Chapter 33: Eden

The inn was nicer than Laurel imagined and cheap thanks to Eden’s conversation with the owner. It felt homey and comfortable like a great place for traveling families.
“It’s not the palace,” the owner joked with a booming voice as he led them up the stairs. “But I imagine you’ll enjoy it all the same!”
“We will,” Laurel said. “Thank you for your kindness.”
The room was sparse. There were two beds in the room with a small table and several candles. It wasn’t much more than a room for them to share, and it was all they would need for now. As Sarah closed the door behind the owner, Laurel sighed at the pouch of money she had.
There wasn’t much left, maybe enough for a few meals. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so staunch about making a clean break and grabbed a few pieces of jewelry to sell.
Sarah sank onto her bed with a deep sigh. Laurel smiled at her nervously.
“Let’s… get some rest for now. Hm?”
Sarah nodded, wearily, “That sounds great, Miss… Laurel.”

*******
Laurel woke up determined to make the most of their new situation. From the look on Sarah’s face, she had the same idea. They cleaned themselves up, got dressed, and sat in their little room helping each other with their hair while they chatted.
“…Laurel?”
“Yeah?”
“I want you to know that…” Sarah sighed. “You shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened. Honestly, I should have left the castle a long time ago.”
Tina had disliked her from the moment she started working at the castle. When she’d become the personal maid of Laura, that dislike had turned into contempt. When Laura died, Sarah should have left, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave and she’d suffered at Tina’s hands for it.
“I’m free now,” Sarah smiled before her expression turned a bit sad. “I might not… be able to see Sam as often, but it’s for the best.”
“Are you going to keep seeing him?”
Sarah flushed, “I-I was planning to go see him today to explain what happened…”
Laurel gave her a sly look, “You could just say you planned on going on a date today.”
“Laurel!”
She laughed as a knock sounded on the door of their room. Laurel went to the door and opened it to find Eden on the other side, smiling brightly.
“Good Morning!” Eden said. “I had hoped to invite you two lovely ladies to breakfast if you’re interested.”
Laurel glanced at Sarah who agreed readily. They followed him downstairs to the eating area and sat with him.
“What are you doing here in the Imperial City?” Laurel asked. “Are you here for the celebrations?”
“No, I’m just a human,” Eden said and lifted his chin with pride. “But I’m one of the royal merchants.”
Sarah gasped, “A *human*?”
Eden nodded, “Don’t be so shocked. I’m tougher than I look. I’ve traveled to a lot of places as a merchant.”
Eden was full of stories from the wild, far-off places he’d visited, but Laurel wasn’t interested much in the werewolf villages. She wanted to hear more about the human villages he’d been to. Eden answered all the questions she had with as much detail as he could manage, weaving a charming description of the villages.
She wasn’t convinced of the goodness of human merchants as they were often in the back pockets of the nobles and ministers, but Eden didn’t seem so bad.
She frowned, “Why did you come to the werewolf kingdom to do business?”
“Simple really,” Eden said. “Humans are a weaker race. We need the werewolves and vampires to reach some form of peace and keep it if we mean to have a peaceful life too. I'm just doing what I can to get us there.”
Laurel froze. She remembered now why he seemed so familiar: he’d been talking to Gavin in the hallway before she’d gotten to her old room. He had to be over the transportation of food to the front lines now, but she had to make sure.
“Butt I heard you had a problem with the cargo you were transporting.”
Eden sighed with a grave expression, “Yeah, I think it was probably during the night that some vampire replaced our goods! Humans, unlike you werewolves and vampires, cannot see very well at night.”
Laurel flinched at the pang of anger that went through her. While it was true humans were a weaker species, they knew that as did the ministers, but no one had cared until Adolph had returned to scold them about their mismanagement.
She was going to press further about his decision to transport the goods, but she stopped herself as his shoulders slumped before he looked at Laurel with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
“Do you think I'm useless?”
“Useless?”
Eden sighed again, “It’s just that…. maybe I shouldn't be doing this kind of work since I'm just a human…”
“Are you very concerned?” Sarah asked.
“I just wonder if I’m not the right one for the job...” Eden shook his head. “No matter what I do, if we keep delivering food to the front line, it’s bound to happen again…”
Laurel’s heart clenched at the sentiment. She had once worked so hard to do everything right only to have her efforts ignored. Were the human merchants the same way? Maybe they weren’t as crooked as she first thought and were simply trying to do the best they could.
She felt a bit guilty about her prejudice against them and hoped that she could encourage Eden the way she so desperately had needed to be encouraged in the past.
“But you're trying, aren't you?”
He blinked, “Well, yes.”
“Then you should take pride in that. Someday, your efforts will be rewarded.”
He seemed stunned for a moment before his expression broke into a wide grin, “Thank you, Laurel!”
Laurel nodded giving him a small smile.
After breakfast, Sarah got ready to go to see Sam. Eden drew a bit closer to her with a shy smile.
“Since Miss Sarah has plans… how about we go and enjoy the last day of the celebration together?”
Laurel looked up at him and grinned, delighted and a bit surprised, “Sounds great!”
He gestured ahead of him, “Shall we? I know all the best places.”
She walked with him letting the promise of a bit of joy distract her from the anguish of the day before.
Eden led her around the city. It was clear that he was familiar with the culture of the Imperial City as he seemed to greet most shop owners by name and order the best snacks from the stalls lining the roads of the marketplace. They were all better than the ones that she and Sarah had found on their own.
Eden grinned, “You haven’t lived until you’ve tried this beer.”
She was skeptical, but at first taste, she couldn’t help but agree. It was sweeter than she expected and very different from the beer she was used to.
“It’s imported from the south,” Eden explained. “You like it?”
“It’s great! How did you—”
“Hey, beautiful,” a man’s catcall interrupted her. She turned her head to find the source of the call as someone whistled.
The man was leaning with several others, eyeing her with a lustful smirk that made her skin crawl.
“Why don’t you come hang out with us? We’ll show you a better time than that pompous guy?”
The other men jeered. Laurel glared at them.
“You—“
Eden stepped around her, shielding her from their gazes. It was touching, but she couldn’t help but wonder if such a thing would be enough. Eden was just human, and there was more than one werewolf leering at her.
“Let’s go. It’s best not to pay them any mind.”
Laurel chuckled, charmed by him trying to protect her despite the difference in strength. They walked on until Laurel spotted a flower vendor.
“Hold on,” she said, breaking away from him to hurry over to the vendor. The old woman gave her a yellow rose with a smile for a coin. She thanked her and went back to Eden.
She offered him the rose and he seemed surprised.
“What is this?”
“A proper thank you for speaking up for me and Sarah yesterday… and helping us find a good inn.”
He smiled at her, “It's the first time I've received flowers from a girl!”
Laurel gasped, “How is that possible? You are a very handsome man!”
“It's true. It’s my first time receiving flowers from such a beautiful woman's hand.” He sighed dreamily. “I will cherish it... Can you help me pin this flower on my collar?”
Laurel nodded, reaching up to take the pin of his scarf off. He looked down at her, watching her with some emotion that she couldn’t make sense of and made her heart flutter a bit.
Laurel averted her gaze as she pinned the flower on his collar.
“There we are,” she said. He bowed his head a little.
“Thank you for such a token, my lady. Shall we?”
They walked towards the cheerful dance music playing in the nearby square. Couples took to whirling around while the street band played. People tossed coins into their hats. Laurel smiled, glad to watch people having such fun when Eden took her hand.
“Dance with me!”
“What?” She asked as he pulled her towards the area and spun her in time with the music. She was so flustered that she couldn’t resist falling into step with him. The beer was humming in her veins, loosening her limbs and making her heart light.
He laughed as they danced, his grey eyes twinkling with happiness so infectious that she laughed with him. The people standing nearby seemed to fade away as he danced with her.
Alice seemed to be begrudgingly calm about it, and Laurel found it funny. If they hadn’t met their mate, would Alice be so against Eden? Maybe she would have thought Eden was her mate if it was possible.
She winced at the pang of sadness. Alice grumbled with discontent at the thought of Adolph.
The warm and light feeling that had been filling her fizzled out.
Eden frowned, guiding them out of the whirling circle to the edge of the crowd.
“What's wrong?”
“Nothing,” Laurel shook her head and winced a bit. “I'm just a little tired.”
He hummed, “Well, I should get you back to the inn so you can rest.”
He led her through the crowd, “I… had a great time with you today.”
Laurel smiled up at him, “I had fun too, Eden. Thank you for inviting me out.”
Eden accompanied Laurel back to the inn. As they neared the inn’s front door, a group of figures grew more familiar to her. Sarah turned and waved at her from Sam’s side. Chasel turned and his jaw dropped open as he hurried towards her.
She glanced across the area, hoping to see Adolph, but she didn’t see him in the crowd. She couldn’t tell if the tight feeling in her chest was regret or disappointment.
“Laurel!” Chasel cried as he reached her.
“What are you doing here, Chasel?”
“What am I doing here?” Chasel asked as if the question was ridiculous. “I’m here to take you back to the castle, of course!”