Golnar counted out thirty bottles of elixir. Thirty bottles that would go to a grand house in the upper ring of Aurumist tonight. Thirty more magical-blooded folk would be freed tonight. The thought made Golnar smile. So far everything was going exactly to plan. Golnar waved his hands, and the thirty bottles gently went into the crates, packed and ready to go.

Golnar sat down in the middle of his room on his sofa. He raised up his hand and a book flew into it. He raised his other hand and a glass of wine was summoned from the side table. Golnar smiled. He loved using magic. Golnar opened his book and read. He was reading about magical travel. He longed to be able to travel wherever he liked at any time, but he hadn’t mastered it yet. There was much he hadn’t mastered yet.

Some simple spells came very easy to those who drank Golnar’s potion. It was easy for many to summon things and manipulate objects. Those with enchantress blood would find it easy to enthrall other folk. Golnar seem to have a natural ability at potions, but some things took work and knowledge. Golnar thought they would probably need to open up training sessions for the newly released magical folk. Once they were all trained, they could set up schools for children who were born with magic. It would take work, but it would be worth it.

Golnar knew he would have to lead these training sessions at first. He would need to master a few more things himself, but that shouldn’t take too long. He worried for a moment that he had moved to fast with his plan. Shouldn’t he have thought of training in the first place? He shook his head. There wasn’t much harm any of them could do with their new magic.

Golnar wanted order in the kingdom. He wanted the correct order in the kingdom. He wished he could snap his fingers, and it would be done instantly. He wished it was as simple as summoning a book or glass of wine, but it was not so. To create the kingdom he envisioned, it would take years. The kingdom was large with many different types of folk. It would take some time to find all those with magical blood. It would take time to subdue those who were unworthy. There would be a few years of suffering, unrest, and death, but when it was over a better Regventus would be born.

Golnar drank his wine and read his book, trying to understand how magical travel worked. He was reading over the same page a third time when there was a knock at his door. He gave an impatient sigh and put down his glass and book.

“Who is there?” asked Golnar.

“It is Till and Daracha,” said Till from behind the door.

Golnar curled his hand and the door opened, letting both Till and Daracha inside. Golnar stood and bowed. He motioned for them to sit. Till sat heavily in a chair to Golnar’s right. Daracha sat very carefully at the edge of the chair to Golnar’s left.

“We have had news,” said Till. “Our spy has written.”

“And what news does he have. Is the king dead?”

“No, whatever he did, did not work. He severely injured someone in the king’s home, but the king is safe and sound.”

“Do we know who was injured?” asked Daracha in her quiet, wispy voice.

“No, he did not say. Does it matter?” asked Till looking at Daracha.

“I suppose not, but it is always good to get all the facts you can about everything. It would be helpful to know who the king is living with. If they are training him. How advanced he is,” answered Daracha.

“That is very true, Daracha, very true,” said Golnar. “When you write back ask him what he knows of the king’s household. Ask him who was injured and how badly. We need to know everything we can about our enemy,” said Golnar.

“Very good,” said Till. “I will also ask him for any other names of those who could provide us with information. He will not get a seat on the council, but we could reward him in other ways depending on what information he gives us,” said Till.

Golnar nodded his agreement and then turned to Daracha. “When do you return to the Forest of the Lowlands?”

“In two days. I will need to get back for our own summer festival. I will need to start finding those who have magic in their blood,” said Daracha. “Will you send some of your elixir with me? Not much, but enough where I can find a few assistants? It would be necessary for me to have the help when the time comes for multiple release events.”

“Yes, you can take five bottles. You must be careful with them though. If they get into the wrong hands, they can be deadly,” said Golnar. “If they are stolen, broken, or lost you will not receive any more until I deem your lands ready for release.”

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Daracha nodded, “Of course. I will use extreme caution.”

“Have you heard from our young lord, Golnar?” asked Till. “He’s been gone almost a month, hasn’t he?”

“Not quite a month. I haven’t heard from him. I take that as a good sign. He must be very preoccupied with Teryn,” said Golnar taking up his glass and taking a sip of wine.

“True, it wouldn’t hurt to check in though, would it? Make sure everything is going well. I don’t want to be surprised by anything,” said Till.

“You can write him if you wish. Let him know how the summer festivities are coming. Encourage him to do everything he can to ensure the safety of his wife and child. Tell him we are working on his new title, and he should not come back until it is ready.”

“Yes, the longer we can keep him out of Aurumist the better for all of us,” said Till.

“Do you really foresee the young lord to be a problem, Golnar? He seems harmless to me. He has no real powers. You could dispose of him in a second,” said Daracha, her large eyes staring at Golnar.

“He’s very popular with the folk. I have made deals with his mother, and we need her. Teryn is also an important piece of our plan. It is her blood we have used in much of the potion. I would like to keep her safe. I’m not sure if her death would have any effect on those who took her potion, but I wouldn’t like to find out. I need to do more studying,” said Golnar.

“You haven’t mentioned this before, Golnar. Do you really think the well-being of the person who gave the blood for the potions has an effect after they potion is drank? That could be dangerous for all of us. You should have mentioned this,” said Till angrily.

“Calm down, I don’t know if it will. I didn’t read about it until recently. I think it is just superstition from back when sacrifices were used for this type of magic. I am sure we are perfectly safe, no matter what happens to Teryn or anyone else. “said Golnar calmly. “I will study more and let you know. Until then, it will do no good to worry about it,”

Till still looked agitated but nodded his head. “So how many gatherings within the next moon cycle?”

“Just two. I don’t want to overdo this. I think we need to gather those who have drunk the potion and hold a training of sorts soon. There are some things that come naturally, but other skills need to be learned. There are also limits to what can be done that need to be discussed. You don’t want to press your magic too much without understanding it.”

“I have found that myself,” said Till. “It seems to work with my emotions and feelings. There was a very lovely servant of mine who got more than she bargained for when she came to me the other night. Luckily, she wasn’t hurt, just shaken up.” Till laughed.

“We should set up those trainings very soon,” said Golnar. “I don’t want anything to go wrong. We don’t need houses being torn apart because there are simple folk who can’t control their desires.” He looked sharply at Till.

“It wasn’t bad as all that. Have you had any issues Daracha?” asked Till.

“No, I haven’t scared any young girls because I couldn’t control myself,” replied Daracha dryly.

“You know what I mean. Ae you having any issues controlling your magic,” said Till.

“Not yet, but I haven’t pushed it much. I’ve just done some simple things. I have some books I want to read on the matter first,” said Daracha. “Golnar, do you have anything I could borrow on the subject? Any of your personal writings would be appreciated as well.”

Golnar nodded. “Very good, Daracha.” Golnar held up his hand a book flew into it. “You many borrow this. It is very good and very old. It has information on why magic was subdued in the first place.” Golnar handed Daracha the book. He held his hand up again and a large scroll flew into it. “And this is some of my findings on the results of the potion, as well as my guesses on why it works. It also talks about some limits it may have.” Golnar handed this to Daracha.

“Thank you. I will read them and get them back to you soon,” said Daracha putting the book and scroll in her lap.

“Take you time. I have plenty more books and writings. When you are done with those, I can send you more.”

Daracha nodded her thanks.

“Well I think we better get going, Daracha. Our summer ball is tonight, and my wife will be upset if I am late,” said Till. “She hardly notices where I am unless there is some event to go to, but I’m not complaining about it.”

“Thank you, Golnar. I will be in touch about my findings. I would appreciate you sending me anything you learn that you think would be helpful,” said Daracha and she stood and walked towards the door.

Till got up with a groan as Golnar rose from his own chair.

“Thank you for the information, Till. Keep me informed of what you spy has to say. Let him know we can be very generous with the right information. If he gives you any names, bring them to me before you write anyone,” said Golnar walking with Till to the door.

“Of course, I will write him by tomorrow. Maybe we will get an answer in a few days’ time. It’s a shame he couldn’t get to the king, but I guess we aren’t any worse off than before,” said Till.

“No, we aren’t,” said Daracha. “We should be careful in the future though. We don’t want to rush things and get into some battle we aren’t ready for yet. Those magical folk you speak of have probably been practicing magic for years. They can probably do things you can only dream of. “

Golnar stopped and looked at Daracha. “That’s true, Daracha, very true. Till, do you think your spy would come here for the right price? Or maybe he could send someone, someone who is very proficient in magic. If we have some of these old magic users on our side, we should use them. We could learn from them. See what this spy has to say. Ask him to name a price,” said Golnar.

“Good thinking,” said Till. “I will go home and write at once. If I’m late, my wife will have to get over it. Good day, Golnar.”

“Good day, Till, Daracha,” replied Golnar seeing Till and Daracha out the door.

Golnar close the door and went back to his sofa. He picked his book and wine back up. That meeting proved to be much more productive than he could have ever imagined.