Twenty
Valerica stood over the alchemy lab. Serana and Stefan stood around her watching her. She was showing them how to make a potion that would stop Stefan cutting open his hand everyday to feed Serana.
"Serana,"instructed Valerica. "Pay attention. This is going to be the most useful potion you are ever going to make."
Valerica looked up on the shelves. She picked up a small bowl of bone meal. She tipped it into the dish on the alchemy lab. She then scanned the shelf again.
"Human flesh," she said looking along the shelves.
Stefan reached up on the top shelf and pulled a large pile of human flesh.
"Where did you get that?" asked Serana giving him a puzzled look.
"You don't want to know," replied Stefan.
He placed it on the alchemy table. Valerica pulled out her elven dagger and began hacking away at it like a butcher would meat. It was unnerving how skilled she was at cutting human flesh. Stefan suppressed a shudder. Serana took his hand and squeezed in reassuringly. After she had cut it into several small chunks, she added them to the bone meal in the dish. She then took a pestle and began grinding them together. They watched as she made the mixture into a fine powder.
She then picked up a small jug of water she had next to the table. She drew herself a cup and tipped it into the dish. She ground the mixture once again. The mixture turned from a power to a sinister blood red concoction. There was so much, it was starting to overflow the dish. Stefan leapt forward. He reached up and took several large empty bottles from the shelf. He handed them to Valerica. Valerica gestured her head in thanks. She then tipped the mixture into the bottles, filling three in total.
She sealed two of them and handed one to Serana.
"What is this mother?" she asked looking at the contents.
"Potion of blood," she replied. "All the benefits of human blood without the sacrifice of poor Stefan."
She looked at Stefan, who gave her a smile. Serana who hadn't eaten yet was positively famished. She put the potion to her lips and took a small drink. She lowered it and let the potion swim around her mouth. She then put it to her mouth and downed it one hit.
"That's a positive sign isn't it?" muttered Stefan to Valerica.
"Indeed," she said nodded.
Serana lowered the potion and placed the empty bottle on the alchemy table.
"Thank you mother," she said gratefully.
"How is it?" asked Stefan.
"Wonderful," replied Serana. "Although Stefan's blood tastes better."
Valerica shook her head.
"Make this everyday," she instructed them. "If you follow my method you will have enough for three days."
Stefan nodded.
"Thanks Valerica," he said.
"Yes," continued Serana. "Thank you mother."
"You are most welcome," resumed Valerica. "Bone meal is quite easy to come by, human flesh is a little tricker."
"I could..." began Stefan.
"...No you couldn't,"said Valerica. "The whole point of this potion is to stop you trying to kill yourself feeding my daughter. If you are going to give up your human flesh then this whole demonstration was an exercise in futility."
Valerica turned and began to make more examples of the potion she had just created.
Stefan approached Serana.
"I'll still give you my blood on special occasions," he muttered under his breath to Serana. She beamed at him.
"No you will not," said Valerica firmly.
Stefan rolled his eyes. Serana giggled.
"You stay here with Valerica," said Stefan. "I need to go to the smithy. I have to make...something."
Serana nodded. He kissed her on the cheek and made his way out of the alchemy lab. He walked to the next room and into the smithy. He closed the door and locked it. He pulled on his gloves and got to work. It was a tradition in his home town that a his chosen bride was given a handmade circlet for the wedding day. There was also an enchantment upon it of some kind. He knew that Serana liked Sapphires, so he planned to make a Silver and Sapphire circlet.
He picked up a silver ingot from the large shelf and placed it into the furnace. As the silver melted he opened a small leather bag and picked out three sapphires. He made sure that one was bigger than the other two. Once the silver had melted to an acceptable degree he picked up a pair of tongs and removed it from the furnace.
He placed the silver blob on the anvil and began to shape it with the specifications of a crown or a tiara. Serana had quite a small head, so the size didn't need to be so wide. He carefully shaped it into a crown shape. He then made three sapphire shaped holes. The at the front was larger than the two others on the left and right of it. He took the sapphires and gently placed them into the rapidly cooling silver circlet. With a little persuasion he was able to make them sit perfectly in the moulded silver. The one at the front wasn't quite straight. He adjusted it slightly. He placed the circlet on the anvil and looked at what he had created. The sapphires were straight and it looked pretty much perfect.
There was a knock on the door.
"Yes?"he asked.
"Are you in there Stefan?"asked the voice. It was Serana.
"Yes," he replied.
"Why is the door locked?" she asked.
"I'm making something...for our wedding," he replied. "You can't see it. It's bad luck,"
He picked up the circlet and placed it on shelf by the window. The cool breeze of the day would help it cool quicker. He crossed the room, opened and unlocked the door. Serana stood in the doorway looking at him.
"What are you making?" she asked craning her neck trying to see what he was doing.
"I'm making something for our wedding," he replied. "I will give it to you on the 16th."
Serana smiled in excitement.
"Is there something the matter?" asked Stefan.
"There's an elf here,"replied Serana. "He says his name is Runil. The priest doing our ceremony."
"Yes," said Stefan. "He wants to discuss the procedure. Please make him comfortable. I'll be down in a moment."
"Okay," said Serana. They kissed and she made her way downstairs.
He watched her leave. Once she had reached the bottom of the stairs he picked up the circlet and made his way to the enchanting table in the room across the corridor. He placed the circlet on it and thought about the enchantment he was going to place upon it. He had already placed a health enchantment on her armour, perhaps a magicka enchantment would be suitable seeing as she was an accomplished mage.
He chose the 'magicka regeneration' enchantment. This allowed her to regenerate her magicka faster than usual. He picked a grand soul gem and placed the enchantment on the circlet. It shuddered and glowed blue, sealing the circlet with the enchantment. Satisfied he reached up on the shelf and took down a wooden box he had made earlier. He opened it and placed the circlet inside of it. He then closed the box. He placed the box on a shelf behind the door so Serana couldn't find it. He then made his way downstairs to meet with Runil.