Chapter 132: A new patron

Chapter 132: A new patron

Mason found Seul-ki working in her little garden at the back of the hall. He realized as he walked outside that he'd probably never actually once spoken to her alone. She heard him open the sliding glass door and stood, smiling politely as she took off her gloves.

"You will want to know if Blake came to my dreams," she said. Mason stood somewhat gob smacked until she went on. "He did. He is safe, and in good spirits. He says if you slept like a normal person he would speak with you, too."

Mason felt a tremendous weight lift from his shoulders. There was a little metal bench beside the garden and he suddenly felt the urge to sit.

"He says there is nothing we can do to help him,” she added, “as far as he knows, and escape may take considerable time. Therefore he intends to transfer temporary patronage of Nassau back to you."

Mason practically groaned as he put his head in his hands. He expected it, but that made it no less shit. He stared blankly at Seul-ki's little garden for awhile as he tried to accept reality.

"Are those cherry tomatoes? And strawberries?"

Seul-ki's smile turned more genuine. "Yes. There are many seeds in the town storage. Were you a gardener before...all this?"

Mason snorted. "I knew a little, mostly about food plants and crops, but..." he stopped, realizing he had no reason at all to know the many herbs he was looking at. And yet he did. "I think being a Druid and Ranger gives me some knowledge."

"That's wonderful," Seul-ki said. "I've always found gardening very peaceful. And it's a good excuse to be alone."

"Yes." Mason blinked, feeling pelled forward. He couldn't take his eyes off the little plants and the good, dark soil. They were struggling, that was obvious. Though Seul-ki had obviously chosen a brighter spot, they needed more sunlight. Mason knelt beside the square rows and put his hand in the earth, almost shuddering with pleasure at the feel. Seul-ki said something but he hardly heard.

He looked up at the canopy and closed his eyes, channeling Speak with Nature without being sure why. He felt warmth hit his face, then he opened his eyes to see the trees had moved slightly to let sunlight through. It flooded Seul-ki's garden.

She covered her mouth and looked at the trees, at the garden, and at Mason.

"How...that's incredible!"

Through Speak with Nature Mason temporarily felt the life all around him—the pleasure of the young plants in the sun, the amusement of the great old trees above. There was more knowledge there for him, he knew—far more, if he just took the time to understand. He cleared his throat and stood.

"That should help. The trees will give them a few hours each day, I think." He shrugged helplessly, hearing how ridiculous he sounded.

"Mason!" Haley called from behind and Mason blinked and turned, actually looking at the beautiful blonde properly in her simple floral dress. She smiled at him, and sometimes he forgot how lucky he was to have a girl like Rebecca holding his hand, and a girl like Haley waiting for him. "I'm glad you're home safely."

His eyes went over her body and he fought back the wave of lust. "We'll be home later," he said with a slightly different tone. "Maybe make those...preparations."

Then he was out the door gathering civilians, spreading the word that he wanted to set up hunting and farming and looking through the list of civilian classes in his contract list.

They had a hell of a lot of craftsman, so at least Blake's generic craft hall made a lot of sense. They had a couple Fishermen like Hank, and with all the damn rivers and small lakes they could sure as hell get them catching fish. But they'd need protection.

Mason expected the life of many players was going to be rather dull guard duty. But there was no reason Hank couldn't teach them to fish, too...

For the first time he actually went down into town storage, finding a wide variety of things, just as the others said. But it was the food and seeds he was interested in. The former had considerable supply left in an incredible system of freezing, refrigeration, and generally cold storage.

But the seeds weren't nearly what he hoped. There was no question he'd need help, and to use patron points to get more options and quantity.

He gathered every civilian who had a remotely applicable class, then left them with Silvie and Rebecca to coordinate, telling them all to start coming up with hunting, fishing, and farming groups, and what players would take which protection duty. Then he took a deep breath and went to find Rosa.

He knocked at her house several times, until he heard a few poorly translated Spanish curses. The door opened and the amazing Mexican beauty stood there dripping wet in nothing but a towel.

"Oh." Rosa's fiery temper seemed to cool slightly as she pulled the towel tight. "I didn't know you were back. Is...er, would you like to come in? I'll just go get dressed."

"No need. To come in, I mean." Mason winced at the awkwardness, then blinked in sudden realization as he tried to think of experts on growing new plant life. "Rosa—would you like to come on a little trip with me? There's two creatures in the forest who know more about plants than all the rest of us combined. If I take you to them...well, maybe they can help us with your alchemy, and with growing food. What do you think?"

A smile spread across Rosa's face before she clearly fought it down. "If you think that would help. Sure. I'll come."

"OK then." Mason tried not to think about their sexual encounter. "I'll grab a couple supplies. Get dressed for a hike, then we'll go. It'll take about a day round trip with me carrying you." He cleared his throat. "If that's alright."

"I don't mind," she said, a little of that fire back in her eyes. "Do I?" She gave him a look that could melt glass, then turned and half pulled the towel up her back before she closed the door.

Mason forgot entirely what he was doing for a moment, then walked towards the supply room.