Derek's Investigation
POV: Derek
I told Jess that I would be leaving Alexandra’s afternoon guard to her solo since I had a mission to go to the Ink and Pot Bookstore to investigate why the books on the Norse Gods were magically altered. I had asked Dorothea about the serum that Mordred had described to me and she asked a whole lot of questions about why I would possibly need it. After answering a few of the questions, she was getting suspicious of my vague answer. She narrowed her eyes at me and said, “I’m not buying anything you’re trying to sell. Even if you are a hunk of cute, I won’t budge on teaching you how to make it until you come clean. Dirty boy.” She patted me on the butt and I sighed, “Fine. Darren Batiste purchased two books from the Ink and Pot Bookstore and Mordred was supposed to investigate by order of the King.” She laughed, “And that fool can’t go because he messed around with Veiressa and got banned so he’s sending you.” I nodded, “He wanted me to slip her some of it. I’m not entirely sure what it is.” She tapped her chin, “I’m fairly certain it would be a truth type of serum. It would only help him if she was the one who magically altered the books or at least had knowledge of it.” She turned to her cauldron on the side of the classroom, “You’re going to make this potion but I will be here to guide you. This can be useful for your career at the Citadel.”
I walked up to the cauldron and she pulled over a cart full of other items in it along with her spellbook. She opened it up and placed it on the pedestal in front of me. She went back to the cart and then pointed at the book, “You can either read the ingredients off or you can place them in the cauldron. Which would you like to do?” I shrugged, “I really don’t care.” She rolled her eyes, “Just read them. Since you will cast the spell to combine these ingredients, you will need to read that book anyhow. Now, what’s the first ingredient?” I placed my finger on the page and found the truth potion ingredient list, “Feather of a silver water ostrich.” She pulled out a jar full of feathers, “How many?” I looked down at the book and told her, “Two feathers. The next ingredient will be one piece of a mirror candy.” She placed the two feathers in the cauldron and then picked up the jar of shiny candies and placed a single candy in the cauldron. She looked at me and nodded, “Okay, what’s next?” I continued, “Three buds of a sweet pea.” She pulled up a vase of beautiful fuchsia flowers and picked three of the flowers and placed them in the cauldron. I told her that the next two ingredients were a single fountain pen and two sheets of regular paper. She asked, “Just keep letting me know and I will add them. No need to pause.” I nodded, “ Four raven’s feathers, two blueberries, three daffodils, and two pears.” She added all of the ingredients that I had called to her. She took out a silver pitcher and poured it into the cauldron. She nodded at me, “Okay say the words in the book with your hands held out.”
I held my hands out and said, “Veritatis auctor, exi” The cauldron glowed green and I could hear the swirling of all of the ingredients being combined. Dorothea pulled out a small box full of small vials and smiled at me, “This recipe makes several vials. You saved me the trouble of having to make some more for my stash. She pulled a vial out of the box and stood there waiting. I asked, “So when is it complete?” She winked, “Oh you’ll know. It’ll kind of sound like an ocean wave and then silence.” We sat and watched the green glowing cauldron continued its mixing noise and then suddenly an ocean wave then silence. She smiled, “Alright kid, I’m going to give you three vials just in case. You can either keep the excess or give it to the Citadel for their stock.” I nodded at her as she submerged the first vial into the cauldron and handed it to me, “Here cap them and wipe them off.” I took the vial from her and capped the vial then wiped it off. I placed the full vial back in the box that she took it from on the opposite side. She continued to fill the vials until the cauldron was practically empty. There was a very small amount left but not enough to fill a vial. She took a towel off of the cart and handed it to me, “Make sure you clean the cauldron up before you take your potions and go. I’m going to store the remaining twenty-one and put them in my storage closet at home. She took the three vials and left them on the cart then opened a portal and took the box into the portal with her. I wiped down the cauldron, placed the towel on the cart, wheeled the cart back to the place she had pulled it out of, and took the three vials. I walked to the door and turned out the lights then locked the door.
I walked through the gates of the university and walked towards town. Thankfully, it wasn’t a very far walk to the Ink and Pot from the university. It seemed like whoever originally set up the shop, really was smart about placing it near a university. I observed several students already leaving the shop with books in their arms, no doubt they went there to purchase books for their various papers that they would have to write for classes. I opened the shop door and the bell rang. A busty curly red-headed woman came out from the back, she smiled at me, “What can I do for you young man?” I smiled back at her as I grasped the vials in my pocket, “My friend bought a couple of books here the other day and he wanted me to come by and thank the woman who helped him purchase them. Can you tell me where Veiressa is?” She smiled wider, “That would be me. Can I ask your name?” I nodded, “It is Derek Chalshin.” She gasped, “Oh my goodness, Your Grace, I had not realized. Forgive me.” I chuckled, “It’s quite alright, not everyone knows who I am and I’m not exactly wearing my insignia on my chest or my crest ring.” She shook her head, “Nonetheless, please let me make it up to you. I was about to close shop for a bit and take some tea. Would you like to join me?” I realized that this would be an opportunity for me to slip the serum into her tea. I nodded, “Sure, that would be nice.”
She locked the door and put up a sign that she would open up again soon. She then led me through the back to a small room with a small table set up with tea. She poured the two cups for us and then realized that she had forgotten the sugar and cream. She excused herself from the room. I quickly pulled out one of the vials and poured it into her teacup and concealed the empty one in my other pocket. Shortly after that, she came into the room holding the two matching pieces of china. She placed them down on the table, “Would you like either?” I shook my head and reached out to the teacup that didn’t include the truth potion. She smiled and added two spoons of sugar to her own then took a long drink from the cup. I followed suit and smiled at her. The smile left her face and her eyes turned black, “I am at your service, my master.” Dorothea had not told me what would happen after giving her the potion so this made me jump a little. I cleared my throat, “My friend Darren Batiste came in to buy books not long ago. Do you remember him?” She smiled, “Yes, His Grace purchased two of the same books about Norse Gods.” I nodded, this married up with what happened, “We found that the books were magically altered. Were you aware of this?” She nodded, “Yes, I helped my lord alter them.” I leaned forward, “Your lord?” She sighed dreamily, “I am in love with him but I cannot have him. He is for another. He told me it was his destiny to have her.” I clenched my jaw, suspecting who she meant but I had to ask, “And who is she?” She frowned, “Daughter of Aphrodite, savior of Vellum. She who must be admired by all and envied by some. My lord Loki said no one must know his weakness.” I tapped the table, “Do you know his weakness?” She shook her head, “I don’t know but he asked me to alter the copies of the books that I had that had this information. I loved him too much to look, so I cannot help you.” I shook my head, “It doesn’t matter, I know someone who will find out eventually anyhow. Is there anything else that I need to know?” She bit her lip then nodded, “He is going to take his love away from here to his hiding spot very soon.”
