Chapter 79 Me Too.
Isaac awoke to the gentle sound of turning pages. He opened his eyes slowly and smiled. If Lenna was up and moving before him then that meant that she actually slept. “Good morning.” Lenna’s deep and smooth voice purred from the other side of the bed.
Isaac rolled over to face her. “Good morning.” He gave her a warm smile. “You actually slept.”
Lenna nodded absently. She hadn’t looked at him but simply continued reading while they conversed. “Having Kahtesh watch over us was a good idea.” She complimented him. “It’s easier to sleep when I know someone is on watch.”
Isaac just admired her for a long moment without replying. She let him stare as she was used to it. A smile pulled at her lips. “What do you want to do today, birthday girl?” He asked.
Lenna finally looked up from her book at that. She furrowed her brows in thought for a moment before surprise ran across her face. “It is, isn’t it.” She replied.
Isaac chuckled. “You forgot?” He asked rhetorically.
Lenna shrugged. “It isn’t an important one.” She replied.
“It’s your first one with me.” Isaac countered.
Lenna returned his smile and marked her place in her book. “You know what? You’re right.” She agreed.
“So?” Isaac asked. “Anything you want to do?”
“Surprise me.” Lenna told him. “Just make sure it doesn’t involve a lot of people.”
“I can do that.” Isaac replied with the warmest smile Lenna had ever seen from him. She couldn’t help herself. She reached across the distance between them and cupped the side of his face before planting a kiss on his lips. “What was that for?” He asked playfully.
“I love you.” She told him without answering his question and then left the bed to start getting ready to go out.
Isaac chuckled. “I love you too.” He replied. “You still didn’t answer my question.”
“And I won’t.” She said over her shoulder with a mischievous glint in her eye.
Isaac took Lenna to the dessert parlor with the chilled sweets. They had small portions but ordered extra that Isaac put in his Inventory for later. They then took a set of Lenna’s under armor with them to go see Jessica Silverstrand.
“Hello you two.” Jessica greeted them. “It’s been a while. I hope all of my clothes have been holding up.”
“They have.” Isaac replied. “How is Jilian doing?”
Jessica beamed. “That material is simply magical. She’s been doing well, getting used to the new machine and everything. Do I want to know how much it cost?” She asked.
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Isaac shook his head. “Probably not.” He motioned for Lenna to give Jessica the aforementioned apparel. “The material and your daughter are why we are here.” He explained.
Lenna handed Jessica her under armor but then looked at Isaac. “What?”
Jessica’s eyes lit up when she realized what Isaac had just said. He was ordering an entire set of drider silk under armor for Lenna. That pair of garments was easily worth a small town. She swallowed. “We’ll do the work for free of course.” She told Isaac. “It might be a good idea to get it treated so she can’t accidentally burn it away.”
“That’s a great idea.” Isaac replied without answering Lenna’s question. “Can you do it?”
Jessica frowned. “I can’t. I can dye clothes though. As long as using the treatment is simple enough and you can get it I should be able to, but as it stands that is out of my abilities.” She explained.
Isaac shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do. Those fit her so I figured you could just use those as a base instead of having to take her measurements again.” He explained. When Jessica had taken Lenna’s measurements before she hadn’t needed to measure things like bicep or thigh circumference.
“That should be fine.” Jessica assured him. “If there is a problem I’ll let you know.” She cleared her throat. “While we are on the topic, what should we do with all of the material? There is a lot there.”
“How much is there anyway?” He questioned.
“Around ten thousand yards of it.” Jessica replied and let the silence hang.
“And how much is that all worth?” Isaac asked with slightly wide eyes.
Jessica’s mouth got dry thinking about the amount of gold worth of drider silk that was sitting in her daughter’s workshop. She had invested quite the sum on enchantments to protect the precious silk. “Around a million gold if it’s untreated and not made into anything.”
Isaac staggered back a step and Lenna dropped her helmet that she had tucked under her arm. “A million?” Isaac questioned.
“Unworked, yes.” Jessica replied.
“Do you still have Sera’s measurements?” Isaac questioned.
Jessica nodded with a frown. “I do but why?”
“I sort of promised her a dress made of it as a late birthday gift.” Isaac confessed. “Now that I think about it though, maybe whatever that thing is that usually goes under a dress would be better. Drider silk is immune to almost everything so tight coverage is more important than showing it off.”
Jessica’s eyes went wide. “Petticoat and corset.” She corrected Isaac absently before answering him. “That would be best, yes. If you actually gave her a dress made out of it the queen could get jealous.” She warned.
“I’ll see what I can do about getting the stuff to treat it here.” Isaac told her. “Go ahead and start the undergarments for Sera and Lenna’s under armor. Let me know if there are problems with Lenna’s stuff. I’ll trust you to handle everything else for Sera’s.”
Jessica nodded. “Usually there would be a fee but considering the machine you bought and all the work you are going to have done through here in the future we can say that these will be free.” She offered. “But in the future, how about twenty five percent over cost for a maker’s fee.”
“I was thinking ten.” Isaac replied easily. He had seen the negotiations coming and was hoping to not have to give them more than fifteen percent.
“Twenty is more than fair. The work must be absolutely perfect and it’s a hard material to work with.” Jessica countered.
Isaac shook his head. “Fifteen and treating it is included in your fee.” He countered. “I didn’t have a special machine made and shipped here in such a rush just because I wanted the clothes done sooner rather than later.” He explained. “I wanted you and your daughter to handle it. Everyone will know that you are the ones making things with drider silk. The advertisement alone is worth ten percent.”
Jessica smiled and offered him her hand. “You drive a hard bargain.” She told him. “But a fair one.”
That afternoon found the duo on the wall of Safeharbor looking out over the rest of the massive cavern that they lived in. Isaac pulled out a chocolate cake that they had ordered the first time they had gone to the dessert parlor. It was a small one, just big enough for two people to split. It was on one plate and Isaac held a pair of forks in his other hand. He set it on the wall in front and between them.
“It smells as good as the first time we had it.” Lenna commented. Isaac just nodded but otherwise stayed silent. They looked out over the cavern in silence and shared their cake. After the cake was long gone and the companionable silence had hung for a long while Lenna spoke up again: “Thank you.”
Isaac smiled at her warmly. “We don’t have to wait for a special occasion to do this.” He told her. “I just tend to get caught up in everything and don’t think about it.”
Lenna nodded. “It was nice.”
“Unfortunately I am running out of ideas.” Isaac confessed. “Safeharbor has nothing but adventurers, those that service adventurers, gangs, and a single dessert parlor.”
Lenna laughed and leaned against him. “That is very true. This place has more whorehouses than half of the other business combined. More people in gangs than not. Don’t even get me started on the majority of the people here.” She continued ranting but there was no anger, frustration, or bite in her words. If anything they almost sounded warm. “But it is home. Most of that is you.” She confessed. “But Celeste, Sera, and Jessica help.” She turned to him and kissed him on the cheek. “I am so happy Lua guided me to you.”
Isaac turned to her and kissed her back. “Me too, my love, me too.”