And so the story continues fifteen minutes at a time…
Day 14: She had used this spell so many times her hand moved without thought.
She had used this spell so many times her hand moved without thought. Anna barely paused as she added the necessary items to the pot. She assumed that the large silver pot was designed to make something like a cauldron of tomato sauce or soup or even to help can jams and pickles. The silver helped with reflections giving her a truer image.
Anna smiled. She remembered her lessons and thought of how appalled her teacher would be. She gave the silver pot a stir to make certain none of the herbs stuck to the bottom. Anna set the spoon aside and waited for the water to come to a boil.
Ms. Alexis Tremain was of the opinion that only the finest of spell working implements would do. She refused to believe anything commonplace was of any use at all. She lectured Anna at length on mineral content for gold and silver until Anna was fairly certain the woman was some sort of gold smith in a former life. From metals the quality of gemstones were discussed. As expected only the rarer and more expensive ones need apply for service. She was the same with pottery. Ms. Tremain was willing to accept that on occasion porcelain had its uses. However, she drew the line at lesser ceramics.
When she worked in what Anna now thought of as the time before, she too used the more costly items as that was what she was told worked. When she ran, Anna couldn’t take those with her and had to make do and hope for the best. Oddly Anna found cheap glass to be an even better than the costliest diamonds for many gemstone related spells and it was far easier to come by. There were exceptions to the rule of course as Anna found out. Some spells required certain crystalline structures. That was part of her research, pushing the limits of materials.
In many cases, Anna found the more common ingredients worked better than the more expensive ones. She knew it was not a course of study that would go over well should anyone realize she was doing it. Knowing that magic relied on only the more expensive ingredients meant that only the upper echelon could practice it. Most people working in the city couldn’t walk into a shop and purchase a fist full of diamonds on a whim.
‘And even if they could, such things are monitored,’ Anna mused. It was one of the reasons she tried glass in the first place. She knew that if she purchased a diamond, even if her limited funds would have stretched that far, it would be tracked. She would be caught. The same went for certain metals and ceremonial items. Many fugitives were caught because they tried to secure items for a spell and the dealers informed on them.
Anna started her research by trial and error, needing to stay one step ahead of the others, but not willing to risk the dealers. Most knew her on sight. They would likely have been warned about her status as a fugitive. As their livelihood depended on the good will of the mage caste, Anna knew they would have no choice but to report her.
She shook the thought away and realized that as her thoughts turned inwards, the water reached a rolling boil. Anna turned the heat down and soon the water was merely simmering. Anna picked up one of the sterilized pins and allowed a drop of her blood to fall into the water.
Ten til Midnight 