by Logan Jacobs
“That’s not a bad name,” I said as I nodded at the blue dragon.
“I picked it,” Penny scoffed, “so it’s a great name. Alright Azure, do your thing.”
The blue scaled beast blew a breath of blue flame at the bottom of the tub, and it was a consistent stream of dancing light. It seemed almost inviting in a way, and I was in awe of the creature’s power even at such a young age.
Only Penny would be able to tame one of the deadliest beasts in the realm. He probably took one look in her eyes and fell in love with her just like I did the first day I saw her.
“He’s working good,” I said as I dumped cold water into the barrel that contained the coiled copper pipes.
“Didn’t I tell you he would?” she asked, and then we sat back in the hay as we watched the moonshine drip into the empty bucket.
I prayed it tasted better than the last batch. I waited until the bucket had filled about halfway, then I switched it out with a barrel and placed the pipe above its bunghole.
“What did you do that for?” Penny asked as I dumped the nasty liquid out into an empty stall.
“Them’s the foreshots,” I said. “Gross and too high in alcohol content. It would make you sick, maybe even kill ya. The tail end is called the ‘feints,’ and they would dilute the whiskey that comes out in the middle.
“What’s it called in the middle?” Penny asked as she watched the clear liquid drip into the barrel.
“The heart,” I said.
“Oh,” she replied.
“You like the name?” I asked as I grinned at her.
“It’s fitting,” she answered, and then her emerald eyes stared into mine for a few long seconds.
“We can have a quick sip, since you didn’t get any from the first batch.” I took a glass bottle from our pile of things and held it beneath the copper pipe until it was partially filled with crystal clear liquid. Then I put the glass to my lips, took a sip, and then rolled it around on my tongue. Its taste was a bit better than the small bottle I’d made at Adi’s, but there was still a lot of room for improvement. Part of that would come from seasoning it in a barrel, but most of it would come from getting consistent and filtered water, better grains, and perfecting my wash.
But I was a connoisseur of the stuff. The average person would probably act as if this was milk dripping from a night elf’s teat during a full moon ceremony.
I passed it over to Penny, and she wrinkled her nose.
“Why does it look like water?” She asked as she turned the glass bottle this way and that without a single sip.
“What is it supposed to look like?” I chuckled.
“Isn’t it supposed to be brown?” she asked. “I’ve never seen whiskey, but I heard stories of it being a carmel color.”
“Gets that from being in the oak barrels,” I explained. “That adds some smokey nuance to the flavor, but that in your hands will still taste great.”
“What does it taste like?” she asked as she lifted her small nose to the opening of the bottle and gave a slight inhale.
“Why don’t you have a taste and find out for yourself,” I laughed.
She put the glass to her lips, took a tiny sip, and then her green eyes lit up like a young halfling’s at the Midsummer Harvest.
“Damn, Wade!” she coughed, and then took a longer sip.
“You like?” I asked with a broad grin.
“I can’t believe you could make something like this!” Penny exclaimed. “This shit is amazing.”
“Of course it is,” I joked. “Now, put it down before you drink all the profits. I’m already worried that might be an issue with Dar.”
“It’s really good,” Penny giggled as she handed me the bottle back. “Damn, Wade. I don’t often say this, but you did a great job. I think this will actually work.”
“A compliment from Penny?” I chuckled. “That whiskey must have gone straight to your head.” Her words brought a flush of pleasure to my cheeks, and I wanted nothing more than to take her into my arms.
I took a step toward her as the liquid courage ran through my veins, and Penny stared back with her bright green orbs.
Her eyes moved to my lips, and her mouth opened slightly.
Then she turned away from me, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, bent down, and grabbed her satchel off the floor.
“I’m just, um … I’m going to grab supplies to fix the roof,” Penny clarified as her cheeks turned almost as red as her hair.
“Penny … ” I started.
“Someone’s gotta fix it,” she continued as she looked away from me. “You have to work on making more whiskey. That’s your role.”
“I can help yo--” I started to say as I put my hand on her shoulder.
“Naw,” she cleared her throat and wiggled out from under my fingers. “I don’t need your help, Wade. Do your whiskey, okay? That’s your path to a better life.”
“Our better life,” I corrected. “You and me and Dar. Right?”
Penny looked back, bit her lip, and then nodded her head as she disappeared out the door.
“Fuck.” I sat in the hay with a thump and placed my head in my hands as I thought through the brief exchange with the red-haired thief.
Had Dar been right about her and Cimarra? Penny seemed different these last few days. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but ever since she’d met Cimarra, she’d been a bit nicer to me. Of course, my friend and I had always danced around each other with our flirts, and I’d played my role of making endless passes at her while she’d played her role by telling me I wasn’t good enough to bed her.
Was that changing?
I looked over to the still and realized Azure was still happily blowing flame on the vat. The way Penny had suddenly tamed a fucking dragon made me want to love her even more than I already did, but I couldn’t deny I also felt incredible attraction toward Cimarra. In many ways, the dark-haired dancer was like Penny. Well, we were lovers, but Cimarra hadn’t made any sort of commitment to me, and I knew I was much more smitten with her than she was with me.
Ahhh, I was in love with two women. This was a problem only rich men had, but then again, if I could get this whiskey sold, I’d be a very rich man.
“Azure, that’s enough,” I called out to the baby dragon, and he stopped his flame with an elated chirp, flapped his wings, and then bounced over to me.
“You did a good job on the first barrel,” I said as I reached down to pet him. His scales were surprisingly smooth, almost like polished glass, and he let out a cat-like purr when he rubbed against my palm.
“I think we can get three more, what do you think?” I asked the dragon, and then I went over and pulled the filled keg aside as I replaced it with the original bucket that held the head of the whiskey.
I pounded the wooden stopper into the bunghole and placed the oak barrel against the wall. Then I rolled a new one under the spout and gestured for the dragon to get back to it. For half a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to obey me, but then he got back to blowing a small stream of fire, and the still hummed back into action.
The second barrel filled faster than the first, and the third and fourth were just as easy. My volume measurements were only estimations, and I could have risked a fifth barrel, but my instincts were telling me it was a bad idea, and I was feeling exhaustion creeping into my back muscles, so I decided to call it over with the four.
“That’s it for the day,” I told Azure, and then I gestured for him to follow me to the haystack.
He might have been a dragon, but he’d slowly grown on me during our work day, and I gently scratched his noggin while he laid his head upon my chest. I drifted off into unconsciousness as I heard his tail wag across the floor, and my dreams were filled with women dancing while holding a bottle of caramel colored booze in each hand.
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of Azure munching on a leg of mutton. The bones cracked easily within his powerful jaw, and the dangerous beast chi
rped when he noticed I’d risen.
I looked down, surprised to find a cloak draped over me. I assumed it had to be Penny, since she’d fixed the hole in the roof sometime during the night with a slab of wood.
I stood and stretched as I realized my night spent in the hay left me itchy and achy. I pulled the excess pieces of straw out of my hair as I combed it back with my fingers before I patted the dragon on the head. Then I walked out the door with hopes that I could find Cimarra without much trouble.
It was hard to get rich when you had barrels but no buyers to pay you for them. I needed someone who could sell them for me, and that someone needed to be a person who knew what it meant to stay under the radar.
I figured the thespians might be able to help me out, since the magic potion she’d used on me hinted the theatre performers had access to shady traders and illegal products.
I headed into the back entrance of the theater and marched into the hall, where I was sure I would find at least one of Cimarra’s dancer friends. It was exhilarating when the horde of beautiful women swarmed me, but today I hoped I would see Cimarra before they attacked.
I cautiously entered the hall and was relieved to see that only Mira was there. I watched as she practiced her performance, and her moves were elegant and smooth like a fish as it cut through the current of a meandering river.
I cleared my throat to get her attention, and the dancer stopped as I interrupted her invisible music. Mira seemed startled before her face broke into a toothy grin.
“Wade!” she gushed as she sashayed over to me.
“Mira, could you fetch Cimarra for me?” I asked with a smile. “I’m in a bit of a hurry today, but I wished to discuss something with her before I had to head out. I’d appreciate your discretion.”
“Anything for you Wade,” she giggled. “Go wait by the back entrance and I’ll fetch her for you. The other girls will be out any minute.”
I nodded my head as she hurried off in the other direction, and then I slipped back down the hall just as voices chattered and filled the room where I’d just been. I rested against the wall as I waited for her to appear between a pile of what seemed to be beaded elephant harnesses and a stack of old theater pamphlets.
Cimarra arrived moments later as she smoothed the folds of her lavender-colored silk outfit.
“You called?” the dancer purred.
“And you answered,” I responded playfully as I took in the luscious curves of her legs. “I had some business I wanted to discuss.”
“Sure, but there are too many ears in these halls,” Cimarra explained as she gestured for me to follow her into the dressing room. The dancer opened the hatch to the secret crawl space beneath the theater where I’d bedded her, and I followed her in with the lantern from the hall.
“So, what is this important business you wanted to discuss with me,” she whispered as she traced a finger along the jagged edge of the far wall.
“I finished the still and have barrels of whiskey, but no one to purchase it yet,” I admitted. “I need a distributor, and I figured the theater might be able to help.”
“Hmmm,” she said as she twisted her full lips in thought.
“I was thinking I could sell it here, or you knew someone at the theatre who could--”
“You don’t want to distribute here,” she interrupted. “Find another way.”
“Why not?” I asked as I fought to keep the surprise from my face. “You do business with plenty of other shadier folks, so why not me?”
“That’s my point,” Cimarra muttered as she stepped closer. “We do business with a lot of shady people. They would sell you to the elves in a heartbeat if they were caught. When their heads rest upon a chopping block, their tongues come loose because they care more about their lives than your whiskey business.”
“Hmmmm,” I said. “I guess you are right about--”
“You want to diversify your operations in the beginning,” she continued. “No one knows you are producing your whiskey out of the elephant stables. But if they catch you selling it here? They could ransack the whole place. Then you’d be out production and distribution.”
“Yeah,” I agreed with a nod. “That’s a good point. I never considered that.”
“The Count can’t be trusted,” she continued. “Right now, he has no idea you are working under his nose, and he won’t either, but you can’t sell it here. He knows about us, so he won’t think twice about you coming here to spread my thighs, but if you wanted to move the whiskey through here, we’d need to involve too many other people, and he’d raise his eyebrows.”
“If the Count can’t be trusted then why do you stay here and work so closely with him?” I questioned. “Aren’t you afraid one day he might sell you out when the elves come after him?”
“That’s the reason why I’m so close with him,” she answered, “because if he is to sell someone out in his place it’s going to be a dancer or another thespian he doesn’t much care for. I, on the other hand, have made myself indispensable to his business. I handle his books and accounts.”
“You do his books and accounts?” I asked, and I knew I failed to keep the surprise from my face.
“Yes,” she said as she bit her lower lip. “Maybe one day you might need someone you can trust to do that for you? If that would please you.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled as I wrapped my hands around her narrow waist and pulled her against my chest. “Smart and beautiful? You are a dangerous combination.”
“A thief running a whiskey business isn’t what I would consider ‘safe’ either.” She reached up and nipped at my ear before she spun out of my grasp. “I have a performance to get to, but heed my warning Wade. Don’t distribute here. It won’t end well for either one of us.”
I gulped as she exited the crawl space, and I had one last long look at her perfectly round ass through the transparent fabric of her outfit. Then I readjusted myself, headed up after Cimarra with the lantern, and found she’d already gone. I exited out the back of the theater and walked down the street with my hands in my pockets. Soon I was lost in the crowd, but I was also lost in my thoughts, and the throng of people turned into a dusty brown ocean around me.
I needed to find a distributor, but my top option had just fizzled out. The orcs were too unpredictable and cannibalistic for my tastes. They might decide one day to eat me if I looked at them the wrong way.
I could have tried the centaurs, but they were known for their big blabbing mouths. I would have been caught within the week if I’d used them.
Adi said he wanted to sell it, but his selfish outburst at his house convinced me he couldn’t keep a secret. Perhaps he was an option, but he would be my desperate last choice.
My only other option was to approach the dwarves.
Preferably one who had connections to the undercurrent of that district.
And someone like that would probably have a bunch of magical items they could fence.
I thought about the store owner I’d robbed with the magic key. The man obviously had connections, since most shops didn’t just stock magical items.
Would he be able to help sell the whiskey?
Would he be able to figure out I was the one who robbed him?
It was something to think about, and I realized I needed Dar’s opinion.
Then a meaty hand closed around my throat and cut off my air supply.
I thrashed, but the man who held me already had the upper hand. I’d been so lost in my thoughts I hadn’t heard his soft approach.
“Boss wants a word, ya little piece of thieving shit,” a vaguely familiar voice announced behind me.
The mystery figure dragged me into the alley a few shops back and shoved me forward. I stumbled, but I kept my footing. The alley stank of rotten food and decay. It was surrounded by bricks, and I realized I was in a dead end with a wall only Penny could have climbed.
It was dark, but as we advanced further into the pit of blackness, three forms appeared a
head of me. I searched for a way out, but I found nothing except for the way I’d entered. I reached for my knives hidden in the seam of my pants, but a cold edge was pressed to the back of my neck.
“Don’t even think about it,” the familiar voice hissed in my ear.
I raised my hands in surrender, and as we drew closer to the figures, I knew who had sent for me.
Hagan.
I saw his beady bloodshot eyes and the sneer on his face. There was only one explanation as to why he would choose an empty alley to meet with me.
Hagan had learned of my whiskey making business.
“Hey, boss. Why the sudden meeting?” My body tensed as beads of sweat gathered beneath the cool tip of my assailants’ blade. Now that I knew who’d sent for me, I recognized the familiar voice. It was Mosco, one of Hagan’s lower level bruisers. Balderic and Corbus flanked the chubby halfling with grins on their disfigured faces. Hagan only called this lot when he had serious matters to take care of, and my illegal production of alcohol without his knowledge more than qualified.
“You tell me,” he growled as he stepped toward me. “Word is that ya been working a lot, yet I haven’t seen any of the profits.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked as I kept my tone cool and indifferent.
“Don’t play dumb with me, boy. The grain? The copper pipes? The payment you made to the orcs?” He counted them off on his grubby little fingers. “Where’s. My. Cut?”
“That’s it? You dragged me into an alley to lecture me about stealing a few bags of grain, some worthless pipes, and paying the orcs?” I questioned warily. “I don’t have the coin on me, but I’ll get it for you if that’s your concern.”
“Ya tell me why ya stole it, or I’ll have Mosco slit your throat right here,” Hagan growled. “I kept ya alive and fed after ya farm burned. Ya repay me by thieving behind me back and making off with the profits? I don’t think so.”
I was surprised he had heard of my recent stunts, but he apparently didn’t know about the whiskey. Still, my life hung in the balance right here and now.