Dear Reader,
The offerings of apology are appreciated, but unneeded. One, I have long been a familiar and an animal because of that. Two, the time of death is valuable to mages; the magic of the body is more condensed while they are alive. Finally, putting traps around to give things to me is either under minding my ability to defend your home from pests or indirectly endangering me as they are as likely to get me in your walls as you are to get a mouse in them too.
Selena is my new master's name then? Thank you for the information; even if I overheard it from a servant, I was beginning to worry that you decided not to use names. That some cultural change had happened in the last hundred years or more since my previous master... No I don't know how long it has been since my previous; time doesn't move the same on the astral plane so I don't know what is going on when I arrive.
hidden by magic
At the current time I don't know why the maid only now said it and seemed to hide it afterward. I had left the visible page vague to hide their identity as I'm losing faith in your family and worry that I am here because of them and not just that you need help. The bloodline is now massive over centuries so it can't be expected that every member is perfect, but I felt a need to voice my concerns before continuing... Even if you are the only one who can see this without extra effort.
Sam had been mostly left alone, roaming the farm to his own devices as his master went about his day's work. He knew he worked bread but had only watched the harvest a day ago. But then he was watching the process of refining it from grain to powder and knew there was probably more that could be done to reduce the stress and workload but he wasn't even sure he could tell him if he remembered, which he didn't. Which was when he saw his master, Nicolas, he reminded himself, doing something that he wouldn't have expected.
Seeing the serpent approach, Nicolas could feel the curiosity through the bond and looked for his companion. "Curious what I'm doing? You probably felt it so it isn't a surprise, I'm infusing the bread." He said, rather casually as it seemed to stress him a little for the energy released.
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Sam didn't understand why he was exhausting himself like that. Even more so when he noticed that some loaves weren't infused like that; he decided to try something that felt disturbingly intuitive in coiling up the table's leg to get atop it. He wasn't sure if it was that he was cursed or natural by the magic of being as familiar as Silver, at least could to move rather fluidly as a canine; Sam probably could too by the same merits. Once on the table though, he saw that most of the loaves were not infused. Seeing his confusion, Nicolas finally spoke up and explained himself, mostly.
"These I'm making now are for the elderly; it might not be an elixir of life or healing potions, but it helps." He said as Nicolas finished the loaves and put them in the oven. It would be some time for them to finish, and perhaps later, Sam might see why he would even go so far as to exhaust himself. Though tired, it felt like he was drawing energy through Sam somehow; he couldn't explain it yet.
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It wasn't long before they were making their rounds through the village, many new faces and sights; Sam had been told to take it easy as he'd have choked Nicolas long ago if he was a constrictor. He found they didn't have any stalls or stands, noting that the blessing indicated that those were more often seen in actual towns and the like. It seemed more like they were a door to door salesman, leaving loaves in a box for deliveries to be picked up. As he went about, the eldest got the enriched loaves, receiving no coin or compensation for what Sam saw till they returned home. Their box of the same design was full of letters and food items.
They spent the last daylight putting the food away and reading the letters. It finally dawned on Sam what a mage was to this world. They could move the economy and the people and seemed to operate like a priest as they had duties to which they were often present at funerals. They had many purposes, features and activities they were needed for in daily life here and Sam was starting to see a little further ahead than he did before.
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This is the first lesson I wish to teach; while magic gives indiscriminately, what you take and give back changes the world. How you change it is the true magic and something I have had to reteach myself many times before.