Mason found Seul-ki working in her little garden at the back of the hall. He realized as he walked outside that he'd probably never actually once spoken to her alone. She heard him open the sliding glass door and stood, smiling politely as she took off her gloves.

"You will want to know if Blake came to my dreams," she said. Mason stood somewhat gob smacked until she went on. "He did. He is safe, and in good spirits. He says if you slept like a normal person he would speak with you, too."

Mason felt a tremendous weight lift from his shoulders. There was a little metal bench beside the garden and he suddenly felt the urge to sit.

"He says there is nothing we can do to help him,” she added, “as far as he knows, and escape may take considerable time. Therefore he intends to transfer temporary patronage of Nassau back to you."

Mason practically groaned as he put his head in his hands. He expected it, but that made it no less shit. He stared blankly at Seul-ki's little garden for awhile as he tried to accept reality.

"Are those cherry tomatoes? And strawberries?"

Seul-ki's smile turned more genuine. "Yes. There are many seeds in the town storage. Were you a gardener before...all this?"

Mason snorted. "I knew a little, mostly about food plants and crops, but..." he stopped, realizing he had no reason at all to know the many herbs he was looking at. And yet he did. "I think being a Druid and Ranger gives me some knowledge."

"That's wonderful," Seul-ki said. "I've always found gardening very peaceful. And it's a good excuse to be alone."

"Yes." Mason blinked, feeling almost...compelled forward. He couldn't take his eyes off the little plants and the good, dark soil. They were struggling, that was obvious. Though Seul-ki had obviously chosen a brighter spot, they needed more sunlight. Mason knelt beside the square rows and put his hand in the earth, almost shuddering with pleasure at the feel. Seul-ki said something but he hardly heard.

He looked up at the canopy and closed his eyes, channeling Speak with Nature without being sure why. He felt warmth hit his face, then he opened his eyes to see the trees had moved slightly to let sunlight through. It flooded Seul-ki's garden.

She covered her mouth and looked at the trees, at the garden, and at Mason.

"How...that's incredible!"

Through Speak with Nature Mason temporarily felt the life all around him—the pleasure of the young plants in the sun, the amusement of the great old trees above. There was more knowledge there for him, he knew—far more, if he just took the time to understand. He cleared his throat and stood.

"That should help. The trees will give them a few hours each day, I think." He shrugged helplessly, hearing how ridiculous he sounded.

"When the strawberries are ready, I'll make sure to let you know." Seul-ki beamed.

Mason wanted to say she didn't owe him anything. His mind filled with the thought of growing real crops elsewhere in the forest, using his powers to make it work. The urge to try suddenly made him restless.

"Thanks," was all he ended up saying, then he turned and went to go find Haley, stopping momentarily as his vision swam with the dreaded message.

[Blake Nimitz has offered you patronage of Nassau, and all associated contracts. Do you accept?]

He sighed and tried to put the circumstances and responsibility from his mind, then clicked yes.

Stolen novel; please report.

* * *

He found Haley with Rebecca in their section of the hall, the girls sharing a drink as Rebecca probably told her everything that had happened. They both stood when they saw him.

"Welcome home." Haley came forward and Mason didn't hesitate before wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her neck. He took several long breaths, letting her scent and soft warmth fill his senses.

"Blake's alright," he pulled back and said finally to both of them, still holding onto Haley. "He's made me patron until he's out, and there's not a damn thing I can do to help him. So I intend to stay busy."

Both girls grinned at him.

"That sounds like a wonderful plan," Haley said and kissed him on the cheek, then said slightly lower. "Should I go...prepare myself?"

"Oh.” Mason blinked. “No. Well...later? I mean there's things to do and Blake hasn't been doing them. We need to get serious about hunting and gathering, and start planting crops before the only thing we have to eat are rice and potatoes."

Haley looked slightly disappointed, but smiled. "Of course. And you're right, my cooking choices have gone down considerably. We need more variety."

Mason nodded and looked to Rebecca. "You grew up on a farm. You can help me. We'll figure out which civilians have the right classes, too, then start figuring out spots." Mason saw the patron menu in the corner of his eye and snapped his fingers. "I almost forgot. I bet there's all kinds of options Blake just didn't give a shit about."

He browsed the very large menu of buildings and supplies and soon discovered he was right. He had access to everything from greenhouses to sawmills and granaries. Not everything was available, but a hell of a lot of things were. He shook his head thinking the first thing Blake did was make bloody entertainment buildings. Of course he did.

Mason grabbed Rebecca's hand and went for the door. He should have been paying more attention to this before—making sure Blake was doing what needed to be done for survival all along. But now was the time. "We should get Rosa," he muttered. "She's an Alchemist. And I think a lot of the Sanctuary girls are science types. They can probably help."

"Mason!" Haley called from behind and Mason blinked and turned, actually looking at the beautiful blonde properly in her simple floral dress. She smiled at him, and sometimes he forgot how lucky he was to have a girl like Rebecca holding his hand, and a girl like Haley waiting for him. "I'm glad you're home safely."

His eyes went over her body and he fought back the wave of lust. "We'll be home later," he said with a slightly different tone. "Maybe make those...preparations."

Then he was out the door gathering civilians, spreading the word that he wanted to set up hunting and farming and looking through the list of civilian classes in his contract list.

They had a hell of a lot of craftsman, so at least Blake's generic craft hall made a lot of sense. They had a couple Fishermen like Hank, and with all the damn rivers and small lakes they could sure as hell get them catching fish. But they'd need protection.

Mason expected the life of many players was going to be rather dull guard duty. But there was no reason Hank couldn't teach them to fish, too...

For the first time he actually went down into town storage, finding a wide variety of things, just as the others said. But it was the food and seeds he was interested in. The former had considerable supply left in an incredible system of freezing, refrigeration, and generally cold storage.

But the seeds weren't nearly what he hoped. There was no question he'd need help, and to use patron points to get more options and quantity.

He gathered every civilian who had a remotely applicable class, then left them with Silvie and Rebecca to coordinate, telling them all to start coming up with hunting, fishing, and farming groups, and what players would take which protection duty. Then he took a deep breath and went to find Rosa.

He knocked at her house several times, until he heard a few poorly translated Spanish curses. The door opened and the amazing Mexican beauty stood there dripping wet in nothing but a towel.

"Oh." Rosa's fiery temper seemed to cool slightly as she pulled the towel tight. "I didn't know you were back. Is...er, would you like to come in? I'll just go get dressed."

"No need. To come in, I mean." Mason winced at the awkwardness, then blinked in sudden realization as he tried to think of experts on growing new plant life. "Rosa—would you like to come on a little trip with me? There's two creatures in the forest who know more about plants than all the rest of us combined. If I take you to them...well, maybe they can help us with your alchemy, and with growing food. What do you think?"

A smile spread across Rosa's face before she clearly fought it down. "If you think that would help. Sure. I'll come."

"OK then." Mason tried not to think about their sexual encounter. "I'll grab a couple supplies. Get dressed for a hike, then we'll go. It'll take about a day round trip with me carrying you." He cleared his throat. "If that's alright."

"I don't mind," she said, a little of that fire back in her eyes. "Do I?" She gave him a look that could melt glass, then turned and half pulled the towel up her back before she closed the door.

Mason forgot entirely what he was doing for a moment, then walked towards the supply room.