“He’ll be fine,” Adrina said, urging Katsi to stand. “It’ll also give you some experience walking around in that dress. It’s probably longer than what you’re used to.”
Katsi stood up, taking in the full splendor of the dress. It was dark green, trimmed with geometric shapes of pinkish brown, a color lighter than her own skin. The fabric was light, and hung with extra ruffles at the waist. It left both her arms exposed, so there was nowhere to hide her armlets, but everyone seemed to know about them anyway. Alyssad hadn’t bothered to hide the fact that he’d collected a couple dozen of them, what did it matter that she had two?
She turned away from the mirror and faced Adrina, who wore an equally elegant dress of red and brown with the same geometric trim. “We’ll both be quite the spectacle during the celebrations. I’ll have to shield you off from all the young lords.”
“Please do.”
Adrina chuckled. “Not interested in courting the noblemen are you?” She led the way to Katsi’s door.
“Not in the least.” She had enough interest from noblemen as it was.
“Good. It’s for the better anyway. Blood likes yours and mine should stay with the shamanfolk. It makes for stronger magical potency in the lineage. You know, hundreds of years ago, marriages were often arranged between shamans with great strength.”
“Blegh,” Katsi said, lip curling up.
Adrina raised an eyebrow at her. “Don’t be so quick to criticize something just because it’s different from what you’re familiar with.”
“No, I just wonder if there’s such a thing as too much power. I feel like that could get out of hand quickly.”
“Ah,” Adrina said as they descended the stairs to the second floor. “There is wisdom there, but I think, at least for some rare occasions, exceptional power is required. Though it can certainly be a frightening thing in the hands of the wrong person. I’m glad you are aware of such things, especially as a stormcaller. But I suppose there’s a word of caution there for all classes of magic.”
They paused outside a door and Adrina knocked lightly. They only had to wait a few seconds before the handle turned and the door inched open. A man, perhaps in his late twenties, with ruffled black hair, large eyes, and dark brown skin peeked out at them. He wore a jacket and trousers, designed similarly to the dresses Katsi and Adrina wore, but his jacket was purple and brown.
He smiled as he saw them, swinging the door wide open. “Ah, Adrina—and Katsi—pleasure to meet you. I’ve only seen you gliding through the halls or hiding in the library.” He extended a hand to Katsi. “I’m Daraden, the royal mixer.” He laughed as though he’d told a joke.
Katsi smiled. Daraden’s personality was already disarming in a way that felt completely harmless.
“What can I help you with?” He asked.
“We were wondering if you could show Katsi how to make a potion,” Adrina said.
He folded his arms. “A quick one?”
“A stormcalling draught.”
“Ah, quick indeed.” He chuckled again and beckoned them into his room.
Katsi followed Adrina as they entered Daraden’s room. Every time Katsi saw a new bedroom in the castle, she quickly realized that hers was the most grandiose of them all. That by no means meant that the other rooms were insignificant. They were still decorated with all the decadence one could imagine, and Daraden’s room was no exception.
The ceiling was lower, which Katsi thought gave it a more comfortable feel, but the drapery was darker, with shades of purple and black. There were even two large paintings of vast bodies of water, one stormy, one calm. A large countertop was set up at one end of the room that was lined with several drawers, each marked with a label.
“So how much experience do you have with mixing, Katsi?” Daraden said.
Katsi smiled, remembering helping her father make potions when she was young. “Not much, other than handing over ingredients and stirring the pot.”
“Not bad,” Daraden said, stopping in front of the countertop. “And honestly, some potions are a lot easier to make than others, especially if the ingredients are more common. Mixing has to be the strangest magic to tap into because it really boils down to making many things become one. I’m sure with stormcalling, you recognize the ability to connect with air or water. Mixing is similar, except that I’m not the one connecting. Instead, I’m making objects connect with each other, so when I apply my magic, I feel each of the objects. Stirring them, boiling them in hot water, these things help apply some of that physically which makes the magical bond more seamless.”
Katsi shook her head. “That sounds complicated enough to me.”
Daraden laughed. “But a stormcalling potion should be simple to start with since it uses some of the most basic ingredients, and you’re already good at connecting with other things, now you’d just need to connect them together.”
“Wait.” Katsi glanced at Adrina. “You want me to make the potion?”
“Maybe not the first time around,” Adrina said, placing a hand on Daraden’s shoulder and giving him a squeeze. “But at least talk her through it. I think her having the ability to make one could be helpful in the future.”
“Very well,” Daraden said, whipping out a few instruments from a cabinet on top of the countertop. He mounted an iron pot on a metal ring that hung suspended over a hole in the counter. He then withdrew a few components from different drawers, including a jug of water from a drawer that was practically steaming. It must have somehow been heated from inside. He placed them all in a row on the counter.
“I will first explain—with brevity—the potion itself.” He stood to the side and held his hands behind his back. “A stormcaller potion is meant to enhance one’s stormcalling strength for the duration of the potion’s effects. I also usually like to include some ingredients that can enhance mental awareness or sharpness of senses, as these tend to lend themselves a similar benefit, making the potion even more effective.”
He waved his hand at the ingredients. “Here is your list of ingredients, divided into essential and nonessential.” He picked up the jug of water. “There are really only three necessary ingredients. The first is water.” He poured the hot water into the pot. “Then we add the heat.” He bent under the cabinet and struck a trigger that started a small fire beneath the pot. Katsi had never seen such a contraption. “Then we wait. The boiling water adds the second ingredient, which is just air as some of the water evaporates. It shouldn’t take too long. I usually keep some hot water ready so I can mix on a whim. Sometimes the emperor likes me to whip things together if he’s not able to make it himself.”
Daraden picked out what looked like a dried fruit from a small metal container. “We can go ahead and add the last ingredient already since the water is almost ready. This is a dakoze fruit.” He dropped it in the pot.
“I’ve never heard of that before,” Katsi said.
“It’s the main catalyst for all the enhancement potions. It has an extremely high magical potency, and it helps a lot with digestion, neurological, and cardiovascular systems.”
Katsi shrugged at Adrina, “I don’t know much about the body.”
Daraden smiled shyly as he looked down and ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Sorry, I study a lot of anatomy. Certain organs and tissues have different effects. But, as for the fruit, it’s more common around the Frozen Waste. People don’t bother harvesting them very often because they grow very high in the tree so it’s hard to reach, and they do have a tendency to literally explode, so it creates a bit of a mess.”
“The exploding fruit?” Katsi shook her head, remembering how voraciously Scales had consumed it. If it was the primary ingredient in enhancement potions because of its potent magical quality and considerable benefits, perhaps that was why he liked it so much.
“Indeed,” Daraden said. His general enthusiasm for mixing a potion was somewhat nostalgic for Katsi. Her father always bounced a little as he made potions or talked about them as well. It was like he thought he was changing the world into a better place with every potion he mixed.
“Oh!” Daraden turned back to the potion. “It’s starting to boil. I’m going to add a couple more things.” He pulled out a small twig, a couple drops of oil, and a shaving of some kind. “I used a brasswood sprout. It helps promote additional energy. I also included garaso oil. Another simple ingredient. It helps promote general health within the skin, organs, and bones. You’ll have greater endurance. And lastly, I added a bit of vonte root. It’ll make the potion taste bitter, but it helps keep the mind sharp.”
He grabbed a wooden ladle and started stirring. “That was the easy part. Now I start connecting the components one at a time, connecting them with the water itself, as that’s our base. Adrina, perhaps you can describe it as I focus.” He looked down into the pot, brows furrowing in concentration.
