Chapter 36 - She Didn't Care

“Okay, so what am I cooking up for the grand opening?”
“Potato-and-Fieldgoat Stew, Lana. Simple, filling, and cheap. I only have so much coin to spend, so I went for something we could make a lot of for a low cost. There’s enough new people heading this way, I think we can charge travelers ten silver a bowl… and the locals are making enough now that they can afford to spend five silver for the convenience of not cooking for themselves. Earn enough tonight that we can make something better tomorrow. It’s just like what Danny’s doing with the Consortium. Incremental growth, I think he called it.”
“Gotcha, I’ll go and get the stock started then. I’m really looking forward to the cauldrons… I’ve never cooked in something this big,” Lana said with an excited grin. Willow returned the older woman’s smile.
“Just come get me if you need me. I need to make sure everything is set in these internal controls. Prices and stuff. Though I guess the stew needs to be finished before I can add it to the menu, which is annoying. I swear, Danny always makes it look easy,” Willow muttered. Lana just laughed but didn’t say anything as she retreated to the back of the building and the large kitchen just waiting to be used.
Willow was left standing behind the bar in Quiet’s Hearth, looking at several pages she’d laid out as she tried to figure out what she was missing. She’d already convinced Lana to come and help in the kitchen in exchange for a portion of the meal’s profits until there was steady enough income to give her a standard rate. Yes, Corbin had left the inn’s account linked to his dimensional wallet, as if that wasn’t the most infuriating thing he could have done after disappearing without a word, but Willow refused to touch a single coin of it.
If Corbin wanted to pretend this place was hers–especially if Danny refused to accept the Ownership Transfer Request that he’d left–then Willow was going to make sure it actually was. She would take care of it herself, and she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of “taking care of her” with a bottomless purse and that idiotic “I’m the only one who knows how to handle this” attitude.
Sure, Willow knew that she was… a lot… And she knew that people were quick to judge her… It was why she’d been so willing to move with her brother out to the middle of nowhere away from most people. But she couldn’t help it. When she cared about something, she ignored boundaries and pushed people as far as they would let her. And yes… maybe she had been a bit quick to do it with Corbin but–
Willow gripped the pencil in her hand tighter, her brow furrowing as she thought about him. It had been nearly two weeks since he vanished and there hadn’t been a single word since. Even more annoyingly, based on what Sister Gwendoline had said, Prince Frederick should have arrived nearly a week before Lord Drake’s investigators. Instead, the investigators had reached Danwood first, and that made Willow angrier than it should have.
The two men had entered the village earlier that day and made a direct line for Daniel. Then the door had been shut on her and most of his crew when they tried to crowd around and hear what was being discussed. If they were supposed to wait for the Prince before conducting their investigation, Willow couldn’t help wondering what had changed.
Corbin had been the one to attack Gryphon, something that Willow had wrestled with for weeks now over how it made her feel, but she had been there. She’d already stopped the man after he’d tried to corner her against a wall… so he really hadn’t needed to intervene like that or take things as far as they’d ended up going.
But he had… Gryphon had been rough to look at and, as much as Willow hated to admit it, she did feel a bit of joy seeing him in that state. That was a fact that had bothered her some… but given what Gryphon had intended to do, she had slowly allowed herself to justify it. No, what had really bothered her about it was Corbin…
He was strange and wouldn’t know a straight answer if it danced on his head, but in all the time she’d spent around him up until that point, she’d never imagined he was capable of just that level of violence. Sure, he’d told her his history and she’d said she believed him… but she’d grown to accept that had been a lie. It wasn’t until she was grabbing his arm, stopping him before things had gone from horrible to utterly terrible, that she finally knew that he’d been telling the truth.
When they got back from that disaster, Corbin had kept his distance from her… and she hadn’t gone out of her way to invade his space quite as much. While she knew that he cared more about Danwood than he’d ever vocalize–the stubborn fool–Willow really did need time of her own to reconcile everything she’d learned.
But even when she turned to painting, as she often did when she was mentally stuck on something, it led her back to the piece she’d worked on intermittently over the last few weeks. And the longer she worked on it… the more she’d known exactly where it needed to hang.
She looked up at the empty space above the fireplace and scowled at it.
She’d wanted to show it to Corbin… To thank him for believing in her with the inn. For trusting her judgment. And… for protecting her, even when it was wholly unwarranted.
Quiet whinnied and there was a slight sound of a crash that forced Willow’s attention to the front windows. She was moving before she realized what she was doing, trying to see what had happened. Quiet was usually so… well… quiet. Almost to the point that Willow sometimes forgot the horse was there, so the sudden noise really did come as a surprise to her. Maybe Corbin had come back… the mare did get oddly vocal whenever he was around.
When she got to the window, the glint of metal caught her eye and drew her attention to a dark-haired man wearing a full suit of armor knocking on the door of Corbin’s cabin. Willow’s brow furrowed. Garth and Bram had both stopped by to take a look at the farm. Garth had been particularly confused that Corbin had tried to leave him in charge of the place when he’d never had much interest in farming. By Daniel’s order, though, no one had actually gone inside Corbin’s home.
The man moved from the door over to the window, peering into it curiously for a moment before knocking on it as well. A pure white horse with an ornate saddle stood at the bottom of the staircase leading up to Corbin’s porch, and Willow heard Quiet whinny again.
She should get Danny. There were very few people in armor who would approach Corbin’s cabin for seemingly no reason and this felt far… far above what she should be handling on her own. But Danny had been busy with the investigators all morning and Willow wasn’t going to let this man decide no answer was permission to enter, especially if he was who she thought he was.
“He’s not there.”
The man looked over his shoulder, having been standing rigidly in front of the door. His eyes widened for only a moment before a smile cut across his face.
“My apologies, ma’am. Could you tell me where he’s gone? I have a few questions I’d like to ask,” he said. A crowned sun behind a mountain range gleamed on his breastplate, and Willow was increasingly certain she was right. While she’d never been one to memorize what the royal family looked like… the man practically emanated royalty.
“If you’re looking to ask questions, Prince Frederick, I believe Lord Drake’s investigators are with my brother in the large building over there,” Willow said somewhat flatly, pointing toward the unmistakable structure.
“You are Steward Daniel’s sister? That would make you Miss Willow then, correct?” Frederick asked, shrugging off her suggestion. She nodded stiffly. “You work directly with the man who lives in this cabin, then?”
“I did. The idiot wanted to open an inn but had no idea what was really needed to do it,” she spat. Maybe she should have been more deferential. This was the heir apparent to King Dawnmere, not to mention the fabled Hero of Legend. Willow decided she didn’t care.
“My apologies, my lady… Have I done something to offend?” Frederick asked, concern entering his eyes. “If it’s that I knew your name, it’s because I reviewed the System Records in my interface on my way here. I’ve been searching for my missing companion for some time now and wanted to know what had drawn him so far from his path.”
“Yeah, my brother’s the Steward, I know how records work,” Willow said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t know where he went, but I think my brother does. I’d suggest you talk to him because you’re wasting your time here.”
“My lady, I am fighting for Dawn. Nothing I do is a waste of time,” Frederick said, examining her again. “Have you prayed in recent days? Forgive the question, but when someone has been near a corrupted path, even briefly, it is wise to take precautions.”
Willow’s eyes widened just a tad. Corbin had said the man was relentlessly certain and she’d taken it as hyperbole. Like with how she’d had to accept that she hadn’t truly understood what Corbin had meant when he first told her he was inevitably the Lord of Dusk, this made her sure she hadn’t quite accepted that Corbin might have been right about the man’s assuredness.
“Sister Gwendoline has offered daily prayer, though I’ve been busy. I doubt darkness moves that fast.”
“Ah. That is good to hear,” Frederick said. “If you’re unaware where the man–”
“He has a name you know. It’s not ‘the man’… or just ‘your missing companion,’” Willow cut him off, the constant refusal to actually say his name quickly getting to her. “It’s Corbin. And I told you, he’s not here. He left the moment he heard you were coming.”
“And that… makes you upset with me,” Frederick nodded in realization. “My lady, I apologize if you believe your… I’m sorry I don’t want to assume what the man is to you, but Corbin is meant for much more than this farm. Our world depends on it.”
“Says you,” Willow spat. Frederick actually recoiled a bit, his concern growing.
“Oh my, this may be worse than I feared… The Lord’s been busy. Emotional attachment is exceptionally dangerous when harnessed.” Frederick rubbed his chin, speaking low enough that Willow could barely hear him, and her brow furrowed again.
“You know what, if you’re not going to move, then I’m just going to go and tell my brother you’re here. We’ve kinda got a thing against outsiders coming in and just doing whatever they want because they think it’s what’s best for us.”