Claire had decided that three a.m. would be a good time to close her new business each night. That way she would have time to clean up, assuming she actually would start doing some business at some point, and still be able to get home before sunrise. As there was not much cleaning to do that first night, she closed up, bid Kristofer a polite if sad goodnight, and headed home with a sigh.

Upon entering her and Sean’s home at slightly past three, she had only taken a few steps out of the foyer and into the main hall before Sean appeared in the doorway of his study, “Evening” he greeted her quietly.

Claire braced herself before turning her eyes to her husband and returning his greeting, “did something happen?”

Sean narrowed his eyes at that being her first response to his welcome home, “I was just wondering how the first night went” he assured her in the same quiet tone.

“You were waiting for me to get home just to ask me that?” Claire asked as she gave him the same perplexed look he had just given her.

“Well it’s been over a hundred years since you were working somewhere other than our home. I told you that worried me; so of course I wanted to know how it went” he told her simply.

“How it went?” Claire looked away, nodding her head a moment to gather her thoughts, despite her surprise at Sean caring enough to meet her at the door to ask her about her night, “I had one whole customer” she admitted with a slight scoff.

“One?” Sean raised a brow “that’s quite impressive” he returned wryly.

“Apparently a saloon without whores is destined to be a financial failure” she stated quietly, her eyes still downward as she and Sean remained standing several feet apart during their conversation; he in the doorway to his study, she halfway between the main door of the hall and the spiral staircase that led upstairs.

“Does that mean you’re ready to give up on it already?” Sean asked, trying to keep emotion from coloring his tone at the idea.

“Is that what you want me to do?” she couldn’t help asking as she did cast him the slightest glance to gauge his reaction as best she could.

“It’s not really my decision, is it?” Sean replied with the same wary look back at her.

“You’re the Prince; isn’t everything your decision?” Claire returned with brevity.

“I don’t think saloons aimed at our mortal neighbors are really that big a part of my jurisdiction” he stated slowly as he continued to look at her questioningly.

“But everything I do is, isn’t it?” Claire responded with the same coolness.

“As long as you come to the council meetings and don’t break any of our laws… I’m pretty sure you can do whatever you want” he assured her with the same confusion at her apparent coolness.

“Like what I want matters” she mumbled as she looked down again.

Sean just shook his head as he finally moved a few steps over to where she stood, “considering I haven’t seen you since we awoke before you left, I can’t help wondering what I’ve done to upset you in the last” he glanced at the clock “six hours?”

Claire simply sighed as she looked away; “bad night” was her only explanation.

“I can understand you being upset that things didn’t go that well with your new venture on the very first night, but I’m getting that you’re more upset about something else, here” Sean stated as gently as he could.

“Getting?” she turned her eyes up to his face as she asked for that explanation with more than a bit of sharpness to her tone.

Sean just sighed heavily “no, Claire, I’m not reading your mind. But it’s still pretty obvious that you’re directing a lot of hostility my way though” he stated while trying to keep any of his own sharpness out of his tone.

Claire had to turn away then, “no Sean, you didn’t do anything” she admitted in a whisper.

“And yet you seem pretty upset at me about something” Sean prodded, but gently.

“It’s what I did” she stated in an even quieter tone.

Sean was a bit caught by that, his mind immediately going to that secret sin of hers. Though he just as quickly forced that thought away as best he could, “meaning?”

Another sigh from Claire, “my one customer tonight; he saw my wedding band and asked me about my husband.”

“Ok…” Sean returned, the obvious question hanging in the air between them.

“All he did was ask me about my husband, and I had to leave the room to hide the tears” she confessed, “is that the reaction I’m supposed to have when asked about our marriage? That can’t be the right reaction. Something is very, very wrong if just the mention of my husband makes me feel that way” she finished shakily, forcing her eyes to stay on the marble floor beneath their feet again. “What’s happened to us, Sean? Really?” she pleaded with him to give her any answer at all that would make her feel better, if such an answer were possible.

Sean bit back his own emotions as the reality of her words hit him forcefully. He moved to wrap his arms around her as she easily collapsed into them. After another long moment, Sean attempted to give her that answer, “what’s wrong is that you feel like you could very well be taken out of this world at any given moment, and the one person you’ve always wanted to be near; he hasn’t exactly been there for you. And you’re afraid that you’ll run out of time before he finally realizes that it’s too late” he finished as he gripped her more tightly and placed a kiss upon her head.

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

Sean and Claire made love that night, and then gave each other that passionate Kiss, just to cement their promise to do all they could to fix things. They agreed that she would keep attempting to make what success she could out of her little tavern for as long as she still wanted to; and that Sean would do his very best to try and end all his Princely duties and business by the time she returned home. That way they would still have at least one or two hours each night to just be together; while they still could. It would have to be a conscious and joint effort if they were ever to repair all the damage that had been done during those two plus centuries in this world.

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Claire had also decided to give Finn a job of sorts at her new business. He would spend his evenings there with her to deter any more men from trying to take advantage of a woman alone. Of course it was true that Claire was even more capable of fending off any unwanted attention from mortals than Finn was, but his position was mainly one given to him just for appearance’s sake. Plus, with another person there with her each night, it gave her more time to plan things like the entertainment she had originally voiced an interest in providing.

It was her second week of business when she had at least gotten the tavern to the point where there were at least a half a dozen customers each evening, which averaged out to about one per hour. Not that that would be considered a booming business, but it was still a slight improvement over her first night’s success.

That was also the night that Kristofer reappeared. As he approached the door to the tavern, he couldn’t help smiling at the sign that now had been placed on the door reading ‘drinking, music, dancing, cards, no whores.’ He shook his head with a slight laugh as he entered the place to find Finn and Claire speaking rather intimately behind the bar, only to immediately turn toward the door as he opened it. Kristofer tried to hide his surprise at how close the two had been standing before his arrival, but quickly forced any reaction to the fact behind a polite smile.

“Kristofer” Claire greeted him with a smile of her own as Finn moved quietly to his usual seat on a stool at the end of the bar to keep an eye on any patrons who may have been likely to cause trouble.

“Lady Beringer” he greeted her as he moved to take his own seat.

“Claire is fine” she corrected him as she reached for the bottle he had ordered from on his last visit. After he nodded to confirm the choice, she poured him a glass and spoke again, “I’m actually surprised you haven’t returned before tonight.”

“Actually I did pass by on a few different nights” he admitted as he took his glass from her, his breath catching once again as their fingers touched, “but when I saw that you had found another young man to help you deter that unwanted element, I assumed you didn’t need me throwing any more punches in your defense” he smiled awkwardly as Finn raised a brow at his statement.

“You’re still welcome here any night; even if you don’t get into any altercations for me” Claire smiled over at him.

“I did notice that business has picked up, slightly” he added as he looked around, though the tavern was still rather empty.

“Yes, you’re my third customer tonight” Claire chuckled.

“Wow three. Definitely impressive” Kristofer teased as he took a sip. “Perhaps the sign was a good idea, after all.”

Claire allowed another small laugh “noticed that, did you?”

“Well it was my idea” he smirked a little sheepishly.

“Should I offer you a cut of the whole two dollars I’ve made tonight?” Claire teased again, ignoring the way Finn couldn’t help watching their interaction with a bit of wariness.

“First piece of business advice is free. If I give you any other good ideas though, we’ll have to talk wages” Kristofer responded with a lack of seriousness.

“I’ll keep that in mind” she smiled back at him as she moved to wash a glass left behind by her second customer a little over an hour earlier.

After another moment and a few more sips of his drink as he watched Claire wipe down a table and Finn just watched him, Kristofer spoke again, “at least you seem to be in slightly higher spirits than you were on my last visit” he pointed out conversationally, trying to ignore the way Finn watched him suspiciously. Then again, if Finn’s job was to provide security, it made sense that he would keep an eye on any customer paying Claire attention.

“Well, things have improved a bit” she smiled again as she finished with the table, “remember I’ve had three customers already tonight, and it’s just barely past midnight” she smiled again.

Kristofer smiled at her comment as he caught Finn watching him again. He then sighed slightly, “Kristofer Harris, pleased to meet you…?” he offered an introduction meant to alleviate some of the suspicion Finn was watching him with.

“Finn… Jacobs” Finn offered flatly.

“Sorry I guess I should have made that introduction” Claire stated apologetically as she moved back around the bar, both men’s eyes traveling over her as she did. “He’s worked for us for years” she further explained, “so I figured I’d put him to work here too” she offered with a smile at both men.

“Us?” Kristofer couldn’t help latching onto that part of her sentence.

“Sean and I” she added quietly, though managed a smile.

“I see” Kristofer stated in his own quiet tone as he took another sip.

“So I never asked you what you do for a living” Claire offered after a slightly awkward silence.

“I’m a healer, of sorts” Kristofer offered.

“Like a doctor?” Claire returned.

“Unofficially” Kristofer responded as he looked down into his drink once more.

“How can you unofficially be a doctor?” Claire had to ask with a small smile.

“My family didn’t exactly have the means for me to get the proper education required. So I mostly just do what’s been passed down through various relatives. Natural remedies and things like that” Kristofer attempted some explanation, vague as it was.

“You mean like herbs and things?” she asked, her interest piqued as she thought back on her mortal years and the things of that nature that she had learned from Chantarell.

“Something like that” Kristofer admitted warily as he glanced at them both out of the corner of his eyes to gauge the reactions that most people would have to the suggestion of natural medicine, considering all the others who had been punished for dabbling in such things and accused of worse because of it.

“My best friend when I was in my teens; she and her mother knew a lot about natural healing and remedies too” Claire offered to alleviate the tension that had appeared at the edges of his aura.

“Really?” Kristofer asked with further interest of his own then.

“Yes, she actually helped me and Sean… with various remedies” she decided on with a shy smile as she looked down again.

Kristofer narrowed his eyes a bit at that odd statement, but decided to leave it, considering they were not alone and he wasn’t sure what Finn’s opinion on the natural arts would be, even if Claire seemed accepting of such. “Admittedly though, it doesn’t pay all that well without the education to validate my chosen trade” Kristofer offered as a way of moving the conversation forward.

“So did you still want to go to school to become an actual doctor?” Claire asked.

“Well, it would help me become a little more financially stable. But alas, it’s still a little too costly” he admitted sadly.

“Hmm” Claire stated thoughtfully. She then allowed her tone to take on a slightly mischievous slant, “if only you knew some people of means who might be able to help you out” she stated with a tiny grin.

“You can’t mean…” Kristofer just shook his head, as Finn also looked a bit thrown by her unspoken offer.

“Well, as you pointed out, I am the richest woman in town” she smiled again, “or at least I’m married to the richest man in town, at any rate.”

“I couldn’t possibly expect you to ask your husband to help me pay for my education. That’s just ludicrous. You barely know me; and he doesn’t know me at all” he needlessly reminded her.

“Sean is trying very hard to make up for his neglect of late. So, if I tell him that helping you would make me happy; he might just agree” she told him with another smile.

Trying to push away his immediate reaction to her claims of attempting to repair her marriage, Kristofer found his voice again “but still… I mean…” he attempted, beyond shocked by the offer. “I haven’t done anything to earn such charity from you and definitely not from your husband” he argued weakly. As his tone was not quite able to hide his own guilt at the attraction he had to her regardless of her being a married woman.

“You protected me the first night you met me” Claire fibbed slightly, allowing him to believe that she actually had needed him to intervene at all. “I’m sure such a thing would be very appreciated by my husband” she assured with another slight smile.

“Or he might just wonder why I did it” Kristofer worried in a slight mumble.

“Maybe because you’re a gentleman who does deserve our help in return” Claire gave him that answer as she gently touched his hand with a soft squeeze to assure him of her words.

Trying to hold onto his concentration at her touch, Kristofer just smiled and shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t help wondering if she’d still be calling him a gentleman if she could see all that desire he was fighting each time his eyes moved to her. If only he knew how much Claire really did see, after all.