Wonderfully

The next morning Celeste and the Lady were already awake. Though the Lady was still in bed, I could see her eyes open, but she seemed tired. I guess her usual routine of waking up early was working against her.

“Morning Rosemary,” she whispered.

“You look sleepy, my Lady, are you okay?” I asked getting straight to the point.

“I never manage enough sleep on my night,” she said as she closed her eyes.

“I can help, maybe. Mind if I do?” I asked.

She gave me a thumbs up.

I channeled mana into my lungs. This was a simple cantrip, it honestly was pretty weak and wouldn’t do much against anyone. It was used more by mothers to help children sleep. Basically it was a light drowsiness spell but if she was tired already, it would be enough to help her sleep.

I placed my hand out and blew the mana infused particles that rained on her causing the drowsiness to kick in and she seemed to fall asleep. I smiled and made my way to the dinning area. I wrote a note for the little moving belt for Celeste to make my breakfast order. We were gonna be traveling today, so I went for something a bit hardier, some porridge, ham and eggs sounded perfect, with a glass of milk.

It took a bit longer than the Lady but what I found shocking was the presentation. The Lady was more of a professional chef. The food came out quick, clean and delicious. This by contrast, had a flare about it. The glass of milk perfectly placed off to the side, the bowl centered, the fork and knife straight. A perfect circle slice of ham with eggs placed like eyes. A piece of ham cut from the middle to represent a mouth and that same slice of ham sticking out of the porridge like a stick.

It reminded me of well. My own mother. Taking a bit took me back to my childhood too. Not in that the taste was even all that similar. To be honest I couldn’t remember what my mother’s cooking tasted like. It was more in the sense that, well. This is what could only be called “like mom used to make.” It warmed my heart as well as my belly.

Natalia and Brenda joined me next placing their own orders. I figured this was a good time to ask Natalia about the travel.

“Oh, well,” she said. “We usually leave after breakfast. Though I think Sofia still needs the finishing touches on your lady of the light clothes. We usually split between two carts. Master and the Lady of the Light leading one, and the Lady of the Night leading the other. The town we are going to is about a four hour ride. Vivi will need help loading the carts but that is more of a me task. So you can relax until we leave.”

I placed my cheek in my hand tapping it with a finger. Ugh, more warrior specific stuff. “I guess I will go relax in the library then,” I said leaving in a bit of a huff. Not even bothering to curtsy.

I looked around the bookshelves, nope, read that one. This one too. Ahh, Victoria really focused on the classics. I read all these too. Oh, this one was just published a few years ago. I opened it up. It was a cheesy romance about pirates. But it was different at least. Though it only took me an hour to read the whole thing. Hmm.

I looked around and found a stack of empty paper. I’m pretty sure Victoria wouldn’t mind me using it. I made my way to the circles in chalk I had made earlier this week and placed the pirate book on one side and the papers on the other before channeling mana into the circle.

I know what I want! Now come on and bring me that book! A flash and the blank pages now had text on them. The first one saying “Memoirs of Gerald.” He was Valeria’s father, and the previous head warrior. He wasn’t as good as her, but she didn’t leave many records. She did leave about ten shadows though. But the nine of them I had met left a lacking impression.

Wait. Nine? Didn’t I know the tenth. Hmm. I remember hearing she was in a country to the east, but I couldn’t remember even her name. Well, I guess I knew she was a girl. Whatever. Unless Master wanted us to collect more warriors or go to the east, it was hardly notable.

What Gerald lacked in a legacy he made up for in good note taking. Any warrior would kill for these. Though I assumed Brenda probably had a copy or knew most of the contents. Sadly it would be a pain to read them as is, and I knew I couldn’t begin the advice in them now. But I looked forward to beginning my warrior training. If I wanted to block any threat to Master, I should compensate for my weaknesses, I thought.

And the first steps to that was reading, I thought as I began flipping through the paper.