Luther's Pride Part 33

One by one, the women left the embrace of bodies and returned to the nearby table. The servants had taken away the books now that they were no longer needed and replaced them with a substantial breakfast. Eggs, pastries, fruits, sausages, and meats rested in warmed, covered dishes, and the smell filled the nearby garden so that they could no longer ignore the hunger in their bellies. 

Only Luther remained in the ring, practicing and meditating. That the arcana worked at all was fantastic. What he needed to do now was shorten the process. The words he repeated in his mind that he placed into the elder language and recited became shorter as he edited them down to a phrase that worked much like Helena’s spell for her body’s reinforcement. 

Into the channel, into the pool, through Helena’s stream, match her spirit, and cast her spell. He visualized the process as he thought the words, remembering how each moment felt, beat for beat. He used hand gestures to help him visualize the process, creating a pattern that ended seamlessly with his two closed fists moving into Helena’s fighting stance. 

When he was ready, he stood and performed the spell. The magic flowed, and his spirit dove through it, finding Helena. Outside the ring, Helena shuddered and gripped Jo’s shoulder for balance as the intimate sensation of Luther’s presence swept over her. Then he cast her spell, and his eyes flashed red as he drew his fists back and punched the ground. 

The strength he exhibited was the same as his normal level, but the indestructibility of his fist meant the stone shattered on impact as if he’d punched through a loose haystack and not solid rock. The process was still slower than Helena’s due to the extra spell, but it worked. 

“It works!” Luther said, excited as he dropped the spell and jumped up and down. “HA! I have an Arcana!” 

His wives stood near the table, watching him, smiling and amused at his celebration. Rhosyn and Eira applauded politely. They’d all seen it work the first time, but repeatability was promising. The confirmation reassured them, and the decrease in the time it took him to do it proved promising. Luther would need to utilize the ability in combat, casting this spell as others tried to kill him and them. Time was a weakness in combat, one they’d all seen the night before as Branan took time to summon his storm. 

Luther looked around, but when the person he sought didn’t appear in his sight, he mellowed slightly. Criella wasn’t here. She was the person who pushed him so hard and helped him figure this out. Well, his father did, but Criella believed in his father’s theories even when he hadn’t. 

“Someone send a servant to fetch Criella.” Luther said. “Wulfric? WULFRIC! Why is that butler never here when I need him?” 

“Because I’m busy running your household, my lord.” Wulfric said as he entered the garden square. 

“Send someone to fetch Criella.” Luther said. 

“No, my lord.” Wulfric said, shaking his head. 

“Excuse me?” Luther asked, confused. 

“I found Criella asleep at your father’s desk this morning when I arrived for my duties, which, as you know, is an hour before you typically wake.” Wulfric explained himself without apology. “I moved her to one of the guest apartments and gave explicit orders to the staff that she not be disturbed. Unless it’s an emergency, I suggest you let her sleep until she wakes. She’s been working and attending to you constantly over the last few days, and she's a solicitor, not a personal attendant. By rights, she should have had these last few days off to grieve, but you haven’t allowed her time to do so. If you require something, Wyll is more than happy to fulfill your requests.”  

The others looked as if Wulfric had just slapped Luther across the face. 

Helena, Jo, Rhosyn, and Eira remained silent, taken aback. It was out of place for Wulfric to speak to Luther that way, his tone as cross and unyielding as it was, but none of them could find fault in his logic. Not even Luther. 

Luther sighed. “You’re right, of course. Forgive me; I’m eager to show her that she was correct, but she needs her rest. By all means.” 

Wulfric nodded. “Is there anything else, sir? Ladies?” 

The ladies shook their heads. Luther shook his. “No, Wulfric. Thank you. You are free to go about your duties.” 

“Thank you, sir.” Wulfric bowed and left them once more. 

“Where the fuck did you find a butler with that much backbone?” Helena asked as Luther approached the breakfast table. “My parents' servants would never have spoken to them that way.” 

“Nor ours.” Eira and Rhosyn said at the same time. 

Luther smiled. “It’s still hard for me to imagine my father having servants. He and Wulfric were friends, from what I can tell, more than employee and employer, and my father always insisted that people tell him the truth, even when he might not want to hear it. Wulfric seems to have adopted that with me.” 

“So that was Wulfric being a friend to you?” Jo asked. 

“Yeah. I suppose so.” Luther smiled. 

“Well, I hope he doesn’t get any more friendly, or we’ll have to stop him from punching you.” Helena said, clapping Luther on the back as he loaded his plate. 

The food warmed and filled his stomach with a delightful sense of satisfaction. The kitchen staff earned their wages, though Luther didn’t know what they were. He supposed he should check the ledgers and verify that his father paid everyone fairly. He’d always been generous, though. 

“You’ll have to teach him the rest of your spell.” Jo said. “But when you’ve finished eating, husband, would you mind learning mine? It might be useful.” 

“He should learn all of ours.” Rhosyn said, adding to the conversation. 

“But use them wisely.” Eira warned. “We only have so much power, even between our union. You don’t want to use it all up.” 

“We’ll rest as necessary.” Jo insisted. “I know some meditation techniques I can teach you.” 

Luther ate and watched the women over his plate. Eira and Rhosyn had finished eating, though they didn’t eat half the portion Jo had or a quarter of Helena’s. Luther’s intake was even lower than Helena’s, but he was incredibly hungry, for some reason, and took seconds of the breakfast pastries to quell the hunger. 

“It’s a side effect.” Helena explained. “Physiomancy burns up the body’s energy at a faster rate, so you have to refuel. It’s not really a problem like you won’t starve to death by using your magic, but you will feel incredibly hungry after a prolonged battle. I ate an entire turkey once after nearly draining my entire pool of power.” 

“An entire turkey?” Luther asked, impressed. 

“A small turkey, but still.” Helena shrugged. “Then I crashed hard. I slept for the rest of the afternoon, through the night, and half of the next day. It was the best.”

Luther chuckled. “I once slept for sixteen hours straight after swimming for most of a day in the sea. I was sore, but it was honestly the best sleep I’ve ever had, even though I would have killed for a turkey to eat before I slept.”  

Helena smiled slightly and gave him a look. “You know, it’s easy to forget that you’re more of a traveler than you are a lord. You look so regal and handsome in your finery.” 

“I’ve been a lord for a matter of days and a traveler all of my life since I came of age.” Luther said. “It’s easy for me to forget that I’m a lord and not a traveler anymore. I suppose another lord in my shoes would have berated Wulfric for taking that tone or garnished his wages, or worse, but honestly, I forget that he’s my employee now and not my father’s.” 

“It’s good to stay humble.” Helena said. “Especially for a living legend.” 

Luther laughed. 

“Seriously.” Helena said. “You’re the first to exhibit a legendary arcana in how many years? Annwyn’s arcana was a myth until you proved it was possible. This discovery is going to startle the mages in their towers. People will come from all over the empire to see you. Who knows? The throne itself might ask to meet you.” 

“Gods above, I hope not.” Luther said, shaking his head. “You make me sound like I’m going to a show horse. See the amazing Luther and his broodmares! Watch them dance for your amusement!” 

“I didn’t mean anything offensive by it.” Helena said, obviously put out by his comparing her to a broodmare. “But people are going to flock to this valley, for sure. Not that you owe them a show.” 

Luther finished his plate and set it aside on the table. He knew she was correct. If, or more likely, when news got out that his arcana was the storied ability of the legendary King Annwyn, people were going to want to see it. The ramifications flitted through his head as he realized the changes this brought to his life’s plan. Assuming he survived Branan, there’d be plenty of other challengers waiting behind him. The strongest unions from all over the empire would either want him and his wives to join them or gain fame by being the ones to challenge and defeat the legendary arcana. 

“It’s sinking in. Isn’t it?” Helena asked. 

“Yeah.” Luther said, far too sober to think on it further. He took a deep breath, centering himself and rooting himself in place. “Okay.” He looked at Jo. “Let’s try your arcana next.” 

Jo nodded and gestured for him to sit and meditate with her. 

Luther sat facing her from the side so that she was on his left, and Eira and Rhosyn were on his right. Helena sat across from Luther, adopting the meditation pose.

Jo took a deep breath. “My arcana is of the earth.” She said. “The earth speaks to me, and I listen. I make requests of it, and it is generous. My spells phrase those requests in specific ways to minimize mistakes. The different kinds of earth speak in different tones, and I match my tone to them.” 

Luther followed the logic of her spellcraft as carefully as he could. 

“Stone is slow to speak.” Jo said. “Its tone is deep.” 

Luther nodded. 

“Repeat it.” Jo said. 

“Stone is slow to speak.” Luther said. “Its tone is deep.” 

“Stone rises when magic wills it.” Jo said. “Without magic, it sinks.” 

Luther repeated the phrase, understanding starting to fill his mind. Jo manipulated the earth through her ‘requests’ but had to power them with magic; otherwise, nothing would happen. That made sense. He wasn’t confident that he understood what she meant by tone, though. 

“The stone we sit on, do you know its song?” Jo asked. 

“No.” Luther answered truthfully. 

“It’s granite.” Jo explained, her tone taking on that pitch of a holy scholar instructing her pupil. “It comes from deep in the earth, where it once lived as liquid. Heat melts stone, though fire only blackens it. The piece this comes from lives in the roots of the mountains. Skilled craftsman cut it from itself, shaped, engraved, and brought it here, where it has rested since.”

Jo placed her hand upon the stone. 

“You learned all of that by listening to the stone?” Luther asked, marveling at her ability. 

“No.” Jo said. “I visited your father during the installation.” 

Helena laughed. Eira and Rhosyn took that as permission to giggle as well, covering their mouths. Jo allowed a grin to spread across her face, running from dimpled cheek to dimpled cheek. 

Luther laughed with them. “Okay.” He said. “So, how do you use your arcana?” 

“It depends on the type of earth I am speaking with.” Jo replied. “For stone, like this. The spell is deep, resonant, within the chest.” She tapped her sternum, drew a breath into her diaphragm, and sang a low alto note. 

Luther repeated the note, but in his register, which put it at a much lower octave. 

Jo smiled and nodded her encouragement and approval. 

“Then I use my words to make my request. I set the tempo of them to the tempo of the stone.” She explained as if it should make sense. “But you should think the spell at its normal speed.” 

Luther frowned but followed along. 

“Gestures tend to be stiff, slow movements with this type of stone, and I typically use them to show the stone what I want it to do.” Jo explained. 

Luther’s brow continued to crease, but he listened as Jo explained. 

She demonstrated using the elder tongue to speak the words of the spell, but Luther knew their meaning. 

She started with the note, speaking in the lower register as she moved her hands in slow, steady circles over the stone before her. “Shift… and… come… together… restore… that… which… was… broken… be… whole… again.” 

The spell was short, but she took slow, deep breaths between the long, drawn-out words. 

Luther felt the shift of magic in their shared pool and watched as the broken place he’d punched his fist through began to shift. The splintered fragments of stone clicked and chittered as they rumbled together, tumbling into place and fitting seamlessly together until the small crater he’d been so proud of was gone, and the stone was unmarred. Even the stone dust from between the fragments poured into the crevices like sand and made the stone whole again. 

Despite the impressive nature of the spell, Luther couldn’t see how such a spell would be helpful in combat. Still, he supposed the principles were the same. Still, it took a healthy amount of magic and almost a minute to recite the entire spell. 

“Don’t worry.” Jo said, making Luther lift his concerned expression to meet her eyes. “Dirt is easier. I’m starting you with this because it’s more difficult. Patience is not always easy, but if you’d like, I can show you a much more effective spell for stone floors in combat.” 

“Yes, if you’d be so kind.” Luther said. 

Jo rose from her seated position, planting her feet in a fighting stance. 

“This is just a word, but you have to focus on where you want the effect to take place. I use my hand gestures in combination with a stomp.” Jo explained. She shifted her foot, raised it, and stomped hard, with her heel striking the stone as she spoke in the elder tongue. “Burst.” 

The stone cracked like ice beneath her heel as a fissure snaked its way from beneath her foot across the dais to a space on the other side. Helena’s eyes went wide as the stone did as commanded and burst as though something had driven up below it. Splinters of granite flew in all directions, accelerated by magic and restrained by gravity. 

Jo followed the spell up with a second, holding her hands open-palmed before her as the splinters that blasted their way hung in the air at her command. “Halt… Float… Fall.” She said in the elder tongue, and the stone obeyed. 

Luther was impressed by how little magic it took to burst the stone but surprised by how much it took to halt it in midair and lower it back to the ground. 

“Okay.” Jo said, brushing the dust from her white robes. “Now it’s your turn.” She gestured to the devastation.