Once I’d returned to the tavern, I didn’t have the energy to tell Ophelia and the others what Seraphina and I were planning. I could barely stand to think about it myself.

Even though we had to attempt a crazy ritual—was that the right word? I couldn’t help but feel content as soon as I walked into The Shadow’s Respite. A lot of work had been done over the last few days as money had come in. I’d even managed to sock away seventy-five gold in the bank for a rainy day. It was also an excellent way to exchange the small coins we’d collected. Piles of copper and silver were not light. Lucky for me, I’d had an excellent guard in Lady Churl, who had not only buried the bag of money under the tavern, but also kept an eye on it. I’d witnessed firsthand her skill with the blade when she’d taken out a few archers trying to burn Everspring down. I didn’t envy anyone who wanted to sneak into the basement.

While this place was about a week away from the grand opening, it was still shaping up nicely. The walls had been cleaned and sanded down. They just needed a finish. The tapestry with the knight heading up the mountain had been placed over the burned walls, but my to-do list included refinishing the wall, or having it replaced entirely. The floor was clear and clean and had been gone over with sanding stones a few times when Milo and I had downtime.

I went behind the bar, greeting the ghosts, and poured myself an extra-stiff glass of Iron Forge Whiskey. I chipped off a little ice and let the drink sweat. Iron Forge Whiskey was smooth, but hit like an orc’s fist. The cinnamon aftertaste was strong, but soothing. I sipped while looking at my companions. Milo had gone home hours ago, and Lady Churl was probably asleep.

“Hello, friends. How was ghosting today? Meet any other nice ghosts?” I greeted the three.

Garin laughed. “You look like a man who’s returned from a night out with a girl he is interested in. But there’s something that’s worrying you. Lad, what’s the problem?”

“Is it that obvious?” I asked Garin, and chuckled.

“Oh dear.” Lady Ophelia laughed. “Did I not say it wouldn’t work out between you and that tart?”

“She’s not a tart. She’s a wonderful woman. Things are good with her. Great. No, wonderful. She makes me smile. A lot.”

Ophelia’s face fell.

“And she smells good. All the time. The way she dresses is…”

“You’ve made your point. Now, hush about her. Please.”

I smirked at Ophelia.

“Perhaps a night of rest?” Zyn suggested uncharacteristically.

“You doing alright, Zyn?”

“Recovering,” he said and nodded his head at my chest in the direction of the pendant.

“I'm sorry that took a lot out of you," I said, but I didn't mention I'd been thinking about asking him to renew it regularly. I knew it wasn't sustainable.

He nodded. “Not much time left. The camouflage will fail soon.”

“I know, and that sucks.“

"I can do it again, but the potency will be greatly reduced."

"Thank you, Zyn, but there may be a solution. I'll talk to you all about it tomorrow. Seraphina and I need a little more time for prep work."

I drank half of the Iron Forge whiskey. “Damn, that is smooth. You know, guys? I wish I could share a drink with you.”

“You are, lad. We’re just not partaking in the actual drinking part."

"What's on your mind?" Ophelia asked me.

"Eh. I need to do a thing, with your help. It's important, but dangerous."

"To you or us, lad?" Garin straightened up and asked.

"Yes," I said. "I need to ask of you all a favor. One that might have some danger, mainly to me."

"Go ahead, darling," Ophelia simpered. "You know we're here for you."

I wondered if she would say the same thing when she had a chance to take over my body.

"It's a rite I'm going to do with Seraphina. She thinks she can hide The Heart of Shadows from prying eyes, but it will require your help." I turned and looked at Ophelia's ghost. "Mostly you."

"Oh. Well, go on, darling."

I smiled. "Not right now. I'll tell you tomorrow."

I drank a little more Iron Forge whiskey, pulled the glass away as fire ripped down my throat, and stared at the liquid in the glass. Tiny flecks, like cinnamon, floated within.

With a crash, the trapdoor sprang open, smacked into the ground, and out emerged Lady Churl. Her eyes darted around the place, found me, and then glanced at the barstools.

"Evenin', boss," she greeted with a toothy grin. "Place is lookin' good. Heard you chatting. " Lady Churl pointed at the seats next to me. "Them?"

"Yeah. Just running something by them."

"Which you have not finished," Ophelia said sharply.

I ignored her.

I couldn't help but smile at Churl’s enthusiasm. "Lady Churl, can I get you something to drink?"

"Got one of 'em Orange Blushes? Wasn't much for sweet drinks ‘til I tried that one."

"Coming right up."

While I mixed her drink, she settled in at one of the empty stools. She'd long since learned which ones were already "occupied."

A thought struck me. "Say, Lady Churl, if you go out foraging today, can you watch for any truffles? Are you familiar with those?"

"Truffles? Aye. Tend's to eat them myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Pop 'em in my mouth. Crunchy. Flavorful."

"How often do you find truffles?"

"Not so much. I can keep an eye out. Trick's in the smell." She tapped her nose.

I nodded. "They're pretty unique, that's for sure."

"Whatcha got planned for them?"

I shrugged. "Mainly to add a little flavor.” I chuckled to myself. Of course, Lady Churl liked eating them.

For a moment, I considered telling Lady Churl about the plans for the next night, but something held me back. Better to keep things close to the chest.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Well, I won't keep you," I said, stifling a yawn. "I'm about ready to turn in for the night. Been a long day."

Lady Churl nodded, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You alright, boss? Lookin' a bit rough. No offense."

I waved off her concern. "Just tired. Got a lot on my mind. Nothing a good night's sleep won't fix."

As Lady Churl made her way out, Ophelia's ghostly form drifted closer. "Varix, darling, you still haven't told us what you have planned. I'm simply dying to know."

I winced at her choice of words, the Iron Forge Whiskey making my head swim more than I'd anticipated. "Tomorrow, Ophelia. I promise. Right now, I need some sleep."

She pouted, but I held firm. "Very well. We'll talk in the morning. I forgot to mention. The boy, Milo. He's very nice, and very young. If only I had my body..."

"You leave that boy alone."

"Boy?" Ophelia scoffed. "He's a grown man. But what can a ghost do?"

"How old were you when you died?" I asked her.

"Older than me by a good stretch," Garin interjected.

"That is none of your business, darling."

"Look, I'm going to bed. Lady Churl, I wish you good luck. Zyn, I'm glad you're feeling better. Garin, cheers, buddy. And Lady Ophelia, sweet dreams. Just not about Milo."

"Night, boss," Lady Churl said as she headed for the door.

I made my way upstairs, my steps slightly unsteady. The whiskey had hit me harder than expected, especially on an empty stomach.

Once in my room, I closed the door and leaned against it with a sigh Good night's sleep. That's the ticket.

The room swam.

I slipped out of my garb and tossed the clothes in a basket, then I slid into bed, removed the ring, and placed it on the nightstand.

----------------------------------------

"Restorative." Was the first word out of my mouth as my eyes popped open, and I found myself surrounded by light. I'd been so tired the night before I hadn't even pulled the shades. I hadn't had that much to drink the night before!

I had been warned that Iron Forge Whiskey had a kick, and the description hadn’t been wrong. I had a feeling even Urzan would have been on his lips after a bottle. Not that I'd had that much, but I'd had enough.

I'd had the good sense to stash a couple of healing vials in my room. I dug one out of the top drawer, popped the cork, and downed it in one go. The oily feel combined with mint soothed my symptoms as it went down. Within seconds, I felt like a new man. Magic was awesome.

I had been smart enough to remember to bring a fresh water pitcher to the room last night. I poured some into a mug and drank while digging out fresh clothes. The smell of coffee brought me around.

I dressed and found my new apron. Unrolling it, I ran my hands over the beautiful gift Seraphina had given me. I was going to wear it with pride today.

I made my way downstairs with my new apron draped over my arm. The smell of freshly brewed coffee hit me before I reached the bottom step, and I couldn't help but grin. Maybe taking on an apprentice hadn't been such a bad idea. Since I had entrusted him with a key, Milo had let himself in, and he was already at work.

"Good morning, Milo," I called out. "What's all this?"

He turned, grinning from ear to ear. "Morning, Mr. V! I brought you some coffee, ground some up, and used your cheesecloth method. Here ya go."

He presented me with a large mug that was steaming hot.

"Thank you, Milo. This shows a lot of initiative. I hope you brought enough for both of us."

He chuckled and gestured at a mug. "I wasn't a fan when I used to make it, but I tried it with some cream and a mint drop. It's pretty good."

"You're a lifesaver, Milo. Thanks."

The coffee was strong and flavorful—just what I needed to start my day.

"So, what are we cooking for the food wagon today?" Milo asked eagerly.

I set my mug down and started tying on my new apron. "Today, we're doing classic burgers and our signature spicy chicken sandwich. I have more menu ideas, but we're still getting up to speed. I'd like to add one more menu item every day."

"Sounds great! What do you need me to do?"

I reached behind the bar for a scrap of paper and quickly jotted down a list: "Here's what we need. Can you run to the market and pick these up?"

"On it, Mr. V," Milo said, taking the list. He paused, eyeing my new apron. "That's nice. Is it new?"

I smoothed down the front. "It is. A gift from a friend."

"Seraphina?" Milo asked, sipping his coffee.

"Yeah. She's going to take me to the seamstress that made this, and I'll have one made for you and Lady Churl," I said. "Before you head out, let's have some breakfast."

"Sure, Mr. V. I can always eat."

I bustled into the kitchen and threw a pan on the stove. Milo had already started and stoked up the fire, once again taking the initiative while I had slept off the Iron Forge whiskey.

A sausage wrapper from Shell's shop was in the fridge. I chopped it up, added some scallion whites, and cooked it in a tablespoon of butter. I cracked four eggs and whipped them in a bowl. A small tomato was in our basket of fresh veggies, so I quickly chopped it up and added it.

With the breakfast scramble ready, we ate in companionable silence. After we finished, I took the plates to the sink to hand wash. Milo took some money from a stash I'd set up in the kitchen and headed out to get everything on the list while I prepped for lunch. I frowned when I recalled I'd forgotten the ring upstairs. I considered running up to retrieve it, but then I thought of what I needed to ask Ophelia to do and had second thoughts. Better to wait until I was ready for that conversation.

Lunch was once again a rousing success, but we had to cut it short when rain rolled in. Milo and I moved as much as possible into the tavern and set up an assembly line inside. We packed burgers and fries into bags and sent happy customers on their way.

As we worked I did a few calculations regarding the tavern. If this kept up, I’d be able to finish buying the furniture, dishes, a few more pans, and the cutlery required to make this a fully furnished and ready for business tavern.

Assuming Seraphina and I finished the rite tonight.

Lady Churl popped up and helped out in the kitchen, but kept out of sight since the people of Everspring weren’t quite ready to embrace a goblin sous chef.

After we ran out of food, Milo, Lady Churl, and I spent the next hour or so cleaning up. We did the dishes, put the dirty rags in a pile, and I added some of my clothes. There was a launderer a few shops down, and I’d been making use of them once a week as I’d added a few more sets of clothing to my meager wardrobe.

The rest of the day passed in relative peace and quiet. I prepped a batch of buttermilk for the chicken that would get a bath in the morning. I’d found that marinating for about four hours was ideal. I added a splash of pickle juice for good measure and put the container in the cooler.

I hadn’t put my ring on all day. Once I retrieved it, I would tell the ghosts I’d forgotten to wear it. I didn’t want to deal with their questions.

Instead, I put on a smile, and worked on my tavern. Everything was going to be alright. As long as Seraphina was here, the rite would go off without a hitch, and before I knew it, I would be free to go about my life without worrying about relic hunters.

I’d been putting off working on the fireplace. Milo had things to do with his sister and couldn’t assist. He told me they were planning his mother’s birthday next week.

I got out a bucket, filled it with water from the outdoor pump, and scrubbed. I’d already removed the grates and set them aside, but they had years of creosote build-up to clean.

Lady Churl popped up to check on me.

“Hey, boss. Got yourself a project. Need help?”

“Sure. Can you change the water?”

“On it, boss.”

We spent the next few hours cleaning the fireplace. I’d had to get inside and peer up to ensure it wasn’t blocked. There was a lot of buildup. I’d need a professional to do the rest.

Satisfied that the fireplace was ready for opening day, I stood, stretched, and stared at my filthy hands and arms.

“I’m going to clean up, Lady Churl. We’re having company over later. You might want to stay down below when Seraphina gets here."

"Why's that, boss? I likes her a lot."

"We're going to try something to help hide this," I said and pointed at The Heart of Shadows under my shirt.

"Oh. Magic type stuff. Might be I head out for the night, then."

I got up and looked over my clothes and skin and realized I needed a long, hot bath to get all this damn soot off. I looked like I could be an extra chimney sweep in Mary Poppins. Back in my room, I put a rag and some water to good use.

It was getting dark outside. I slipped the ring back on my finger, and headed back downstairs. Ophelia piped up as soon as I set foot in the main room. “Finally! What rite? What are you up to, darling?”

Before I could answer, a fist pounded against the door, making Churl and I jump.

“Easy out there,” I yelled as I approached the tavern’s entrance.

The fist pounded again, and a familiar voice bellowed, “Where Varix!”

“Urzan?” I called back as I reached the door and opened it.

Urzan stood outside in the rain. Moktar was with him. They both wore armor, with shields strapped to their backs, and multiple weapons bristled on their bodies.

“Hey, buddy!” I said and ushered the orcs in.

They wasted no time ducking under the door frame and stepping into the room.

“Varix! Orc come to warn! Orc come to protect!”

“Warn? Protect? From what?”

“Powerful person! Dressed in black! They say your name! Demand Varix!”

Oh, shit. The relic hunters were back. Where was Seraphina? It was time to get this show on the road.