Chương 34: Chapter 32 – What Did You Do!?

Beatrix"Where are we going and why won't you tell us where you've been?" Bea complained as they walked down the sidewalk behind Adriane. Her boots hit the stone a little harder than necessary.

"Chels, seriously? Nothing?" Chelsea just shrugged like she had already given up on being questioned. That alone made Bea more suspicious. Adriane made a sharp turn without warning and pushed through the door of a nearby building. Bea almost walked straight past it before catching the sign swinging overhead. She slowed, squinting up at it. An inn. Bea stopped dead for half a second, then looked at Dewey. He looked just as confused. Edgar's mask tilted slightly, which was apparently his version of the same thing.

"What the hell…" Bea muttered under her breath as they followed inside. The moment the door shut behind them, the smell hit. Hot meat. Butter. Something roasted. Something sweet. It wrapped around her head and went straight to her stomach, which immediately betrayed her with a loud, traitorous growl. Bea clenched her jaw. People actually got to sit here and eat this every day. For a split second, she let herself imagine it. Just sitting. Eating.

Not thinking about cost or whether it was worth it or if Adriane would shut it down the moment she suggested it. Then she killed the thought before it could grow. Adriane sat at a large table in the center of the room facing them. Bea's stomach dropped. That look on her face was not good. Not tired. Not neutral. Angry. Bea's eyes narrowed. Alright. So something went wrong. Of course it did. Whatever stupid plan Chelsea had dragged Adriane into must have blown up in their faces.

"Sit," Adriane commanded. Bea, Edgar, and Dewey sat on the bench opposite Adriane without a word. Bea kept her eyes on her older sister the whole time, waiting for the explosion. There was no room for Chelsea, so she went and sat next to the obviously pissed-off oldest sister. Bea almost snorted. Yeah. Smart place to sit, genius. Adriane's gaze moved across all of them slowly, making Bea's skin itch.

"Here is the situation," she leaned forward.

"Per Chelsea's request, we are going to eat dinner here. Then we are going to stay the night. Do you have any objections to this?" Bea blinked. Then blinked again. Nothing about that sentence made sense. She looked at Dewey. He looked like someone had just told him the sky was falling. Edgar didn't move, but Bea could feel the confusion radiating off him anyway. Eating here? Sleeping here? Paying for it? Her brain tried to catch up, but it kept snagging on the same question. What the fuck did Chelsea do?

They had been gone for a couple of hours. That was it. What in the hell could she have done in a couple of hours to make Adriane say something like that? Before Bea could open her mouth, a hideously fat woman came stomping out from the kitchen, carrying a roasted pig on a platter big enough to count as a weapon. The smell intensified instantly. Bea's stomach clenched again, harder this time. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The woman dropped the platter onto the table with a heavy thud. The pig was glistening, skin crisped perfectly. Around it were boiled potatoes, cooked onions, roasted tomatoes, cloves of blackened garlic, all of it sitting on a bed of leafy greens that looked too fresh to be real. Bea stared at it. Actually stared.

"Don't forget to save room for dessert," the woman announced as an elderly man shuffled out behind her with a bowl of mashed potatoes and a cup of brown liquid. Dessert? Bea's brain stalled completely for a second.

"I'll be out with yours in a moment, sweetheart," the woman said to Chelsea.

"Thank you, Marie, you're too kind," she replied. Marie waved her off with a huge smile and turned back toward the kitchen. Bea slowly turned her head toward Chelsea. Then to Adriane. Then back to the food. Her eye twitched.

"…What the fuck did you do?" Bea finally asked it, her voice sharp and suspicious.

"What the fuck did you do?" She repeated, her voice going quiet near the end. There was accusation in it, but also something else creeping in underneath. A thin thread of hope she clearly did not trust. Chelsea didn't answer right away. She looked over at Adriane and gave a small nod, like this was her story to tell. Adriane swallowed, then leaned forward slightly, her composure slipping just enough for Bea to notice.

"Chelsea fixed our debt," she said, her voice tight, her eyes starting to water. Silence. Bea stared at her. Dewey stared at her. Even Edgar's mask turned fully in Adriane's direction. No one moved.

"What do you mean?" Bea asked slowly.

"As in, it's fully paid off?"

"Not exactly," Adriane said. She took a breath, like she needed to steady herself.

"More like the number is not ticking up anymore. Anything we put towards it will make the number go down and stay down for good." Bea sat there, letting that roll around in her head. The number is… not going up. That had never been the problem in her mind. The problem had always been that it never stopped. No matter how much they threw at it, it always felt like they were falling behind. Her brow furrowed deeper. How the hell do you fix a debt without paying it off?

"All of our money is still going to go towards the debt," Bea said, trying to pin it down.

"Chelsea worked it out with the Junstruce bank. Over the next 5 years, they will take a much smaller fraction of our earnings. Half instead of almost all." Half. Bea's eyes flicked to Chelsea. Then back to Adriane.

"And what happens if we don't have it paid off in 5 years?" Bea asked. Adriane's gaze shifted to Chelsea again. Chelsea didn't hesitate.

"Oh, I plan on having it paid off in less than three," she explained easily.

"Then all of the earnings will go straight to our coffers." Bea blinked. Three years. Three. Her brain tried to reconcile that with the reality she had been living in her entire life, and it just… didn't.

"The deal I made with Chelsea was if she fixed our debt and made the interest go away, she would take over our family finances and luxuries are allowed. And for some reason, she was dead set on riding on your shoulder, Dewey," Adriane explained. Bea's mouth opened slightly.

"Luxuries… are…" Her thoughts scattered. She looked up at Edgar. Even through the mask, she could feel it. That quiet, subtle release. Like something had been pressing down on him for the last year and a half and had finally lifted.

"All luxuries?" she asked, her voice smaller now, like she was afraid the answer might disappear if she pushed too hard.

"I don't know," Adriane said.

"If it involves spending money you'll need to talk to Chels, but yes. Sleeping in this inn. This meal. You have Chelsea to thank for them." Bea didn't think. She just moved. She shot up from her seat and rushed around the table, grabbing Chelsea and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much. So much. I've never gotten to eat something so incredible. Can we eat something like this every night?"

"It seems Clem back in the fairy city was right, Adriane," Edgar said, his tone thoughtful, almost amused.

"If we keep her around, we would become wealthy. I'm terrified to see how much she has made us in ten years." Bea didn't even wait for that to sink in. She leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Chelsea's cheek, then pulled back with wide, excited eyes that had nothing to do with violence or sex for once.

"I get to try so many new things," she gasped, practically vibrating in place.

"Chelsea, you can go to a bookstore and get something to read to us!" Chelsea lit up at that, immediately nodding.

"Actually, that's one of my plans. I want to open a school that teaches people how to read for free," she explained. Bea blinked. That was not where she expected that to go. Adriane leaned back slightly, confusion plain on her face.

"How would that make us any money?"

"Because we will open a bookstore right beside it," Chelsea explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Bea stared at her for a second, then let out a sharp laugh.

"That's evil," she said, delighted.

"I love it." Dewey had been quiet through all of this. Too quiet. Bea finally glanced over at him, expecting confusion, maybe slow understanding catching up. Instead, she saw tears. Actually saw them. Rolling straight down his face like he wasn't even trying to hide it.

"Dewey, are you okay?" she asked, thrown off. He nodded once, hard, like he was trying to keep himself together and failing anyway.

"Little sister can ride on my shoulder anytime she wants," he said through a caught breath.

"She has restored the honor and glory to the Wixx name. Whether on the battlefield or the battlefield of her brain, she rises above our enemies. If ever there is anything you need, little sister, you will have me there by your side." Bea stared at him. Then snorted.

"Aww, Dewey, you're such a ball of emotions," she prodded, though there was less bite in it than usual. She bumped his arm with her shoulder after, just a little softer than normal.

"That was wonderfully said," Adriane agreed, her voice softer now, steady in a way it had not been all day.

"Chels, you truly are what the name Wixx used to stand for and have returned it to its rightful place. You have all of our gratitude." Chelsea froze for a second, then quickly covered her mouth and nose with both hands like she was trying to physically hold the emotion in.

"You guys are going to make me cry," she said, her voice muffled. She shook her head, laughing weakly as she blinked rapidly.

"I know it seems like a big deal to you, no, it is a big deal to you, what I did today. I was only doing what I could for the people I care about more than my own family back home." That part slipped out quieter, more honest than she probably intended. She forced a small smile.

"Honestly, it makes me sad that no one stepped in, in all of this time, and told you this was a possibility. Anywho, eat up before it gets cold." Bea just stared at her. The girl was insane. Absolutely insane. And brilliant. Bea leaned back slowly, folding her arms as she watched Chelsea deflect all of that praise like it was nothing. Somewhere in that moment, a decision settled into place without much thought behind it. Chelsea didn't know the first thing about using a spear. Which did not matter which.

Bea decided in that moment she would do everything in her power to make this brilliant idiot competent with one.

"Dewey," Chelsea said from across the table, snapping Bea out of it.

"I do have one last surprise for you. Per Bea's recommendation," she paused for a moment, "which in hindsight I completely agree with, I fixed up the surprise. Let me go get it for you." Bea's head snapped toward her.

"What?"

"For me?" Dewey asked, looking at Bea, who was just as confused. Bea pointed at herself.

"What the hell did I recommend?" Chelsea was already halfway up the stairs. Bea looked at Adriane for help. Adriane just sat there with that stupid knowing smirk on her face. Bea narrowed her eyes. She hated that smirk. Chelsea reappeared from the stairs as quickly as she disappeared up them.

"Dewey, may I introduce a guest I invited to eat with us tonight, Fiona," she said, gesturing with both hands toward the stairs. Bea leaned to the side to get a better look. And then blinked. That was the same woman from earlier. But not. The fur was gone, replaced with a simple blue dress that looked like it had never been meant for someone built like her. The fabric stretched in all the wrong places, like it was doing its best to behave and failing.

Her hair had been redone, brushed out and braided again, with small flowers woven through it that looked ridiculous and perfect at the same time. She was still massive. Still looked like she could snap someone in half. Just… cleaner. Softer. Somehow. She walked straight up to Dewey like she had already decided he was hers to talk to and introduced herself. Bea's head slowly turned toward Chelsea as she crept back over.

"I know you weren't interested in her earlier, but she cleans up nicely, and she's actually really sweet."

"You didn't fight her?" Bea asked, disbelief all over her face.

"I would have loved to see her beat the shit out of you."

"There's the Bea I know and love," Chelsea laughed.

"No, she thought I was the leader and he was my man," she laughed again.

"I explained I was his sister, and scary sister over here," she gestured vaguely at Adriane, "was the one to ask for things like that. Adriane agreed, a bath was definitely in order. This inn has a bath, by the way. Feel free to use it. Gods know I'm using it later." Bea froze. Her brain latched onto exactly one part of that. She whipped her head toward Chelsea.

"A bath?" Her voice cracked like she had just been handed a divine revelation.