Chapter Text

Moving into the consort's chambers

The Archduke Conference had ended on a chaotic note, as Aub Werkestock, that is, Rozemyne, was wont to cause. I would have to get used to my new wife's tendencies. She told the assembly of archdukes that the way to their foundations lay in the temple they so despised, a fact that must have been among the parts of my Wisdom that I had been missing before this conference. Anyone who cared to gather information on Rozemyne, even the most ill-connected laynoble, would have quickly discovered that she considered the temple to be a perfectly valid place for a habilitated noble, even and especially the archducal family, to be. Specifically the role of High Bishop had been one that Rozemyne had been loath to delegate, hesitating even to give it to her beloved heir presumptive until she reached sufficient age. In that context, it only made sense that the duchy's most valuable treasure would be within the High Bishop's grasp.

Had I only had enough time on my hands after disposing of my vile predecessor for High Bishop in Ehrenfest, I might have discovered this as well. Nothing to it, Sylvester is informed now. I do wonder what this will mean for Wilfried? He had been disinherited, but perhaps the renewed importance of the temple will mean a way for him to stay in the archducal family. Not that it is any concern of mine anymore. I have to remember I am now a Werkestock citizen.

I stepped onto the teleport circle with Eckhart and Justus. There was much to do. While I had been apprised of all the public goings-on in Werkestock, I had been kept at arm's length for all matters of secrecy before the Starbind Ceremony, as was custom for those marrying into an archducal family. I would be moving from the guest room I had stayed at for the last two seasons to the consort's chambers.

With my new position, I would be expected to take new retainers from Werkestock's nobility. While I had met a large number of archnobles during Winter Socialising, my trust was not easily given. This went especially for attendants, who would need to ensure my living environment would remain free from poisons, and knights, who I needed to rely on to prevent people from murdering me in my sleep or assaulting me from behind while awake. Considerations of my personal safety were less of a concern for scholars, but they would need to be trustworthy enough to be relied on with archducal secrets. Scholars and guard knights both would need to coordinate well with Rozemyne's retainers in case we had to command each other's subordinates in a crisis. In fact, since I had brought only my name-sworn with me, Rozemyne had lent me Matthias and Laurenz, two of her most trusted knights, to allow Eckhart some rest during day shifts. I still would not leave the night watch to any but my own men, which she thankfully respected. The two knights dressed like mednobles, but I was assured from multiple sides that their combat ability and mana capacity was on the level of many an archknight.

As I was led to my new rooms alongside my retainers, Justus received an ordonnanz. “This is Brunhilde. Milady wishes to summon Lord Ferdinand with minimal escort later today, while you are setting up his new chambers. Would Fourth Bell be acceptable?”

“That can be arranged. Where will he be picked up?” my scholar-attendant replied.

“Preferably at his new quarters. Have him changed into brewing attire, if you would.”

“It will be done”, the remote exchange between attendants concluded. Brewing attire? Far be it from me to turn down an opportunity to flex my skills, but what does she have planned?

A brewing summons

At the appointed time, I was brought to another wing of the castle, where I was greeted by Rozemyne, likewise wearing a brewing outfit: “Ferdinand, how goes your move? Is there anything you would like changed about your lodgings?”

“I found myself surprised to find a second door in my bedroom. I was told it connects to yours.”

“My birth parents used to sleep in the same bed every night, and ideally I was hoping to become that close to my husband as well.“ Sharing a bed each night? How shameless. Her parents must be as out-of-standard as their daughter. ”At the same time, I realise that we are nowhere near close enough for a joint bedroom at this point. Thus I chose a design that would be workable for each of these situations and any in between. Nobody but us and our closest attendants needs to know how often we sleep in the same bed or not. That door will stay closed until we get more familiar with each other, at any rate.”

“I see you have made plans well ahead. So why have you summoned me here?”

“I was told magecraft is your specialty and passion, so I had a workshop prepared for you.“ She gestured to her attendant, who opened the door for us. I found the room being furnished with a number of tables with standard, yet high-quality brewing equipment, and the walls lined with cabinets for ingredients, some drawers labelled with ingredient names, but many unlabeled, presumably currently empty. The setup was basic, but complementing it with my personal equipment would certainly make this quite usable. “I expect you have read the contracts I made with other duchies at the Archduke Conference? Many of those material samples will find their way here, since there are bound to be many interesting things that can be made using these materials, fey or not.”

“You are quite generous, Rozemyne, far more than I would expect one entering a marriage of convenience to be. Have I done something to deserve this favour?” I asked, expecting a catch of some kind.

“Sensing a scheme already? I guess you didn't quite grow up in an environment where people would just be good to you without ulterior motives. Ever since I learned that I would be expected to get married eventually and what my mana capacity meant for my prospects, I knew I would have to start the relationship ‘on the right foot’ as they say, if I wanted to live in peace. Consider this an advance payment for a hopefully long and stable marriage, if you want.”

“I see. Is there a significance to showing this to me at this specific point in time?”

“As you surely recall, I promised to reveal my past to you, but there are some preparations we need to make beforehand. I thought you might be interested in being involved”, Rozemyne stated. “Retainers, wait outside the room”, she demanded. I met my knight's inquiring look with a nod. Being alone unsupervised with my wife was something I would have to get used to sooner or later.

When our retinues had left the room, Rozemyne set up an area-affecting sound-blocker, before summoning her strange tablet-shaped Grutrissheit.

“What is it about this unusual form of your Book of Mestionora? It does not look like any type of book I have seen before. The closest thing I am aware of are the slates in the underground archive, did you base its form on those?”

“Oh, that's a … long story. As much as I love the feeling of turning pages, this form was more practical for casual use. At any rate, take a look at this.” As she touched the tablet with her fingers, its contents changed. She presented me with an intricate set of magic circles.

“This is …”, I muttered, as I analysed the overall functionality.

“I based this on the schematics for the mind-reading circlets, but I made some changes that would make it more appropriate for voluntary sharing of memories. There were some things I long wanted to show my baptismal mother, so I worked on this. Sadly I never actually tried making it before I ended up in this time. But since I already made the plans, I thought it would be easier to show you, instead of spending many bells explaining hard-to-believe notions to someone as distrustful as you. And instead of me expecting you to use a magic tool you don't know, I considered it a better idea to involve you in its creation.”

“That was rather thoughtful”, I confirmed. “Am I to understand this section is one of your changes?” I pointed out an area of the circle that, while functional, looked quite less elegant than much of the rest of the circle.

“That bad, huh?” she winced. “Your standards are as exacting as I heard. Yes, the idea was that the one presenting their memories could end the connection at any time, and that there should be a delay between a thought coming up, and it being presented to the spectator, so that one could prevent sharing any thought they do not want to share. Go on, make the changes.” She held out her stylo to me.

I was confused by her strange actions. “You expect me to use a mana pen on your schtappe? This is not the time or place to be inviting winter.”

“I suppose it is not.” She quickly pulled her hand back with a slight blush. “It's easy to forget the book is a part of me. I guess I need to make the changes myself then. What did you have in mind?”

I found myself quite enjoying advising Rozemyne on improving her circle. She had clearly received a decent scholar's education, even if it was obvious she had less practice in advanced magecraft than I did.

Rozemyne: Legendary magecraft skills

Trying to draw the circle in a way that satisfied Ferdinand proved even harder than expected. Oof, Lord of Evil indeed. I sure married a taskmaster of a man. I appreciate the lesson, but I was hoping to let you do most of that work. That's what I get for not thinking this through far enough to realise I shouldn't let him scribble in my Book. At least on my Grutrissheit-tablet I can erase part of the circle, instead of having to start over from scratch.

“That design should do.” Finally, I was free. “I must assume you intend to transcribe this on magic parchment for the brewing step?”

I allowed myself to grin proudly. “Watch this”, I said, before using the copy-paste spell on the circle and replicating it on a sheet of feyplant magic paper I had prepared for this occasion.

Ferdinand's reaction did not disappoint. “What was that?”, he inquired, leaning in. Yesss! I got his stone mask to crack! “And this paper, it does not look like any magic paper I've ever used … ”

“Well observed”, I confirmed. “It is based on the process for making the new paper, whose production I licensed to Ehrenfest. You will get an introduction at a later date, as plant paper will be the basis of many innovations Werkestock will be introducing in the coming years. I can teach you the spell too, if you would like.”

“Are you trying to make me beg?”

“There's no need for that … Now, since I did all the work of producing the schematic, why don't you demonstrate your legendary brewing skills?”

“Someone was running their mouth, I see”, he said, displeased, while looking over the ingredient drawers. “Be that as it may, while your ingredient collection covers the basics adequately, there is a particular Wind ingredient I would like to use from my own stock.”

“Feel free”, I accepted. I dismissed my Grutrissheit and disabled the sound-blocker, before calling the retainers back inside.

Ferdinand sent an ordonnanz to Justus: “Bring a bushel of high-quality sylphgrass to me, as well as the element-measuring tool. Rozemyne's attendant will guide you to us.” I nodded toward Gretia for confirmation. She swiftly left for the assignment. Element-measuring device? Let's see what that's all about. Figuring out the amount and purity of each instance of a given ingredient was always one of the parts of magecraft that seemed more like an art than a science to me.

“Meanwhile, I can prepare some ancillary ingredients”, Ferdinand said, bringing out various ingredients.

“Would you like a hand?” I offered. Standing around uselessly would make this needlessly boring. My prowess at the actual brew was sure to pale compared to his, but cutting ingredients was something I was better at than many a scholar, thanks to my commoner and previous-life experience.

“Sure …” he accepted apprehensively, assigning me various ingredients. As we got to work with messer, we eyed each other's cutting. His movements were as practised as one would expect. “Your knifework is quite agreeable … better than most scholars', I would say. I assume this is also part of the ‘long story’ you mentioned?” ‘Quite agreeable’ … I guess that counts as a compliment coming from Ferdinand.

“You would be right”, I confirmed. “All will become clear in time.” This was not the time to explain my commoner life. He would have to wait for the tool to actually be used, to see what I mean.

At this point, Gretia returned with Justus in tow. He whistled at the look of the workshop. “I see Aub Werkestock is spoiling you, milord. You should appreciate your wife trying to get on your good side”, he smirked.

“I did not ask for your opinion, Justus”, Ferdinand responded, troubled. “I asked for an ingredient and a tool.” The sylphgrass looked about as one would expect, the tool in question looked like a weird dart board.

“Should I have the other ingredients brought here as well?”, Justus asked.

“I suppose it is a better place than my hidden room …”, his lord pondered. “Very well. But before that, I need your assistance here for a short while.” Heh. Does someone like the lab I built him? I'll take that as a yes.

He set down the dart-board-thing and started meticulously assessing the remaining ingredients. Seemingly it worked a bit like a precision scale for elements. “I must assume those lights indicate element contents of the ingredients?” I sought confirmation. “It seems tremendously useful for precise brews. Getting a balanced and accurate mix can be quite difficult, I find.”

“Caught your interest? I suppose to wield as much mana as you possess, you would have good enough control to attempt this brew, with enough commitment.”

That difficult, huh? “Let us talk about it at a later date.” It would certainly be useful, though chances were I wouldn't need it often enough to warrant having my own. That said, Ferdinand does seem to enjoy instructing me in magecraft, so it might be a good relationship-building activity regardless.

Having sorted out the ingredients to use, Ferdinand split the cutting work between us three. Many hands made light work. Justus having taken scholar classes, despite being an attendant, had certainly not been for show.

Ferdinand went fast to work on the sylphgrass, preparing the valuable ingredient with practised precision, before setting up the cauldron. “Justus, before you go back to the move, I'll have you provide your acceleration circle for the brew”, Ferdinand instructed. When Justus was done, Ferdinand drew his own acceleration circle and started to focus more on the stirring. “Your circle, Rozemyne”, he demanded curtly, as Justus departed to get back to completing his lord's move.

“Someone's eager to show off …” I said before producing my own stylo. I would have probably stayed at one circle for the difficult parts, using a second circle at most for the boring mixing step. Well, the most valuable ingredient is from your stock, so it's your loss if you screw up.

“I do not fight battles I cannot win, and I do not intend to be here all day”, he stated evasively. Is that the slightest hint of a victorious grin on your lips? You really have to look sharply with this man to get any idea.

Ferdinand's assessment would be right, and the circlets emerged from the cauldron just as expected. “All in a day's work”, he remarked smugly.

“Well, Dregarnuhr's weaving was certainly swift and graceful on this occasion. I would not have scheduled it this early if I knew we would finish this in a single quick session.” I turned to Gretia. “Arrange a meeting in my private chambers on an afternoon in the next few days, once Ferdinand has completed his move.”

“It shall be done, milady. Lord Ferdinand, allow me to show you back to your room.”

“Do look forward to Verbergen's veil being pulled aside”, I sent Ferdinand off. I believe this brewing date was a success.