She didn’t need to be watched over by some tiny woman with an ego larger than even Aethel herself.
“Oh, I know we’ve had it before, I just don’t understand how someone so good with the math, magic, and language is dumb enough to actually think she can take on the beast.” The brunette snarked. “If that hunter guy, what’s his name…” She snapped her fingers several times, and Aethel wondered if she could get away with breaking them before quickly trying to get the thought out of her mind. Even Marissa had not irked her as much as this woman. “Ah Leas. If that wonderful example of a man couldn’t find and kill it, what makes you think you can?”
“Because I’m not some glorified doormat for a noble.” Aethel replied, the insult having slipped through her lips. Truthfully, she knew it was cruel, but the woman was getting on her nerves and perhaps it would get her off Aethel’s back if she were a little snarky herself. She could hear the woman grit her teeth. “That and I’ve got a plan.”
The curiosity in her eyes, brown ones that had been fueled by bitterness and hatred, was a slightly stunning sight to see for the blonde. She had gotten used to the woman’s hateful attitude, and to see something different in her eyes was unnerving.
“Like what?” She asked.
“It’s none of your business.” Aethel said. She didn’t like the way the woman was looking at her, as if she was some sort of dangerous animals, to be studied and prodded to find out how harmful it was. “Now run along. I have some work with some paralysis runes and I’m not going to have deal with your presence any longer than I have to.”
Lianza sneered. “She put me in charge of taking care of you, so no, I believe it is my business. I guess I’ll have to stick by your side as long as possible to make sure you don’t run off. I mean, with your leg acting up and all, I should only be as helpful as possible to the woman who that hag tried to replace my father with.”
Aethel gazed at the woman, a sense of seriousness filling her eyes. “Listen, I have allowed you into my home despite not having to, and yet you’ve done nothing but annoy and insult me. You should certainly know better than to do that in someone else’s home as a guest, so if you do not find your way out of my study and shut your mouth, I will simply report you to Ailbe.”
Lianza’s eyes widened at that. She knew that Ms. Alcott would not be merciful towards her if she were to be reported since the noblewoman seemed to have a strange fascination with the woman. However, she still hated the blonde and that malice still clouded her mind.
But she knew when she was beaten.
This would not deter her from her goals, however.
“This isn’t over.”
Aethel watched her leave her study, probably to do some inane task to pass the time or more than likely to go spend time in Athsbane. She didn’t hate many people in her life, truly hate them. The number could be counted on both her hands, with a few fingers remaining. Her family for kicking her out, a few people that treated her like garbage when she was on the streets, and Marissa, were people she despised.
And Lianza was the newest addition. She had been sympathetic at first, thinking the woman to be some poor soul who was just unlucky in life. Aethel knew that feeling, knew it really well, but her attempt to see something the woman as some poor helpless soul was shattered when they had first arrived.
Now she knew better. The woman was bitter that someone had replaced her father, bitter at her for practicing runes, a trade that reminded her of her father, and bitter at her father for leaving her in debt to Mrs. Alcott. She had a lot to be bitter about, but Aethel would not let her take it out on her and Craeft.
Worse than that though, was her arrogance. She assumed she could order her around in her own home. She had been incredibly close to lashing out and striking the woman, but held herself in check. Aethel was no barbarian, and refused to allow herself to slip into physical violence like that.
At least, not yet.
Not unless she hurt her son of course. Then, all bets were off.
Still, she couldn’t let the woman get to her. Not yet. She still had to figure out a way to get rid of her in a weeks’ time, before the full moon arose once again. She had thought about using magic on her and knocking her out, but she would report that to Mrs. Alcott and she didn’t want to offend someone she viewed as a friend, or at the very least, a well-connected acquaintance.
No, she knew she’d have to rely on the area of her expertise, runes, but didn’t know how she’d do it. She worked with stone and metal, not people’s minds and flesh. That was something more along the lines of what Ailbe would do.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the alarm near the door go off, signaling that someone had arrived on the property. She quickly hid her work on the paralysis rune, not trusting Lianza to try and destroy her notes in a petty act of revenge, and quickly walked towards the door.
She opened it to find one of Mrs. Alcott’s servants in its large black robes, along with her daughter. The young girl looked up at her hesitantly as she held onto the massive being’s hand, but there was a bit of joy in her eyes. Clearly, she seemed to have liked Aethel more than the woman thought. The guardian handed her a note before it let go of the child’s hand and stormed off, leaving Aethel alone with the pinkette.
She invited the little girl in, not wanting to leave her on her doorstep, and read the note aloud, Mona standing beside her and looking up at the tall woman as she did so.
“Dear Mrs. Proudhill. Mona was positively smitten with your son and pestered me constantly to allow her to come over to your home, and I find myself hard pressed to not allow her to do so. Therefore, I have sent her over for a week. My servant will return at the end of the week to retrieve her. Sincerely, Ailbe Alcott.” Aethel’s green eyes were narrowed as she read the note. “Truly a woman of class aren’t you Ms. Alcott. Leaving your child with me without warning. Perhaps I should do the same to you when- “
“Um,” Mona looked up at Aethel, her hands fumbling behind her back in nervousness, “Y-you’re not mad are you? Mom said you would be happy to have me over, but…well…” She seemed to shrink in on herself, her shyness overwhelming her.
Aethel sighed as she ran a hand through her long blonde mane. She wasn’t angry at the child, she was angry at her mother for clearly not doing her job correctly and raising her child. Sure, she was healthy physically, but she seemed to be emotionally and socially stunted from the woman’s obvious neglect.
She wasn’t the girl’s mother, but she guessed she would have to be since her own was such a poor example, obviously too concerned with her alchemy to take care of her own child.
“No, I am not mad at you.” She said as she kneeled down, putting herself at the child’s level. It seemed to calm the child down slightly, and Mona looked into her emerald eyes with her own yellow ones. Aethel held back a flinch as the child’s strange inhuman eyes stared into her own. “Hey, why don’t we go play with Craeft. Today’s my day off, so we can play whatever you want.”
She was silent for a moment before she replied, her voice slightly shaky. “…Can we play tea party?” A small smile crept across Aethel’s face. Despite her inhuman origins, she was still very much a little girl.
“Of course.” The girl let out a cry of surprise as Aethel lifted her up with one arm, before she let out a delightful little giggle. She smiled the whole way to Craeft’s room, and let out a small cry of surprise as she saw her friend.
“Craeft!”
The eight-year-old looked up from the small wooden toys he had been playing with and saw his friend, his own green eyes that matched his mother’s alighted with joy. “Mona!” He cried out, his legs carrying him as fast as they could as he approached Aethel. The tall blonde set the girl down and smiled as the girl hugged her son.
“Do you wanna play? Mrs. Proudhill says we can play tea party together?” Her yellow eyes were bright with excitement as she stated that. Craeft on the other hand, looked confused.
“What’s that?” The
young boy asked.
And thus, Craeft was introduced to the game of tea party. Admittedly, he didn’t enjoy it at first, but he seemed positively smitten with his new friend, and so he played with her regardless. Though he did insist that it was not a tea party, but rather, a gentleman’s party.
Aethel knew someone like Mrs. Alcott would see this as a waste of time, too entranced with her own projects and studies to spend time with her child. But the blonde knew better. She had seen the sullen look on the little girl’s face, and how it changed into one of pure joy when she got to play with her son. Craeft as well, despite being involved in a game that was rather girly for his tastes, also seemed to be enjoying himself far more than she thought he would.
“Now here, you can have some tea Craeft.” Mona pretended to pour out some tea with a small toy kettle. The blonde boy looked into his cup and drank up the pretend tea, making a cute sipping noise as he did so.
“It’s good.” He replied, which caused the young girl to giggle.
“Why don’t you try some Mrs. Proudhill?” The little girl said as she poured some pretend tea into a small cup. Aethel held a small smile on her face as she drank the pretend liquid.
“It’s pretty good. You’re a really good tea maker.” The small girl smiled as she held the kettle in her hand. “Thank you.” She said as she put the kettle down. Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she asked the blonde a question. “Mrs. Proudhill, what’s it like being a rune crafter?”
Aethel held a finger up to her chin as she tried to think of a way to explain her work to the child. “Tell me, has Ailbe ever explained the nine fields of magic to you?”
“Yeah.” The girl held up her fingers. “There is alchemy, potions, runes, conjuration, transfiguration, elemental, mind magics, curses and hexes, and charms which can also be used for enchanting.”
“Very good.” The girl preened under the compliment. “You could learn a thing or two if you listened to your friend here Craeft.”
“Hey!” The boy was indignant, which made him all the cuter in Aethel’s eyes. She reached over and ruffled his hair, and the boy let out a ‘hmph’ as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Anyway, you are correct Mona. Of course, there are a few sub-categories like blood magic being a part of elemental magic due to its connection to water or iron, the usage of magic in martial arts, and a few others. Out of those though, only two don’t require amulet glove usage,” Aethel tilted her head, “Or rather, I should say, doesn’t heavily rely on them. You can still use magic without the amulet gloves, but it’s always inferior without the foci unless you train heavily.”
“As I was saying though, only alchemy and runes don’t require usage from amulet gloves besides causing the initial reaction for alchemy, and storing the magic for runes. I wouldn’t know much about alchemy, as while it does use runes, it uses them in a significantly different way from normal runes, hence why it is its own category. But, to answer your question, what it’s like to work with runes …it’s like painting.”
Mona tilted her head, a confused look in her eyes. “How so?”
Craeft nodded along with his friend. “Yeah, I wanna know too. How is making stuff with rocks better than making cool explosions with magic?”
“Well as you may know, everyone has a magical core. They can vary in size, meaning some will have more magic in their bodies than others, though they can grow larger if you train really hard.” Aethel frowned slightly. “Unfortunately, I was not born with a large one, and hence, I get tired after a few spells, and need to rest a while to recuperate. Runes, help me get around that, since they require little magic, only enough to activate them, and can be mass produced. So while a wizard could make several explosions and tire himself out, I could make many runic bombs and blow him to pieces instead.”
“But doesn’t it take more time to do that?” Craeft asked.
“Yes, which is why everyone doesn’t use them. Creating one of those would take me ten minutes at best, while anyone could simply use their amulet glove and create an explosion in an instant.” Aethel shrugged. “Hopefully, you didn’t inherit my low magical core, Craeft, though I would love it if you would take after me in my field.”
“Nah, seems kind of boring with all that math and stuff.” Craeft replied. Aethel rolled her eyes at her son, the boy seemingly more interested in the flashy bits of magic than the subtleties of a nice runic array. “I think all those Ice Elementals I saw back home were a lot cooler. I even managed to memorize a few of the spells.”
“Just remember, I’m not getting you your Amulet Glove till you’re eleven and heading off to school, okay?” Aethel said.
“That’s fine. I’ve been practicing my magic anyway.” A bit of frost appeared on his hands, the air above them becoming cold. “See?”
“Just remember not to strain yourself. It’s good to use magic at a young age to help build up your magical core, but don’t abuse it or you’ll end up stunting it.” Aethel grinned. “Still, it’s quite impressive at your age to do Amulet-less magic. Just make sure to be careful, alright?”
Craeft’s face scrunched up at the thought of not using his magic. Mona giggled at the sight. “Fine.”
“Anyway, to answer your question, being a rune crafter is like being an artist.” Aethel smiled as she used her hands to emphasize her point. “My chisel is the paintbrush, and I paint my work into stone and metal. My creativity and knowledge are my only limit, though just like a painting, a single mistake can ruin the whole thing.”
“You really like what you do, don’t you Mrs. Proudhill?” Mona asked, her big yellow eyes staring into Aethel’s green ones.
“Of course. Would you like to be a rune crafter when you grow up?” She asked the child. Mona tilted her head as she let the question flow through her mind.
“I-I don’t know.” Mona replied, feeling a bit self-conscious due to her confusion. “I don’t think my mother would like that.” Her eyes were watery as she kept speaking. “She likes to show me off at parties, like I’m some sort of zoo animal, and she never tells me she loves me or anything! She just seems to think of me as some accomplishment and that’s it.”
Aethel looked at the girl with pity. The sheer lack of warmth from her mother must have really been affecting her, but the woman was too busy with her experiments to “waste” time with her daughter. The lack of any loving family must have hurt the girl in ways that Aethel could sympathize with, her own family leaving her out on the streets. Still, it must have been painful to have a mother who professed that she wanted a daughter, yet neglected Mona.
She loved what Mona represented, but not who she was.
An achievement in alchemy and an addition to her genetic lineage, yet in the noblewoman’s eyes, it was only that.
Aethel couldn’t stand the thought of that. Neglecting a child, something that most cultures considered precious, disgusted her to her core. Seeing Mona with her eyes watery, and her lips trembling, filled her with a sense of resolve as she stood up.
If Ailbe wasn’t willing to be a mother to the girl, then Aethel would do it in her stead.
“Hey,” She laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it much. I’m sure your mother is just…dealing with things. I’m sure she loves you very much.” Aethel tried to say those words with confidence, but Mona didn’t believe them.
“Either way, you have us. And we’ll always take you in, right Craeft?” The boy nodded along with his mothers’ words. Mona was nice and pretty, plus she was a great friend to have around in Craeft’s opinion.
“Yep. Plus, you could always stay over and practice magic with me!” Craeft said, his hands once again covered in frost. Mona was a bit teary eyed as she spoke in a small voice, a hint of joy in her words.
“Thank you.”
Aethel smiled. “Now, why don’t I go make us some dinner? How about some crattlerat steaks and some mashed tatoes?” The smile from Craeft was confirmation that it was a good idea, but the smalls s
mile that Mona had was what sealed the deal.
Aethel soon found herself in the kitchen with the two kids seated at the table. They played a game of magical cards, the deck of cards slowly floating in front of them as the two used their magic to keep it afloat. It was a small exercise to help strengthen a young child’s magical core without damaging it, and Aethel was proud to note how long the two could keep it up.
Especially Craeft. The young boy had big dreams to join the knighthood, and detested being looked down upon due to his heritage as a bastard, along with inheriting the damage that Aethel’s reputation had given him. Being bullied by the other children back in Rubrary had led to a sense of perfectionism and the drive to be the best. To prove his detractors that regardless of his heritage, he was better than them, though Aethel could tell the act barely hid his self-confidence issues.
He may have been a bit…brash, but all in all, Aethel was proud of the young boy he was growing into and was happy that he had found a friend in Mona. Plus, she thought that maybe Mona would be able to temper him a little bit. It was obvious to Aethel that he had a crush on the girl, always seeking to have her attention and impress her with his feats of elemental magic, which for his age were actually quite impressive.
While these thoughts ran through her mind, she diced up sections of the crattlerat meat on her counter. She knew that the little girl probably had far superior dinners to this, with how rich her mother was, but she would do her best to provide for her guest.
She hissed as the knife slipped in her grip, leaving a small cut in her finger. A few small drops of blood left the tiny wound, causing a small pool of her life essence to form on the counter. ‘Crap, I’ll have to clean this up and throw away a few of the crattlerat cuts. I really didn’t want to waste any food and-what the?’ Her eyes widened as she had pushed magic through the blood. She had hoped to levitate it to the sink and wash it down the drain, but her eyes widened as it seemed to become similar to the runic symbols she worked with.
A New Life Page 8
