The King's Magical Item
I left the King's office after dismissed me and despite his assurances that he would not use the magical tool to outright deceive Alexandra, I was worried. Mostly worried how she would take it that another adult help to keep a secret from her and that adult was her dear godmother. I would have to find some way to make up for this guilt that I felt inside. It wasn't the first time I was involved to conceal something from her, and it ate me up inside the first time. Talon was the one who helped me through the last time and now that he was gone to the sky, I would have to deal with this on my own. I just hope she would forgive me. It would be easy to have the King keep it a secret from her so that I wouldn't be exposed to be the harbinger of lies thrown at her again.
The walk back to my cottage in Blackwood wasn't a very long walk but it was long enough that I often enjoyed taking it because it always afforded me to be deep in my thoughts. Tonight, I would not have any such walk because the King's commission had a fast turn around and I would need every second tonight to start it. Once you begin to make a magical tool, you can just stop in the middle of the actual fabrication because the magic imbuing would fail. All of the fabrication would have to be done tonight if I had any chance of getting it done on time. Fabrication is one step; magical imbuing is another and the last step is to let it rest. Depending on how long you want the magical item to work depends on how long you let the magic settle into the object. If the King wants to have a long conversation with my girl, I would have to give it a full day to rest. When I made Alexandra's cross, I gave it a half a day but because the magic I used wasn't particularly strong it didn't take for very long. I had planned on using the strongest magic on this item so that the King could maybe use it more than once. Knowing how intriguing many found Alexandra, I had a feeling the King would want to talk to her at least once more without hiding behind a screen.
I pulled out my wand and circled the air outside of the castle gates until a glow emitted in the air. I was talented enough in magic without having to chant an incantation. I stepped through that glow and found myself in front of my cottage. Taking a portal was the best course of action considering tonight would be a long one. I was glad that I left Talia's early on in the night so that I wouldn't be up all night. I stepped inside and looked around to try and figure out what I would fabricate for the King that would both be a useful and non-bulky magical tool and something that would be inconspicuous. I would imagine that since the King would be posing as a gate keeper at this point, not to mention the weather was getting cooler in Vellum. I decided to make him a cape pin, I wanted to give it the pizzazz befitting a King but not too flashy that it would look so suspicious on a commoner. Alexandra was rather observant and very sharp so if I made the pin into a lion which was the House Doré's symbol animal, she would likely know instantly that it was him. What Alexandra didn't know was that each noble house also had a symbol flower. House Batiste's symbol flower is a lavender rose which is why they chose to give Alexandra her middle name, House Doré's symbol flower is a red Asiatic lily. I would choose this as his robe pin adornment. Ordinarily, I would choose to set the petals with rubies, but this pin had to be as less ornate as possible. I pulled out a nugget of silver and my cast materials.
Luckily, I had a mold of the Asiatic lily because I had made the Queen Mother a pendant a while back. She wears it to help her sleep which she had trouble doing since right after her husband was killed in the dragon attack that took my Talon. I didn't blame her; I had the same issues after Talon died. I spent many nights staying up and contemplating what I could have done to protect him. We were planning a wedding and I had little time to make magical tools. I had been working on a magical tool for Talon as a wedding present that would give a plasmic sort of shield around him to keep him safe. I had fabricated it; it was going to be in his wedding ring. I didn't do the imbuing and because he died before we could wed, it sat without magic in a box on my desk. I take it out often to tell myself that mistakes were no longer acceptable. I would never again let someone I love to go unprotected. I looked at the other box on my desk that had a rose on the clasp, I would give its contents to Alexandra when she comes to see me for tea.
I was troubled that she was talking to some unknown boy at Talia's party, and she looked like that wasn't a first for her. I knew she didn't get along with the humans so it couldn't have been a human boy so one had to deduce that the boy was a Vellanian. Knowing so much about her, I knew she was an open book and would tell at least her father about meeting a boy, but Reggie said he hadn't heard of her meeting a Vellanians boy before. That was what troubled me the most. I know the King said he would send a Citadel soldier intern to guard her, but I wanted to know that she would have my protection as well even when I wasn't there. I failed to protect her uncle, but I would not fail to protect her. I had imbued the item in that box over a week ago so the magic will be strong. I would ask her to bring it back to me every two weeks to keep the magic fresh. Her bracelet was forged with the best material Vellum could offer. While the bracelet looked gold, the core was made of Tarny crystal from the mines in the mountains behind Tarn. This made the magic very strong, even so I often silently imbue it when I'm around her. Unfortunately, I could not afford Tarny crystal on my own since I was a commoner, and I also didn't want others to know my purpose for it, so I used the little gold I had left.
As the medal was done melting in my metal oven, I pulled it out while wearing my fire mitts so that I wouldn't burn myself and cast the first part of the pin. I would need to attach the pin part while it cools so that it won't fall apart. In the human world, they had welding equipment which would make my life easier, but I didn't want to drag that over through the portal and walk it to the cottage. I had been meaning to ask Reggie if I could set up a workshop on the Terre side just so I could play with the welder. I'm sure he would be so thrilled to have me around some more. I smiled at the thought. Reggie and I had a very special relationship, we dated sure but that would never have worked out between us. We grew up together and he was more like a brother to me than an ex-boyfriend. If I'm being honest, it had been weird being his girlfriend because we had that relationship before. I will say that I gave him a lot of crap, but he was the one person who got me through the death of Talon. He wrote me often to check in on me and told me everything I needed to hear. He knew that I was not taking it very well and I had even thought for a brief while that I would try to join Talon in the great unknown. Reggie somehow knew this about me and wrote that so many needed me like Alexandra and that Talon would never forgive me for not living my life out the way it was intended.
I thought I had left the pin sitting in the cast for long enough and so I pulled it out to find the whole thing cool. Now I would have to test it for any impurities, in Terre I think they would probably inspect it or take some hammer to it or something. Here in Vellum, I would cast magic on it. It would be a simple heat analysis spell that would go through the item and once it went through the item, the purity would be burned in the air in front of the caster. I put my middle finger to my thumb and make a flick noise towards the item which sent a small spark that made the item glow. When you cast such a spell the item gets lifted in the air and turns about before gently going back to the surface it was sitting on and right after that would show the purity strength in front of me. For most people making magical items, this process of melting and casting would happen several times with the purity test being conducted each time. The impurities would then be tried to be taken out with a fire purity spell that they would cast on their metal ovens. As for me, I had strong knack for making these tools and my magic also ensured that the item would rarely be impure.
The spell finished and the purity percentage was scrawled in the air in front of me, it was 75%. I cursed in the air, "Damn! I thought this would be a one cast deal. Once more fire!" At that my metal oven blazed with blue sparks in the air which meant my fire purity spell was imbued in the oven. I put the metal into the pot to melt again. In order for me to imbue the item with magic and it not fall apart my item had to be at 90%. Ordinarily, a normal magic caster would need that 75% but since my magic was strong, it would break the item and the item would crumble into nothing. This was the last of my silver and I didn't want to give the King anything less. I very much doubt this item would look very good in antique brass. I would take my time to finish this job tonight but at the same time, I wanted it to be perfect the first time.
While I waited for the metal to melt, I pull out my coffee cup and brewed the coffee that Reggie gave me today. He called it Kona coffee and he said it was flavored to be some sort of nut from a place they called Hawaii. He said they were famous for the both the coffee, and something called macadamia. I would take his word for it and try it out tonight. They didn't have anything like coffee in Vellum so I really enjoyed that Reggie and Talia would send some via Toxzi rider every month. If I had an urgent project, coffee would get me through the long nights. This was one such night, I looked at the clock that Talia gave me from Terre. It was very late in the night and had almost spilled into the morning. I knew that the few hours I had tonight would be taken up, but I had fully planned on getting ready for bed by now. I took a sip out of my cup and the warm nutty flavor enveloped my tongue and made me sigh. I would have to thank Reggie for this one the next time I saw him as it was delicious. I pulled the metal out of my oven an poured it again and waited a little while for it to settle before adding the pin part. I sat enjoying my cup of coffee thinking of what nothing in particular but about how enjoyable it was to taste something so exotic. As I finished my cup of coffee, I pulled the item from its mold it was still a little warm but not enough to cause issues in the item itself. I would have to wait until it cooled completely in order for me to perform the impurity test on it. Knowing it was at 75% the last time, it would probably be strong enough for me to imbue it with magic. I thought to myself while it cooled that I might as well imbue it tonight so that it could sit tomorrow and another half day before I present it to the King. I'm sure he would appreciate the delivery earlier than expected.
I picked up the item to find out if it was cool enough to perform the test and luckily it was. I was starting to get really tired since I had set up the party early on, right after Talia left for Vellum. We also partied a little late into the night and the meeting with the King can also be exhausting. I was feeling it and I shuddered at the thought of having to get up tomorrow and tear down the party atmosphere that I had set up. At least Reggie would pay me tomorrow and I could afford to replenish my silver stock. I did fire impurity test, and the results were in 95%. Perfect, I would have to perform the imbuing which took significantly less time. For this I had to prick my finger and place single blood droplet on the item. Others would have to chant the incantation but again, I didn't have to. I would know it took if the item glowed a bright red color. It floated in the air and the item suddenly glowed bright red.
