Ravens and Crows

Chapter 2 ~Wylan~

I thought being a merchant would be easy. Not actually, but morally. In the Barrel you did what you needed to do to survive. That was how things worked. I was hoping being a merchant would be different.

It wasn't.

The only difference between being a Barrel Boss and being a merchant was one started with money and the other didn't.

I almost missed the Barrel. At least the Dregs were loyal.

Merchants weren't.

Some of the merchants didn't like me. I was a random sixteen year old kid that disappeared for a year and then came back as one of the wealthiest merchants in Ketterdam.

Most of the merchants didn't like Jesper. He was a Zemeni with the Dregs tattoo, revolvers he carried around like teddy bears, and a crazy liking for the stock market.

All of the merchants didn't like me and Jesper. The side looks were horrible. People would come to the Van Eck mansion for meetings and point at old family paintings making comments like: Only one man, or oh look, a women.

They didn't have that at the Barrel either.

At the Dregs me and Jesper were a comedic duo: The Wayward Son and The Sharpshooter. But we were never scoffed at for holding hands or glared at for making each other blush.

But Jesper never minded. Jesper didn't care what other people thought and always did what he wanted around whoever he wanted.

I wasn't Jesper.

~-~

When it came to how the five us got to 'Cabeswater' none of us could remember. But we were all dressed for battle and remember meeting up with each other.  That is where our memory ended.

The boy with the dusty hair, Adam, told us about Cabeswater. Apparently it was a magical forest that played with space, time, and your mind.

I did my best to describe Ketterdam. The casinos. The Grisha. The merchants. The gangs.

"So you guys are from the past?" Adam asked as we walked slowly through the woods. Ronan walked slightly in front of us. Head down, bird on his shoulder.

"I guess," I replied. "When was the last time people relied on horses and carriages to get places?"

"One hundred, two hundred years? Give or take."

Jesper, Inej, Nina, and I gaped.

"What do you use?" Jesper asked.

"Cars," Adam answered.

"What's that?" Nina asked.

"Carriges without horses, ish."

"Hmm." I thought. This could be interesting.

"Where are we going?" Inej asked.

"Good question," Adam walked faster to catch up with Ronan. "I think we should take them to Fox Way."

Ronan stopped in his tracks. "Why?"

"They don't remember anything, Maybe they could do a reading and find out what happened. We can take them to Monmouth there's-"

"No," Ronan cut him off. "No, Gansey shouldn't be woken up for this."

"Ronan, this is important."

"I know," Ronan crossed his arms. "I just think we should wait till morning to dump our problems on Gansey."

"Okay... So what now?"

"We take them to the Barns." He used his fingers to do some counting. "Any of you guys cool with sharing a bed?"

Jesper and I raised our hands.

"Great. There are only five rooms so that was the only option, or the couch."

"What about you two?" Nina asked doing her own counting.

"We share," Ronan said defensive.

Adam lowered his voice. "Eighteenth century Ronan. They didn't have us back then."

Ronan glanced at me and I shrunk in my skin. He reminded me of Kaz and intimitaded me more than I would care to admit. "Then what do you call those two?"

"The select few." Adam whispered back. "Still doesn't mean it's excepted."

"Whatever." Ronan turned back to the woods. "Let's go."

"Wait." Kaz called after him. "What did you mean this is your forest? Do you own this property?"

Ronan turned very slowly and Adam looked cautiously at both his friend and Kaz.

"You've been keeping a lot of things hush, so why should I tell you my secrets?"

"Secrets insure trust," Kaz stepped toward Ronan.

"Too bad I don't trust you." Ronan bit back.

We walked the rest of the way to 'The Barns' in silence. I felt scared. I didn't know where we were. The rules that came with this place were foreign to me.  It was new territory and I wasn't even used to the one I normally lived in.

I reached for Jesper's hand. It was tapping his revolvers nervously but as I took hold of it he relaxed. I smiled a little, happy to still have that ability over him.

We approached a massive farm house surrounded by tons of land.

"You're a farmer?" Jesper asked, eyeing the sleeping cows.

"Mostly," Ronan answered.

"What else do you do?"

"That answer costs a secret." Ronan walked inside and we followed. Ronan lead us up a staircase to a bedroom with a big bed and lots of toys. "This is my brothers room-well the brother I care about- so no getting hot and heavy on the bed please. Or at least wash the sheets after."

Jesper laughed and I turned bright red.

"I'll get you guys up at eight and then we head out, got it?"

We nodded and he moved to show Kaz, Inej, and Nina their rooms.

"I like him," Jesper whispered in my ear.

"Of course you do," I rolled my eyes. My blush grew as his lips brushed my ears.

Jesper smirked and closed the door. We got dressed for bed with clothes Adam gave us and laid down on the bed.

"Jes," I whispered into his back.

He turned around. "Yeah?"

"I don't like this place,"

"Me neither, I feel weird here."

"How so?"

"It's like I'm more powerful here. I don't like it." I could hear his voice crack a little.

I snuggled into his chest.

"Hey," He whispered into my hair. "We'll be okay."

"I know."

"Good night, Wy,"

"Night, Jes,"

I layed there for a second listening to his breathing and feeling it move my hair.

"We'll be okay," I whispered to the sleeping Jesper as I drifted off to sleep.