, correct?”

“I did, yes. Delicious.”

“Why, thank you.” I batted my eyelashes at her, which made her and Rachel laugh. “Here’s the thing. The potato soup can be safely canned.”

“You used milk in it, didn’t you?”

“Uh, yes?” Why was I being asked this.

“Then we’ll need to take a few extra steps. Canning dairy isn’t safe without a preservation spell. You’ll get sick otherwise.” Olive regarded the potatoes in a new light. I could see the possibilities swirling in her eyes. “Is it a different process than canning other vegetables?”

“Uh…to be honest, I don’t know. I don’t think so? But this is where you two come in. I know that potatoes can be canned—I’ve purchased the canned version—but I don’t know how it’s done.”

Rachel came closer to the table. “Don’t worry, Jake. If it can be done, we’ll figure it out. First, can you write out the recipe for the soup?”

“Sure. How about the flowers?”

“We’re drying them, making them into teas. Much more portable that way.”

“Awesome.” We had many, many more flowers than potatoes, so the teas seemed the best thing to do right now. At least until I got more potatoes in.

They handed me paper and charcoal and I sat on a stool and started writing it all out.

Olive caught my hand, pulling it closer to her, eyebrows climbing as she stared at the ring I wore.

Oh. Uhhhh. How did I answer the myriad of questions about to come my way?

“Jake.” Olive’s curiosity looked like it was about to hit the roof, and it was gaining momentum. “Why are you wearing our lord’s ring?”

For some reason, I felt shy answering. I didn’t understand why. I knew for a fact that same-sex relationships weren’t looked at sideways here. I guess it was hardwired into me. “Um. Theon and I are courting.”

Rachel bounced on her toes, a fangirl squeal erupting from her mouth. “He made you a courting offer!”

Well, at least one person was happy about this. I took heart in her reaction. “Yes, he did. As I’m not a complete moron, I of course said yes.”

Olive held my hand, her eyes full of sincerity and warmth. “I’m very happy for you both. You, because we worried about you. Being here so far from home, without any family of your own, must have been hard. His Grace because he’s been alone so long, and he’s been struggling to carry the weight of this place without anyone to confide in. I hope that your relationship together only grows stronger.”

That was the sweetest well-wishing I’d ever received in my life. I put my hand over hers, my heart spilling over with the simple contentment and happiness I’d searched for most of my life.

“Thank you, Master Olive.”

“Hush, none of that. I’m Grandma Olive to you.”

I think I was just adopted. I couldn’t have been happier. “Grandma Olive it is, then.”

“Good. Now, let’s get back to work. I know you are heading for the capital in three days, which doesn’t give us much time.”

“No, it doesn’t. I do have a trip past the Wall tomorrow, too, to get more plants before I leave.” I retrieved my hand and went back to writing the recipe. “So you’re right, we need to figure this out today.”

“We’ll have Rachel make the soup. I’ve a few ideas for a tonic, something we can modify from another recipe I know, and we can work on that.”

“Sounds good to me.” I didn’t want to leave Rachel to it and assume she was fine, though. “Uh, Rachel, any questions?”

“If you could show me how you prep the potato first?” She looked down at the mound in front of her, all sitting in a basket. “I could guess, but…”

“No, no. I’m happy to show you.”

What followed was a crash course on how to peel, wash, and dice a potato. Rachel picked it up quickly—it wasn’t rocket science, after all—and by the third potato, she looked much more confident. We didn’t toss the peels, as I was sure they could be made into something too. Fried potato skins if nothing else.

Olive and I left her on the far end of the table, peeling potatoes, while we shifted to the other end to work on the tonic. Flowers not being made into tea were lined up in a basket, waiting on us.

“Now,” Grandma Olive stated, pointing me to the stool next to hers. “I’ve two thoughts on how to go about this. First, we can make it into a flower wine.”

“Get healed and drunk with one cup,” I mused, the idea tickling my fancy. “Remarkably efficient, that.”

Grandma Olive giggled, the sound completely mischievous. “Agreed. Other thought I had was to make it into something like a syrup. Something thick, like what we use for coughs.”

“I…” I paused, letting my brain catch up before I kept trying to talk. “You know, honestly, those both sound like really good ideas. I think it’ll come down to the efficacy of the products. Which one will the flower work better in?”

“Only way to know that is to make both. Let’s start with a syrup, as it’s easier to make.”

“Okay by me. Is the tea used as a cure-all, then?”

“Could even dry it and make it into a poultice.”

See? This was why I loved working with experts. They knew more than I did.

We set to work, first with me cleaning the petals thoroughly. I did the heavy lifting, shifting pots and tubs of honey back and forth. For this syrup, it took a lot of honey, plus some olive oil. We put it all into a pot, stirring over a very low temperature until it melted together into a vivid red color. Reminded me of cherry cough drops—it had that coloration to it.

Then we took it off the heat altogether, put a lid on it, and set it aside to let it cool.

With that percolating, we shifted to the wine making. I did have to dart over to Rachel’s side several times, verifying what she was doing. She was following my recipe fine, she just needed a little boost in confidence, which I was happy to provide. The first time making a recipe made everyone a little nervous.

A lot of what we were doing involved cooking, then cooking it some more, then cooking it almost to death before finally pulling it off and letting it cool. I helped Rachel grab a lot of glass jars from the back storage, and we poured the potato soup into them, sealing the tops and setting them upside down so that they could truly seal. Which was a trick I hadn’t known about. Grandma Olive walked me through a preservation spell, which seemed flexible enough I was able to adapt it into my own brand of magic. Simple spellwork, but life changing.

So, so glad to be working with experts. No way I could have done this on my own.

We were so busy, I lost all track of time until I had a familiar face pop around the doorframe.

“Master Jake? You ready?”

I looked up at Izzy’s face and abruptly realized it had to be past noon. She was supposed to get me at that point. “Shit, am I late?”

“Not yet, but you need to hurry.”

Ugh, there was not enough of me to go around. “Sorry, ladies. I promised a crash course to some of our farmers on how to plant the potatoes.”

“That’s priority.” Grandma Olive waved me on. “You’ve done enough here, we know what we’re doing now. Swing by tomorrow at some point and tell me which one took to the divine power better, the syrup or the alcohol.”

“That I can do. Send someone if you need me.”

I waved goodbye as I exited.

Izzy bounced along, leading me and chattering at the same time, as was her wont. “Master Jake, can I learn how to plant the potatoes too?”

“Of course. Actually, it would be helpful if you did. You can teach people while I’m gone.”

“Then I’ll pay special attention. Oh, Mama wanted to know, can you make the potatoes with other things? Like meat.”

“Sure. Potatoes are very versatile. They can be put in meat stews, pies, fried, even made into alcohol.”

“Ooooh. I’ll tell her.”

“Where am I meeting everyone, anyway?” I had no clue, only that I was supposed to meet people after noon.

“Well, that changed a lot, but it ended up being at Grandpa Mercer’s.”

I had no idea who that was. “Uh, why?”

“Well, his house is closest to town and the fields, and he said he hasn’t planted anything in his garden plot yet for fall, so there’s lots of space there, and he’s really old and it’s hard for him to kneel, so I think this was everyone’s way of helping him plant his crops without making it obvious.”

Now that last part sounded about right. These people were very good about looking out for each other.

If it saved an old man’s knees, and me from marching way out into the fields, I wasn’t complaining.

I swung by the training yard to grab Luk or Thigad, found neither of them there, and instead found Mina. She happily accompanied us as my bodyguard. I really didn’t think it mattered who came with me, as all the knights were incredibly strong. I simply wanted to honor my promise to Theon to not go out of the castle alone.

We reached the house in question after about ten minutes, and there was a crowd of a good dozen people already waiting. Two buckets of potatoes sat on the ground near the plot, and I could tell everyone had been hard at work—the ground had been tilled, forming neat rows. They’d not waited around for me to tell them the obvious.

I seriously loved their initiative.

“Hi, everyone. Sorry if I’m late, I was with the apothecaries.”

Howard extended a hand to me. “We knew what you were doing, Jake, and you’re not late. Welcome. Did we till the ground right for this?”

“You did. Rows are perfect.”

“Good, good.” He took his hat off, scrubbing through his nonexistent hair, and gave the potatoes a worried look. “We’re all a little nervous to plant them, truth told. You were hard-pressed to find as many as you did. I, for one, don’t want to screw this up and have that hard work go to waste.”

I put a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me on this, Howard. It’s really hard to mess up with potatoes. They like to grow even if they’re in a pantry and aren’t supposed to be growing. So don’t stress about that, okay?”

He did look reassured by this. “All right.”

“Good. First thing we’ll need is a knife.”

“Uh. Huh?”

Howard didn’t seem to understand, but of course Izzy popped a dagger off her waist and handed it right to me.

Was a child that young supposed to have sharp metal on her…? I’d follow up on this later. For now, I just took it. “Thanks, Izzy. Okay, everyone, gather in close. The trick with planting potatoes is that you must find the eyes. See these little raised, darker bumps? Those are eyes. It’s those that will become sprouts.”

I had grown adults all gathered around me, shoulders overlapping, some on tiptoes to see better. It was nice, having that kind of focused attention.

I walked them through the cutting of the potato—which was tricky without a cutting board, let me tell you—and then how to plant it, how far apart, how much soil to put on top.

Thank you, Mrs. Hiddleston, my fifth-grade teacher. Your lesson in growing plants has not been forgotten. I didn’t know at the time I’d need it to survive in another world, but that was how life went. Also thank you to Coin, who had delivered my requested how-to books, which I had studied religiously as a refresher. I’d uphold my end and not call it asshole anytime soon.

These guys knew more about farming than I ever would, so they picked up on it quickly, and in no time the plot was planted and people were watering it thoroughly as I’d directed. We’d used every potato in that bucket, which made me happy because I wanted them planted sooner rather than later. We could only find and retrieve so many potatoes from beyond the Wall. It was a matter of time, really, and we didn’t have a lot of it to get potatoes growing before winter hit.

According to my gardening books—thank you, Coin—the potatoes took about three months to grow? And they liked cooler weather. At least, Earthian potatoes worked like this. We were about to see if that held up true of the potato strain on this planet.

A voice from behind asked, “Are you done?”

I turned to find Theon. He looked like he’d been working all morning, as there was a streak of ink on his cheek, and why did that look so charming? It seriously made me want to kiss him.

Fine, I always wanted to kiss him. That was beside the point.

“I think I’m done,” I said. “Unless someone has a question for me.”

Grandpa Mercer waved me on. “We all got it. Don’t worry, Jake. We’ll plant everything you find tomorrow, too.”

“Not everything,” I corrected quickly. “Send some of it to the apothecary. They’re making potions with the potatoes, and we need that cash flow. I already have a distribution contract in place for them.”

Grandpa Mercer’s bright green eyes just about bugged out of his head. His creaking voice crescendoed into the land of screeches. “Wait, you’re making money with these?! Not just using them for food?”

“If there’s a way to make money off something, trust me, I’m doing it.”

Everyone seemed surprised by this but also really happy. Then again, they hadn’t had a cash crop in a while with all the shit going on, so their reactions made sense.

“For now”—Theon came in closer and slipped an arm around my waist—“you are going to have lunch with me. I was informed you hadn’t eaten yet.”

I leaned into his hold because fuck yeah, but it did beg the question. “Who said I hadn’t?”

“Everyone,” Theon answered dryly. “Trust me, I heard from multiple sources before being kicked out of my own office to go make you eat.”

Twist my arm. Twist. Ooh, too hard. “Don’t you want to feed me fries?”

Theon laughed and tugged me into motion, turning us toward the castle road. “There are no potatoes to be had, sadly. You just planted the last of them. But I think we can manage…what did you call that? A hamburger?”

“That’s the name.” Ooh, a hamburger. Look at me corrupting him so perfectly.

I heard murmurings behind us, people speculating on our relationship, but it all sounded curious and happy to me. I didn’t mind it. No one cared about same-sex relationships here, so I was free to love Theon to my heart’s content without worry of backlash.

And that, friends, was a truly liberating feeling indeed.