Chapter 8: Arglwyddes Eleanor o Ynys Afallon

A quiet drink(s) and a discussion about political ongoings, the ducal wedding, and the Kingdom's new tax laws followed dinner. Having taken finance in college, and with a business degree, I was more familiar with the modern ones, but I easily followed along and even added my own opinion on them.

Before I finally decided to retire for the night, I promised that I would be happy to review anything the Baroness needed. She seemed quite pleased about that. I guess another set of eyes couldn’t hurt.

Iona, however, didn't last that long, falling asleep on a chair in Sebena's study. As I escorted my sleepy apprentice back to her bedroom, I looked over at my lady's maid.

"Rosalyn, you can turn in as well."

For some reason, even with all that had gone on today, I didn’t feel much like going to sleep, but my companions were totally exhausted.

"If you're sure, my lady."

I nodded, seeing she was holding back a yawn. "I am going to go read a few chapters of the book the Baroness lent me before I go to bed."

While sitting under the stars, it only took me a few minutes to glance over the first few pages of 'Treatises on the Healing Craft' to determine that potion making in this world was completely different than Magic-Life.

The developers added real-life elements to the game as much as possible. Thankfully, the process of creating potions was not one of them. It was simple. Besides having the appropriate skill, the player only needed to own an alchemic board, and the tools usually called a potion-making kit.

Formulas were generally inexpensive, unlike spells, as the cost came from obtaining the proper components. Purchasing those items was the quickest method. However, you could always collect them yourself, and herbalism and monster lore were both excellent skills to have anyway. Many players also discovered that selling the ingredients could earn you quite a bit of coin.

Along with your alchemical board, a beaker of some type, usually glass, iron, silver, gold, or mithril depending on the recipe, some sort of liquid, and a little mana were all you needed. After you put everything together and cast the formula through the board, the ingredients would vanish, leaving the desired result in the beaker. Since you were using mana, creating high-tier potions could take some effort, but lower-level ones were easy, assuming you had the necessary ingredients.

In this world, for the most part, recipes were all the same, only the quality of the mana stone determined the power difference. Oh, they still used plant and animal ingredients, but the actual process was closer to brewing or cooking. Moreover, potion-making in this world took a lot of time. However, unlike Magic-Life, from one description, small cauldrons could be used to make large batches.

From my reading, I am also led to believe that this world lacked the more esoteric potions that I happen to have in my inventory. Restoration, healing, antidotes, and mana potions appeared to be the norm. Resist fire, night vision, and the like seemed to be to nonexistent or were extremely rare.

Although there was a story about a young mage, who stumbled upon an elixir that allowed him to breathe underwater, so I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Still, I imagine that the powerful alchemic philters from Magic-Life, ones gained from a quest, were totally unknown.

My curiosity was now piqued. What was the difference between this world's potions and the ones in my inventory? Could Iona use my alchemic board and create one using my method if I managed to acquire the proper formula? Unfortunately, unlike spells, I couldn't make a copy of a potion recipe and give it to someone. I would have to give this some thought.

The guildmaster had also not departed without dropping of my reward. A beautifully crafted silk-lined box filled with mana stones with each stored in its own little container. Attached to the inside of the lid was a device that would tell me their quality and a small parchment with instructions. I cannot imagine that this was a permanent magic item, so it must draw its power from what it was analyzing.

Pulling my basilisk heart core out of my inventory, I pressed the pen-like item against its center.

"Interesting."

Just a quick look at the parchment revealed that the quality was of what they would call a premier stone. How much was it worth? I had no clue. I had no idea how much these stones would have cost me if I bought them from the guild.

"So much of this world is familiar, but so much of it is not," I murmured as I ran my hand over the hardwood box on the table in front of me.

--0--

In the center of an unused bedroom, a figure waited patiently in the dark. The fawn-colored catkin had managed to delay if not deflect any questions about the Baroness's new guest. However, right now, she needed to speak to the person she trusted above all.

"Took you long enough," Lilia grumbled as two more catkins that were having a friendly but quiet conversation entered the room.

"You do realize how late it is?" the youngest of the three women replied before turning to her companion then said, "We'll talk later."

"Osmia," the Baroness's assistant called out to the servant as she prepared to leave. "Please keep this to yourself, its clan business."

Startled, the older woman nodded and curtseyed before departing. "Yes, mistress."

"Pulling rank, sister?"

"Aoife, please," Lilia grumbled then walked towards the veranda, "Follow me."

"Alright." Stepping outside, she looked around before taking off her helm. "Pretty night. So what's this all about, and why all the secrecy?"

Lilia tilted her head. "You feel nothing?"

"No, should I?"

Pointing to another veranda, she queried, "Do you see that woman over there?"

"The one sitting in the dark reading a book?" Her sister rolled her eyes." I'm not blind, Lilia. So, what about her? Other than I'm surprised that she could see what she's reading."

"Look closer."

Aoife shrugged, "Tall, from her coloring most likely from Scandza or may be further west. Anyway, you know all humans look the same to me."

Lilia raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," with a huff, the armored catkin leaned forward. "Huh, so that must be the A-ranked adventurer everyone's been talking about. The morning watch was pretty embarrassed about something that happened at the gate. What was her name again? Eleanor something?"

"Arglwyddes Eleanor o Ynys Afallon."

"Ynys Afallon," the younger of the two women giggled. "I'm sure you misunderstood her. As I told you last time, if you pulled me off guard duty because you listened to too many of grandmother's stories, I'm going to be angry."

"And I wasn't wrong the last time either." Lila stepped forward, prodding, "You still insist that you smell nothing and see nothing, dear sister?"

The young catkin looked confused and then closed her eyes. "Fine, maybe, it's in the wind but hard to catch. Remember, I like to stab things. I'm not good with the mysteries."

"Aoife, you might not have cliriad, but you are our mother's daughter. Remember what nain taught us."

Nodding, she closed her eyes once more then suddenly smiled. "Oh, it smells like a warm..."

Aoife's eyes snapped wide open as she almost cried out while stumbling back into her sister's arms. With a fierce whisper, she asked, "Mam felys y cysgodion pwy ydy hi mewn gwirionedd?"

"Arglwyddes Eleanor o Ynys Afallon."

Three things could be seen in the young catkin's eyes as she looked over at the other veranda, wonder, excitement, and fear.

"Oh, it's gone," Aoife said sadly. "How does she do that, and how do the humans not know?"

Smiling, Lila looked over at the young woman who now sat watching the stars.

"She's letting out just enough tân angerdd for those who have the gift to announce her presence," she whispered in wonder. "Maybe some of them can feel it, perhaps not. It's not unheard of for bodau dynol to have mother magic's blessing."

"But she looks so…human. I never took grandmother's stories seriously. I mean, they are just stories. Do you think she has," Aoife started, "I mean, do you know?"

"I heard that the Arglwyddes is looking for a way home. Apparently, she suddenly appeared in the center of one of the cerrig cychwyn by accident."

This time the armored catkin couldn’t help but snort. Covering her face with her hands, she looked over at the other veranda and lowered her voice, "By accident, really?"

"So, I have been told." Lila shrugged but also didn't look too convinced at the statement.

"I bet she is looking for something, though."

"Or someone."

The armored catkin made a face, "Still, the elders will want to know of her presence. They could help her. I mean, if she needs help."

Nodding, Lila instructed. "I will leave that to you, but just let the henuriaid know the Arglwyddes has not formally announced herself. If we cause her trouble, she's not going to be happy. And I'd rather not have to explain to Baroness Sebena why her city is on fire."

Aoife looked across the courtyard then grinned, "I'll talk to Aunt Caira; she will know what to do."

--0—

Under the hot morning sun of the Empire's capital, a young knight dismounted from his horse before approaching a group of a dozen men and women who stood standing in the center of a large courtyard. He knew they were watching the mana fires that continued to burn throughout the city since they broke out several weeks ago.

"I'm sorry, my lady, but nothing has changed."

Sir Thomas Branmark sighed as the young man gave his report. "Thank you, Alaric. Go get something to eat."

"I imagine his Majesty is still looking for someone to blame," a short, plump brown-haired woman grumbled before motioning to some of the others around her to disburse. "Can't say that I am looking forward to a long sea trip back home, Sir Thomas, but it doesn’t appear I have much of a choice."

"I had hoped that your Court Mage would have been informed of your late return, my lady."

Unlike the Baroness, the wolfkin who spoke was tall and wiry with sun-kissed hair. To the untrained eye, she might appear to be just a boyish-looking woman, but the well-used weapons at her side said otherwise.

"If what happened here occurred back home than Phexidis has more important things to worry about, Rhianna," Court Baroness Millicent chuckled as the group returned to the great hall and out of the hot morning sun.

"Should I inform Captain Alessandro that you will be returning with him to the southern kingdoms?" the Estassa Knight asked while motioning to a servant to serve some refreshments.

"I believe so. How many days do you believe it will take us to get from Port Chalcedon to Veniza?"

"Ten to twelve days as long as the weather holds, my lady." The wolfkin reached for a goblet, smelled it then set it in front of the noblewoman.

"I believe you should return as well Sir Thomas." Millicent raised her hand at his objection. "Trade negotiations have broken down for this season. What we have in place will keep for now. Until the Emperor gets whatever this is under control, his advisors will have no time for foreign delegates."

"Yes, my lady. I know my wife will be pleased."

The Court Baroness considered further, “Lord Nicolas will remain in charge as Estassa Chief Consul until His Majesty decides to appoint someone else."

"I believe we should also return with most of the Ambassador Guard," advised Sir Thomas, "The good Captain won't be upset if we supply some extra swords on the trip, well, just in case."

"Naxian pirates," the wolfkin growled.

"I will leave that up to you, Sir Thomas."

-0--

Sleep did not come to me. I spent the night on the veranda overlooking the courtyard. Other than some noisy catkins, I spent most of it alone with my thoughts while watching the stars.

However, as soon as it started to get light, Amabel joined me for a cup of Kujacha. The warm twig tea was just what the doctor ordered as we quietly spoke about inconsequential things until the sun broke over the battlements.

We then took ourselves to Baroness Sebena's study to return the book. Amabel decided that she would help me find something else for me to read. Between my room and the study, we also managed to pick up Rosalyn, followed by Amabel's lady's maid.

"So, what language is this book even written in?"

Passing a couple of books to Rosalyn, I looked around the small bookshelf towards the Baroness of Redwater. "Excuse me?"

"The book that my sister let you borrow," she replied, making a face as she flipped through the pages. "Looks to be something similar to imperial, but older, maybe."

"Arcadias," a voice answered from the doorway.

"All the way from the eastern Empire?" Amabel looked at the book once more before setting it carefully down. "Good morning, Sebena, would you care to join us?"

"You're up early," the Baroness commented after she greeted everyone then plopped down a stack of papers on her desk. Her assistant, Lilia, followed closely behind her then curtseyed before adding more documents to the pile.

"Stewart wasn’t feeling well last night."

"Oh?" I asked, coming back to the table with a small collection of books. "You didn’t tell me that? Is he alright?"

Amabel grinned, "He's fine. He just had a little too much to drink last night." She then turned to her sister. "I blame it on you. He never does this at home."

"Sorry," Sebena huffed. "These new tax laws are driving both of us crazy. How are you this morning, Eleanor? Sleep well?"

"Can't say I slept long, but I did spend a pleasant evening on the veranda." I smiled. "Anything I can help you with?"

From what I remembered of the conversation over last night's drinks, most of the Kingdom's taxes came from landowners, whether they were noble or commoner. The next largest source of revenue was acquired from trade goods. Quite a bit of money was added to the Kingdom's coffers from the Adventurers Guild as well.

Much like my world, the majority of the taxes went towards military spending. But unlike my world, they were to protect the Kingdom from not just its neighbors but also roving monsters.

What the king wanted was to add a new tax, which sounded a lot like a poll tax. There had been a referendum to tax movable goods, but that had caused a lot of unrest and unnecessary headaches for the Baroness of Harmon. Unfortunately, her poor head wasn’t going to get any relief, as the new tax would be an addition to the already high fees the nobles paid as only the poor would be exempt.

"I imagine your King will be pleased with the new source of revenue from the living labyrinth," I commented while looking over the wording of the new laws.

Quite a bit of coin was to be had in taxing heart cores. Soon more documents were passed around, and while a light breakfast was served, Sebena and I discussed what parts she and others found the most objectionable.

"Ahh, sorry for interrupting Eleanor, but can you really read those books?" Amabel asked as she looked at the titles. "And how in the world did Nardo find these things?"

"Well, my husband always said he was more of a scholar than a warrior." Sebena warmly smiled as she passed her hand over one hefty leather tome. "Merchants often came to the castle just to sell him something new. Although he couldn’t read some of them, if it looked interesting, he would buy it."

"And you." Amabel raised an eyebrow at me, pointing to a book on plants.

"Me?" I asked as I sat down my cup of twig tea. "Well, my mother said that knowledge was its own reward."

What else could I say? Unfortunately, the Baroness of Redwater had already found me reading several different languages before I realized it.

"She must be missing you."

"I would like to think so, but they were killed…" I faltered, as I wasn’t sure how to explain being killed in a car crash. "Anyway, my mother's sister, who raised me afterward, also valued learning."

Amabel smiled as she reached over and squeezed my hand. "Well, I'm sure they would be proud of you."

"So did you find the book on potion making of any use?" Sebena asked.

"I did." I smiled in the way of thanks. "It covered some interesting topics."

"Excellent. What else are you looking for? My husband's library might not be as famous as the one in Dragon Tor or as large as the Great Library in the Imperial capital, but I'm proud of it."

"I hope you don’t mind us being in here?" For some reason, I didn’t question Amabel when she dragged me into the room. We had shared drinks here after dinner, which was when I spotted the potion book on the shelf.

"Not at all, just your choice of reading is intriguing," she said, pointing to the title of the book 'Treatise on the Barbarian Kingdoms of the Great Sea' than the one sitting next to it. 'My travels through the Southern Kingdoms.'

"Oh, I was looking for an atlas or a book with maps."

The village market didn’t have them or any books for sale, which at the time I wasn’t too surprised then afterward I had other things to tend with.

"Well, then you picked the right book," Sebena said as she opened the travel journal and after flipping a couple of pages pushed it towards me. "The same author also wrote of his journey through western kingdoms. Another interesting read."

Reaching for the book, I looked down, and then my world turned white.

"Eleanor, is everything alright?" I heard through the fog.

Looking up, I smiled at a very concerned looking Baroness of Harmon. "Yes, I didn’t realize until now how far away I was from home."

Running my finger down the familiar peninsular, I noted that the boot of Italy was now attached to Sicily by way of a land bridge. Both Corsica and Sardinia stood off to the west, but both appeared to be a little larger. The coastlines looked similar, but I imagined it how it would look if water levels were lower.

It’s a shame my knowledge of the map of Italy ended with being able to recognize it. I asked the Baroness where on the map Harmon was, and all I could tell it was more in southern France than the Italian Peninsular.

Amabel leaned over for a better look. "So where on this map do you live?"

With a sigh, I moved my arm northward. I couldn’t point across the sea, maybe I could have, but I hoped that this would raise fewer questions. Remembering Eleanor's background and the world of Magic-Life, my finger ended up well off the map.

It was then I thought I heard someone in the room whisper Ynys Afallon.

--0--

Author’s Note: Once again, we are at the end of another Volume of The Lost Queen. Volume 3, we will see more of the Kingdom as Eleanor journeys onward in her search for a way home.

I run these chapters through Grammarly (yes, I recommend it) ad nauseam, so of course, errors are all my own. Therefore, a special thanks to everyone that has prodded me to fix what I missed.

Side Note: I had sort of made an end of the year resolution to get a chapter of something published every week. Over the holidays, I managed to meet that quota. Unfortunately, RL had decided that it was a silly thing to promise. So, I am moving this story (among others) to be posted every other week. Easier for me, and I won't feel like I'm rushing things.

Thanks again for reading! You are all wonderful.