It's in the Ale

Rowan was pacing back and forth in the cottage while waiting for Stefan and Rain. May and Mary were making dinner and didn't bother to question why he appeared to be so upset. He'd tried not to let it show, but jealousy had got the best of him. Half of him wanted to go outside and see what was taking them so long, whilst the other half couldn't stop thinking about the way Rain had jumped into Stefan's arms the second she saw him.

Chewing on his lips, Rowan reassured himself that Stefan was probably giving her updates about what was happening at the brothel after they had left. Rain had never shown interest in Stefan before, so he had no reason to worry. Right?

The handle on the door shook slightly and Rowan flew straight to it and opened the door, glowering at Stefan the second he saw him alone. "Where's Peach?"

"Oh, she's checking on Thunder." Stefan stepped around Rowan to walk in as May and Mary came to introduce themselves.

Rowan couldn't care less about what they were saying to each other. He continued pacing back and forth and pinching his bottom lip anxiously until he heard, "you're welcome to stay with us, Stefan."

"You're staying?" He shot his head up, his eyes went round.

"Yeah." Stefan nodded happily. "I'm going back to the village tomorrow with Mary to get Lightning. I couldn't bring both horses here as it might have been suspicious."

Mary put her hand on Rowan's shoulder, giving him a warming smile. "You and Stefan can sleep in the shed and Rain will sleep here with May and I."

"Can you give us a moment?" Rowan told her and pulled Stefan back to the entrance. He watched the girls set the table and turned to his friend, lowering his voice to a whisper, "how was Peach when you talked to her? Did she tell you why she was so upset?"

"No, she didn't say anything but she was very emotional. Did you do something wrong?"

"Fuck, I think I did," Rowan breathed into his palms, his eyes squeezed shut, "she was terrified when she saw me kill that guard. I bet she only sees a murderer when she looks at me now."

"That's not true," Stefan said, putting both hands on Rowan's shoulders. "You only did that to protect her and I know my lady won't ever think so about someone who has saved her life."

"Your lady?"

Despite Rowan looking distressed, Stefan proudly raised his chin. "I just proposed and she said she'd think about it."

Rowan froze as those words hit him like an arrow, yet his heart didn't stop, it kept beating faster and louder.

"I think she's going to say yes. God, I cannot wait until tomorrow!"

Stefan was on cloud nine so he could not see through Rowan's fake smile. He patted Rowan on the back and joined the sisters at the table. Meanwhile, the heartbroken man went limb by the door as his shoulders slumped and his face turned blank.

He wanted to be optimistic and believed that maybe meant no for Rain. Still, if she had wanted to turn Stefan down, she would've done it right when he asked. So she was actually considering it. Rain believed that marriage was the ultimate happy ending for a woman, and one would be happy if they married the right man. Stefan seemed like someone she could fall in love with. If Rowan was her, he would rather stay with Stefan than continue to wake up every day wondering if it would be the last.

Despite knowing the reason she would consider marrying Stefan, Rowan still could not accept it.

When Rain entered, his entire body stiffened. She stopped at the door and gave him a smile, one too gentle, almost forceful that it made his skin crawl. Stefan was being distracted by whatever Mary was telling him about and so he didn't notice Rain coming in. Rowan grabbed her elbow as she walked past. She looked at him, flustered as he gently pulled her closer.

He brought his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Stefan and I are staying in the shed tonight, so...uh...if you can't sleep, you can come over. We can...cuddle again."

"Okay," was all she said before giving a small smile and joining the others at the table.

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That night, Rowan couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning while Stefan was snoring next to him. He would prop himself up on his elbows every few minutes to look at the door, hoping Rain would enter and join him under these covers.

He missed her soft skin, her sweetness on his tongue as he held her legs apart and watched her squirming and gasping his name. But most of all, he missed falling asleep holding her and waking up smelling just like her. If she came to him tonight, then he would know that she chose him over Stefan. But he waited, and waited, and waited, until he fell asleep.

The next day, he woke up alone. He didn't know how late it was, but his head didn't hurt as much as yesterday and his wound wasn't as painful anymore. He rolled out of bed and put on his shirt before taking a heavy-footed walk outside.

The sky was so pretty today, blue, bright and soft all at once. Rowan filled his lungs with fresh air and the soft smell of the morning's dewy grass. He couldn't help but notice the red and yellow wildflowers growing along the path. Thinking for a second, he decided to pick some for Rain.

He walked around the cottage and found her, Stefan, and May at the stable getting ready for the trip back to the village. He watched Rain from a distance, and his heart pained when he saw Stefan give her the same flowers. He looked down at the ones he had picked, his heart slowly sinking and he heard Mary's voice from behind, "are you okay?"

"You scared me," he said as she approached.

She pointed to the flowers. "Are those for Rain or for me?"

"No one. I just thought they were pretty," he said reluctantly. "You can have them if you want."

Mary took the flowers without faltering and told him she loved them very much.

"May, look!" she shouted at her sister who was following Rain towards them. "Rowan picked these flowers for me! Are they pretty?"

May rolled her eyes, laughing slightly, but Rain’s expression stayed the same. She was looking at Rowan, who was staring at his feet as if he was afraid to see her reaction.

May told Mary that Stefan was waiting for her, and as Mary said goodbye to Rowan and Rain, she didn't forget to give Rowan a kiss on the cheek. Rain didn't ask about it, not even after Stefan and Mary had left. Rowan assumed she was upset about him and Mary, but he didn't think of it as an achievement.

If only he could go back to when he didn't care if she ignored him, but as he watched her helping May with the housework just to avoid him, all he wanted was to tear his head off and set himself on fire.

In a moment of selfishness, he wished Stefan wouldn't return.

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When Stefan and Mary came back, the sun was setting and Rowan had just woken up from a long nap.

His wound didn't hurt anymore and all the bruises had magically disappeared, but he had been weary all day long and didn't want to leave the bed. He covered his face with a pillow, trying to fall back to sleep when a knock on the door made him jolt right up.

"Rowan! I'm back!"

And so is Stefan, he thought tiredly and ran his hands over his face.

He came to open the door as Mary kept on knocking but she was too impatient to wait. She burst right in before he could touch the handle and slammed the door shut, standing with her back against it and her hands behind her back.

"May and I had to go outside so Stefan and Rain could talk," she said, biting her lip. "Would you escort me to their wedding?"

"There won't be a wedding."

"Why not?" Pouting, she followed him to the bed and stood with her hands on her hips as he sat down.

"I know Rain. She doesn't want to marry Stefan."

"That's not what she told May."

His eyes popped out as he looked up at the girl. "What did she tell May?"

Mary plopped down by his side, hugging his arm and resting her chin on his shoulder. "She said she was going to say yes."

"You're lying."

"I'm not!" Mary shook her head. "If you don't believe me, you can ask May. Or you can see it for yourself!"

She got up and pulled his arm but he didn't move. She huffed, her nose crinkled like a little girl. "Don't you want to congratulate them?"

"I'm too tired, Mary. The only thing I want right now is some ale."

"I have ale!"

Rowan was surprised when the girl ducked under his bed and pulled out a wooden box full of ales. His eyes grew large as she put a finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet.

"I have to hide these from my sisters. They hate it when I drink, but I'm not a baby anymore, I just turned eighteen last month."

"Eighteen?" He chuckled. "You're the same age as Peach and you look quite like her."

"I assume that's a compliment?" She smirked.

"It is." Rowan sighed sadly as he took the bottle from her hand.

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Reyna was waiting for Stefan by the fireplace when he walked in. From the cheerful look on his face, she guessed May had told him something before he entered, which would make what she was about to say so much worse. But he might already know that as he took a seat on the opposite side of the table and saw the massive frown on her face.

"I'm sorry, Stefan," she told him, the flame glowing in her eyes as she met his disheartening gaze.

Stefan swallowed hard, running his fingers through his hair. He knew this was going to happen, and yet he was brave enough to hope it would go differently.

Before he came back, she had prepared a long speech to turn him down, thinking if she gave him reasons then her answer would hurt him less. But after spending some time to think it over, she realised people would only hear what they wanted to hear, and the other things, no matter how genuine, would be a waste of time. She was not going to waste his time, and only going to say what she thought was important.

"I actually considered it, you know," she spoke with a faint frown. "I thought about how marrying you would be the perfect escape for all of us. And I even told May that I was going to accept your proposal."

"So what changed that?" he asked calmly despite being everything but calm. She appreciated how he was trying to understand instead of being bitter about her decision.

She sucked in a breath, kneading her temple. "When you came back and I heard you outside, there was this unsettling feeling in my stomach. It was not only sadness but also guilt. And I thought, if I felt that way about accepting your proposal then how could I spend my whole life with you and feel it every day? You don't deserve that. And I don't either."

Stefan nodded. Though disappointed, he didn't interrupt her.

"I ran away from the place where I had to pretend to be someone I wasn't, and I don't want to go back to that same life. I can't love you the way you want me too, Stefan. I'm so sorry, but I can't, and you deserve a wife who will love you until her very last breath. I'm very sorry."

"It's okay, Rain. You don't have to apologise," Stefan said as he reached across the table to hold her hand. "I've spent some time thinking and realised I was wrong to put you into this position. I wouldn't be happy if you marry me only because it felt like the right thing to do. I don't want to be the greatest mistake of your life."

She rolled her eyes as they shared a laugh. "Well, it would be a real challenge to become the greatest mistake of my life."

Stefan pressed his lips into a smile as he gave her hand a squeeze. "I know someone else will fall in love with you, Rain. Trust me, it's very hard not to."

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Rowan gripped the bottle in his hand, his eyes swivelling towards the back of his head in a distressed sense of a headache. Mary was rambling on about something to do with magic and potions, which made no sense to him but he wasn't making an effort to understand.

They were sitting on the floor, he tilted his head towards the edge of the bed, sighing as the walls started changing figures and the ceiling was expanding and shrinking in a blink of an eye.

With her head on his chest, Mary was singing a song she didn't know the words to, so she replaced most of the lyrics with his and her name and both of them dissolved into laughter every time she shouted them out loud.

He felt shivers down his spine as she nuzzled his neck, her warm breath tickling his shoulder whilst his own breath was the underlying cause of the smell of alcohol that entered his nostrils. His mouth was sore and dry so he poured the rest of the ale down his throat and put the empty bottle back on the floor with the other ones.

He gently pushed her head off his shoulder, clearing his throat as he stood up, just to fall down on the bed in an unbalanced attempt to walk to the door. He lay there, his arms spread, feeling the comfort of the mattress overtaking the state of drunkenness.

"Peach," he mumbled while covering his eyes with his forearm. He felt the bed weighing down as Mary got on and mounted him. She straddled his waist, giggling like a madwoman as she lay flat on top of him, her chest against his chest and he wasn't in his right mind to push him off her.

As she put her lips to his neck, he cupped her cheeks and brushed her long black hair out of her face. His vision was blurred as her face faded out of focus only to fade back in while spinning in circles with the ceiling.

"Peach...you're here," he mumbled out of desperation as he sat up, locking an arm around her waist. Mary couldn't stop laughing. She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed her forehead to his.

"Peach? I like Peach, the best fruit in the world!" she said drunkenly, but all he could see was her mouth moving in silence.

He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb and she sucked it into her mouth, holding his wrist so he couldn't pull away. But he didn't want to. His eyes bored into her as his eyelids drooped. He smiled, staring at his finger between her lips. He adored Rain’s full lips. Rain’s bright eyes. Rain’s pink cheeks...

It was Rain that he saw sitting on his lap. It was Rain who was whispering into his ear how much she wanted him. It was Rain whose lips he was kissing, whose hands snuck under his shirt, whose dress he was taking off. It was all her.

Kissing him passionately, Rain combed her fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes at the comforting feeling. She took the opportunity to slip her tongue in, and instantly he responded by gliding his tongue against hers. She leaned back to flick her hair out of the way, reaching down to put his hands around her waist and rubbing her crotch against his thighs. She began to pant a little as she cupped his growing bulge.

"You're hard, " she whispered in his ear, ending it with a moan and grinding down more urgently.

His hands had to steady her, and her head fell against his shoulder, breathing heavily and her eyes fluttering.

"G-god," she moaned. "You've got me so wet."

Rowan moved her hips faster in circles, eyes rolling back at the sensation of the pressure on his cock. "I need to touch you..."

"P-please," she whimpered, and he lifted her off him and slid her underwear off her hips, his body reacting strongly to the sight as he pulled his pants down to release his erected cock, sliding his fist up and down the length as she started kissing him again...

Everything after that was a blur...

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The next time Rowan opened his eyes, he was lying naked on the bed, tangled up between the sheets, and the sunlight was shining through the high window on the wall. He wasn't sure the images in his mind were a crazy dream or actual memories of the night before, until he flipped onto his side and saw the girl's bare back as she was sleeping beside him.

"P-Peach?" he whispered, reaching out to touch her shoulder. His slight movement made her stir awake, and he was petrified when she turned over.

He instantly sat up as Mary propped herself up on her elbows to look at him. The blanket slipped down, exposing her perky round breasts and he quickly looked away, making her chuckle.

"You loved them last night. Don't hurt my feelings." She smirked and threw her legs off to the side of the bed. He sat on the other side, his back facing her as they silently put on their clothes.

"I can't get pregnant, if that's what you're afraid of," she told him, but he kept on getting dressed and didn't say a word. She broke the silence once again, "you don't remember anything we did?"

"Only a bit, " he finally said, "but I thought...I thought..."

"You thought I was Rain, right?"

He did. He fucking did, and he was so ashamed.

Lucky for him Mary didn't look angry or bitter. She turned and patted him on the back. "It's okay. I don't remember much either. Except for a few things you said--"

"What did I say?" he asked quickly.

She chuckled at his worrying look. "When you came, you said you loved her. I thought it was so sweet."

He wished she had been lying, but he knew himself and that was definitely something he had said when he was drunk and missing her.

She might have left with Stefan already or was getting ready to leave, and he couldn't deal with either way. He just wanted to stay in this shed, alone, until he accepted that he'd lost her and a chance to say goodbye.

He wasn't sure if it was love as he had called it, but the way he felt about her had been the most exciting and frightening and disappointing and comforting feeling he had ever felt. And now he couldn't accept that it was over, but he couldn't hide from it forever.

Once he and Mary had finished getting dressed and cleaning the bottles on the floor, she gave him a hug and told him she was sorry about Rain. He wasn't sure if she was sincere, but he would take all the sympathy he got. Mary opened the door and walked out first, he reluctantly followed.

His feet turned to stone the second he saw Rain right outside the cottage with Thunder and Lightning. Mary had gone somewhere but he didn't care. He turned his head from left to right, looking for Stefan, and when he couldn't find him, he gathered all of his courage to approach her.

Lightning reared and neighed when she saw him, but Rain and Thunder's reaction was the opposite of such excitement.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she quickly told him, "get ready, we're leaving."

"Where's Stefan?"

"He went home last night. You missed the chance to say goodbye," she said, not looking at him. He was supposed to be elated, but all he felt right then was just guilt.

"I need to tell you something," he blurted.

"If it's something about last night then don't," she said with a straight face. Rain was always so scary when she was too calm. She let go of Thunder and finally looked at him, her glare was as cold as ice. "I couldn't sleep so I came to find you. I didn't come in, don't worry. But I could hear everything from the door."

Oh no...

"I was drunk..."

"So that's what you do every time you get drunk? Take a girl to bed?"

"No!" He shook his head rapidly as she let out a sigh.

"Just go get ready."

"Peach." He caught her arm before she could leave. He almost told her that he had been so drunk he thought it was her instead of Mary, but he was tongue-tied as his fingertips pressed into her arm.

"What happened between you and me," he breathed, "was different. We were different. You're...special to me."

She gave a mirthless laugh and yanked her arm away. "We were only different because you can't have me. Things are always so great when you can't have them, but when you do, you'll realise how unspecial they are. And then I'd be like Mary and the girls at the alehouse to you."

He didn't know what hurt more, hearing those words from her or knowing that it was what she really believed.

She crossed her arms over her chest, making herself look small as her forehead puckered. "I've been distracted, but from now on, I'm not letting stupid men slow me down anymore." She swallowed, pressing her lips together. "But...I can't lie and say I don't care about you. Because I really do, and I h-hate that. So we're going to finish this journey together, try to keep each other alive, and then...and then we can finally separate."

She shoved Lightning's saddle into his arms and ran back to the cottage, leaving him there to wonder if this indescribable pain deep in his chest was what he was supposed to feel when he lost Kenny.

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"I can't believe you slept with him!" May said as she slammed her palm on the table, but Mary didn't even blink as she continued sewing her dress.

"I was drunk," she rolled her eyes, "and have you seen him?"

"You're such a whore, Mary. Maggie won't be happy about it."

"Yeah, well, Maggie isn't here, is she?"

Right as Mary finished her sentence, the front door flew open and the two sisters jumped out of their seats. A tall and slim woman walked in. She shrugged off her black cloak, letting her long black curls fall down past her waist as she marched towards the table, glaring at the girls.

"Did I just hear my name?"

"Maggie!" Mary wrapped her arms around her oldest sister, hugging her tightly.

"How was the trip?" May asked as she got up and also shared a hug with Maggie.

"Extremely unpleasant," Maggie said, her golden tooth sparkled as she gave a wide grin. "Did you two behave when I was away?"

May elbowed Mary, who scoffed and rolled her eyes but she didn't speak so May did, "the princess just left and Mary slept with her man."

Maggie didn't react the way May had when she heard it, but she didn't look very pleased. Her thick eyebrow arched high as she raised her voice, "explain, Mary."

"I'm so sorry!" Mary clasped both hands together in front of her face. "But--But everything is fine now. They're still heading South to see King Edgar!"

Maggie sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "But you could have ruined everything, Mary! If she had changed her mind because of what you did, we would all be dead!"

"I know, sister..." Mary swallowed, her head hung.

"That princess is much stronger than she looks," May said.

Maggie released a sharp breath. "But she would give up everything for that boy. And we cannot have that, can we?"