Chapter 48

7 months, 1 week, 5 days pregnant.

Livia looks in amusement at the eyes attached to her desk.

“Curious?” She hums and raises the new memory orb so they can be viewed better.

Liliana blinks her round red eyes and nods eagerly. Her hands clutch at the edge of the table as she shoves her nose upon it very un-lady-like, sniffing at it absently like a bunny.

Livia laughs and pokes her little sisters' nose, causing it to wrinkle cutely.

“Liviaa,” Liliana whines and clutches her nose.

“If Beth saw you...” Livia says, still very amused.

Liliana flushes and stands up with a pout, “Are you going to use them now? But how?” She asks instantly, tilting her head.

Livia's smile dims a bit, but she easily picks up a threading needle, and explains, “I no longer have my magic. My core is no longer accessible to me and because of that, all my magic is going straight to my son to aid in developing his own magical core.”

Liliana nods eagerly, her eyes shifting around, “Beth said you lost it a few days ago and that I was not to disturb you until you rested properly. Did you rest properly sister? Maybe you should go back to bed. I can get a tray so you can do whatever you need on the tray.”

Livia hums again, “I spent the past two days doing nothing but sleeping in that bed. Sitting at a desk for a bit will not do me any harm.”

Liliana fiddles with her fingers, “If you are sure?”

Livia offers her a tired smile, “I am. Now, aren’t you interested in seeing how this works?”

Liliana brightens, “Yes, of course! But...” She eyes the threading needle warily, “What are you going to do with the needle? Isn’t it dangerous?”

Livia was more than a little tired of the constant worry and nagging that has been thrown her way these days. It seems like a never-ending stream, but it was also a bit of a relief, though she would only admit that part to herself. It was nice to be thought of out of genuine concern. And unlike Elias, who had been all but stifling in his worry, Beth, Liliana, and even Sen knew when to take a step back from her and allow her to breathe. Amaya kept her worries for Livia to herself for the most part, but it still came out in light comments every now and again.

“It’s fine, Lily,” Livia assures, “Because I cannot access my core, I will have to use another way to unlock the orbs,” She lifts the needle and quickly jabs it into her pointer finger.

Liliana cringes, “Livia!” She scolds as she goes pale at the sight of blood.

The door to her room opens instantly upon the noise. Sen sticks his head in, sees what the two sisters are up to, and steps fully inside without a word. He holds the door open, and soon Beth and Amaya appear with dinner in their hands.

“Lady Livia,” Beth says in concern, hastily putting down her tray and gliding over. She pulls out a cloth from her skirt pocket and attempts to dab at the small puncture wound, but Livia pulls her hand back.

“Perfect, you are all here,” She says, turning to Sen and Amaya, “Come on over, now is the perfect time to show off my brilliance.”

Amaya calmly rolls the cart brimming with covered food towards the table, parking it there, “You are finally going to use them?” She asks as she walks forward, mildly curious.

“Mmhmm,” Livia says, and turns back to the orbs when her people quietly surround her and look over her shoulders to see what she is doing.

“Is the blood necessary?” Sen asks pointedly.

Livia rolls her eyes, “Yes, now hush and pay close attention. You all are standing in the front row of Old Ones' magic lesson 101. Truly, it is a great honor or some shi-” Beth makes a face, “or some crap.”

“Old what?” Liliana says instantly, blinking rapidly.

“It’s the same magic the ancients once used a long, long time ago. I’m talking about hundreds of thousands of years ago. Livia loves to call it Old Ones, for some strange reason,” Amaya explains, turning to her.

Livia ignores them and goes straight into instructor mode, “As you all know, it is possible to cut off a person from their magical core using null weapons or jewelry made from a certain type of metal, preventing the person from using it. It is also possible to do so with certain runes but those do not last as long. This effect is similar to what is happening to me now because of my pregnancy.”

Livia lifts up the orb and hovers her finger over it, “But, what you do not know, or more accurately, what is unknown to you all because it has been lost time, is that your core isn’t your only source of magic. Obviously, the core is where it is created, where it is mostly stored but it flows throughout the body. Through your veins, in your bones, on your skin, and even in your hair. Your magic is always a part of you though not as much as it is concentrated at your core.”

Liliana raises her hand.

“Yes, Lily?” Livia's eyes move over to her as she raises a brow.

Liliana scratches her head, looking very lost but still determined to be a part of the lesson, “Um, so, even with a void weapon on them, people can still use magic? Also, what is a void weapon? What kind of metal stops someone from using their magic? Isn’t that cruel? Who would do such a thing? Also-”

Amaya places a hand on her shoulder, “I think we should add Magi 101 to our training sessions, don’t you Liv?”

Livia turns to fully face her sister, her mouth falling open, “Are you serious? Has father dropped all pretense in giving you proper lessons? Does that fool really think he can keep you here forever,” She hisses out, furious.

How has Livia not noticed this sooner? Now that she thinks about it, when Liliana was not with her, she was with Amaya or the maids' other maids out in the garden. Fucking hell. She had been so happy to have her little sister constantly back at her side, she didn’t realize how strange it was.

Liliana was born out of wedlock, but she was still the favorite child of the duke. As a soon-to-be young woman, she needed proper lessons to fit into this society or she would be vulnerable and at the complete mercy of others. Livia knows for a fact Liliana had tutors and lessons in the past, so what happened to them? And, unlike Livia, Liliana had a decent if not average size magical core. It was dangerous, even for a commoner, to go without basic training.

Liliana's face flushes red to the roots, “I know about the basics!” She says, but then her gaze falls to the floor and she starts fiddling with her fingers, “B-but it has been a while. Father had thought it was best to focus on my recovery.”

Livia was dripping blood all over the orb and the table below, but she pays it no mind as she gets off-topic.

Her eyes narrow, “Recovery of what, exactly?”

It didn’t sound like it was a matter of her weak immune system. It seems like something more. Like Liliana had fallen ill from something severe. And yet, her little sister has said nothing of it. Liliana always tells her everything. Didn’t she?

Liliana's fingers twist into her skirt, her eyes going round, “Um...”

“We should come back to this conversation at a later date,” Beth says, looking from one sister to the other. Then her gaze zooms in on Livia's finger, “Lady Livia, please, do whatever you need to do so I can heal you. Any blood loss is not good for you.”

Livia's eyes pin Liliana down, lingering, but Amaya places her hands on her shoulder, messaging them absently as she says, “We can talk about this over the rapidly cooling dinner, but until then, shouldn’t you get back to these orbs?”

Livia scowls, and huffs, “Fine.”

Liliana lets out a breath of relief but stiffens up when Sen casts her a look.

You know she won’t let this go, right? Seems to be what he is trying to tell her. Liliana smiles sheepishly back. Of course, she does. There will be no escaping from this now.

Oh well, Liliana had put it off long enough. It was better to suck it up and just get it over with. This way she will feel a little less guilty about holding things from her sister. But her other secret. She wouldn’t be so careless with that.

Livia stares down at the orb. Some of the excitement was now gone. She lets out another huff of breath and presses her finger into the orb, though by now, it was already covered in drops of her blood.

“Magic is in my blood,” She says bluntly, “Small as the amount is, it can be quite potent.”

It wasn’t something a novice or even a grandmaster could use on a whim. Just like all Old One's ways, it was steeped in something heavier, earthly, and almost unmovable. But by now, Livia was used to the weight. It was familiar, nostalgic, even. She could tap into it as easily as breathing, but even then, she never forgets to be careful, respectful. Even at this small task.

“The orbs are signature locked,” Livia says, “They cannot be accessed by anyone but me, but without my magic, I need another key. Hence, the use of blood.”

Amaya leans closer over her head, peering at the mess on the table, “Seems rather barbaric, and uncomplicated,” She says, but then her smooth expression flickers, “But I am guessing, it is the exact opposite.”

“Locking a spell to a signature isn’t something anyone can do,” Beth states, and her voice wavers a bit, “H-how is it that you are able, Lady Livia? I only heard of such a thing in old dusty tombs.”

“In the restricted section at Aster?” Livia says knowingly.

Beth coughs, and looks away, “Well, I had been a different girl back then...”

“I can do it,” Sen says it as a matter of fact.

Livia hums a strange word under her breath and her blood begins to seep into the stone, coloring it.

“Barely,” She says after a while, breaking concentration to shoot a smug look over her shoulder at Sen, “Your teacher was wise beyond their years, truly, but they still followed the books to the letter. Do it the way I taught you and maybe I will not be able to break through your signature next time.”

Beth turns her gaze to Sen, looking faint, “You can do it?” Then Livia’s words catch up to her, and she stares at her ward below her with a strange look on her face.

“You broke through his signature?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Liliana tentatively raises her hand, looking completely lost.

Amaya continues on with messaging Livia's shoulder but turns towards her with an indulgent smirk, “Don’t worry young lass, signatures are beyond anything they will ever teach you in Aster. Unless you plan to be working under a grandmaster any time soon, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Liliana puts her hand down.

Livia lets out a sharp hiss, drawing the attention of her people.

“What’s wrong?” Beth says, concern instantly overtaking her expression.

“Did you fuck up?” Sen wanted to know, moving to intervene, somehow.

“Oh, all the blood is gone,” Amaya comments and digs her fingers into Livia's tense shoulders, working on a knot.

Liliana shuffles closer, “Is the orb...eating it?” She watches with an agape mouth as the blood lifts from the table and sinks into the small little orb. She has seen her sister do magic before, but it was still a foreign site to her. Watching things move and twist without a glimmer of light was strange, but she knew, the magic was there. Felt it on her skin like a heavy limb, as if the very air was pressing down on her.

Livia says nothing.

They all watch as the drops disappear, but the orb remains stubbornly clear, almost. Liliana practically shover her nose close to it, squinting. Were those particles floating it in it? Silvery and pretty, they twirled around each other, glittering in the candle light.

“Memories,” Livia finally says, her voice stable.

Liliana instantly checks her over, but Livia seems fine, no, more than fine.

She was grinning.

Actually, full-blown grinning.

Liliana stares, stunned.

Livia suddenly turns to her, her eyes practically alight, “Don’t you want to know what I placed in them?”

“What?” Liliana asks practically on top of her sisters' words.

“Music,” Livia says and beams.

Liliana stares at her some more.

“Music?” Amaya says, and pauses in her massage, surprised, “Out of all the memories you had, you put ones of music in that stone?”

Livia lifts the small memory orb to the light, “It was hard choosing which songs I wanted. The stones were small, so they had limited capacity even with my influence. Really, I think I only managed a few hundred. And of course, all from my first life as my second life memories are so stubborn. They didn’t want to be moved.”

“But...music?” Amaya asks again, in disbelief. She looks to the other stone, the one that Livia had apparently already done when she was to be resting, as she now notices the small swirling little particles. It seems her blood had brought her memories to life.

“And what is in that one?” Amaya asks, pointing.

“Videos,” Livia answers easily as she lets Beth heal her wound, her face was aglow with Beth’s magic.

“Vi-Ve,” Amaya's lips struggle over the strange word, “Vedeohs?”

Liliana's face hovers around the other orb, enchanted by the pretty swirls, “What is a vedeoh?” She asks, fascinated by this topic.

Sen glances over at her and Beth, “Have you told them?” He asks, his voice low.

Livia's mouth threatens to pull down, “No... but, I guess if I want to use these I better.”

Amaya already knew. But like Sen, it did not happen based on trust. More of an exchange of outlandish tales. If anyone in this world would believe her, Amaya was the only one in her own unique position to take her words without a grain of salt. Her warrior maid would keep her secret, as Livia would keep Amaya’s.

Sen hadn’t been pleased, but then again. He had no ground to argue.

“Videos are sort of like a picture book,” Livia explains, answering Liliana. Thinking about Amaya, maybe she could use that past situation to her advantage.

She scoots her chair back, and Beth helps her up without a word. Seemingly to also read her thoughts, she tilts her head in the direction of dinner.

“Why don’t we all sit down to eat? I’m sure we can speak further on this topic and others over food,” The older woman says with a mild smile.

As Liliana bounces to the round table that seats five, and Beth and Amaya begin to uncover dinner, Sen turns to her as she rests her weight on his arm.

“Can you trust them?” He asks her, his voice flat.

Her gaze flicker up, to meet his eyes, “...maybe.”

Sen lets out a breath, “And you are willing to gamble...?”

Livia stares at Beth and Liliana, “For once, I think I am.”