by Megan Derr
"Dinner shall not be happening," Hux replied. "Where is Lord Oswald?"
"In his reading room."
"Thank you, Jim. Could we trouble the kitchens to make up some hot toddies? I'm certain Master Lockwood and Chief Potsworth would appreciate not being half-frozen, and Mrs. Penny makes the best toddies."
"That she does," Jim agreed with a smile. "And she is always happy to make whatever you wish. I'll bring them straight along."
Hux led them through the house, fussing with his clothes, straightening his cravat, and smoothing his hair as they walked, until they came to a door that was half-open, the soft sound of a tinkling music box drifting out of it. "Is there anything special we must do?" he asked quietly.
Shaking his head, Kingston replied, "No, only tell him and administer the first potion. This is not going to be pleasant."
"It would have been vastly more unpleasant later." Hux nodded to himself, drew a breath, and let it out slowly, then pushed the door open and strode in. "Good evening, my lord."
Lord Oswald looked up from the book he'd been scowling at, messy black hair falling in his face. He pushed it aside impatiently, closed his book with a snap, and tossed it next to him on the settee. "Huxtable, it's about bloody time you returned. Where the hell have you been and why do you have Harold and some stranger with you? Did you deliver my note? Will Lord Elroy be joining me for dinner tonight?"
"No, my lord, he will not be," Hux said quietly. "I have something to tell you."
Oswald scowled, an expression that did not suit his handsome face. He leaned back against the settee and folded his well-muscled arms across his broad chest, dark green eyes flicking between the three of them before settling on Hux. "Say it then, man."
Drawing himself up, matching Oswald's scowl with a determined look, Hux said, "I believe Lord Elmhurst drugged you with a love potion. I went today to see a potion master today who confirmed it."
The impatient look slid from Oswald's face, replaced by confusion, dismay—betrayal. "What. You cannot mean that. Why would you say such a thing to me, Hux?"
"Because it's true," Hux said. "You're my best friend, and I would never dare say such a thing unless I knew it to be absolutely true. We've done everything we can to verify it, and I am sorry that it proved to be true."
Hurt and dread filled Oswald's face, driving away every other emotion on his face. "Hux…"
"Please, Oz," Hux said softly, but with steel.
Oswald shook his head, though it seemed more from shock than refusal. "I…"
"My lord," Kingston cut in quietly, stepping forward to set the box on the table beside Oswald's settee. "I know it hurts to hear, and you prefer not to believe it, but I would not be here if I was not willing to stake my reputation on it—my life on it. And I do stake my life on it, my lord."
"Not even Elmhurst would do something so cruel," Oswald said. "He's been far too kind and…" He trailed off, scowling at the floor. "No, I cannot believe it of him. The man holds me too dear to be so malicious."
"Well, no harm can come from drinking a potion handmade by me, under the careful eye of the Chief of Lords and your dearest friend. If something is amiss, there are witnesses aplenty to see that I never make potions again. What harm can come from trusting a friend and setting his mind at ease?" Kingston replied opened the box and pulled out the broken heart potion. Uncorking it, he held it out. "Drink, my lord, and put Master Huxtable's mind at ease."
Oswald glowered at each of them in turn, lingering on Harold and settling on Hux. "For Hux, then, though I think you've all gone quite mad. I think I would know if I had been given a love potion." He accepted the bottle and drank it down in one long swallow, licked traces from his lips as he stared at the empty bottle as though it was the strangest thing he'd ever seen. "That is the best tasting potion I've ever had. Usually they taste quite noxious."
"A potion that tastes poorly was made poorly." Kingston pulled out the second bottle but retained it, tucking the box under his other arm as he rejoined Hux, giving Oswald space.
Only a few minutes later, Oswald slowed, then stopped in the middle of rambling on about his plans for the holiday. The expression on his face said that someone he trusted had thrust a knife into his stomach. Then he looked like he wanted to be ill.
"We'll leave you alone, my lord," Kingston said quietly as Oswald began to cry. He motioned to Potsworth, whose gaze was locked on Oswald, and he looked almost as gut-torn. Taking his arm, Kingston dragged him away, leaving Oswald and Hux alone.
Out in the hall, Potsworth immediately opened the satchel he had carried with him and pulled out the paperwork, filling out his portions and signing the bottom of the page with a flourish. "I'll need Lord Oswald's report, but under the circumstances, it's allowed to wait a few days." They could just hear the muffled sounds of Oswald's sobbing. "Fucking bastard, I will see him hanged for this and every other crime he's committed. If I have my way about it, I'll bring his father down with him, see if I don't." He glanced at the closed door, worry, sadness, and something like longing flickering over his face. "He will be all right?"
"Yes," Kingston said. "Especially as he has such a good friend to support him. Give him a few days, Chief, and I suspect another friendly face will be welcome. If you wanted to check on him, that is."
Potsworth nodded and stuffed all the paperwork back into his bag. "I am off to arrest Elmhurst. I'll send round a note in a few days to catch you up on matters if you like. You'll probably be called into the preliminaries, anyway. Lockwood, I know that name. Same Lockwood that owns the restaurant across town?"
"The very same," Kingston said with a smile. "Though you'll probably know the name better someday when my nephew completes his schooling to become an officer. My aunt wants him to apprentice at the headquarters so I'll be near to hand to look after him. He's a good lad."
Potsworth matched the smile, extended his hand. "I'll make a note. Pleasure to meet you and work with you, Master Lockwood."
Kingston shook his hand, clapped him on the arm. "Kingston, please. I'll look forward to your note. Merry Frost, Chief."
"Harold is fine, lord if you insist. Ta, potion master." He strode off, and a few minutes later, Kingston heard the front door open and close. He settled on a small bench against the wall opposite the door, thinking longingly of the hot toddies that had not yet arrived.
As though summoned, he heard footsteps and looked up as the smell of whiskey and honey met his nose. "That smells wonderful."
"Tastes better," Jim replied with a smile. "Sorry it took so long. Was sorry the Chief left before he could enjoy his."
"I am certain Lord Oswald will be happy to enjoy it for him, but I would knock and leave the tray. He'll not want to be disturbed right now."
Jim frowned but nodded and did as he said. "So Hux was right, then? About the potion, I mean."
Kingston smiled faintly at the slip to casualness. He hadn't known Hux went by that name in the day to day. If he had asked around for a man named Hux, Kingston might have found him faster than he had believed. But that would have violated the rules of Acacia House. "Yes, Hux was correct. But we have fixed the problem, and I think Lord Oswald will recover just fine."
"Oh, good. We've been most concerned. Lord Oswald is a good man. I'll leave you in peace. Goodnight, Master Lockwood."
"Goodnight." Kingston sipped his toddy, enjoying the heat of the tea and the slow burn of good whiskey, the lemon and sugar that brought everything together.
He had just taken his third sip when the door swung open and Hux stepped out. His shoulders slumped. "Good, you're still here."
"I never leave until I'm certain a potion has done its job. I also have to give you the second potion and instructions for it." Kingston smiled faintly. "And I could not leave without telling you goodbye."
"You could stay," Hux said quietly. "I mean—I'll be preoccupied, but I think Oz will go to bed shortly. And the weather is wretched…"
"The weather is utterly miserable," Ki
ngston agreed. "Are you sure? The point of our arrangement was to keep it confined to Acacia."
Hux's cheeks went pink, but he did not look away when he said, "I have been wanting to break that rule for some time, though the whole point of my going there was that I did not feel I had the time for a more traditional relationship."
"My situation was the same, but I am finding that it is about making time," Kingston replied, setting his toddy aside and standing, crossing the short distance to take Hux's hands. They were fine-boned, the fingers slightly longer than his, pale and almost delicate looking against his broader hands. "Making time does not seem so hard, when there is true motivation to do so." He smiled. "I have always found you motivating."
"Motivating, is that the word for it?" Hux smiled, soft and sweet, a smile Kingston knew very well indeed.
That time Kingston did kiss him, soft and lingering, resting one hand lightly against the side of his head. Oh, he hoped this worked out because having a chance to build something with Hux by the light of day was better even than the day he'd opened his own shop, better than the day it had finally begun to turn a profit.
He had been fascinated from the moment he and Hux had met in the library of Acacia house, two busy, lonely men seeking something better than the occasional visit to a brothel but nothing as time-consuming as a true lover. Kingston had only been visiting Acacia house for two weeks, getting to know some of the other patrons but always leaving alone. Until he'd seen Hux, and they'd spent the night together in the room at the end of the second floor hall.
They had very quickly made their assignations a regular appointment, on the first and sixteenth day of every month. In the two years since they'd begun the arrangement, they'd failed to keep only three appointments. With each meeting, the parting became increasingly difficult. Kingston lost a piece of himself every time he left, had been on the verge of asking a daring, possibly stupid, question.
He squeezed Hux's hands and stepped back. "I will let you take care of Lord Oswald." He retrieved the pink potion and placed it on the tray with the toddies. "Two spoonfuls daily for the next ten days, one in the morning, one in the evening. Try to administer them at the same times every day, but if you can't, it shouldn't cause any harm. Don't rush it, or try to do more than two doses in the same day. The potion is potent and can be dangerous if too much is consumed at once."
"I'll remember, thank you." He kissed Kingston's cheek. "If you'll find the staff, tell them you'll be staying in my room and they can send a plate of dinner up for you, unless you'd prefer to eat in the dining room. It's a dreary room, though. We never use it for anything save the odd dinner party. If the staff asks, I'll eat once Oswald is in bed. They can hold my plate in the kitchen until then."
"As you wish," Kingston said with a smile and lightly touched Hux's cheek before withdrawing. Once Hux had vanished back into the reading room, he retrieved his toddy and went in search of the staff.
Jim came striding out of the kitchen just as Kingston reached it. "Something wrong, Master Lockwood?"
"Not at all. Master Hux has invited me to stay and said to let you know I will be staying in his room."
Surprise rippled across Jim's face, and then he burst into a grin. "You're the reason he slips away twice a month, aren't you? We knew it, we bloody knew he was slipping off to see a lover, that liar. I'll show you up to his room." His grin widened as he led the way from the kitchen back to the front hall and up the staircase there.
They came to a stop at the end of the hall. Kingston smiled faintly.
"Hux will never live this down, not in a hundred years," Jim said cheerfully. "I'll fetch you some fresh clothes and a dressing robe. I'm sure you don't want to be stuck in those damp things, especially if this weather keeps up and you're stuck here." He slipped away before Kingston could reply.
Kingston pushed the door open and stepped inside. The room was simple, elegant, all dark and light browns with accents of blue. There was a bed in one corner, the drapes around it pulled back and tied to the bed posts. A small table beside the bed contained a lamp, a book, and an empty wineglass. Kingston smiled, thinking of all the times Hux had come to him in Acacia with the taste of wine on his lips.
On the other side of the room was a small fireplace, a fire already burning. To the left of the fireplace was a small table stacked with books, papers, bottles of ink, and a case of pens. The chair was buried beneath a dressing robe that looked as though it had been hastily discarded. To the right of the fireplace was a small bureau and a door that likely led to a dressing room.
At the foot of the bed was a large chest that also served as a bench. Kingston set his toddy on the table by the bed, then removed and folded his jacket, leaving it on the chest. Next he stripped off his waistcoat and cravat, setting them atop the jacket. It was not as though discretion was necessary.
Unfortunately, the room offered very little for sitting beyond the chair at the table, which he hesitated to go near for fear of messing something up.
The problem was solved a moment later, however, when Jim returned bearing a dinner tray and followed by two footmen with larger, far more comfortable looking chairs. "Borrowed these from a sitting room Lord Oz never uses. Be a bit crowded, but maybe now Hux will listen to Lord Oz and take a larger room, eh? Here's your supper, then." He set it on a folding table he had carried along with him, setting everything up beside one of the chairs once they were arranged before the fire. "I believe Hux was just putting Lord Oz to bed and will be along shortly." A maid bustled in with another dinner tray and table and set it up quickly beside the other chair. Kingston thanked them when they were done. Jim dismissed the other servants, then turned back to Kingston. "What do you prefer we call you, Master Lockwood?"
"Kingston is fine, thank you."
Jim nodded, then bowed and slipped away, closing the door quietly behind him.
Sitting down, Kingston immediately helped himself to the jewel-red wine. It would go straight to his head after a long day of hard work and little food, but he could not bring himself to care. He had just started in on the food when the door opened and Hux slipped inside. "How is Lord Oswald?" Kingston set his wine aside and rose, crossing the room to take Hux's hand and tug him in close.
"Asleep and doing as well as can be expected. I do not think I will ever be able to adequately thank you for all you've done. I rarely use potions, and the ones kept in the household are bought by Jim or Heather—she's the cook. I dithered forever over who to visit, but you came the most highly recommended. Of course, if I had known 'Potion Master Lockwood of Two Parts Mistletoe at Number 12 Green Row' was my Lock, I would have gone straightaway."
"Your faith humbles me. I am grateful the matter was so well when normally they end far more grimly." He brushed back a loose strand of hair. "You look tired."
"I have not been resting easy since this whole mess began. I do wish I had realized sooner, acted faster, but at least I did not take too long." He smiled shyly. "I was looking forward to our appointment in a few days. I even had planned to bring you a Frost Days gift."
Kingston brushed a whisper-soft kiss across his mouth. "You are all the gift I need."
Hux smiled, kissed him more firmly. "I think I can certainly come up with something you will not refuse."
"If it involves you naked, certainly not," Kingston replied. "But for now, I think, you should eat and then go to bed. I would not protest some rest myself." He drew Hux in closer, their bodies flush, and kissed him, deep and slow and thorough, tasting whiskey and lemon and tea. He shivered at the fingers that carded gently through his hair, the familiar scent and feel of Hux, still reeling that he was suddenly free to touch and kiss and see this man more than twice a month.
Reluctantly drawing back, he took Hux's hand and led him to their waiting suppers.
*~*~*
"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Kingston asked as Eliza came back from showing out their only customer of the day. Middle of Frost Days, and snow still p
iled up everywhere. Only the most desperate were coming for potions. He almost wished it were busy; he could use the distraction from wondering how Hux and Lord Oswald faired, from wondering if Elmhurst had been locked up.
But it had been three days since he had left Hux to return to the shop, and no one had so much as sent a note.
Eliza approached the counter, tucking back tray bits of hair that had escaped their knot. "I do not think it is arrogant to say that I will be testing for my mastership soon…"
"No, it's not," Kingston agreed. "I was going to submit the paperwork after Frost Days."
She tangled her hands on the counter. Kingston closed the ledger where he'd been looking over the day's customers, noting supplies he'd need to order once the weather cleared enough to permit it. "What is it, my dear?"
"I was wondering… I have been saving my pay for quite some time…"
"Come to it, Eliza. I've never known you to dither." Kingston smiled, reached across the counter, and took her hand.
She smiled, covering his hand with her other one. "I was wondering if you would let me buy into the shop. This place is very dear to me, and I've never wanted to go into private practice or research, certainly not the military or government. A shop is exactly what I want, and I see no reason to start all over when I've worked here for so long, love it dearly, and we work well together. And I know that you have been wanting more free time…"
Kingston returned her nervous smile with a bright, happy one. "My dearest friend, that is the finest idea I've heard in forever. I was already mourning losing you once you got your mastership. This is turning out to be the very finest Frost Days, indeed."
"Mm-hmm," she said with a grin. "I bet, the way you were making eyes at that little secretary. Is that something to do with you popping out twice a month?"
