“Your future mother-in-law is driving your future wife insane.”
Jay looked up from the paperwork on the desk in front of her, one eyebrow raised in question.
“Which one and which one?”
“Tyree and Sorcha, of course,” Maeve replied dismissively. “Which other? The rest are getting along like ducks in a pond.”
Jay let out a frustrated sigh. She had hoped that after the, mostly, positive introduction Sorcha’s parents had to the compound thanks in no small part to Wilhelm and Jocelyn that the relationship between them and Sorcha would be smoothed out. If that wasn’t the case, Jadis would have to intervene. She wanted all of her lovers’ families safe, but she wasn’t going to let them cause any mental distress to her lovers either.
“Is it about the tracking armlet or her conviction?”
“Oh, no, not at all,” the orange Fetch shook her head as she leaned back casually in her chair. “I believe her father gave her a stern talking-to after breakfast this morning, but that was about the extent of the reprimand. I’m sure Sorcha will tell you about that herself, later. No, Tyree is asking all sorts of questions about the harem dynamics, who is having children, when is Sorcha going to have a baby, whether or not she is eating right, whether or not she is eating the right things to make sure she’s healthy enough to have a baby, whether or not having a baby with someone of your size is even possible, how exactly the size dynamic works between you two, and more uncomfortable and embarrassing questions from there.”
“Oh. Well, that’s not too bad then,” Jay smirked as she stared into the middle distance. “I think that’s probably normal. In a way.”
“I suppose normal is relative, in your position,” Maeve smirked right back as she tapped her translucent fingers against the arm rest of her chair.
Maeve’s morning report had been a positive one thus far that day. Considering the arrival of Sorcha’s parents, Jadis had been worried that the new dawn might be a bit rougher than normal, but apparently, she had been overly anxious for nothing. Sorley and Tyree were a bit smothering – Jadis would have called them helicopter parents if she were back on Earth – but they were good people with their hearts in the right place. More importantly, Sorcha clearly loved her mother and father and as frustrated as she might be by some of the things they said, she was obviously happy to have them safely secured in the compound. So long as no major issues developed between the two new arrivals and the rest of the inhabitants of their little community, Jadis would see what she could do to find them work.
Everyone in the compound had a job to do, though not always one that was related to their class. For example, several of Bridget’s extended family members had farming classes, which weren’t much help in the city. That didn’t mean that they couldn’t be useful around the base, specifically for airship construction, but it did mean that they had to be trained before they could start doing anything more basic than carrying supplies around the work yard.
Sorley was a farmer, though he hadn’t owned his own farm, according to Sorcha. Her father had a class that gave him more of a general-purpose handyman sort of duty around the farm he worked for, which meant he would do anything from tilling the soil to repairing wagons. Jadis figured he could probably use his repairman experience to be of help with airship construction. Failing that, there were always maintenance jobs needed in a growing community like their own.
Finding a job for Tyree would be less cut and dry. Her class was some variant on Soapmaker, according to her daughter. Having a class dedicated to making soap was actually a useful thing for a family living in a small town like Bell’s Ford where her product could be sold at a decent price due to the lack of competition. That said, soap was easily purchased in Eldingholt from any number of shops and merchants. In fact, Jadis regularly got large bundles of soaps, oils, and other hair and skincare products from Lyssandria’s temple for free, which she happily distributed throughout the compound. While Jadis could let Tyree continue on as normal and just make more soap, that would mean dedicating valuable workspace to a profession that they really didn’t need, just to give Sorcha’s mother something to do. Frankly, Jadis didn’t think that was the best use of space, resources, or Tyree’s time. It was a problem to think over and discuss, but if that was the biggest problem that came out of the two goblins’ arrival, Jadis would consider herself lucky.
Not all the problems that Maeve brought to Jadis’ desk were so negligible.
“Do you want me to take a more active role in goblin observation?” Maeve asked. “Or can I continue my hunt?”
“I’m positive that Sorcha doesn’t want you spying on her interactions with her mother,” Jay answered dryly. “But thank you for keeping your ears open, anyway. Yes, please keep up the hunt, and let me know if you make any further progress.”
“It’s only a matter of time,” the Fetch said, her expression turning dark as her tone cut the air like a knife. “I’ll find that sneaky little rat soon enough. Then we’ll see how he likes his eggs cooked…”
Maeve glared at nothing for a moment longer before her whole expression shifted away from malice and into pleasant affability. Even the orange of her translucent flesh grew brighter with her shift in mood.
“That was a joke about causing harm to testicles, just to be clear,” she clarified. “I know you have trouble with unfamiliar idioms.”
“Thanks…” Jay repressed a chuckle. “But I think I figured that one out on my own.”
Maeve was still searching for the spy who had been selling information about the goings on in the Fortune’s Favored compound to nobles and, incidentally, cultists. She was certain that the culprit was a rogue Fetch who was likely in it for either the money or the chaos, but she hadn’t been able to find him. Maeve’s morning report had become a regular feature of Jadis’ day, and the Fetch usually included various rumors or snippets of information that she gleaned from the many inhabitants of the compound. Jadis trusted Maeve not to pry too deeply into the private affairs of either her family or employees, but it was nice to have someone on her side who kept her ear to the ground and tracked the interesting details for her.
From that perspective, she totally understood why so many of the nobility had spy masters working for them.
Speaking of nobility, Jadis’ morning routine had, unfortunately, reached a point where she was forced to do paperwork of all things, like she was some kind of proper noble. She couldn’t say that she was thrilled by the development, but since she had three bodies and she could have two of them performing other duties at the same time, she figured she had no right to complain. Besides, Aila and Gunnar both did most of the more math intensive budget work for her; Jadis just had to rubberstamp her approval for most of those documents. She was still careful to read and review everything that came to her desk, though, since she didn’t want to grow complacent. She also wanted to learn how to be a better leader, which meant she had to learn the administrative side of the job. Budgets, requisitions, profit margins, and salaries were all a part of being the woman in charge of not just a group of mercenaries, but a growing airship company.
At least her new office was nice.
Jadis’ office was situated on the top floor of Building Six, the structure located directly to the right of the main building where Jadis and her lovers lived. Considering that the main building, or Building One, was her home, and they had five more buildings in the compound, the decision had been made to transfer all of the administrative offices to Building Six. Building One would become Jadis’ living area almost exclusively, while all of the business-related stuff would be moved out. The change meant that all of the space on the second floor of Building One could be turned into rooms for their future children. In fact, Hope already had her nursery set up.
The other nice thing about moving things around like they had was the fact that Jadis was able to have an office that was suited to her size. About half of the top floor of building six had been turned into space just for her. The ceiling had been removed, opening up space to the attic, which gave her all the headroom she normally didn’t have. Even better, Sabina’s brother, Valerius, had used his skills in carpentry to build her a custom desk that fit her perfectly. The oak construction was absolutely massive and literally weighed half a ton, but Jadis couldn’t begin to explain just how nice it was to be able to sit down at a table that was meant for her height. The leg room alone was glorious.
Of course, a desk that suited her was incompatible with most everyone else in the world, so just sitting a couple of chairs on the other side didn’t work. When Sabina tried it, her head barely cleared the edge of the desk. To overcome that problem, she and Valerius had knocked together a small platform with stairs that was attached to the front of Jadis’ new desk. That way, the guest seats were elevated on their side and those who sat in the leather-padded chairs were able to meet with Jadis closer to eye level.
Not that Maeve needed the wooden platform to reach Jadis’ eye level. The wily Fetch had other means of doing so, of which Jadis was pretty sure she had only seen the start of.
“Anything else you have to report?” Jay asked Maeve. “Or are we done for the morning?”
“Two and a half more things,” the orange woman said while holding up a hand with two and a half fingers. “Your choice on which first.”
“I am extremely curious about what a half thing is,” Jay said as she stared at the half finger Maeve had manifested. “But let’s go with whichever you think is the most important and work our way down.”
“Then you should know that I have converted another one of Duke Colgrave’s informants into a double agent.”
Maeve’s body rippled as she transformed from an exotically beautiful orange slime woman into an old, balding half-orc with an underbite. The fact that her tight leather pants and lowcut blue blouse didn’t change with her made for a disturbing image.
“This is Magnus of Clan Burnside,” Maeve spoke in a rough, thick accent. “He works for the company that delivers lumber to Fortune’s Favored. You might have seen him unload a few shipments before. Not a professional spy, but he was happy to take a few extra acorns to pass along any information he might think relevant to Colgrave’s spymaster. Now he’s getting double the coin and he’ll be telling Colgrave what we want him to.”
Shifting back into her normal form, Maeve grinned proudly.
“Let me know if you have anything in particular you want to do with this one. If not, I’ll probably have him pass along false information on an enchantment he ‘spotted’ during one of his deliveries. It will be faulty, of course, and it will cost Colgrave a small fortune to make and even more to fail on him. Should be good for a laugh.”
“Hang onto that one for now,” Jay smirked at the thought. “Let me make sure I don’t have a better use for him. But yeah, I like that idea. What’s the second thing?”
“Volker is going to propose to Addy.”
“What?” Jay sat up straighter in her seat. “How do you know that?”
“Trade secret,” Maeve said as her partially translucent form rippled with pleasure. “I won’t tell you the source for free. But trust me, I have it on good authority. What’s more, I have a slightly less reliable report that the reason why is because Addy is pregnant.”
Jay gaped at the Fetch for a moment, shock and joy going to war inside her. After a few seconds, she snapped her mouth shut and leaned back in her chair.
“You should not have told me about this. There’s no fucking way I’m going to be able to keep my mouth shut around Bridget now.”
“That’s your burden, my lady,” Maeve smiled sweetly. “I am but a humble distributor of information. You are the one who must choose what to do with it.”
“Okay, new rule,” Jay said as she clasped her hands in front of her face and inhaled sharply. “Don’t tell me about any family rumors unless they are about something that could be harmful. And I mean actionably harmful, alright? I don’t need you to spoil secrets like this one.”
“Fair enough,” Maeve sighed wistfully. “I suppose that means you don’t want to hear about the half-thing.”
There was a beat of silence between them as Jay stared at Maeve, and Maeve looked out the window, her expression blank.
“…Okay, you can tell me what the half thing is.”
“Well,” Maeve immediately faced her with a wide grin, moving to sit on the edge of her seat. “Sabina noticed that a large piece of wood had gone missing from her supplies, as had a couple of her old carving tools. She thought that one of the young apprentices might have taken them and used them without bringing them back, but I checked into it for her and none of them had. It took me a couple of days, but eventually I tracked down some wooden shavings to Building Three.”
Building Three was where they had set up all of the rooms for the mercenary employees to live, like Nevan and Orla. There weren’t too many who lived in there just yet, but there was ample room for forty people. Thinking about who had taken up residence in the building, Jadis couldn’t readily imagine who among them would take lumber and some of Sabina’s tools without permission. Nevan and Orla wouldn’t she was sure, nor would Terrance or Humbert. Villum had no interest in anything outside of combat training other than his girlfriend. Cora had just moved from the High Temple district to the compound, so she could have possibly needed the wood for something in her new room, but Jadis couldn’t picture the priestess taking something without permission. Tegwyn technically had a room in Building Three, but since he spent all of his free time with Thea’s mother, Vera, in Building Two, he could be ruled out. That really only left one option…
“Meli took the wood and tools?” Jay asked with growing confusion.
“Confirmed,” Meave nodded.
“You didn’t break into her room or something to figure this out, did you? Because that’s not—”
“Of course not,” Maeve rolled her black eyes. “I wouldn’t intrude like that on an ally. Just strangers and enemies. That sort of thing isn’t necessary with Meli, anyway. All I had to do was ask her and she immediately admitted what she had done.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good,” Jay said with relief. Then her frown returned. “Why did she take the items?”
Maeve’s wide grin grew even wider as she leaned forward. Putting her elbow on the surface of the desk, she put her chin on the palm of her hand and gazed up at Jay with an expression that teetered between amused and smoldering.
“I’d really love it if you tried to guess.”
“Can’t you just tell me?” Jay said, wary of the shift in mood.
“Please.”
“Alright…” Jay narrowed her eyes. “Is she trying to make some kind of wooden armor?”
It was a bad guess, and Jadis knew it. Sabina and her apprentice, Violetta, were already working on custom armor for the Dryad. There was no reason for her to try and make her own.
“Not even close,” Maeve answered, her black eyes glowing with laughter. “Try again.”
“Maeve, please,” Jay said with a shake of her head. “At this rate, I should just go find Meli and ask her myself.”
“Oh, please do,” Maeve wiggled her perfect rear in her cushioned seat. “I want to be there for that conversation. Can I? Kerr too, please. She’d love it.”
Both Maeve and Kerr would be entertained by the encounter? Jadis’ worry grew by twofold.
“I think I better go find her now, then,” Jay started to get out of her chair.
“It’s a dildo.”
Jay froze, halfway out of her seat, her violet eyes going wide as she stared at the grinning Fetch.
“What?”
“Of you, of course. Life sized. Pretty accurate, too. A few details are a little off, but you can’t blame her. She hasn’t had any hands-on experience with the real thing, after all.”
Jay sat back down heavily as she continued to stare at Maeve.
“Are you telling me that Meli has carved a wooden dildo based off of me?” She asked incredulously.
“That would be correct, yes,” Maeve answered mildly, both her tone and expression turning innocently sweet. “She really does have talent. I might have to commission her to make one for me.”
Jay’s brow puckered as she leaned forward across her desk.
“But, why?”
“Well, I think it might make for nice conversation piece in my room—”
“No, why did Meli carve a wooden replica of my cock!?” Jay cut Maeve off.
“Oh, that. Well,” the orange woman leaned back in her seat. “Meli told me that she doesn’t understand how you manage to fit inside your lovers despite your obviously huge and unwieldly size. She guessed that it probably takes a lot of practice, so she made the dildo so she could start training in anticipation of your eventual union. That Dryad leaks nectar like a broken honeycomb every time she talks about you, by the by. Anyway, she said once she has the dildo polished, she’ll return the tools to Sabina and then she’ll start practicing. She’s hoping to be able to take at least half your length by the end of next year.”
“I’ve got to go find Meli,” Jay said, disbelief warring with laughter, as she quickly got up from her desk and headed for the door. “Thanks for the info.”
As Jay walked around her desk, Maeve’s hand reached out and snagged her pantleg in a tight grip, forcing her to stop. Once Jay paused her movement, Maeve’s fingers released her clothing, then began to walk up her thigh to rest gently on her hip.
“You know, there are some ways you could thank me that both of us would enjoy,” she said, not quite looking up as she bit her lip. “Maybe we can talk about those ways? Soon?”
Jay gazed down at the Fetch, sensing both the hope and the fear boiling together under the placid surface that Maeve was trying to hide behind. Slowly, Jay leaned down, bringing her face so close to the other woman’s that her lips were mere inches away from the Fetch’s mouth. When she parted her lips, she could feel more than see Maeve draw closer, her own lips parting.
“Very soon,” Jay whispered, her warm breath making the spy shiver.
Then, Jay pulled away before Maeve could close the distance.
“I’ll see you later,” Jay said as she forced herself to go to the door.
“Tease,” Maeve called out, her voice filled with longing.
“You reap what you sow,” Jay shot back as she tossed a grin over her shoulder.
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