Chapter 29 The Conjuring Room

(Hope POV)

It was a tiny book. I have gone through thicker books in under an hour or two. I was confident this would be no different. The first chapter was a lesson on how to place a protection charm in an enclosed space. Well, might as well use the room for practice.

I decided the bathroom should have a protection charm judging how I was attacked while I was soaking in the tub. I memorized the incantation and practiced the hand gestures, so all I needed to do now was focus on channelling energy from my center and put them together. I wagered it would be easier for me if I had a wand to swish and flick instead and a simple one word spell like Levi-O-sa.

If I did it correctly, there should be a shimmer of green light that will appear in front of me which would spread out and envelope the entire space then eventually fade out.

"Okay Oliver." I knew he was behind me. He was following me, not letting me out of his sight. I hand him the book, clap my hands together and shake them to get the kinks out of my wrists. "If all goes well, we should get a color green. If not, pray I don't make a doorway to hell."

"We're doing magic?!" He exclaims.

"What did you think I was reading? Kamasutra?"

"No. Because I have that book."

I looked at him. "Can I borrow?"

"Ah..." He scratches his head trying to come up with an excuse.

"Never mind. Now stand back. Yeah, stand behind the mirror, chicken." He was trying to squeeze his 6'0 frame behind the full length mirror. I snickered at him. "Now, keep quiet and let me concentrate." He gives me a thumbs up sign.

I stand in front of the bathroom's double doors, I make a triangle shape with my hands in the center of my body and close my eyes. I drown out the sound around me and concentrate on the sound of my beating heart. I feel some heat coming from my hands and the distinct force of magic.

"Moon Goddess above whose beauty glows,
protect this space from wicked foe.
Elements Water, Earth, Air and Fire,
harbor this room from thief, slayer and liar.
Ancestors glorious of old, defend this place from hearts of cold.
Spirits from the misty veil of silver,
safeguard this space from any and every vile pilferer."

I release my hands into the air. I open my eyes and I see a green tinge form in front of me. I take a step back to let it spread, keeping my hands in the air like I was conducting an orchestra.

My hands sparked with blue light and  I felt the heat of magic coursing through my body.  I looked down at myself and saw my locket emitting a white light. With the flick of my wrists, I directed the green light from the bathroom to move to the closet area, towards the bedroom area, to the door of the room and finally to the double doors of our balcony. The green light swirled above like a beautiful aurora then it spread down to the floor like a blanket then faded away.

I suddenly felt weak. My legs were shaking. I sit down of the sofa to catch my breath.

"Luna Hope, are you ok?" Oliver comes out from his hiding spot.

"Yes, I'm just tired. The book said I will feel exhaustion if I'm new to this. In time, when I am stronger and know how to channel my energy, I won't feel tired. For advance Priestesses, this is just a walk in the park."

"Well, you were supposed to do just the bathroom, but you did the whole room instead." He hits the wall and a green light comes out. "Wow, a dark green. I see Uncle Howard do this to a wall when Aunt Diane puts up charms. Her's fade away quickly. Your charm swirls. Cool."

"If this house is protected, how did Emily get in here?"

"Like I said, Aunt Diane's charms fade quickly. Maybe if you do the whole house, then nothing evil can come inside."

I think of my mother Adella who died in her house. She was a strong Priestess. "Oliver, book please. I want to know how protection charms can be reversed."

I look through the chapters of the book and find it. " Breaking through Protection Barriers" it read:

"An advanced dark witch may see a weakness in a barrier if 1.) the protection charms is nearing expiration; 2.) runes or protection spell jars used as reinforcements of a protection charm are either not properly placed, disturbed or have been removed; 3.) a spell to repel the protection charm was made while the protection charm was being conjured. The witch need only to create a doorway to enter."

"A Protection charm's energy becomes depleted when it is in constant use. The bigger or more sinister the force, the more energy is used. While most protection charms last a cycle of the moon, when used, the length of its protection shortens."

"This is why runes and spell protection jars are used to reinforce the barrier and help make the charm last the cycle of the moon."

Great. I'll have to keep putting up protection charms every 29 days or so and I need to create runes and make protection spell jars to reinforce the barrier. I will need to make a lot of jars. This territory is huge and I have to make sure my mom and dad are set up with this security system too.

"Luna Hope, dinner is ready." Oliver announces.

"Food! I'm starving. Can you tell Alexander please?" I ask Oliver.

"He'll be at the dining room shortly."

Oliver and I walk downstairs to the long dining table. Alexander's dad, mom and sister were already seated. I greeted them with a "Good evening!"

"Pick a spot, sugar. You too, Oliver. Where's David?"

"'At the Alarie's. He's on guard duty there. Mirasol has him chowing down some grub. He's good."

"Oooohhhh, what is he having?" I ask Oliver.

"Chicken Parmigiana."

One by one, the house staff came out with our food. A young woman put a bowl of mushroom soup and a plate of salad in front of me. "Thank you. It smells wonderful." She smiled and bowed her head.

"Alicia, can I have some bread for this soup?" Oliver asked.

"Can't you say "please"?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Where are my manners? Please, Alicia." He takes his napkin and dabs the corners of his mouth.

Amanda laughs. "You know what Oliver? I have a nice idea for a suit for you. Top hat and all that formality."

Alicia comes back with some nice dinner rolls and puts one on each of our saucers. I thanked her and asked if she could teach me how to make bread. She blushed and said I only need to come to the kitchen. She said it while she had her head bowed down that I almost didn't catch it. Oliver mind linked me she was an Omega. I didn't quite understand what that meant.

After our soup, we were given a plate of baked garlic herb scallops. That's when Alexander made his entrance. He kissed me on the head and made Oliver scoot over. He looked tired. The house staff started scurrying in a panic to serve his food.

"Son, what took you so long?" Howard took a sip of his white wine.

"I had some important business to take care of. I also had Kit settle into one of the townhouses. I need him here so he can train Hope."

"You should have invited him for dinner."

"I did, but he has to fix his place up. I'll just have the staff bring him some food."

"So, Hope, dear, Oliver said you were able to put a protection charm up for our room. Good girl." He smiled at me.

"Yeah, and later tonight I'll try doing my parent's house. Oliver, can you accompany me? I was exhausted after I did the room. Di- Mama, can I use your conjuring room? I need to make protection jars. I still have to figure out how to make runes." She smiles at me and nods her head.

"Darling, don't you think that's too much? You can go slow if you want. Room today, parent's house tomorrow? I mean you aren't strong yet. You've only learned about your abilities."

"Aunt Cecilia wants these tasks done by tomorrow. She seems to think I'm strong enough."

"I'm not saying your weak. I just don't want you getting sick from exhaustion." He eyed my plate which was already empty. "At least you have an appetite. I love it when a woman eats."

"Watch it, brother, you'll see her eat when she's knocked up." Amanda laughs. "Maybe she already is."

"Nope. She hasn't gotten her heat yet. Should be soon though." Alexander said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Actually, Hope, if you want to keep your heat at bay, there's an elixir for that. I give it to the she-wolves in the territory when they come of age. I gave some to Amanda here until she was ready to bear pups. Maybe you may want some." Diane cocked her head to the side. "Or I can teach you. I have the book for that."

"I, uhm, yeah...I don't think I'm ready yet. How about you Alexander? Would you want to start a family? I was hoping I'd at least finish school first."

"We'll start a family in time. You're right. Finish school first. Amanda did it, so can you."

I was asked if I would want some dessert and I asked what they had. Pie, cake or ice cream. I asked for pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

After dinner, Alexander excused himself and tells everyone he has to attend to something important. He tells me not wait for him and to go to sleep. He kisses me and leaves. I watched him go with a sad face.

I think Diane sensed what I was feeling and suddenly suggested we go to her conjuring room. My face lit up instantly. Diane took my arm and guided me to her conjuring room. She said it was in the basement.

Silly me. Calling it a basement was an understatement. It was a huge recreational area. There was a small theater with lounge seats and its own popcorn maker. I grabbed a bucket and so did Oliver. While I stuffed popcorn in my mouth, I took a look around. There was a pool table, a dart board, a foosball table, a bowling alley and a place to play minigolf. I mind linked Oliver, "I am moving down here to live in the basement." He laughed.

Diane pushed a button on the wall near the minibar. Whoosh, the minibar rotates to open up to a door with a security system. She punches in the security code and the door opens.

I walked in with my mouth open in awe, popcorn dangling around my lips. I had imagine a cauldron sitting in the middle of a dark looking room with chicken feet and garlic hanging. Diane's conjuring room was set up like a fancy spa at a wellness center. I told Oliver not to spill any popcorn. I don't think he heard me because he was looking around in awe too. I guess it was his first time to see the conjuring room of his former Luna.

There was an indoor waterfall in the center that cascaded to a small pond below which actually had koi in it. Near it were yoga mats neatly stacked.

On one side were recliner chairs you can lie in to relax. Behind  the chairs was a wall that had shelves from top to bottom, with small blue bottles of various herbs stacked so neatly in alpabetical order. On each side of the shelves were small glass cabinets which housed different colored crystals.

Beside this area was Diane's own hydroponic garden. She grew her own herbs so she would always have stock, dried them and bottled them. Each bottle had a harvest date on it. She was so meticulous.

On the other side of the room was a enclosed space set up like a clinic. It opened up to her laboratory. Centrifuge, digital weighting scales, fume hood, burners, a freezer, a refrigerator, an incubator...she had everything.

"This is your conjuring room? It's like I'm at the spa." I point to the bottles of herbs. "Aunt Cecilia had me buy a long list of herbs. You have them all here."

"Alexander doesn't know much about my conjuring room. I think he still feels afraid to come here after I locked myself in here after Adella's death. Anyway, yes I have most herbs or flora needed to make a spell. All of the bottles are documented and are in my laptop." She pushes a small button concealed in one of the glass cabinets. The floor opens and a small table with a laptop appears. "So, if you need something, you can look for it here in the laptop and it will tell you which shelf and the date it was harvested. Just like a library. The more dangerous and potent herbs are on the top shelf."

Oliver goes to one of the recliner seats and makes himself comfortable. "This is great. When you are inside here, Luna, I can go bowling while waiting for you. This is bliss."

Diane picks up a remote. The wall of shelves opens to a bedroom with it's own jacuzzi in the bathroom. Wow.

Next, I see her go behind the waterfall and when she comes back from behind it, she had a small old book in her hands. Inside it were the recipes of healing potions, drafts and elixirs she wanted me to study.

"Here's the security code. Memorize it. It shouldn't be too hard. It's Alexander's birthday." She hands me a sheet of paper and I look at it.

"His birthday is on July the 4th?" I groaned. I've mated with this man and I didn't even know his birthday. "Smooth, Hope. Real smooth," Opal tells me.

"The festivities at the village will start soon. I'm surprised you didn't know."

"I'm really sorry. I thought the the festival was for you know, July the 4th. Alexander never told me. He's been focused on finding more about me rather than telling me more about him," I explained.

"No worries, Hope. I understand why Alexander wants to know more about you." She pats my hand. "Now, study the recipes in that book. Come down here when you want to practice." She yawns. "I'm getting old. Soon to be a Nana. Come, let's get some rest." We exit her conjuring room. "Oliver, by the way," she points down at his shoes, "No shoes."

"Sorry Aunt Diane. I'll take them off next time," Oliver sheepishly said.

"Good night loves. I'll see you in the morning." We all go upstairs back to the main floor of the mansion.

"Luna, you should get some sleep. You start training at 5AM." Oliver gives me a pat on the shoulder. I was already walking up the stairs of the grand staircase when Oliver called out my name.

"Ah, Luna Hope, make sure to wear running gear. Night."