Fantasyland: Midnight Soul Part 26

I felt my throat start closing, cleared it daintily and turned my attention back to my tray.

But I did this speaking.

"Josette and I are going to be making the final selection of a new lady's maid. After that and also after my brother arrives, we'll be sledding into town to order some clothing for her. It's time we start preparing for our journey and the seamstresses who'll be making her new attire will need to get to work on it as soon as possible. I don't suspect Kristian will wish to stay long. He tends to prefer to be at home."

"What journey?" Noc queried and I looked to him.

"Pardon?"

"You said you're preparing for a journey. What journey?"

I took hold of a rasher of bacon, raised it and answered, "Once Kristian leaves, Josette, the new maid we select and I will be on our way to Sudvic to see about purchasing pa.s.sage across the Green Sea."

"Come again?"

My bacon held aloft, I turned my attention back to Noc.

"We're sailing across the Green Sea," I repeated. "Not many people journey there so I imagine we'll be in Sudvic some time, waiting for a galleon that makes that journey to return, or to prepare to make the journey, as I can imagine that takes some doing as I hear it's many weeks. In truth there may be no galleons who sail the Green Sea that harbor in Sudvic. We may need to find another port city, perhaps even travel to Hawkvale, pa.s.sage across the green waters is so unusual. But we'll find our way over," I finished decidedly.

I crunched bacon, chewed, swallowed and started mumbling again, this time mostly to myself.

"I hope we can make the island nation of Mar-el, for Josette's sake. But then I dearly wish to see Airen."

I finished my bacon, had eaten more egg and was slathering marmalade on another corner of toast when I realized Noc hadn't said anything for some time.

I looked his way to see he had his gaze fixed to my tray but his eyes were distant.

"Have you had breakfast?" I asked.

He said nothing.

"Noc," I called, his head twitched and his ice-blue eyes came to me.

"Sorry," he muttered. "What?"

"Have you had breakfast?"

"Yeah."

"Are you still hungry?"

"Not really."

"Then will you explain why you're staring at my tray like you wish to nick my bacon?"

His mouth spread in a grin that for the first time I didn't believe was real.

"No one can have enough bacon," he quipped.

This was quite true, bacon was delicious.

However I had the uncomfortable feeling he was lying and I didn't like this. I'd lied and been lied to by many people, starting from so far back I didn't even remember when it actually began.

But Noc, I knew instinctively, had never lied to me.

And thinking that he was now, about bacon of all things, troubled me far more than I'd care to admit.

"You can have my bacon," I said quietly.

"Baby, I don't want your bacon. Honest," he replied in my tone.

I studied him closely before asking, "Is all well?"

"I just got something on my mind."

I shouldn't extend the invitation.

Nevertheless, I extended the invitation.

"Would you like to share it with me?"

His gaze on my face warmed and his words made my chest do the same when he replied, "Yeah."

I put my cutlery down, the wedge of toast, and twisted to him to give him my full attention.

Even so, he carried on by saying, "Just not now. Seems you have a full day. But can I ask that we end it together?"

"End it together?"

"Yeah," he gave me a genuine grin that time. "You and me in a room somewhere with a bottle of whiskey."

I wanted that very much, this something I would never share.

Though I did agree to this a.s.signation.

"We can do this, Noc."

"Great, Frannie. Gotta go," he declared and immediately made a move to go, however, quick as a flash, his hand darted out and he pinched my last rasher of bacon.

"Noc!" I snapped.

But he was out of bed, smiling at me cheekily as he munched my bacon and sauntered around my bed toward the door.

He arrived at it, eyes to me, swallowed a bite of my bacon and said, "Later, babe."

I rolled my eyes.

He kept smiling at me a moment before he closed the door behind him.

Noc "Hey," Noc greeted Finnie as he walked into the room one of the servants had told him she was in.

She was alone and looked like she was writing letters, but she stopped doing this the minute she lifted her head and saw him approach.

She set everything aside on the cushion of the couch where she was sitting and replied, "Hey."

"Don't want to interrupt you-" he began.

She cut him off. "Interrupt me. Please. People bring gifts to the Bitter Gales for Frey and me and I'm writing thank you notes. I tried to share with the queen that doing this was killing too many trees. She thought I was losing my mind, told me so and also told me to stop procrastinating. A princess writes thank you notes. And trees are a h.e.l.l of a lot more plentiful here than in my old world. So I really don't have any excuse not to do it," her eyes lit, "except to talk to you."

While she spoke, he moved to a couch, sat and grinned at her when she was done.

"Pleased to be of service."

She tipped her head to the side.

Not dim by a long shot, she read him and asked, "Do you have something you wanted to talk to me about?"

He did.

A couple of somethings.

"Do you know how to get in touch with Valentine?"

"Not in any definitive way, no."

f.u.c.k.

Finnie went on, "But she's back."

That was news.

"Back?" Noc requested confirmation.

"Unh-hunh." Finnie nodded. "She's back. She checked in with Frey a couple of days ago."

"I haven't seen her," Noc shared.

"I haven't either, actually. Apparently, she's rented some manor house close by. Don't know why. When she's here, she likes to be in the thick of things. But she did and Frey knows where she is, so he can send a message to her."

"I'd like to get a message to her," Noc told her.

Finnie nodded. "Sure. I'll find Frey and-"

She'd started to push up from her seat but he lifted a hand and stalled her.

"No, babe. I'll talk to Frey. There's something else I wanna ask you."

"Shoot," she invited, settling back into her seat.

"The Green Sea, that's the big ocean to the west, right?" Noc asked.

She nodded. "Yep. Big body of water. Green, like its name," she said on a smile. "But a green you wouldn't believe, Noc. It's beautiful. I'm really looking forward to you seeing it. I traveled widely in my old world and even the emerald waters in some of the Caribbean don't hold a candle to the vast beauty of the Green Sea."

"And you've traveled widely here too, yeah?" Noc asked.

She nodded again. "I have."

"Over the Green Sea?"

She looked confused. "Over it?"

"Over it. To a place called Mar-el, or Airen, or something like that."

She shook her head. "Oh no. We've traveled up and down the coast of the Northlands, over the Winter Sea, the Marhac Sea too, but never across the Green."

"Has Frey traveled across?"

More nodding from Finnie.

"Yes. Twice. As a diplomat for my dad when he was alive and because there were some Lunwynian treasures that should never have left Lunwyn soil that had made their way over there." Her eyes lit, telling him there was more to the story of what she said next. "Frey has a habit of collecting those."

"So it's a doable journey, not unsafe," Noc pushed.

She again looked confused. "Do you want to voyage across the Green Sea?"

"No, Franka does."

Her lips parting in a knowing way, she sat back, murmuring, "Ah."

"Is it safe?"

Finnie held his gaze. "The journey is long. Very long. I never asked Frey just how long but I think it takes months. Easy to run out of supplies, especially if you don't know where you're going or get cast adrift by a storm. And Frey told me there are lots of islands that are inhabited, not all of them with friendly people, and some of those unfriendly people have boats. There are reefs that are difficult to negotiate if you don't know they're there to avoid them. And there are pirates in this world with the addition of raiders. Raiders tend to wreak havoc by land, anchoring close to sh.o.r.e and raiding from there. Pirates are about ship to ship takeovers. Raiders usually simply steal and don't create a lot of collateral damage. Pirates take booty and women and the rest feel the length of a saber or go down with the ship they usually set fire to, if they don't decide to steal that as well."

"Jesus," Noc whispered.

"Yup," Finnie agreed. "I've seen a couple of pirate ships. They've tried to come up on Frey's galleon. But they see his flag and back off." She smiled proudly. "Not many people f.u.c.k with Frey. You do, suddenly a dragon's overhead and you're toast. Literally."

Noc felt his eyes crinkle. "Yeah, I suppose that would put most people off, even pirates."

Finnie settled in, crossing her legs under her long, sweater gown and continued, "In fact, I don't think there are any pa.s.senger ships I know of that make that voyage. Merchants, definitely. There's a bunch of stuff from that side of the world that's highly valued here and costs a whack, so it's worth the risk of the journey. They have a kind of wool that's amazing. I have dresses and throws made of it and I've never felt anything like it. Firenzian rubies are spectacular. Frey got me a necklace and earrings made of them and they're extraordinary. Exotic spices. Tons of stuff."

"And you dig travel so if it was safe to take you..." he didn't finish because she was nodding.

"Yeah, if it was safe, we'd go. I haven't even asked because I read between the lines when he told me all he told me. No reason to get into a discussion about it. Frey spoils me a lot. But when it's time to put his foot down, he doesn't have a problem with doing just that. Since that sometimes p.i.s.ses me off, I've learned to read when it's important to him and I shouldn't push it, so I won't push it."

Noc shot her a grin. "Good plan."