I went right over to the library and Eludora laughed as soon as she saw me.

“You have to stop getting in trouble in class.” Eludora said and waved me over. I went around her desk and she gave me a weak hug. “It lasted until last night.” She said in reference to the strength potion I had given her last week as she let me go. “The funny thing is, it didn't just shut off like I expected. It faded away gradually.”

“You might not have noticed it if you were asleep.” I said and walked over to the hand cart to get more materials and a crate of potions. “You need to just sit there for now and I'll keep working.”

“David, I can't just...” Eludora started to say and I put the things down beside her desk and took her hand.

“I'll figure something out. I have a few ideas; but, I can't rush into this. I need to test a few things, work out some of the kinks, and find more replacement ingredients.” I said. “When I do, I'm sure you'll get that strength feeling again and for a lot longer than last time.”

Eludora took a breath and let it out. “That's what all that ingredient searching was for? Substitutions?”

“Yes.” I said with a nod. “Unless I want to make a long trip back to the marsh to get more ingredients that I'm comfortable in using, I have to use different things with similar properties. Some ingredients have to be combined and brewed together, just to get them to a good enough concentration to work properly.”

Eludora blinked her eyes for several seconds. “I'm not a potions brewer, so I don't really understand the struggle you're going through.” She squeezed my hand. “However, I appreciate hard work when I see it.”

“I just got here and haven't started yet.” I said and she chuckled.

“David.” Eludora leaned over her desk and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“You can thank me later when I come up with something for you to try.”

“Oh, I plan on thanking you, even if it doesn't work.” Eludora said with a wicked smile. “Now get to work. If my last count is any indication, you might just finish by suppertime.”

“Not with the other row of shelves. It has to be emptied first, removed, and then new shelves mounted to hold the redone maps.” I said. “It'll be another half day, maybe two.”

“You're being extra careful, aren't you?” Eludora asked, because she knew that I could rush and be done much quicker.

“I don't want to ruin anything. You care too much about the maps for me to be disrespectful to them and to you.”

She gave me a seductive smile as she let my hand go and then she gently touched the side of my face and lightly caressed it. She waved at the map room and I went to work and did as I said. I took my time and made sure that each map was properly secured and treated. I also used the same trick I did with the smaller maps. If they were of similar size, I would make frames all the same size, just for the ease of browsing.

I also took the time to carve the simple weight enchantments onto the inside of the frames, which successfully hid them from sight. It would make Eludora's job of browsing and sorting them that much easier. When I told her what I did and how much I had left to do, she took me into another embrace and lightly kissed me on the lips. The chaste kiss she gave me made my lips tingle.

“Thank you very much, David.” Eludora whispered, her voice full of appreciation.

We left the library at suppertime and I helped her walk back to her living quarters. She claimed I was only escorting her, even though we both knew the truth. She didn't want to be exhausted when she went home and my help bringing her there was both wanted and appreciated.

I went back to the library and picked up the two empty crates of vials and went to my dorm mansion. Sara and Tabitha were there and I was only slightly surprised that they didn't ask me to take a bath, considering the state I was in after doing woodworking and handling dusty old maps and scrolls.

When I mentioned needing a bath before I ate, Hope laughed pretty hard as I was unceremoniously dragged by both arms out of the room by Sara and Tabitha. I was suddenly up the stairs and undressed, then tossed into the tub and tackled by two very happy women.

They seemed to laugh and carry on as I was scrubbed and cleaned, almost as if they were in competition with each other, then it was Tabitha's turn for the ritual. Sara observed professionally and nodded several times as Tabitha worked me over. She made some suggestions and pointed out a few things, which made Tabitha more enthusiastic in her work.

Seeing and experiencing all of this made me wonder if all the lords and nobles experienced the same thing. When I asked about it while being dried off, I was given a lecture on the practical use of personal maids and their role in noble society. Their very important and necessary role.

Apparently, it was their sole responsibility and duty to ensure the sexual welfare of their lord. Because nearly all marriages were arranged years in advance, long before men and women had even met. Nearly all of them barely liked each other as people, let alone wanted to marry them or fall in love with them.

Since most of the women were quite unhappy with the thoughts of having sex on a regular basis with someone they didn't like, and in some cases openly despised, it was the personal maid's job to do her best to relieve the man's tension by pleasing him with their hands and mouth. They were trained constantly to do their jobs and they took excessive pride in their abilities to do it thoroughly.

Some maids like Tabitha and Sara had gotten the worst part of the deal and were stuck with a lord that didn't require their services. Their old lords were enamored with their wives and a personal maid's services were wasted and unnecessary. They had been hired and brought into the household before they learned the truth of their situation, then relegated themselves to the lesser important house maid.

Sara had adjusted quickly to being a normal house maid and only felt unfulfilled whenever the Grand Mage took a bath and she wasn't allowed to help. Tabitha on the other hand, had been very firmly rebuffed and was more withdrawn from the rest of the staff than she should have been. She performed her duties as a normal house maid like she didn't have any passion for the work, and it showed.

Now, both maids had a lord that not only needed their services, I had actively asked them for their participation in baths. It made them happier than they had ever been before and they had fun and enjoyed their work. Their laughing and smiling faces as they did their job, made them strive hard to do their best for me. Their enthusiasm in their work was something that I hadn't seen in many people.

I was dried off and dressed into a suit that was suitable for eating a meal, a different one from the one I had worn that day. Both maids thanked me for letting them do their jobs without complaint, as if they had always had someone complain about it before, which I now knew they had. Every offer they had made to their previous lords were denied, some politely and some vehemently. It was disheartening for them to be constantly told to not do their jobs.

They were a bit reluctant to ask for it, which was why they hadn't insisted as soon as they saw me. Thankfully, they had rediscovered their passion for their work because of me and now they had both improved their techniques. Sara and Tabitha had very happy and fulfilled faces as they led me back downstairs to the dining room and we all had a great meal together. After the meal, Sara and Tabitha bid me a goodnight and left to go back to the Henrietta Longshore mansion.

Hope waited until they were gone before she spoke. “Tabitha seems to have fit right in, hasn't she?” She asked and nodded her own head in understanding. “It's only been a day and she already feels like part of the staff.”

“I think it's because she's happy and is doing the work she has always wanted to do.” I said and the kitchen helper gave me a bit more wine. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome, my lord.” The kitchen helper said, her face slightly red, I assumed because of my thanks. “Will you be retiring to the parlour?”

“I have a bit of work bottling up some potions and then I think I'll go to bed early. It's been a long day.”

The kitchen helper nodded and corked the wine, gave me a curtsy, and went into the kitchen.

“She's been doing great as well.” Hope said as she came over to my table and sat beside me. “You definitely made a great choice to have her come here.”

I sipped the wine. “You're doing well managing the dorm mansion, too.”

Hope smiled and sipped her own wine. “I've fallen into the role, that's true.”

“Any problems?” I asked.

“None that haven't been handled already.” Hope said, a bit cryptically.

I raised my eyebrows and she smirked at me.

“A couple of students were sneaking around the grounds and were easily caught in the traps Frank and the guys set out.” Hope said. “It was pretty funny, actually.”

“Why is that?” I asked and finished off the wine in my glass.

“It was right in front of the sign warning of the traps.” Hope said and laughed.

That made me laugh, too. People could be so stupid. “Did they say what they wanted?”

Hope shook her head and finished off her wine. “I think they were too embarrassed to admit anything to the guards as they were released from the snares.”

“It couldn't have been good if they were sneaking around the back of the mansion like that.” I said and stood. “Of course, I wouldn't want them coming in the front, either.”

Hope huffed in agreement and stood as well. “I've already found out their names and who their friends are, so they shouldn't come back.” She took my hand and we left the dining room. “It took a bit of digging before I found out that they are connected to the man you maimed in the army.”

“Which one?” I asked and Hope laughed.

“It was during basic training. He tried to attack you because he thought you were an easy target.”

I nodded as I remembered. It was the first and only incident that had happened in the barracks.

Hope let my hand go and I picked up both empty crates to go upstairs to the potion room. I checked them and there wasn't any residue inside, so I filled one crate with the new purifying cleaning potion to empty the pot and filled the other one with fortifying waterproof potion. I was sure that Mage Marks would be very interested in the new cleaning potion, considering our deal for the original version.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to sell it on the open market, however. It was quite time consuming to make, even with the relatively simple ingredients. I only had so much time during the day, so I needed to try and restrict myself before I became too engrossed in mass producing potions for sale. That wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. No, I had other things that I could do with my time.

I slipped some of each vial into my bandoleer and then followed Hope to our bedroom. That thought made me smile a little, because it was supposed to only be my bedroom. Hope hadn't stayed anywhere else, even though she was supposed to stay in the communal room. No one else would be staying there with her until next year, so her need to have someone else in the room with her was understandable.

Hope helped me change and I put my bandoleer into the vault, then we climbed into bed together. “Tell me all about what happened today.” She whispered and hugged my arm like she did every night. She listened as I told her everything that had happened and she laughed when I got to the part about lighting everything on fire around Mage Quintos. “David, that... you might have crossed a line.”

“He started it.” I said, and even to me that sounded defensive and petulant. “I'll apologize if he does.”

Hope made a snorting sound and then laughed softly. “I'm tempted to tell you to be a bigger man and apologize first, except we both know he'll take it as you admitting you're weaker and possibly afraid of him... or worse, that you're trying to suck up to him to make him forgive you.”

I nodded and she let out a long slow sigh.

“What... happened next?” Hope asked with a yawn.

I continued my story about going to the library and working there for a while, helping Eludora back to her place, then coming back to the dorm mansion. When I was done talking, Hope was sound asleep and I couldn't recall when she had drifted off. I smiled and closed my eyes as I drifted off to sleep, too. It really had been a long day.