Chương 117: Chapter 115: A Night Off (part two)

Ten minutes later, Squirt had put her plate down and took over for Tobias, having absorbed the rules like a sponge. At first, she had simply watched, asking occasional questions, observing their strategies until her eyebrows twitched. It only took Tobias making a couple of bad plays for her to snap.

"Let me take over." Tobias shot her a grateful glance.

"Please." Kenna shifted closer to Bartos, keeping his drink topped up and the mood playful and fun, bickering with Tobias who sat next to Squirt, continuing to share the gossip he'd been holding onto with Kenna providing commentary.

"I'm telling you, they hated each other, and then one day I take the trainees on a sneaking adventure just outside of camp—""We both knew they were into each other."

"I mean, sure, but they bickered constantly, it was actually pretty frustrating. Every time I made any kind of official announcement or had them stand in lines, they just gave me flack." Squirt didn't realize the hunters were bickering so much. They'd always been pretty quiet whenever she tried to speak. She didn't comment, her mind focused on the game board and strategizing.

"And their bickering didn't clue you into the chemistry?"

"Oh I could smell their chemistry a mile away, but it was just one moment they looked ready to stab each other, and the next, there was a very different kind of stabbing happening."

"That is usually how it happens."

"Not always. Sometimes it's a slow burn." Squirt ignored the pointed look he directed her way.

"Speaking of which, pretty sure that our resident hostler and brownie pairing is going swimmingly." Squirt found herself asking, "Oh?"

"He's almost never without her." Kenna added, "That's because he needs the translator."

"When he's working with the elk?"

"There's always an audience."

"Well, yeah, it's hilarious to watch him talking to the beast like it's any other fey. The other day I watched him explaining to one that he mustn't shit in its food like it was a drunkard after a celebration." A sudden wicked grin spread across Squirt's face. She placed her next piece down confidently. The conversation between Kenna and Tobias slowed as their attention was captured by the board once more, Tobias murmuring, "Well that's an interesting choice."

Bartos took a moment to study her before playing his next move. Almost as soon as he put his piece down, so did she. He played his, and again, almost as soon as his piece touched the board, so did hers. Pausing, he really studied the board again, trying to figure out her angle. Did she stumble upon resources? Was she gunning for territory? Aiming to challenge him directly? It was hard to know, because she had used the foot soldiers, the smallest and weakest of the board pieces.

He played his next cautiously, but again, her next piece touched down, ending her turn in less than a second. No hesitation. Glancing up from the board and into her eyes, there was a challenging smirk tucked into the corner of her lips. Ten minutes later, the three wolves sat stunned, staring at the winning move in amazement. Tobias knew she'd like the game. He'd never thought she'd actually win, let alone her first time.

He'd thought there had been logistically no way for him to win when he was down to just foot soldiers. Bartos, meanwhile, had an excited gleam to his eye.

"Again. Please."

Squirt glanced up, then stiffened in surprise at his smiling, boyish face. The same face that had made both Tobias and Kenna melt into puddles of wolf goo. She opened her mouth to speak, only to realize the words were gone. Why, she wasn't sure. They just were. Her eyes dropped back down to the board, thinking over his ask. A crooked smile tilted up one corner of her lips as she murmured, "Always a choice with you, huh?" His answer was quiet but didn't lack for conviction.

"Always." Her expression flattened.

"That was rhetorical." He shrugged. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Let me whip your butt again, Wolfie." When her eyes flickered up in time to catch the genuine, excited grin on his face, her heartbeat stuttered briefly, and she had the sudden understanding as to why Tobias and Kenna were so hung up on this guy. Not that she would ever, of course. That'd be ridiculous. One pretty boy was bad enough.

"Congrats, Braveheart. That was an impressive win." She nodded in acknowledgement.

"Here, a drink to celebrate." He handed her a small wooden goblet filled with a lighter colored drink. Accepting it, Squirt sniffed cautiously. It was too light in color to be traditional wine, but it wasn't as dry smelling as white wine, either. Squirt took one tentative sip before pulling it away and touching her lips, staring at the cup in a quiet awe. Kenna leaned in, grinned, and stage whispered, "Plum fey wine." Squirt had never been more in love with anything in her entire life than with that glass of wine.

Had she died? Was this the food of the gods? It was most certainly a treasure, one that needed to be enjoyed as thoroughly and slowly as possible to savor every last decadent sip—"We got a crateful just for you tonight, so have at it." Squirt's jaw dropped in an audible gasp at Kenna's causal declaration. Tobias cut in, "And before you start, it was a gift, though if it bothers you I could just use the funds I took from your account." Squirt's expression flattened.

"You say that like you didn't just admit to stealing my money—""You needed to have some funds on hand and not just in an account, and honestly, it's a drop in the sea. I don't know if you've got any other accounts stashed away, but since I'm the Chief Hunter now, I have to do the accounts. No idea what the patents are netting you, but you're already up to your first hundred suns from our end." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Squirt stared dumbstruck at Tobias. Tobias raised a brow.

"I explained this, Braveheart. You get paid the standard Guard rate, yes. But as the inventor of those ritual staffs, you get a percent of all profits from every one of their uses. As the one who discovered the uses for all these materials, you get a percentage for everything sold. There are also bonuses you get from the dungeon discoveries, and most of those dungeons have been gifted to you, so the dungeon delvers pay a tithe for exploring them.

Hunter's Clearing is on your land, so for each hunter we house there, we pay you a tithe. Plus, bonuses from the Royals for the work you did for them, of which you got a hefty paycheck from this summer…" he raised an accusatory brow at her. Her stare entirely vacant, she didn't notice. Instead, her eyes dropped to the hands in her lap, her fingers curled in before she began to mutter, using them to count, "One moon piece is a hundred earths, one sun is a thousand moons, one sun is a hundred thousand earth pi…

and I have… I have…" No greenling had ever made that much money. In less than a year? That was a hefty sum for a titled fey, a high fey. She was dead. There was no way. No way. That wasn't possible. That was too much money for one… one fey. Her eyes slowly drifted to the chuckling lord as he reset the board, catching it as he murmured more to himself than her, "Always." She deserves to feel safe as much as the next fey, and by the gods I'm fucking trying. By the gods, he was.

She wasn't sure at that moment if he had somehow foreseen this eventuality, that her life would snowball and the money would be a need more than an abstract concept, but she was damn sure the amount was entirely his fault. Asshole. She sipped her drink again, and this time a touch of glee was visible in her eyes as she savored it. When Bartos played his first move, she paused long enough to consider the board. Then she frowned slightly, bending forward to get a better look.

With careful consideration, she moved her piece. Back and forth they traded more thoughtful, conscientious moves, taking the time to strategize and interpret their partner's moves. She forgot the drink in her hand, focused entirely on the game in front of her. He moved his piece, saying quietly, "I assume you want me to treat it as a mutual fund?" She scowled at his move. Damnit. He was taking her seriously now, and blocking her in.

"Obviously."

"As you wish." Her eyes flickered to his briefly, narrowing at the playful gleam in his eyes. Dropping her eyes down to the board, she decided to respond to him lowering himself to her the only way she really could—ignoring it. She reached for her next piece when he said, "There will be little need for it, naturally." Her movement stuttered to a standstill. Glowering at him, she hissed out, "What the fuck did you do now?" He held up his hands, chuckling.

"Peace." Dropping his hands back to his lap, he explained, "They are now all sworn citizens of Everwinter and are thus fully provided for. Their supplies are cheap. Money, we have." His smile slanted slightly.

"I'd appreciate your help in securing the food portion." It took her a moment.

"The pest?" Clearly amused by the term, he responded, "The pest."

"The pest who isn't courting you?" said Tobias teasingly. Kenna added, "I think it's adorable to have given him a nickname already," referring to nicknames being commonly given during courting. Squirt made a rude gesture at them both. The movement gently sloshed the drink in her hand, reminding her of its divine presence, and she took a sip and moved a game piece in one motion. Bartos chuckled, moving his piece.

"I win." Squirt sat up, leaning over the board with a glare.

"… fucking shit, you do." Immediately, she began resetting the board, and a wash of excitement spilled over his face. She glanced up, eyeing it before snorting.

"Yes, yes, again." This time, as the loser, Squirt got to make the first move. Thinking over the possibilities, she took another sip of heaven before moving her first piece. Tobias asked casually, "So what happened in Norland?" Squirt scowled at the pieces.

"A lot."

"Uh huh… and?" The lord made his move, and Squirt made hers as she said, "Some good, some bad, a lot busy."

"Braveheart…" he said in a warning tone. Despite the tone, his aura remained light, airy, and playful. Lord Everwinter took another swig of his drink, a thoughtful look in his eyes before he murmured, "I must apologize." Thrown off by the audacity of this fey, Squirt reared back. He took another sip, his features drawn tight.

"I hadn't meant to burden you with my letter." For a solid minute, Squirt's features pinched as she stared at him in abject confusion. Burden her? What burdens? The letter had been sociable. It didn't add to her burdens. Was there a letter she missed? Glancing at the other two, they looked just as baffled. Studying him, she finally got it, her expression flattening in response. She moved her piece as she muttered, "Stop deciding things on your own. The letter was fine.

I just didn't have time to write a lengthy reply." Plus, she hadn't really known what to say or how to respond to a damn social letter from her gods damned lord. Then again, she slept with him and his pack, so really, she should have seen it coming. And now she was pleasantly buzzed while playing a frankly enthralling board game with that same lord, and him giving her boyish smiles and self-conscious glances that were as far from his typical lord persona as he could get.

Gods, was she, of all things, sympathetic for the guy? Yes. Yes, she was. Scowling down at the board, she took on an aggressive strategy just as he asked with a dash of hope and a touch of vulnerability, "Really?" Damn weirdo was self-conscious about the weirdest shit.

"… I didn't get to tell you about the capsaicin birds." He blinked, leaning forward a little, the self-conscious expression exchanged for one of genuine interest. She considered him for a moment. Then she grinned wickedly. Leaning forward, she launched into the explanation of the birds living in the lantern peppers that would launch toxic shit at their foes. A dash of strategic storytelling distracted him just well enough that he was genuinely surprised by the win she managed to sneak by with.

By that point, she was yawning and rubbing her eyes, and she smirked at the flash of disappointment in his eyes. Finishing off her drink, she muttered, "Finally, something we can actually compete in." He chuckled.

"I admit, it's nice to have something in common."

"Yeah. Idiots stupidly in love with us isn't something we share. Naturally." She ignored how both Tobias and Kenna went stiff as boards, instead giving the lord a pointed stare. His walls down as they were, he couldn't hide the dash of panic. She stood and stretched.

"I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in an hour."

"Wait, Braveheart—""Athi, you can't—" But she did, shutting the door firmly behind her, scoffing at the wolves on the other side of the door. Idiots. Trying to set her up with their damn lord. Did they think she was stupid? She was a little stupid. After all, where was she supposed to go now? Care to join us, mother dearest? Squirt groaned, wiping her hands down her face, before turning and trotting down the hall to her moon hound.

The three wolves, meanwhile, were left in an awkward silence. Tobias and Kenna were blushing, thoroughly rattled by how quickly the situation was turned back around on them, while Bartos was still trying to wrap his head around Athereon's words. How quickly he'd gone from relaxed to panicked had made his entire mind go blank, frozen in place with fear and nerves. He couldn't even look at Tobias or Kenna. He knew they wanted more with him.

But what cruelty would it be if what he wanted ended up not being what they did? If he risked it now on the off chance he might love them romantically, only for him to realize he couldn't love them the way they needed? His body yearned for them, yes. He'd learned this during his night with Kenna. The memories still set his blood aflame with desire, something he had never before felt for another. Never this strongly. What if his desire for Kenna, unleashed that day, was only for Kenna?

Could he risk breaking one heart to please the other? The idea of breaking Tobias's heart by choosing Kenna, or Kenna's by lusting for her body and not her soul, froze him with indecision. Would the reward be worth the risk? Before he could decide, Tobias laughed, drawing Bartos out of the anxieties he'd been so wrapped up in. Rubbing the back of his neck, Tobias shrugged, a carefree smile on his face.

"Well, at least we made progress with Braveheart, huh? I told you that you could do it." It took Bartos several long seconds to remember the conversation that brought about this night of games with Athereon. And suddenly, he knew that everything was not right. Before he could figure out more, Tobias stood suddenly, brushing off his legs and stretching.

"Well, I'm going to go stretch my legs and check in on your brother. I'll pick up a midnight snack from the kitchen on the way back." Was that a blush to the man's cheeks? And if it was, why? Bartos could read political machinations in a person's expression so easily, and yet here, he could not read his own best friend other than knowing something was off. He wanted to say something. To stop Tobias and ask. But if he asked… Would everything change?

Trapped again by his own uncertainty, he allowed Tobias to walk out the door with a jovial wave of his hand and a tightness around his eyes. The door shut, leaving Bartos feeling disoriented. Things had gone from wonderful to awkward so quickly, and he had no notion of how to fix it. Left staring after the door, he didn't notice Kenna studying him with a touch of regret in her eyes. Regret, hurt, loneliness, and a genuine love for the man struggling with his own feelings.

Taking pity on him, she gently redirected his attentions by seating herself across from him and resetting the board one last time. Keeping a soft smile in place as she did, she murmured, "No one is asking you to make a decision, Bartos. No one is asking for anything to change." He stared at her moving hands. Smiling up at him, she gestured to the board.

"Care for a game?" Lost to his own swirling emotions, he nodded, numb from his own hesitation. In silence, they moved the pieces back and forth, his mind wandering aimlessly until he finally came to the conclusion that terrified him the most. He wanted things to change. He just didn't know how.