Noble Solutions

by Schinhofen, Daniel

  “From Kuhns, sir,” the hauler said. “Said it was to go directly into your hands.”

  “Ah, good. The diamonds,” Sean grinned.

  The hauler’s face went stiff. “Diamonds?”

  “Yeah, chips,” Sean said, opening the bag and pulling out one of the small pieces. “Nothing too big.”

  The hauler exhaled in relief. “Oh, thank goodness, but he still should have warned me.”

  “Between this bag and the ore, what do you think people would have been more interested in?” Sean asked.

  “The ore, but still, I had no idea it was that valuable. I thought it was lesser stones.”

  “I’ll mention it to him when I see him tonight,” Sean said.

  “No. No, sir, it’s fine. I’ll just ask him next time, if he has more work for us. Kuhns doesn’t ship heavy stock. I think he only gave me the job because we were picking up when he was talking to Gertihs.”

  “Makes sense. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to have them. That means that even if anyone had gone after the ore, you’d still have been able to deliver these.”

  Lips pursed, the hauler nodded. “That makes a bit of sense. Thanks again for the help, sir. Very few offer.”

  Sean shook his hand, then the hands of the other two men. “Always glad to help the polite ones. Only assholes have to unload alone. Remember to ask Fredrick about the bathhouses if you’re interested.”

  “We will, sir. Thank you,” the second hauler grinned. “My wife would probably be happier if I took it. At least then the work would be steady and she’d know when to expect me home.”

  “True,” the third laughed. “Means more work for the others, too. Thank you, sir. The rumors about you have improved over the last few tendays, but there’s still a lot of bad out there.”

  “I believe it,” Sean shrugged. “Feel free to speak the truth. Maybe one day, people will know me for who I am.”

  “We’ll do what we can. You’ve always been good to us,” the leader said. “Come on, boys. Job’s done for the day, and it paid well. Time for a drink.”

  Cheers came from the other two as they headed for the exit. It was then that one of the oxen lifted its tail and dropped its own load in Sean’s shop. All three haulers went pale when the ox let out a happy sound as wet splats hit the floor.

  Sean chuckled as he stepped back from the ox. “Well, that was an unexpected delivery.”

  “Just give us a minute, sir,” the leader said quickly. “We’ll get it cleaned up.”

  “Will, you don’t have anything to clean it with,” the second man said in a hissed whisper.

  “Then we’ll use our damn hands!” Will hissed back, his eyes a little panicky.

  “Easy,” Sean said, still chuckling. “My staff can handle it. No worries. Animals are what they are. It’s not like we control where or when they go.”

  The three men looked at Sean with hope. “Truly, sir?” Will asked.

  “Yeah. If I’d been that worried about it, I could have had you park outside. I asked you to back it in, after all.”

  “Still, sir… I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine. Come on, I’ll walk you out. I have to let the twins know to come clean up as it is.”

  “Quinna was already told, sir,” Ven said from the rafters.

  “Thanks, Ven,” Sean said with a brief look upward. “I’ll just walk them out and vacate the area until she’s got it handled.”

  The men looked up and saw the small group of Fairies watching them. “It’s true, then?” the third one whispered in awe. “They all follow you?”

  “Not all,” Ven said, gliding down to sit on Sean’s shoulder. “We are a large clan, maybe the largest in the world, but even we do not account for all the Fairies in the city.”

  “I see,” the hauler said, bowing his head. “I didn’t mean to insult.”

  “We are not insulted,” Ven laughed.

  “Come on, guys, let’s get him out before he drops another load,” Sean chuckled as he headed for the door.

  “Yes, sir,” Will said, getting the oxen moving.

  “Right in the middle of the floor, Quinna,” Sean told the large woman as she went the other way with two buckets, a shovel, and a broom.

  “Yes, sir,” Quinna said. “I’ll have it cleaned up quickly.”

  “No rush, as long as it’s thorough,” Sean said.

  “I can see them out,” Quilla said as she opened the gates.

  “It’s fine,” Sean told her. “I want to give the shop some time to get cleaned.”

  “Fair enough, sir,” Quilla grinned.

  The three men had glanced at Quinna and were now giving Quilla a long look.

  “None of you would survive,” Quilla smirked. “Besides, I’m a Bonded woman.” She lifted her chin proudly, showing them her Life Bond marking.

  The men glanced back at Sean, who looked embarrassed. “Uh, yeah. She’s Bonded,” Sean said after a moment.

  “Strong, indeed,” the third man muttered as they left the yard.

  Quilla smirked after them as she shut the gate. When she turned, she saw Sean there and hesitated. “Sir?”

  “Do the haulers always look at you and your sister like that?” Sean asked, thinking back to when they’d moved in.

  “It’s well known that if you can get one of our kind to agree, you’d get a hell of a ride if you could survive it. Haulers all think they’re strong enough,” Quilla explained.

  “Do they bother you?” Sean asked.

  “No, sir. We just remind them that we’d break them. We find it humorous more than anything.”

  “Why the... display, then?” Sean asked slowly.

  Quilla paused, then lifted her chin again. “Sir, my sister and I are proud to be marked.”

  Sean felt there was a context there and, after a second, he swallowed and asked, “Marked…? As in… branded?”

  Quilla looked away from him, her cheeks burning. It was something Sean had never seen her do. Licking her lips, Quilla nodded. “It’s not really talked about, but yes. If we find a man we want to keep, we eventually ask to be marked by him.”

  “Huh...” Sean said, his own cheeks starting to turn red. “I would’ve thought you to be more the marker.”

  Quilla laughed, a deep hard bark of a laugh. “Well, we normally make it a fight to see if the guy is worthy, and you’ve bested us a lot, sir.”

  Now Sean’s face felt like the sun. “Oh.”

  Quilla stopped laughing and gave him a grin. “We’re not going to push, sir. We’ve already decided and asked for our first marks. We hope to one day have special marks like your wives, but we know we have time.”

  Sean stared at her for a long moment before he exhaled. “It’ll probably happen, eventually, Quilla. They all have to agree first, and I don’t expect them to do that before the children are born at the earliest.”

  “We’re aware,” Quilla said, going past him and patting his shoulder. “Time isn’t a worry right now. We’re already marked.”

  Sean stood there, just letting the realization that, one day, his family would be much larger. Exhaling, he pushed the worry down the road. He was sure that Fiona would wait for his feelings to grow much stronger before she gave the approval.

  Quinna came out of his shop and gave him a smile. “All clean, sir. I even gave it a quick rinse, so there’s no smell.”

  Pulled from his thoughts, he gave her a smile. “Thanks.”

  Walking back to the barn, she didn’t see Sean giving her a questioning look. Sean shook his head and went back to his workshop and all the work he had before him.

  “Ven, you ready to see how I do this?” Sean asked as he shut the doors to his shop.

  “Yes, sir,” Ven said, landing on his desk. “I’m very excited.”

  “Good,” Sean grinned at the Fairy. “First, some mithril for the breastplates. If we can make you bind them, then I’ll work on the crossbows.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  “All done. Damn, tha
t was a lot,” Sean exhaled tiredly.

  “It certainly was,” Ven said, lying on the desk. “Thank you for continuing to supply me with energy.”

  “Of course. You had to bind them, after all.”

  Ven got back to their feet. “I believe it’s time for evening sparring.”

  “Past time,” Venn said from the rafters. “Fiona had me check on you two. When I told her that you were both focused, she decided to not interrupt you. I had just come in to see if you were done or not. They are heading to the bath.”

  “Guess it’s time to call it for the evening. I need to find out how many I need for the others,” Sean said, stretching.

  “That was all of them,” Ven said as they took to the air.

  “All of them? Amedee’s, Charie’s, all of them?”

  “Yes, sir. But…”

  “None of them had Bonds with their Fairies, sir. They are Bonded to me, Venn, or Onim. We had you do Venn’s and Onim’s contingents first for a reason.”

  “Do our friends know that?” Sean asked.

  “No, sir. They’ve never asked,” Ven said, landing on his shoulder. “You are the only one to Bond us. Even the Bloodhearts, who’ve had their clan for generations, have never Bonded. While your allies have been more than willing to make the Agreements, they never offered a Bond. We offered them Bonds and allowed them to make Agreements.”

  “Oh...” Sean said, feeling conflicted about that.

  “They had chances to offer Bonds, sir,” Ven said.

  “The smiths didn’t,” Sean rebutted lightly.

  “If at any time they ask the Fairies to Bond, we will dissolve our Bonds to them so they can Bond to their family.”

  “That’s okay, then,” Sean exhaled.

  “I’m glad you agree,” Ven said. “I wouldn’t want what we’re doing to cause you distress.”

  “If the option is there for them to Bond with the family they watch over, then it’s fine.”

  “You should be aware,” Ven said slowly, “we’ve shared the healing with the entire clan, sir. The self-healing only. We wanted to give them all the chance to survive anything that happens.”

  “I’m fine with that,” Sean said. “I’m glad you did, actually. Anything that will help them survive if needed is a good thing.”

  “We were worried that you might object,” Ven exhaled in relief.

  “You’re fine,” Sean said as he left his workshop behind. “Tomorrow, I can go back to work on my car. I’ll see if Winston wants to come over and work on his at the same time.”

  “Do you think he’ll say no?” Ven laughed.

  “He might have other obligations,” Sean said. “I also need to start work on my ‘gift’ for Sharpeyes.”

  “If that doesn’t provoke him, I don’t think anything will,” Ven said. “Moreso if you have crafted it as best you can.”

  “That’s my hope,” Sean nodded. “I’ll have to worry about the guards, but hopefully, Lady Sharpeyes can have hers run interference for me.”

  “It’s also why you wanted to keep your wives here,” Ven nodded.

  Sean grimaced, then nodded. “Yes.”

  Reaching the bathroom, Sean was about to open the door when he paused, hearing Quinna’s voice. “You told him?”

  “Yeah,” Quilla said. “I made a mistake when taunting the haulers and he asked me about it. Fiona said we should only speak the truth, so… I did.”

  “You did the right thing,” Fiona said. “That must have been tough.”

  “I think I hid my fear pretty well,” Quilla said. “Even with Felora’s help with the dream last night, it wasn’t easy. If not for the dream… I’d never have told him.”

  “Seeing you afraid is different,” Cali said. “You’re always so sure of yourself.”

  “We have the same fears you do,” Quinna said, coming to her sister’s aid. “But... well, when you’re as big as us, everyone expects you to be fearless. We don’t shirk from much, but… admitting that to him? Would you tell him your heart’s wish?”

  Cali’s reply was too soft to hear through the door.

  Sean blinked. Hell, that’s a damned good point. I never considered how hard that had to have been for her. They have a lot more courage than I do... I’d never have been able to admit what she did. Taking a deep breath, Sean tried to clear his head.

  “Venn, did you tell him?” Myna asked.

  “He was getting everything together,” Venn replied.

  “Ven, go in, please?” Sean whispered. “I’ll be there in a few seconds.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ven whispered before they flashed through the door.

  Sean inhaled slowly, filling his lungs to near bursting before exhaling most of it. Feeling a little calmer, he went into the room. “Sorry for the delay. We finished all the work for the clan. Sorry to miss both sets of sparring.”

  “We know you had work to do,” Rumia said.

  “You’ve done good making it to afternoon sparring,” Myna purred from her spot in the tub. “Missing one here or there is fine, Master.”

  Sean began to strip. “Thanks. I should be fine tomorrow. I was going to invite Winston and Clara over. I’ll be upgrading the car more, and he’ll likely want to match theirs at least some.”

  “Oh, that’d be nice,” Fiona said as she got into the tub. “We finished the second bathhouse, so we can all be here to chat with her. Rumia, would you take the counter for us again?”

  “Yes,” Rumia beamed.

  “Would it be okay if my sister and I sat in with her for a little while?” Quinna asked.

  Fiona’s lips twitched, but she nodded. “Considering everything, yes. One at a time, though, so all the work gets done.”

  “That’s fine,” Quilla said as she got the rest of her clothing off.

  “We appreciate it,” Quinna said, matching her sister.

  Sean realized that everyone but the two animal handlers were done or finishing their showers already. Myna or Fiona set this up... maybe to reward Quilla for being so bold? With that thought in mind, Sean finished undressing. Might as well do what they expect.

  “Ladies, do you want your backs scrubbed?” Sean asked as he dropped his clothing in the washtub.

  Both of the Bovine Moonbound women looked back at him. “If you want to, sir,” Quilla said. “If not, we can get each other.”

  “What she said,” Quinna agreed.

  Sean was a little surprised at the reply, but he gave them a nod. “I’m here, so I’ll handle it. Got to make sure we follow the rules of the home.”

  “That’s true,” Quinna nodded, her smile wide. “You can get me first. I’m the eldest.”

  Quilla snorted. “Never going to let those few minutes go, eh?”

  “Nope,” Quinna laughed. “Being eldest has privileges.”

  Sean laughed at their byplay as he grabbed some soap. “I can do you both at once. I have two hands.”

  They blinked, then looked at him with raised eyebrows. The laughter from the tub made Sean realize what he’d said, and he began to burn with embarrassment. Seeing his blush, the twins laughed and turned back to face the water.

  “You could, indeed,” Quinna snickered.

  “We’d never complain,” Quilla added with her own snicker.

  “Me and my big mouth,” Sean sighed. He chuckled as he washed both of them at the same time. “One of these days, my foot is going to get stuck in there.”

  “We’ll be there to help you remove it,” Andrea giggled. “We like the look on your face when you end up eating it.”

  “Thanks a lot, Andie,” Sean gave an overexaggerated sigh.

  “Okay, let’s stop teasing our poor husband,” Fiona laughed. “We’ll have a spot waiting for you, Sean.”

  ~*~*~

  Sean chuckled as Joseph boomed out his name when he entered the Oaken Glen. Glad this isn’t a TV show or we’d get sued to hell and back, he thought.

  “Good evening,” Sean greeted the table. “The Fairies are all kitted out n
ow.”

  “All of them?” Fredrick asked with surprise. “Wait, why am I surprised?”

  The table laughed as Tabitha came to get the drink orders.

  “It is Sean,” Joseph said, wiping a tear away. “If he said he was going to visit the moons, I’d just nod my head and ask when.”