A New Star Chapter 11

My mother abducted me…well, that would be a bit of a harsh way to put it. She took me to eat with her and father in a small dining room the two used in their suite. Their suite itself, by the way, could pass for a rather good house or even small mansion anywhere else, but here it was just my parents' living quarters. The table, even for an informal evening meal, had seating for a dozen, though the servants only laid out places for the three of us. My mother had set me down on entering the room and I assumed a place across from her while my father sat at the head of the table. 

"Tell us, youngest; what have you been occupying yourself with?" he asked as the servants poured he and mother wine and myself some water. 

"Training the sword," I replied calmly. 

"And how has that fared," he asked, setting down his goblet. 

"I have reached Middle Apprentice," I replied, taking a sip of water. 

"In only a few weeks?!" exclaimed mother. 

"Yes, well, I have been concentrating on the basic forms. If it weren't to get used to the blades, I would have reached High Apprentice," I replied coolly. 

"H-high Apprentice?! You're four!" mother exclaimed. 

"Back to this again, are we?" I asked calmly, taking another sip. 

"It's just…rather shocking," my father interjected. "Even some of the greatest geniuses take weeks to first enter apprentice, and that's when they are seriously training when they are ten or eleven. To already far exceed that at your age is…well, it's unheard of, really." 

"Just because others can't, doesn’t mean none can," I said, wincing just slightly at throwing out one of my old gems of wisdom. Now was not the time and besides, did I want to be some kind of colloquialisms booklet? Certainly not. 

"How are your affinities going?" my mother asked, having recovered some of her equanimity. 

"I've only just begun focusing myself seriously on them," I replied as the first course was served. 

"Well, you have a rather powerful combination," my father said as he dug in. The sound of moving silverware was all that filled the dining room for a few minutes as we ate the first course, a small kind of bird that had been roasted in a garlic sauce, one for each of us. 

"And you intend to start your alchemy endeavors soon?" my father asked as the servants cleared the first course. 

"As I stated before, I will require some ingredients. I will do a bit of study and secure some things myself," I explained. 

"Well, don't get yourself into trouble," my mother said, giving me a dubious eye as the main course was served.  

"It's just some A-grade materials," I replied with a shrug as the main course, a large section of roast meat surrounded by finely chopped and grilled potatoes and onions, was placed in front of us. A servant from the kitchen who worked as a sous-chef cut the meat and served us, my parents barely paying him any mind. I was always mindful, however, as yet another old adage had always served me well over the centuries; trust, but verify. 

"You should still be cautious. Many aspiring young adventurers have lost their lives to A-rank beasts over the years, even while just out gathering herbs. I would hate for you to count among their numbers," my father warned before we began to eat. I tore through the main course quite quickly, helping myself to some extra meat with a deft manipulation of knife and fork before the servant could even step in.  

"Now, as to the matter of your education," my father said, once all the food had been put away. "We shall have to see about getting you a tutor at some point." 

"Is such a thing really necessary?" I asked with a sigh. 

"None of that, now," he replied firmly. "It would not do for a young lady of our house to not meet a minimum standard in the noble etiquettes or such matters as history or geography." 

"Well, make sure to search good and long and find an extraordinary tutor," I said crisply. "In fact, the search could take years, but I am prepared for such a sacrifice, in consideration of the value of my education." 

"Oh, fear not, it will not take nearly so long," my father said with a small smirk. "I rather think we shall have someone quite soon." 

"Very well," I accepted my fate with a calm determination. "Was there aught else?" 

"You should work on the amount of respect you show your seniors," my mother warned me, though it was much more from frustration, with a touch of amusement, than anger. 

"When my seniors do something worthy of respect, I'll demonstrate the appropriate emotions," I replied, deadpan.  

"You're a very unusual four-year-old," my father said. 

"I'm precocious," I repeated blandly. 

"Well, even precocious children need their rest," my father returned blithely. He personally escorted me back to my room before bidding me goodnight. I was not disturbed by anyone until early the following morning when the maids woke me and insisted on bathing me. 

Once they were done with all of their ministrations, I made my way to the kitchens, where I ate oats and fruit and a small bit of lean meat. I had been joined by my eternal shadow, Mina, that day, and she followed me out to the yard, where I did my morning training. I stopped early, for me, and returned to the kitchen, where I ate a large lunch before moving into the servants' passages. My goal today was rather simple; see if there was anything worthwhile in some of the rooms for supplies.  

The first room proved to be a bust, as there was only mechanical equipment, including simple machines and basic parts within. The second room had supplies, including some rations and a couple barrels of hardtack, though I couldn't make rhyme or reason of the organization of the room. The barrels were also, I discovered after finding their markings, quite old, old enough that even hardtack would be having issues. It could stay edible for extremely long periods of time, but after years of sitting, something like that always had bugs, mice, and other nasties get into it. 

"Mina," I sighed in frustration after closing the storeroom door. 

"Yes, young lady?" she asked, looking down at me from her great height, though the difference in our elevations was decreasing, month-by-month. 

"Please, Mina, tell me that we have some type of accounting roster for the storerooms and storage houses," I commanded her with a frown. 

"You know who would know? Captain Redwind," Mina replied. 

"Come," I commanded, leading her back through the servants' passages.  

I walked through the kitchens, moving out through one of the large back doors and into the courtyard. Mina followed through the courtyard and into the barracks at the back of our family compound. I moved through the very clearly marked building into the section with the various captains' offices, including the area where the commander had her office. Captain Redwind's office was at the start of that small block, and I knocked on his open door, sticking my head in as I rapped my knuckles against the wood. 

"Yes? Ah, young miss? What's happened now? Wait, it's you that's here and not your maids. Have your maids gone missing now?" Captain Redwind fired out rapidly. 

I looked up and over my shoulder at Mina, who just closed her eyes, shaking her head and sighing. Apparently, this wasn't anything especially exceptional from the older captain, and I gave myself a sharp shake before saying, "Nothing like that, captain. I'm here to ask about logs for the storehouses." 

"What about them?" asked the captain, confused.  

"Captain, I am attempting to find things in the storerooms," I explained calmly. "But I find the storerooms don't have labeling or records attached to each room describing the contents. Furthermore, I need very specific materials, and I wonder if there even is a central ledger? I want access to such a ledger, if it exists." 

"Well, there are day ledgers," the captain began, pulling out two books. "And we have the monthly account logs. There are also the central books-" 

"Captain," I said coldly, interrupting the deluge. "Is there a central ledger, or is there not?" 

"Well, no, there's not," he replied, blinking several times. 

"Then, captain, how do we even know what we have on the property?" I asked with a little frustration in my voice. 

"Well, the daily ledgers provide for things like food and ammunition and such," he began. "And we hear about anything that is lacking and put in orders-" 

"Let me get this straight," I interrupted him again, seeing him adopt a morose expression. "We have dozens of storerooms throughout the property, perhaps even more-hell, we don't even know that. Do we?" 

He stared at me for a moment and then seemed to realize it was a question, saying, "I have a very good idea of the storerooms." 

"'You have a very good idea', is it, captain?" I asked caustically. "Is that an answer to my question?" 

"Sorry, what was the question?" he asked, looking a bit muddled. 

"You know what? Forget it," I said. "Mina!" 

"Yes?!" she asked, startled at being suddenly addressed, and so forcefully at that. 

"How busy is your illustrious guard cohort?" I demanded. 

"Well, there's the training and patrol duties…" she began hesitantly. 

"Unacceptable," I snapped. "Work with captain Redwind and develop a rotation. I want every storeroom we have catalogued and organized." 

"And when do you want this accomplished?" she asked with a frown. 

"I want it done yesterday, captain," I replied icily. "Barring that, I want it done as soon as humanly possible. It is absolutely unacceptable that I ask someone in charge of the estate how many rooms we have dedicated to storage and they don't even know." 

"I'll get it done, young lady," Mina said.  

"Good," I said, turning and walking out of the office, not seeing the glance the two captains exchanged. 

I returned to the storage rooms I had been going through and continued to sort through them. I found several ingredients I would need, which then also brought to mind the problem of bases. I would, at a minimum, need very clean water to brew potions, the very least of alchemical activities. Beyond that, I would likely need wine, spirits, distilled water, and quite a number of other decoctions ranging from the mundane to the truly bizarre. And all that still wasn't even getting into the ingredients themselves, just the liquids to brew those ingredients in. I could, at the least, produce clean water through boiling and straining rainwater, which was often fairly clean in this area, though I would have to collect the rainwater in a clean receptacle and not a barrel a hundred sweaty grunts had been shoving their heads in. 

Thinking of that, I stomped back up to the kitchen to confront the head cook, who I assumed would have some idea of what our larder and stocks looked like. I found the rush for the evening meal prep in full swing, with quite a few more servants and cooks in the kitchen than I was used to. Looking around, I observed the hubbub and mayhem for a minute before zeroing in on the head cook and stalking over to her. 

"Young lady, I'm terribly sorry, but if you have any special requests, we just can't add them at this point," Teresa said. 

"Teresa, I have no idea what you're talking about, and that's not why I'm here," I said calmly. "Do we have any spirits?" 

"You're quite young for the bottle, if'n you don't mind me sayin', young lady," Teresa said, looking at me askance. 

"It is not for consumption," I retorted coldly. "I am trying to perform alchemy, despite ten thousand and one little problems and not-so-small issues along the way. If I am to brew potions, I will need bases, and these will include things like pure fresh water, wine, spirits, and more. Do we have any pure distilled alcohol, alcohol that has not had anything added to it nor has been aged in a barrel or such container in any way?" 

"Yes, young lady, we have several bottles," Teresa replied with a frown. "But we need those for a number of things, including cooking, as well as other tasks like cleaning, treating wounds, and more. If you intend to use even a single full bottle, we'll need to restock." 

"I don’t know how anybody knows what we have where," I muttered darkly. "But, never mind that, I will need several bottles of spirits and several bottles of wine. The wine should be no more than fifteen percent alcohol by volume." 

"I don't rightly know how much alcohol any of the liquors have in them," Teresa replied with another frown before gesturing for me to follow her. She led me to a room just next to the kitchen, not the pantry but a room that abutted it on the other side of the wall. There were quite a few bottles, barrels, casks, and flagons in this room, though I had no idea if this was all of our alcohol. Hell, based on the current time period, there could just as easily be wax or honey or formaldehyde or something equally as inane or insane in any of the containers. 

"The back shelf is pure spirits," Teresa explained as she bustled to the back of the room. There was indeed a shelf that had a large array of bottles on the second and third rows, all of which I eyed rather dubiously. Teresa pulled three bottles down, uncorking each and sniffing them just to double check, to which I rolled my eyes, before she handed the bottles to me. "That's the spirits, young lady. The wine is two doors down." 

She led me down two rooms to the room that was, apparently, acting as our current wine cellar. The place was full of wine bottles, as well as a few casks and smaller barrels. I browsed the shelves, stashing all three spirits bottles in the crook of my arm before grabbing two bottles of red wine off the shelves. Teresa nodded, watching what I took, but she made no physical notes of what was taken or by whom. I felt like marching right back to Mina and bending her ear about it right then and there, but I contained myself, marching to my alchemy room instead and putting the five bottles on a shelf right by the table I would be using to start. I then saw about sourcing some fresh water, which was only like a minor teeth-pulling operation, before using my alchemy lab for the first time for the glorious task of…boiling water. Exhilarating 

Once I had boiled and strained and filtered the water, I stored it in clean containers before returning to what I had been doing. I was in the fourth storage room when I found the rest of what I needed, that being fresh parts from A-rank beasts as well as A-rank cores and several herbs. The herbs had been harvested…well, by a butcher by the looks of it, but I would be seeing about personally securing my own ingredients very soon. After all, beggars couldn't be choosers. I decided to keep my momentum going and use my lab for more than creating potable water that day, so I returned thence, placing the ingredients on the shelf below where I had previously placed the alcohol bottles. 

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