Chapter Seven: A Marriage, A Sacrifice, A Vengeance Sought Still...
-A few Days' Time-
"Casting Silence over the battlefield hinders magick users from verbally initiating spells. This grants a special advantage for you over magick-heavy parties for it prohibits White Mages from utilizing the entirety of their spellbooks. All Colored Magick is verbally cast. Even some of the most casualty producing Alchemical processes require verbal initiation in conjunction with rune initiation. However, your party must be efficient in physical combat. The spell, Silence, could hamper your party's White Mage and other magick users you have allied with."
-Chapter XVI of the Little Black Book.
It was a good thing I could use Immediate Summon without words, I thought, as I thumbed through the Little Black Book on the balcony of the Castle in the Wall. I wore my thick fluffy wolf cloak over my shoulders and I had a big tankard of hot tea next to me. Yes, my Mistress allowed me to drink tea as I did my daily reading.
Over the days that passed, tribes arrived for my marriage to Mistress Koren. From the balcony overlooking the valley, I glared out at the lovely vista. Tents littered our sacred home. Each tribe sent a Lord, or an Elder, along with a few of their strongest warriors and mages for protection, and a few slaves for work. They all meandered about the field and forest conversing, babbling, doing Orc things.
Slaves, including Beadrieth, sought to the kitchen, tent-work, and tended to the wooded areas that needed beautifying. Warriors came and went from the northern entrance to hunt the biggest game. Some trained down below, fighting each other till blood was drawn. Lady Everaen tended to her cart of wares, teaching and selling spells and potions to the tribe mages.
Although this was the first time that I felt royal in some manner, I was bored with it. I was exempt from traditional slave work. My duties consisted of studying, mage-craft, archery, and most importantly, my Mistress. I wondered if this was how all Al'nuun were treated. Lady Eve didn't even come off as a slave. I didn't get it.
I tended to my book, with a sigh.
"The Alchemical process for basic rune initiation requires a Primary Circle (PC) written with plain white chalk. (The use of any kind of enchanted or cursed chalk in any color, other than white, is highly discouraged when writing basic runes.) The PC encompasses the act of the transmutation (T). Within the PC, a purpose is required in the form of the act's Alchemical Symbol (AS)... An example ... if T = Lift For'ard Flight, then PC/Thrust(AS) > SC/Air(AS) > TC/Winged flight(AS) > QTC/Constant(AS) + (Time constringent: twenty count(AS))... "
-Chapter XVII of the Little Black Book
I rolled my eyes at it. I wasn't really into the alchemy thing. I tried. I failed drawing runes. Like, Mistress Koren covered her mouth and laughed at me, I was so bad. She said I was adorable, but I didn't believe her. A perfect circle? I thought, so I really have to make a perfect circle? Too many shapes to remember. Magick and Arithmetic combined was such a bore. I hated it ... equations, primary circles with primary purposes, secondary circles with supporting purposes, tertiary passive blah blah blah, quaternary whatever ... done.
I flipped a few pages ahead.
"Casting Shatter Key on a door or any type of hatch that opens into another room can prove highly useful when avoiding trouble..."
Now that was what I wanted to read...
But honestly, I just wanted to play with Starbringer. Yesterday, Lady Eve taught me how to channel Immediate Summon into the bow. Though, I failed miserably at it, I wanted to try again. I figured if I had to use focus runes, I might as well have them branded to my palms with whatever Mistress marked the side of my head with. She said she'd think about it, but she usually just waited a day or two and then gave me what I wanted.
I always got what I wanted. Mistress Koren loved me like that of an actual lover, not an Al'nuun. She surprised me the other day with a cup of tea and a pleasant walk through the garden, hand in hand with fingers interlocked. She let me wear my floofy wolf pelt cloak whenever I wanted. Because it came from the Eternal Realm, it was impervious to some mortal magics. It was my shield, I suppose, and the north was quite chilly on my pale soft skin.
I wanted her to pour the tea into my ass and make me walk like a dog behind her through the garden, and if I released any from my butt, she'd spank me till I fainted. I blushed, I was such a pervert. Perhaps I'd tell Mai, and she'd make Bead do it. Yes, I'd watch that.
I made myself wet thinking about her like that, but she forbade my cock from getting hard. It was a lifeless little limp thing. I did have to pee though, and I had no idea where she was today. She might have left with Mai, north, for a hunt, but I wasn't sure.
"Al'Kenet!" I said over my shoulder, "Yah ten-hem!"
A moment later a little head peaked around the corner. I just barely noticed her as I thumbed through my book. Her name was Nothing. Her master took her birth name, leaving her with a void. But, honestly, she didn't care. She used to be an Elven High-folk, till her royal parents or whatever sold her for laying with her own kind, another woman.
"Al'nuun?" She whispered.
"Where'd Mai of the Klen Forest tribe go?"
I didn't see her shrug her shoulders at me, but I felt her cluelessness from around the corner. I turned my head at her and she stared at the floor. She was so damn frail, I felt a little bad for her. Her life as a Kenet wasn't all that miserable though. Her master was the high lord of a farming tribe, a female lord. She essentially got what she wanted in terms of sexual activities and she wasn't abused like many of the other Kenet. She was just bad at everything, from dishes to magecraft. I smiled at her. I hoped she'd just relax and approach me already, but she didn't.
"Can you send for Beadrieth?"
"Red Dove?"
I nodded with a smile, "Yes, Red Dove."
Her head disappeared around the corner, and I returned to my book. Elves were quite weird. They were frail and edgy. Some were pale and tall, others had grey skin and were short. I'd didn't get their physique. They also acted rather finicky and jittery. They were, all around, weird people. I didn't like them, but I guess they were sort of attractive if one preferred frail flat chested women with gaps in between their thighs. However, surprisingly enough, the Oro'keen paid Elven mages greatly for their services. The Odrean took pride in fucking them to death, though. I sort of laughed, sort of felt bad for them. But ... Whatever.
"Dead Man's Ink was first created during the Great War by both Dark Mages and Black Mages for rune enhancement. The main ingredient of the Ink is 'Ash of Cremare,' which both aids dark energy and, helps encourage proper disposal of the dead by fire and thus prevents reanimating of corpses by enemy combatants..."
Ah, yes, I laughed in my head. Lady Everaen wanted to me use ink made with the ash of dead people as eye liner. Quite lovely, indeed. "Lovely eyes you have dear, why thank you it's your uncle Bob," I said to myself.
