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To Dream of Darkness

A story by DoggyStyle57

Chapter 17, Written December 2011

===

Chapter 17 - Lessons of many sorts

Sarina rapidly took her place in the Pennington family. Lord Thomas Penington spared no expense in ensuring that his daughter and his niece both had all the advantages that wealth and social position could offer. Sarina was instructed by the same private tutor that taught Lord Penington's only child, Amara. The two girls at first were almost inseparable, with Amara treating Sarina more like a long lost sister than her first cousin. Together, the two vixens learned to dance, and to sing, and learned the manners and behaviors appropriate for a young woman of breeding and refinement. In their studies of the arts, Sarina showed an amazing talent for sculpture, using her magical abilities to shape stone or metal into life-like creations. Amara was gifted with a beautiful singing voice.

Lord Penington was rightly proud of both girls, and insisted that they be educated as well as any man, ensuring that they were also taught political sciences, mathematics, chemistry, psychology, and other sciences. After all, the heir to the current king was a young girl only two years older than they were, and if the country was some day to be ruled by a queen in her own right, who was to say what heights a well-educated young lady might aspire to?

A month after joining their family, Lord Pennington asked Sarina to join him in his study. She had never been invited into the Lord's study before, and was fascinated by the shelves of books and a collection of small ivory carvings that he had on display.

"Can I come in here when it won't disturb you, and read your books, uncle?" Sarina asked.

"You may borrow any of my books to study, of course," he replied with an indulgent smile. "You have such an agile mind. But I did not ask you to come in here for books. Your father told me that you are skilled in magic, and in particular, in oneromancy. Is this so?"

"Yes, uncle," Sarina replied. "Someday I hope to open a shop of my own, and work as a mage. I became aware of my talent several years ago, and I've been studying a lot."

"I would like you to demonstrate for me what you know of the magical arts, Sarina," Lord Pennington said. "I am no mage, but I have been looking into this for you, and it seems that to open a shop for hire, on your own, you must be eighteen. But I could rent a shop on your behalf, as a place for you to practice and study. Your tutor mentioned to me that you can sculpt stone or metal with magic. I would like to see this done."

The old fox reached behind his desk and picked up a block of marble, roughly a foot on each side. He set it on the desk and asked, "What can you make from this? Do you need any other materials, or to make any preparations?"

"I need nothing else, uncle. Whatever I make, it must remain the same kind of material. What starts as marble will remain marble - what starts as silver will remain silver. But I can re-shape it completely, so long as when I am done, the finished work has roughly the same mass," she replied. She walked around the room for a moment, looking at her uncle from several sides. Then she stood beside the desk and touched the marble block. Her eyes glowed, shining with a brilliant acid green light, and the stone flowed and writhed as if it was liquid, reforming within minutes into a detailed bust of her uncle.

"Remarkable! You can see the texture of my fur, and even the thread that sews the buttons onto my shirt collar! Even if you do no other magic, people will pay well for such sculptures my dear," her uncle said as he examined the finished work. "I wonder. If you had gold or silver, could you make coins?"

"I could, uncle, but I would be most unwise to do so. I have already been taught that it is against the law to counterfeit the crown's coins, and any coin with a residual aura of magic on it would be suspect," Sarina stated. "Even to turn a silver piece into something else and then back to its original form might eventually cause someone to inquire if it is a false coin. It would be better for me to make that gold or silver into jewelry, to be sold for coins."

"Smart girl, and well spoken," her uncle said with a chuckle. "But this is not oneromancy, is it? That refers to dreams and mind magic, I believe? Is it fortune telling? Can you show me that skill?"

"Oneromancy is not prophecy, though it can reveal truths that the dreams or thoughts of another may contain," Sarina replied. "Are you quite certain that you want me to demonstrate that skill for you?"

"Yes, please. Can you tell me what I am thinking about right now?" he replied.

Sarina's eyes glowed softly, almost imperceptibly, as she looked at him and said, "Right now, Uncle, you are wondering if you can convince me to use oneromancy to your business advantage - to know what your competitors plan to do, or to influence those who buy or sell at your business interests to do so in a way favorable to you. That is why you asked to talk to me privately. Now it shocks you that your thoughts are so open to me. Ah! You are afraid of me now, and were not before. I will not harm you, Uncle. You have no reason to fear me."

Lord Pennington looked quite shaken, and he asked, "Just how much can you see, child?"

Sarina looked at Lord Pennington, and her eyes glowed brighter. "I can only see what you are thinking of at the moment, uncle. Though often when a person wants to hold fast to a secret, they do think of that which they would conceal. Do not fear. I will not tell Aunt Meghan, or anyone else, that you were having an incestuous affair with my mother before I was born, well after you married Aunt Meghan. I will not tell her that you frequently mated with your own sister. I really do not care about that, or about your suspicions that you might have been my real father, since you were in bed with mother at the right time, before I was born, and while her husband, Lord Randall was elsewhere. But I could only see that in your thoughts because you thought of it, just then," Sarina said calmly. "I cannot see memories that you are not conscious of. Not so easily. And there are ways to prevent such intrusions, uncle. I can craft a talisman that will conceal your thoughts, so an oneromancer cannot read your mind. Such talismans are not hard to obtain, which is why using oneromancy to gain an unfair business advantage is unwise. Even a common inkeeper that we met on our way here had such protection. Rent me a shop, uncle, where I can practice, and I will make you that talisman, and keep silent on your past indiscretions."

"You will have your shop, Sarina. Just stay out of my mind," Lord Pennington said, leaning heavily on his desk with both hands.

===

Sarina was happy that she would finally have a place to properly work on her magical skills. She honestly didn't care about her uncle's past affairs. She had told him what she knew merely to show him her skills, and not as a threat of blackmail. Lord Pennington may have thought otherwise, as he very rapidly rented a shop not far from their estate, but far enough that any mishaps would not affect their home. He had heard that on occasion a mage's workshop had rather spectacular accidents. As soon as the shop was hers, Sarina summoned Asha to take up residence in the forge in one corner of the shop, and to guard it when Sarina was away. That very night, Sarina crafted the talisman for protection from mental intrusion, for her uncle. But she did not tell him, when she gave it to him, that she had included in its making a trigger spell that she could use to unmake it, so if she ever needed to see inside his mind later, she could eliminate his protection against her. From that day onward, Sarina spent part of each day in her shop, learning pyromancy from Asha, and working on other magical skills.

Sarina quickly surpassed her cousin in normal academic pursuits, devouring books and confounding her tutor with her ability to remember facts, figures and diagrams in the greatest of detail. While Amara was carefully working her way through a mathematical lesson, and looking dreadfully bored, Sarina would be done with her assignments and would be reading a treatise on magic. At the age of fifteen, Sarina was invited to take classes at the Royal University, which had a school in the city. Amara received no such invitation, but said she was glad, as this meant she had more time for pleasurable pursuits.

Amara was hopelessly romantic. While Sarina studied magic or attended classes at the university, Amara read romance stories, or attended romantic plays. Her heart swelled with hope each time a dashing young man turned his attention her way, and she would sulk endlessly when in due course her unreasonably high hopes were crushed by her latest paramour. Sarina tried at first to warn Amara when a particular suitor was, in his surface thoughts, much less of a gentleman than Sarina's parents would approve of. But the very fact that 'mommy and daddy would not approve' just seemed to fan the flames of the girl's interest higher, and she would often sneak off at night, to meet secretly with her latest lover. Amara was, at least, sufficiently discrete that she never caused a scandal, nor did she get a wanton reputation. It helped that Sarina occasionally 'cleaned up after' Amara, ensuring that former suitors and those they might have spoken to of Amara's wanton behavior would not remember it.

Shortly after both girls celebrated their sixteenth birthdays, Lord Pennington hosted a debutante's ball for his girls, inviting well to do families with eligible young sons to court the girls. Amara thrived on the attention, and repeatedly tried to get her cousin Sarina to dance with this young man or that. Sarina feigned interest, but if a suitor got too interested in her, she would insist on conversing about esoteric subjects in magic or the sciences, usually leaving the boy bewildered, and uncertain that he wished to have a wife that was better educated than he was.

Lady Sarina Randall and Lady Amara Pennington soon became well-known young vixens in the better social circles. Lady Meghan Randall even managed to present the girls at the Royal Court, where they met the king. Both girls had hoped to also see the young princess who was the king's heiress, but she was not at court. To Sarina, it was debatable which part of the trip was the most fascinating to her - meeting the king, or her first ride on a steam train, which they had travelled on to get to the capitol city.

When the king passed away two months later, the family was invited to attend the coronation of the new queen, Victoria. They traveled again to the capitol city, taking the steam train, to attend the festivities. The princess Victoria was a stern-faced bulldog girl only eighteen years old, who would be ruling in her own right. The old king had been her uncle, and she had been his designated heiress for the last seven years. Lady Sarina watched with great interest as the young queen, only two years older than herself, took the reins of power, while so many rich and powerful people bowed before her. Sarina tried to imagine what it would be like, to rule an entire country. She found the thought of such power intoxicating. Who would dare oppose the queen of the land? Who indeed, if that queen also had the power of magic, as Sarina did? The vixen watched with great interest the way this young queen kept a tight grip on the reins of power.

===

Shortly after Amara and Sarina turned eighteen, Amara happily announced that she had found the love of her life. This was about the twenty-seventh time that the romance-struck young vixen had made such a declaration in the last four years. But this time, the fellow in question seemed just as serious about her as she was about him. He was a black furred fox with a commission as an officer in the Royal Navy, who had been knighted by the Queen the previous year. Sir Reginald Wilson was ruggedly handsome, and quite wealthy. Many young ladies had hoped to be the lucky girl who would win his heart. Amara, it seemed, had managed to do so. That he was forty-one and Amara only eighteen seemed not to matter to either of them.

Lord Pennington somewhat reluctantly approved of the match, and arranged for a grand wedding and a nice dowry for his only daughter. Lady Pennington gave them her blessings, and stated that she hoped that it would not be long before they heard the happy announcement that Amara was with child.

Sarina was happy for her 'cousin', but could not read the thoughts of her new husband. As an officer in the Navy, Sir Reginald wore a medallion to protect his mind. Sarina set aside any doubts she had, and returned to her magical studies.

===

A year later, when Sarina was nineteen, she had a customer come to her shop that she had not seen in many years. Lady Portia, the canine mage, entered the shop, carrying a cloth wrapped bundle about two feet long.

"Good day. Would you be Lady Sarina? I have heard you are skilled at reforming metal," the collie said. "Can you reform a broken blade, without removing any enchantments that are on it?"

"Most likely," Sarina said. "Do you have all the pieces, Lady Portia?"

Portia set the bundle on the table and stared at Sarina, asking, "Have we met before, My Lady? I have heard you were also an oneromancer, but my mind is well defended. How did you know my name?" She looked around the workshop, and her eyes locked on the forge. "You have an elemental in your forge. It is most unusual type of elemental, as well. Has it served you for very long?" she asked suspiciously.

"That elemental has served me for as long as we have both known you, and more, Lady Portia. When last we met, I had a slightly different appearance, and went by the name of Darla," Sarina admitted. "It has been several years, though we have heard of your endeavors on occasion. I heard you had quite an intense battle with a werewolf in the heart of the market district a few weeks ago. I would be glad to repair your blade."

"Lady Sarina Randall, eh? Found a rich nobleman to marry, and changed your name?" Portia asked.

"Not married, no. I found a kind gentleman who was willing to adopt me, and raise me as his own," Sarina said, as she unwrapped the pieces of the broken blade. She looked at the three pieces, and the intricate silver inlay work, nodding as she read the inscription and noted how it was built. "This is well made. The blade itself is nice and sturdy, with a deep central blood groove. It's been inlaid with silver. This spell allows the blade to enflame. Interesting. And a second enchantment is here, one that changes the blade's size, and conceals it, yes? Is there more?"

"Very good! You only missed one thing. That's one half of a matched pair. The intact one is here," Lady Portia said. She touched what appeared to be a inch-long decorative metal sword attached to a tooled leather wrist cuff, and a full-sized sword appeared in her hand, as the one on the cuff vanished. She laid it beside the pieces of the other.

"I understand the silver, for use against werewolves. But why the flaming charm?" Sarina asked. "Of course, a flaming sword does more damage, but I sense there is more to it than that. And what did I miss?"

"The fire is for vampires. Silver doesn't bother them much, but fire makes it much slower for their wounds to heal. Most normal blades can't cause them any real harm. What you missed isn't magic - it's mechanical. Watch," Lady Portia said, as she picked up the hilt of the broken sword. She pointed it at a timber post, and pressed a small catch on the hilt. There was a loud hiss as a slender wooden dart shot down the 'blood groove' and embedded itself deeply in the heavy wooden post.

"A wooden stake striking the heart paralyzes a vampire, and halts their regeneration. That dart is holly, tipped with ironwood. I can shoot one right down the blade like that, if I have used the blade to pierce whatever armor they may be wearing. I can shoot a second one from the pommel end of the hilt," she explained.

"But that stake still won't kill them? It only paralyzes them? So how do you actually kill a vampire?" Sarina asked.

"Cut off their head, and burn the head before it has a chance to regenerate. Without the stake, they can be back to attacking you in minutes, even if you cut their head off," Lady Portia explained.

"Five gold coins to mend the blade, good as new," Sarina said. "That's half my normal fee for such work. The lessons you just taught me are worth the other half of my fee."

"Done, and thank you," Portia said. She paid the fee, and Sarina rapidly fixed the blade.

"Good as new! Do you think you could make a similar one from scratch, if need be?" Portia asked, as she tested the balance of the repaired blade, made the sword blade enflame and go out, and then reattached it to her wrist cuff.

"Almost," Sarina said. "I could at least do the metalwork and magic. I would need to know more about that mechanical part in the hilt, to make the dart thrower. But with a little effort and a few experiments, I think I could make that part as well. Good hunting, Lady Portia, and farewell."