Third-Day of August, In the Year of the Empire 6777 Continued

Sienna found me sitting outside under the tree again. "They would like to rest, but not in your house. I think they are still afraid of people. Is there anywhere they can go?

I nodded and stood. "Yes, let's go help."

We went to the house and found Milbery. "I would like the stone house furnished for our three guests. Can you take care of that for me?"

Milbrey nodded, "Yes, sir, I'll get it done quickly."

"Thank you, Milbrey."

"Sienna, let's go talk to them."

Back in the dining room, both girls were sleeping. "Hello, Ava. Sienna tells me that you don't want to stay here. That is fine. There is another, very private house close by, would you like to see it?"

Ava gives me a small smile, "Yes, my lord."

Standing, she hands me Olivia to carry and picks up Emma.

Olivia is sleeping comfortably and has color in her face again. "Very well, this way, please."

Sienna and I led Ava to the stone house behind the mansion. "Sienna, can you hold Olivia while I get the door open?"

Sienna nods and takes the little girl.

After I unlock the door, I step back to let Ava go in. Taking Olivia back from Sienna, we follow Ava in.

Ava is having a hard time speaking, "My lord, this is too much, we can't live here."

I am thinking hard about this when Sienna responds, "Of course you can. It's a lovely little house that he built. It's perfect for you and your girls."

Ava shakes her head, "No, I can't pay for this."

I have an idea, "Ava, can you garden, raise chickens, maybe milk a cow?"

Nodding yes, Ava says, "I've done that and other such things. But we never had a cow."

"Excellent. I would like you to garden, raise chickens and other things, for my kitchen. In return, you'll have free use of this house and meadow to do with as you wish. Now it will not be completely free. I'll get you everything you need to get started. Mr. Milbrey will buy things from you at market prices. Vegetables from your garden, eggs from your chickens, and maybe chickens too. Then you can buy what you want from the hamlet. You'll have to save up to buy a goat or cow.

Once you do, you can provide milk to your girls and sell some to the kitchen if you want.

With that, I offer her the key to the door.

Ava is just standing there silently, looking at the key when I hear men outside.

"Come on outside for a bit. My men are bringing in some furniture for you now."

We watch as a table, chairs, and a bed is carried inside by the men. Women follow them, bringing some essentials, a pot and frying pan, a few bowls, plates, wooden mugs, and flatware. Then blankets, extra clothing, and finally foodstuffs.

A few men are stacking firewood by the door as well.

Olivia is awake now and is watching everyone fearfully from behind Ava.

I hold the key out to Ava again, "All you have to do is accept this key."

Ava took the key and curtsied, saying, "Thank you, my lord."

I smile, "We'll let you get settled in just a moment. There is one more thing I want to add to the house. Going inside, I cut runes between the door and the windows. Then again between the windows and end walls, finally I match the runes on the door side of the house on the far side, for a total of eight runes. Then I add eight more to the cellar in the same pattern. Sienna has followed me down the stairs and is watching intently. None of the runes have mana.

When I finish the last one, she asks, "What will those do?"

"These are some of the advanced runes that are not in your primer. Now come over here and here and help me do a few rituals."

With that, I sit down under the stairs and wait for her to sit beside me. "First is a wind spell that crates a bubble to stop anyone from clearly hearing what we say. It's one of the advanced mage spells you'll learn in school."

Once the bubble is working, I nod, "There now no one can hear us."

"The things I'm about to show you are Kingdom secrets. Just know you can't share these with anyone, ever, or you'll face a charge of treason. Do you understand?"

Sienna's eyes opened wide, but she nodded yes.

"The first ritual we'll use will cause the floor to open and create a stone box underneath this floor. The technique I'm using allows mages to provide mana safely to rituals. It is information that you must not share or write down anywhere without the permission of the Crown."

Sienna nods, "I understand."

"Okay, this first ritual is ready. I'm going to add just enough mana to it so that it will be nearly active. Then I want you to 'slowly' add mana to it. The ritual will try to grab your mana and pull it too hard and fast for comfort. You don't want that to happen."

After I put a small amount of mana into it, I motion for Sienna to continue, she gets a look of surprise when she feels the pull. Then she grimaces as she fights the pull. I did not know her scrunched up face could look so cute. She glares at me when she sees me smiling and nearly laughing. In just a few more moments, the ritual flashes just a bit, and Sienna sits back to watch a hand-sized square of stone sink downward.

"We only need enough room to put a ritual down there. When we fix the floor, the "box" will have a one-centimeter high space. Now, this is an incredibly special rune we are going to put down there. Any guess as to what it will do?"

Sienna sits there looking at the hole for a long moment. "You put runes on the walls where you would put torches, but they did not give any light. So somehow, this rune will make them work."

"Correct, but what is the 'somehow?'"

She studies me for another long moment. "You're going to store a lot of mana here for the runes."

I chuckle a bit and shake my head. She punches me in the arm.

"Okay, Okay. Your almost correct, remarkably close. Any other thoughts?"

"The runes need mana to work. You're not going to store mana here. So that means you're getting mana from somewhere else? How can you do that?"

Without thinking, I blurt out, "Damn, I like a smart girl."

Sienna blushes but does not punch me in the arm this time.

"Sorry." I clear my throat. "What we will put down there is a 'Collection Rune,' it will pull mana from the earth below us."

Sienna just looks at me like I've gone crazy. "That’s not, you can't. Oh." See looks at the stone room, where she sits. "You used that rune to build this house, didn't you?"

Nodding at her with a smile, I confirm her thought, "Yes. With this 'Collection Rune,' I did not need to gather twenty mages to supply the mana a standard ritual would take to build it, nor was I at risk of injury. I just needed time. Putting all the mana in that I could. Over and over. I survived because the ritual always has somewhere else to draw mana from."

Sienna is still looking at me oddly. "Is this why your suddenly an Honored High Mage and everything?"

"In part, yes. I will tell you more about that later. Right now, we need to finish this."

Slowly I create the rune and double-check it. "This kind of rune can be dangerous, so it must be crafted absolutely correct and have the right parameters. Okay, it's ready. Go ahead and feed it a small bit of your mana, but you only want to give it enough to activate. You'll feel it when it happens, so go slowly."

Sienna leans over the rune and concentrates. In just a moment, the rune gives off a soft flash of light and then glows weakly.

Sienna is excited, "I did it!"

"Good, now here is another trick to learn. Place your hand near the rune, and feel what is happening with the mana."

She frowns, trying to find the 'feeling' I described.

After several long moments, her eyes go wide, and she looks at me with a huge smile. "I can feel the mana moving through the stone!"

Which is quickly followed by, "No one knows about this, do they?"

Shaking my head, "You’re the only person I've ever shared this with Sienna."

She loses herself in thought, looking at the rune again.

"We need to finish." I quickly perform the ritual to close the floor over the 'Collection Rune,' leaving no sign that anything has happened there.

Sienna smiles, "That was incredible!"

I laugh and help her up. "I'm dropping the bubble, and we need to go upstairs."

When we get upstairs, Ava is running her hands across the table and chairs as if she is only now believing that they are real.

"Okay, we finished in the basement, Ava. Let me explain what we've done. First, there is nothing here that will hurt you or your girls."

She nods and waits.

"Each of these symbols," I point to them around the room, "are like torches, but a little brighter. There is no fire. There is no smoke. There is no danger. Okay?"

She is looking at the runes cautiously.

"When you need light," I step over to a rune by the door, "just tap the symbol like this." I simply tapped the wall once, and the rune began to glow, shedding light a little brighter than a torch.

I look back at Ava, and she is standing there astonished. So is Sienna.

"If you want to turn it off, just place your hand over the symbol and snuff it out like a candle." I placed my palm over the glowing symbol and held it there a moment. Taking my hand off the wall, you can still see the symbol is still there, but it is no longer glowing. Showing her my palm, she can see I was not hurt.

Seeing that Ava is still looking scared, I ask Olivia, "Would you like to light one, Olivia?"

Shyness was gone for the moment as she ran over to a symbol on the far wall. Before Ava even has a chance to stop her, Oliva reaches up and taps on the symbol. Which quickly begins to glow. Oliva giggles and puts her hand on it to cover it and laughs when it is no longer glowing. Emma goes to another symbol pushing a chair, and cautiously tests it. In no time, the girls are making a game of turning them on and off all over the house.

Ava looks like she might laugh, watching them.

Catching Sienna's eye, I motion to her to leave and open the door. I follow her out quietly, and after I close the door, we head back to the mansion.