Chapter 30

Thirty

I felt quitefancy in my new clothes. I wasn’t a stranger to tailored clothes—I’d had many a suit tailored to me—but it was still kind of an experience to walk into a shop that didn’t have ready-made clothes. They had a few pieces to showcase, and things I could try on for them to alter. I only had the one outfit to wear out of “the store” right that second, with a promise the rest of it would be completed in two days for me to pick up.

The boots were a softer leather, still needing breaking in, but they went up to my knees, which I appreciated. I did slog through muck sometimes. Really, I felt more myself than I had in years—dressed up, with a handsome man on my arm, and the city spread out at my fingertips.

Theon’s warm, calloused hand wrapped around mine, both possessive and affectionate. Having someone be protective of me was a new experience too. I reveled in it. It was such a nice feeling to know I had someone solidly at my back if I needed it.

Theon pulled me in closer, bending a little to whisper in my ear, “There’s a festival going on tonight near the docks. Do you want to go?”

A date? He was asking me on a date? Oh hell yeah! “I absolutely do.”

“Then let’s go. I think everyone else has left ahead of us.”

I was good with that. It meant I could let loose and have fun with Theon without needing to worry about anyone else. Part of my brain, the money-conscious part, was jabbering about “budgets”and “don’t spend,” but I shut it up. I had worked ridiculously hard since landing here and I deserved a date with Theon, dammit. It wasn’t like I could accidentally spend too much anyway; I didn’t have a credit card to whip out. We had a certain amount of money on us, and that was all we could spend. It would be fine.

My focus was on enjoying my first ever real date—in five years, no less—with Theon.

“It’s not far, shall we walk?” Theon gestured to the road.

“Sure.” I’d walked more since arriving on this world than I had cumulatively in the past five years, but I absolutely did not want back on a horse. Not after days and days on a horse. My ass twinged at just the idea.

We walked hand in hand, me taking the town in curiously. It looked rather like one of those tourist traps in Germany or something. Lots of thatched roofs and gingerbread trim, although it didn’t smell like I’d half feared it would. Medieval towns stank because of all the manure, lack of sewage systems, and a fear of bathing frequently. Here, it didn’t, and I was relieved. I also saw magical symbols engraved into the paving stones. They whisked away anything that touched the stones, which was an efficient system. My nose approved. I also tucked this idea away for future use.

My eyes roved over Theon because he was a damn fine view, and why not? Looking at him prompted questions.

“Do you look more like your mother or your father?”

“My mother,” he answered. “I have my father’s height, and his personality, but otherwise I’m wholly my mother’s child. She’s always been quite smug about that. I did send them a letter before we left, inviting them to come visit us. I expect them to do so as promptly as they can.”

“Where do they live, again?”

“Crescent Isle. Due east of here. All of the Fae live there; it’s our birthplace. Unless we venture off to make our own lives.” Theon rolled his eyes. “Which only the young and naive tend to do.”

“Personal experience talking there.”

He sighed again, more deeply this time.

I smothered a laugh. He was so exasperated with younger him, it was funny.

“If I’d had any idea what the winters were really like, I would have thought twice about it, trust me.” Theon snapped his fingers. “Ah, speaking of which. We have to hunker down in the winters. The last two months of the year, and the first two months of the new year, are brutal. Would you like to get some board games and books and such to have while we wait out the snow?”

Since there was no TV or internet in this world… “You bet I would.”

“Good, we’ll look for things as we go. Festivals are great for that kind of shopping. Lots of wares you can’t normally find anywhere else.”

That sounded good to me. I had to ask, though. “What do you normally do in the winter?”

“Well, I do like to read. I make things, as well.”

“Such as?”

“Bows, arrows, leather armor. It’s something I grew up doing. We Fae are self-sufficient on our island, and it feels wrong to have someone else make my equipment. If I have enough time, I make things for others as well.”

Oh my god. The man was crafty on top of everything else. Plus he could do things I’d always wanted to learn. “No painting?”

“I haven’t done it in years. No money for supplies.”

Art supplies were expensive on my world, so I could imagine what they were like here. Fair enough, although I had a very good idea what to get him for a birthday present. “So can you teach me leatherworking?”

He canted his head at me. “Is that something you want to do?”

“Always have. It looks so cool to me.”

“Well, we’ll have four months to hone your skills.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

I had a bounce to my step moving forward. It was one of the many things I appreciated about Theon. Whenever I told him I wanted to do something, he never tried to dissuade me. Instead, he only encouraged me to try and lent his support while doing so.

It was so different from my previous life, where I’d been constantly told I wasn’t capable of doing such and such. It wasn’t until I was nearly twenty-three that I’d realized the truth of the matter: my parents felt like they couldn’t do it, and thereby reasoned I wouldn’t be able to either. But I was not my parents. My skills, interests, and capabilities were completely different from theirs. So why hold myself to their fears and standards?

It was only recently I’d realized this tactic of theirs was meant to keep me under their thumb. To be dependent on their support. Once I’d realized it, I’d been doing everything to break free, but their influence had been very hard to escape.

It was why stepping onto this world was such a breath of fresh air. No one here was holding me back. I could try anything that caught my interest without repercussions.

I now had a hobby I could share with my boyfriend, which was a huge plus.

All right, how much money should I spend here? I didn’t want to spend it all. I best divide some of it, keep spending money in one pocket, the rest in the other. It was a trick I’d used since my teens to keep myself from accidentally spending too much.

I reached for my pocket…and felt an empty bag. Except for a single coin.

Well now, wasn’t that suspicious?

Frowning, I yanked Coin out and glared at it. “Asshole. Did you eat my money?”

Coin trembled in my palm. “Look, you can’t cheat on me like this. I’m the only coin you need?—”

“Spit them out.”

“Noooo!”

“Spit them out right now or the second we reach the docks, I’ll chuck you into the ocean. All of them.”

Coin wailed in protest some more.

Theon glared at Coin, snatching it from my palm and hefting it like a baseball player getting ready to throw. “I wonder if I can reach the docks from here. I might not be able to. You might end up under hooves and wagon wheels instead.”

Coin wailed some more but started coughing up coins. It was like forcing a dog to let go of something they really shouldn’t be eating. I swear, the feeling was exactly the same.

I counted them out, made sure Coin really had given them all back, and then put them safely back into my purse.

Then thought better of it. “Theon, how about you hold on to the money?”

Theon glared at Coin some more. “Probably for the best. This one clearly cannot be trusted.”

Coin just sat there, sullen and petulant. Possessive little thing, wasn’t it? I was tempted to chuck it into the ocean anyway, but a deal was a deal. I shoved it back into my pocket instead.

We reached the docks. I could smell the ocean before it actually came into sight, the thick scent of water and brine permeating the air. Birds flew overhead, calling to each other, sometimes swooping in to grab some crumb on the ground. It really did look like a festival in full swing ,even though it was only late afternoon, not sunset yet. Paper lanterns hung near the booths, all of which were temporary structures of wooden poles and canvas. People walked back and forth past us, carrying snacks in one hand, purchases in the other.

The vibe was immediate and satisfying, that of a party in progress.

Me likey.

Theon tugged me one way, toward a stall stacked tall with these rings of fried…holy crap those looked like donuts!

Dooooonuts.

My mouth was already watering. Please, oh please, let me have the fried sugary goodness. I’d been a good boy, hadn’t I?

Theon looked askance at me, all while gesturing to the booth. “You like sweets. Do you want to try one?”

I looked him dead in the eye. “I’ve been a very good boy all day.”

He busted out laughing, all while reaching for his purse. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

He bought us a stick. I do mean a stick. These things were shish kebabbed—or staked, one might say—with six to a stick. I promptly took off the top one and bit into it.

Glorious fried goodness. Not too sweet, either. Reminded me of Japanese donuts, where they were more flavor, less sugar. Kind of tasted like apple cinnamon? I think it was, actually.

Theon took the second one, chomping happily on it. I wasn’t the only one with a sweet tooth.

I’d have protested only getting six donuts, ’cause these weren’t large, but I knew good and well we’d eat our way down this street. What else was on offer was the question.

Theon resumed walking, the donuts disappearing without a trace by the time we reached the next booth. We bought a light ale, splitting it between us, which was such a date thing to do. I’d rarely split something with someone else, and I loved that Theon didn’t hesitate to do it.

Then I spied a vendor with what looked like wooden puzzles and board games and veered that direction. Entertainment! Yes, please and thank you, relieve the boredom accumulating within me. Honestly, if I hadn’t been so busy since landing here, I would have been bored out of my skull. It was great having a variety of things here on display.

“What games do we already have?” I asked Theon.

“Hmm, the usual.” He pointed to several. “The deck of cards is something we already have, although we’re missing two cards, so we should probably get a new deck. The Strategy board, as well.”

“Strategy?”

“You and your opponent have colored pieces, and you battle it out, trying to maneuver around each other, but you’re limited by the colored squares on the board,” Theon explained.

“Huh.” So was it like Chess? Checkers? If so, I was game. “I think that sounds fun. What else would you recommend?”

“Oh, there’s a variety of things here. Do you like puzzles?”

“Sure. I often did puzzles at home, just to pass the time when I didn’t have the energy to do anything else.”

“Let’s get several of those, then.”

So. Here’s the thing. This booth was crammed from floor to ceiling with games, and it was hard taking it all in, that’s how crammed it was. I took one wall, Theon the other, but of course. he recognized what he looked at. Me, I was the clueless little bunny. I had to look everything over carefully to make a judgment.

Theon came to join me while I still had half a wall to go, riffling through what I had stacked on my arm, and grunted in approval.

“Those all look good. Here, let’s get this one, this one, and…ooh, they have that? That too. That one’s fun too.”

Looked like some kind of fancy mancala game to me, but sure. Wait. “Theon, how much is all this?”

He dismissed my worry. “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Theon always said that right before he spoiled me. I was going to have to watch this man. I lowered my voice and hissed at him, “We don’t have the money for all of this.”

“It’s fine,” he reassured me again. “They’re not expensive.”

Okay, normally he was careful with money; I should be able to trust his word, right?

We piled all of our goodies in front of the vendor. At that point I questioned whether this was a good idea because how the hell did we get all of it back to the inn? It wasn’t like we had backpacks or anything.

Vendor tallied it all up before saying, “Hundred zon and a han.”

My soul about left my body. He did not just spend over a hundred dollars.

“Theon!” I hissed again.

He simply winked at me, the bastard, and shelled out the money. “Will five slin be enough for the porter?”

“It will, Master.” The vendor accepted the money with a professional smile. “Where do we deliver it to?”

Oh, well, delivery was nice. That way I wasn’t breaking an arm trying to haul all this back. Still!

Theon heard none of my complaints as he pulled me back out. Man was downright chipper about buying me those games.

“Trust me.” He slipped his hand back in mine. “We’ll want every single one of them come winter.”

“You say that, but I hear the words ‘let me spoil you,’ somehow.”

“It’s because you have acute hearing.”

I pinched his ribs because he was being a brat and knew it.

Not bothered, he squirmed out of the way, still pleased with himself. No hope for this one. No hope at all.

In a more pragmatic way, he added, “It’s really an investment for everyone at home. We trade books, games, and such. There’s a library in town in the back of the temple just for the purpose of leaving things or picking up something new.”

“Ahhh.” Well, if it was an investment for everyone, I was more inclined to go along with it. People’s mental health and sanity shouldn’t be overlooked in our quest for survival. “Then let’s get lots.”

“Oh look,” he said brightly. “Books! Let’s go there next.”

He would hit on my weak spot. I followed along, still grumbling, when a thought hit. “Hey, Theon, how hard is it to publish something?”

“Uh…not very. I mean, you have to contact a printer to print the books, and then market it to book vendors, but it’s not hard to do if you have the capital.” Theon got that speculative gleam in his eye. “Do you want to write a book?”

“I love books. Wanted to be an author when I was younger, although I was basically pushed out of that path by the time I hit my teens.” I used to write fanfiction instead, as no one could stop me from doing that, and it had satisfied my creative drive. “If we’re really going to be stuck indoors all winter, can I try writing and publishing a book?”

“I don’t see why not.”

See? Again, instant support. If the man got any sexier, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands to myself.

“Let’s keep our eyes open for stationary too, then. So you can buy enough paper to see you through.”

I thought of what the winter would look like for us. I’d sneak in painting supplies somehow before we went home, just so I could give him that happiness back. I wanted him to have that luxury again. Learning how to craft leather with him, playing games, keeping silent company with each other in front of a roaring fire as we read books together. It sounded like heaven.

Maybe he was right. Maybe we needed to buy a lot of books to tide us over.

Yes, I was a bookaholic, sue me. I had a sweet boyfriend to enable my bad habits and I would take no questions at this time.