22 Ill Do My Bes (1/2)
Ash sighed. ”I'm sorry, I really can't—”
Ruby cut him off. ”I don't know when I'm going to have my own place. You have time to practice. But no skipping out on me either. I fully expect you to stay in this castle while I'm out traveling so I can still come find you.”
Practice? It had taken him centuries to be able to do even a partial barrier! What she wanted from him truly might not be possible in the next hundred years. He doubted she would be willing to wait that long.
Besides…there was a very good chance Ash would end up dying during his attempt at revenge. He didn't care about that as long as he managed to take all of the Cromwells down with him.
He might be dead before he got the chance to make that barrier for her. He didn't want to lie but this was his only chance. If he had every intention of fulfilling the deal in life she couldn't be mad at him for not following through once he was dead. Even if she was it wouldn't matter.
”I'll do my best,” Ash said reluctantly. ”If I devote all my time to practicing when you're asleep I should be able to do it by the time you buy your land.”
Ruby smiled at him and took her dirty glove off, holding her hand out for a shake. He knew this custom adopted from the humans at least; it had been around forever. Feeling a bit guilty that he had deceived her, he shook her hand to adjust the terms of their deal.
With that, they returned to what they were doing before. She pruned while he acted as her errand boy because he knew nothing about gardening.
It soon became too dark to continue so Ruby instructed him to pick up all the fallen branches and leaves from beneath the bush and put them in a large trash can she had bought specifically to collect them in, planning to make mulch later.
She claimed she would have done it herself if she could see but Ash had a strange feeling she was taking advantage of him for free labor. For some reason he didn't even care.
Once he finished his task, he headed back inside and found her in the kitchen pouring some sort of syrup onto the food that came out of the contraption she called a toaster. She began cutting them with her fork and shoveling them into her mouth with reckless abandon.
Ash had to hold back his laughter. Did all fairies eat like this or was she simply hungry after working outside for so long today?
He watched her with a certain degree of amusement. Ruby was surprisingly decent company. She certainly kept him on his toes. He found that he didn't mind the thought of keeping her blood seal intact so she could come back to find him in the future.
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