Will got out of the tub after a quick rinse. He was impressed at how warm the water had stayed.
"Jus' pull the drain stopper," Belita said. She was in the process of being dried off by her dutiful cabin girl. She had her foot up on a stool and Bella was finishing dragging a soft cloth along her thigh and calf.
"Do I get that sort of treatment?" Will asked.
"You're not captain," Cabin Girl Bella said, smugly. He looked around for his own towel. The one Bella had been using hit him in the face. The two nude women walked out of the room laughing. He sighed and started drying himself as he took a closer look at Belita's bath system.
It was just a lever-activated bilge pump. It drew sea water up a pipe and dumped it into the tub. The odd little stone charm carved with an emblem that looked vaguely like fire hung from the spigot and magically heated the water. Very simple. He was impressed. He'd seen a whaling ship use a similar system to draw water up on to the main deck so the swabs could more easily wash it. He'd had a system like it at the lighthouse. He thought his system was pretty clever, but he hadn't known about whatever this warm water charm was. That was the real master stroke to the design.
He pulled the drain plug and the bathwater started draining out into the ocean below. He finished drying, wrapped the cloth around his waist, and walked back into the cabin just in time to see a naked Bella finish drawing a small white sigil on her sternum.
"Can we come up with somethin' other than candles right on the floor," Belita asked from where she was sprawled nude on the bed. "With us all right here, it's probably fine, but open flames on my ship gives me nerves."
"Sure," the N'madi witch answered. "The candles were important to the ritual because they are made with beeswax. It's symbolic. Bees are seekers, so beeswax helps reinforce the intentions of the spell I used to find my mirror back at Mary's. Now that the connection between the mirrors has been forged, any kind of flame next to the mirror will do to activate it. We could install a couple of these wall lanterns and that would work the same way."
"Aye, lets make tha' happen. Talk tae Mister North about it t'morrow," Belita said.
"Aye, aye, Captain," Bella grinned.
"Will, can ye fill the bucket in there from the tub an' set it just inside the doorway next to ye?" the Captain continued, somehow managing to sound like she was all business and authority in spite of the fact that she was casually adjusting the rings in her nipples. "If we get hit by a big wave ,or someone kicks a candle, I want some water close at hand."
Will looked around and spotted the bucket. By the time he finished the strange fog was rolling through the mirror, changing what it showed.
Tonya was looking in the mirror and shaking out a lit taper. She was still dressed in her fancy green corset, her small breasts lifted as high as they would go. Centered high on her breastbone was a white emblem that mostly matched Bella's.
"Nice timing," Bella said as Tonya faded into view. The witch looked over the sigil on her apprentice's chest and nodded. "Looks good. Practice your curves. There's a few that are a little sloppy."
"It's hard to draw them on myself," Tonya said, clearly exasperated. "I had to redo the ones on the right twice."
"On the shelf in the red box there's some tools and stencils to help make more precise patterns. You need to learn to do it all by hand eventually, but if you're struggling use them. That's what they're for," Bella said.
Tonya looked over her shoulder at the box Bella had mentioned, then looked through the mirror again. "So now what?"
"You have your circle up? Your candles are in place?" Bella asked.
"Uh huh," Tonya said. "It's just drawn in chalk though. I didn't think I should use paint or ink on the floor."
"Chance would skin you," Bella giggled. "Chalk should be fine for this."
"I like my skin," Tonya wrinkled her nose.
"You've already lit the candles. Now you just need to start gathering energy." Bella instructed. "This is a transfer sigil, so you're going to be continually moving the energy you pull into the nearest, strongest spell lattice. That's going to be the mirror. Since your circle is up, you shouldn't get any kind of interference unless someone's doing something really powerful in the Lounge or something."
"I don't think that's going to happen, but I'll let you know," Tonya smirked.
"I don't know, after seeing what Caine was doing earlier, I'm being extra cautious," Bella said.
"What?" Tonya looked quite confused.
"Caine. He was in the Ways. Not like I was. He was there, physically," Bella said.
"I don't actually know what that means," Tonya said, trying to remember if there had been a lesson about that.
"Right. You haven't gotten to that book yet. Nevermind. I'll explain later."
"So Caine can work magic?" Tonya asked.
"Sure looks like it," Bella shrugged. "It shouldn't matter for this though."
From the wash room doorway, Will didn't say anything. He was a bit surprised, but it passed quickly. If he wasted time being shocked every time he learned something unexpected about Caine, he wouldn't get much else done.
Janie sat behind Tonya on the small table watching the whole scene play out with fascination. She gave Will a small wave when he entered the frame of the mirror. He waved back and sat on the edge of the bed. Belita ran her hand up his spine. He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled.
"Alright, I think you're ready," Bella said.
Tonya grinned and looked behind her to Janie. "You staying?"
Janie nodded. "I really like watching," she said quietly. She marveled at how easy it was to say that now. Days ago she never could have admitted it out loud.
"Then you can help, come here," Tonya said, reaching toward her.
Janie blinked. "I'm not sure I..."
"You know as much about how pattern magic works as Tonya does," Bella said. "Maybe as much as I do. I know you've had to transfer gathered energy into a spell lattice before."
"Well yes, but that was under very different circumstances. I've only drawn energy through prayer rituals before. There were twenty or more of us, and we used a ritual Lantern to transfer the energy into the ward we'd made. It wasn't transferring energy straight into a ward. It was more like filling a bucket, and then domping the bucket somewhere else. " Janie explained.
"It's the same thing. Transfer patterns can store energy too. Not as well as some other patterns, but well enough. The mark on your chest is the Lantern or bucket. The mirror is the ward." Bella sounded like she was explaining basic arithmetic.
"And I suppose sex is just another form of prayer?" Janie asked flatly.
"Well, yes. For our purposes, anyway. You'll see," Bella smiled.
"I feel like I should be doing penance just for listening to you say that." Janie looked conflicted.
"If you don't like how it feels you can stop at any time. This is a transference. There won't be any kind of large build up so we don't have to worry about it destabilizing," Bella said. "If you decide to leave at any time, it won't mess anything up."
Janie sighed. "This is witchcraft. I'm really not supposed to do this."
"I have a licence," Bella countered. "Didn't there used to be an entire order of the Magistrate dedicated to overseeing Witches and working with them to make sure they stayed on the right path?"
"Yes, the Order of the Lantern. They're gone now," Janie said. "They became the Order of the Hammer." There was a flicker of something dark in Bella's eyes. Sadness. Anger. Fear. She put it out of her mind quickly, but Janie saw it, and knew why it was there. "Sorry," she said quietly.
Bella shook her head and continued as if it hadn't happened. "Well, I need a Lantern."
"No you don't," Janie said with a small scoff. "You're about as wholesome as witches get."
"Still a witch though," Bella's smile was full of pride and mischief. "I definitely need a magistrate guide to keep me on the straight and narrow. So does Tonya. She's scandalous and immoral."
"I am," Tonya's smile matched Bella's.
Janie sighed. "Fine."
Tonya bounced with excitement and started drawing on Janie's chest above her bustier. "Sister Evangelina, Order of the Lantern," she winked.
"As long as we're already delving into blasphemies, might as well go all in," Janie sighed.
"You're just adhering to an older tradition," Tonya said, holding Jaine's shoulder with one hand to keep her still and carefully tracing a white arc with the other. "I thought the Magistrate was all about that kind of thing."
"I think they would draw a line at invoking the traditions of a disbanded Order to justify participating in an occultist orgy," Janie said flatly.
"Orgy? There's only two of us. Should I go get more?" Tonya looked up at her excitedly.
"No!" Janie looked horrified. She looked at Bella in the mirror. "She really is scandalous."
Bella shrugged. "If only she had a stern governess to look after her while I was away."
"Oooh, that sounds sexy," Tonya giggled.
"I am not stern," Janie said.
"Are too," Will piped up from the bed.
Janie pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at Will.
"See," he said, "Just like that."
"I saw you with that John earlier." Tonya said with a wink. "Stern is a good description,"
Janie's eyes went wide and she looked up at the group on the other side of the mirror, her embarrassment showing even through her makeup.
"Wait, what?" Will said, leaning forward on the edge of the bed.
"John?" Bella asked, a twinkle in her eye.
"I didn't... nothing happened! It was just part of the disguise!" Janie said, having trouble forming the right words in her flustered state. Tonya held her down in her seat and kept her still.
