Ch 26: Blood Control

Many people say that news travels fast in a small town. The truth is that news travels fast everywhere if it’s juicy enough.

• Lady Arbessa in a speech at the founding of Prattle Magazine

Since he hadn’t burst into flames or been consumed this time, Solomon weighed down each corner with perfect cube stones that seemed to have been placed there for that purpose. The spell was forbidden, as it was blood magic, which meant that it would likely suffice as an offering to the Arcana. The only issue was that, as far as he could tell, he had no way to bring the scroll with him from the repository. That meant that he would have to memorize it within the repository.

He turned his attention to the scroll. He gave it a broad read the first time, working to decipher some of the old spellings and some smudged information that likely occurred because blood infused ink and skin wasn’t necessarily the best medium for preserving information. The spell was surprisingly simple, at least it seemed to be. One needed to infuse the blood with their mana and saturate it. After that there were a number of simple gestures one could use to cause it to react in different ways, most of which were meant to be used when it was outside of one’s body. It also stated that the spell could be used to control the blood of others, even within their bodies, but it didn’t give details on how to infuse your own mana into someone else’s blood, as if that was implied knowledge one should already have. Foundational Magics and Basic Spells certainly didn’t give any knowledge about how to affect the bodies of others, but given the list of forbidden spells, that made sense.

He reviewed the spell several times, practicing the gestures with his wooden fingers to ensure that he had a solid grasp of them. After reviewing it for what he estimated to be an hour, he decided to leave the repository. He sat for a few moments before realizing he hadn’t determined a method to do so that didn’t involve being chewed to splinters by a book. Given the limited number of puppets and his inability to make more of them, he decided that likely wasn’t the best way to handle his return. Instead he returned to where they were, and noted that all of them were sealed properly in their coffins. He moved to the one he’d emerged from and gently back into it. He waited there for just a moment, then he found himself back in the estate, his hands just an inch away from the crystal orb.

He inhaled and exhaled. His legs and arms were sore from remaining in place as long as they had. He estimated he’d been there for roughly two hours. He bent his legs and grabbed the walking stick from where he’d placed it, feeling steadier with it in his hand. He walked out and closed the subchamber carefully before returning from the library and heading to his room.

Melissa was in the atrium as he passed through.

“Lord, I’ve retrieved your mail and left it on your desk. The last two Etling Gazettes as well.”

“Thank you, Melissa. How’s everything else going?”

“Poth says there’s been good progress on the gardens. The girls mostly feel safer with the ‘guards’, though Felicity avoids them. Barnabus and Bart have been butting heads a bit with the mason and carpenter, but seem to be learning a lot.”

Solomon nodded. “Good. Please have Claire send tea and lunch to my room.”

She nodded and headed toward the kitchen while Solomon went to his room. He wanted to immediately try out his new spell, but knew that eating and settling himself should take priority. His mana had settled down more, but he didn’t want to risk his blood without being as well prepared as he could. He’d rather not be found covered in his own blood dead because he accidentally sent a torrential spray from the smallest pinprick on a finger.