The Tea Sorcerer
Ending

Several Months Later…

Metrion landed on Garfield's shoulder, crowing loudly to signal his arrival, before taking to the sky again. He glanced up at the bird before staring at Raven's tent, waiting patiently for her to finish up with her customer. From behind the folds of brightly colored fabric, he could hear muffled talking and happy noises. After a few minutes, Raven and a strange woman appeared from the interior of the tent, amiably discussing something.

"… you really must consider moving into town, Miss Raven. My cousin would be more than happy to set you up with the most beautiful townhouse. He has good taste, after all."

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but I'm quite content here." She patted the woman on her shoulder and walked past Garfield, giving him an innocent, almost shy smile. "And anyway, my ravens prefer the forest to town." She paused and considered something. "And I am not so far anymore. Merely a few miles."

"I know. But it would be much more convenient for the rest of the town."

"I imagine it would."

The woman's eyes flicked over to Garfield, standing by the tent. She dropped her voice low and nudged Raven's side. "And you would be closer to Mr. Logan."

Raven blushed. "Well, I suppose that would be a benefit."

"It certainly would." She nodded decisively and gave Raven an understanding smile. "Just let me know should you want to move closer to the rest of us, Miss Raven, and I will let my cousin know."

"I will." She nodded and said her good-byes as the woman disappeared down the road and into town.

"Busy day?"

She just nodded, her eyes tired. Garfield waited until the woman had wandered down the path someways before he took Raven's hand in his and pulled her deep into his arms. She smelled of fresh mint today, obviously having mixed up something for arthritis for the older woman. He buried his nose into her neck and breathed deep, hearing her breath hitch as his lips grazed her skin.

"I think I know how you can feel better…" He nibbled up her neck before tugging on her earlobe with his teeth. She shivered in his arms and he smiled, pulled away. "But first, we have a dinner date with Kori and Richard. Don't forget, you promised them last week."

Raven's face fell. "You're such a tease." She sighed. "And you're right, I did promise them we would be there tonight."

He smiled at her, letting the silence fall over them. A few seconds ticked by and he looked up into the trees, his eyes trying to find Metrion. "How's Papa Bird?"

Raven frowned. "They lost another egg the other day. I'm not sure in a snake got to it or something else, but I think there's only two left now, and Metrion guards the nest with his life. He nearly attacked a customer the other day and I had to shoo him away before he did any real damage."

"I'm sorry, Raven. I know you were looking forward to the chicks." Garfield took her hand and pulled her inside the tent. The scent of mint permeated the fabric around them, calming him as he watched her remove her cloak and apron.

"I'm sure the other two will make it. I'll just have to help them keep watch over it." She pulled a ribbon from her hair and combed her fingers through the dark strands, rolling her shoulders to ease out any kinks in her muscles.

"Victor is still asking you to pick up your bowl you know."

Raven glanced at him, her eyes smiling under his teasing. "It gives me an excuse to go visit him. I don't have much need to see a blacksmith otherwise."

Garfield watched her in silence, that familiar bubble of love rising up into his chest and wrapping around his heart. He felt content here, happier than he ever had in his life. And tomorrow, that emotion would only grow stronger.

A second passed between them, and he felt the words escape his mouth before he could stop them. "Are you happy you moved closer?"

Raven's hands stilled in her hair and she offered him a rare smile. "Of course." Her smiled turned sly. "At the very least the move was a very good business decision."

Garfield pouted and he stared at her, knowing she was teasing but still slightly miffed.

"And I get to see you nearly every day."

He moved closer to her, and took her into his arms, leaning down to kiss her. As his lips grazed against her own, he felt his breath catch in his throat as his heart suddenly took on a life of its own. It didn't matter how many times he captured her lips, or how many times she said 'I love you', the reaction would always be the same. He would be forever possessed by her.

She pulled away just a little, looking into his eyes as her fingers tightened in the folds of his linen shirt. Raven captured her lower lip between her teeth before releasing him with a smile. "I think we can afford to be a little late, Garfield… don't you agree?"

He most certainly did.

)O(

Hi, friends! So, in the event you didn't know, this was a story I posted on Tumblr. I wanted to make sure that I posted it here in case anyone wanted to enjoy it in a different format. I didn't do too much editing to it, but I tried to catch some of the mistakes I made.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, you're awesome!