Tea with Seth

I had the table set, a warm fire in the hearth, and a cozy chair for Seth to sit in when he got here. Today was our weekly tea. Seth was sort of the jack-of-all- trades in the village and I truly enjoyed our afternoons together, at the appointed time I heard his soft knock at the door. I hurried to let him in.

   “Ah lass, you always have a cheery fire going for me in your hearth.”

“Well, you know me, I always feel a bit of a chill. I wrapped my shawl a little tighter about me.”

   “Come here and give us a hug then, I’ll chase that chill out of your wee bones.”  He closed the gap between us and wrapped me in a bear hug. I snuggled into his broad chest. I couldn’t help myself, it’s like his chest was made for snuggling into.

“Sit, the tea is almost ready.”  He sat in the cozy chair I had pulled up to the table for him.  While we waited for the water to get to a rolling boil, I set out some of my freshly baked honey cakes on a plate and put them on the table next to the teapot.  “You’re too good to me, lass”  He graced me with a smile that melted my very bones as well as my heart.  We had been having tea together every week for the last six months and I was waiting for some sign from him that he was ready to move our relationship out of his cozy chair by the fire and into my cozy bed.  Maybe it was time that I made the first move. I could actually go another six months before actually made that particular move, but I needed to know that it was a possibility. He was such a good man and had an enormous heart, I would consider it a privilege to be his woman.

     “I make them especially for you because I know how much you like them.” I replied as I pushed the honey jar within his reach and got up to pour our tea. I poured his first almost to brim, and poured out mine leaving a little room for the cream.  He took a little sip and looked at me for a long moment.  “Fine tea as usual, but this week’s secret ingredient is”, he drew out that last word as he paused and allowed the tea’s aroma to waft up into his nostrils, “a small of pinch of mint, barely detectable but there nonetheless.” He sighed and took another sip.   

     “I made this tea for relieving stress, and calming the mind, I had a feeling you would be needing it today. Would you like to talk about it?”  I asked, reaching across the table and placing my small hand on his huge one.

“The tea?”  He asked, looking very uncomfortable, “the tea is delicious and even better with a honey cake.”  He wouldn’t look at me as took a bite of the honey cake.

   “No, not the tea.” I lightly slapped at his hand. “Whatever has turned your mind upside down and disturbed your peace. I don’t like seeing you so perturbed.”

“Ah, it’s nothing you need to be concerned about, lass.” He gave my hand a light caress and took another sip of his tea.

   “If it is disturbing your peace, then it does concern me.” I said gently, “in case you haven’t noticed, I care about you, Seth. I enjoy your company. I enjoy our chats. I like how you try to guess which ingredient I changed in my tea from week to week. I also know that the hug you gave me when you came in today was an innocent hug, but I really enjoyed snuggling into your chest. You make me feel safe, and you make me feel loved, two things I haven’t felt in a very long time from a man, and I’ve missed feeling that way. So yes, if it concerns your wellbeing and peace then it most definitely concerns me. Oh, and you smell really good.”  That last elicited a smile from him, he took another sip of tea as if he was digesting my words.

“You don’t want a man like me, lass. I have dangerous secrets and there are some in town who like to talk too much about doesn’t concern them.”

  “I think I would be the best judge of the kind of man I need, and you my dear Seth would fill that particular need quite nicely, as for secrets, and I have a few secrets  of my own. Have you ever wondered why I live way out here on the edge of the village, surrounded by trees and forest?”

He just stared at me for a long minute, as if trying to understand the words he just heard.  “I would be the kind of man to fulfill what you need in a man?”  He phrased the question very carefully.

“Have you not been listening?  I’ve been trying to figure out a way to make you aware of my feelings towards you for the last six months.”  I blurted it out without thinking it through as he clearly did.

   “I have been listening, I just couldn’t believe it.  Other women in my past have done similar things, but always wanted something of me in return, I couldn’t make myself believe that there was actually something going on between us beyond that.”

I sighed and looked him straight in the eye.  “Have I ever asked anything of you, beyond the pleasure of your company?” I took his hand in mine. “Many a man has hurt and betrayed me, yet I would be overjoyed and proud to be your woman.”

He stared in disbelief for a long minute, then gently caressed my cheek and let out a long sigh of relief.

   “If you are to be my woman, then you need to know a few things about me before we take this any further.  I want to show you my true form. Other women I’ve shared this with couldn’t handle it.  I’m willing to trust you with it, Nora.”

He got up and started pushing furniture out of his way.  I got up and helped him clear the center of the room.

  “It’s best if you show me in the center of the room, you’ll have more room that way.”  I said in answer to his astounded look.

“You know what I am, but how?”   It’s impossible to tell a shifter from a normal human.  “A few in the village know because they trespassed on my property and thought to trash my house, I shifted and chased them away, but not before they lit it on fire and burned it to the ground.  When they couldn’t trash it, they’d burn it.  I got too close, I also got burned.”

   “So that was the inciting incident?”  I asked with raised eyebrows.

“What inciting incident?  He asked, clearly confused.

   “They did this to you six months ago?  You came to me in human form for treatment of those burns.  It was the first time I made tea for us. Those burns and the village gossip and well, I just put two and two together.”

He took a few steps back, and just stared at me in disbelief.  “So you’ve known what I am all along, and you still had me in your home for tea once a week?”

“Of course, like I said, I enjoy your company, I enjoy our chats and you didn’t retaliate against the ones who did this to you, that in itself says a lot about you as a man.”

   “My turn” , I said as it opened a trapdoor in my floor and beckoned him to follow.  I led him down a narrow flight of stairs and lit the torch at the bottom.

“You know me as the village healer, and yes, I am that, but healing is only a very small part of what I do.  “This is my workroom.  It’s where I do my spellwork.”

“Ah yes, it all makes sense now.”   He literally swept me up into a tight embrace and kissed me soundly on the lips.  “You did a spell for them to leave me alone and encouraged me to rebuild my house?  You said they wouldn’t be bothering me again, so it was perfectly safe for me to do so.”

   “I was right, yes?  They haven’t bothered you again, have they.  I did what is called a binding spell, in my circle we call it a ‘return to sender’ spell.   If they leave you alone or if they decide to be the good neighbors they should have been in the first place, then that’s what they will get back.  If they attempt any more mischief they will get that back in turn as well.  Basically, whatever they do to you, they will get back times three.”

“It did indeed work.  They never bothered me again, and they suspected you had something to do with it so a few actually helped me to rebuild my house.  It think the were afraid of what you would do if they didn’t.”  He let out a hearty laugh, swept me up in his arms and carried me back up the stairs and deposited me gently in my bed.  I held out my arms to him, and we fell into the most peaceful sleep either of us had had in the last six months.  Right before we dozed off I ask him a very important question.  “So, how soon can you move in?  I’m so looking forward to having tea with you every day.”