Lurai stayed in the bath for quite some time while she let the waters soak around her worries. Her tears continued to fall down her face, as she stared at the multi-timed repaired ceiling. Time passed as she attempted to make peace with all that happened until she heard the movement of the curtain around the doorframe.
Slowly, Lurai walked and stepped out of the bath, she looked around for a towel, just for the reality to set back in reached to grab the same dress she had been wearing before. While dripping wet, she quickly put on the dress before turning to the curtain that led back into the main room of the house. Quickly affixing her face to a large smile, she walked through the curtain triumphantly only to be met by the awkward stares from her family at the dinner table.
"E-eh?" Lurai said as she saw the look on their faces.
Lykas was first to speak up, "Why are you smiling, sis? Weren't you just—"
Ramira reached over to cover his mouth, but Lurai frowned as she couldn't hide the fact that she had cried.
"It's-"Lurai said as she sighed before bringing back her smile, "It's nothing, Lykas. I got scolded for missing a day at the manor, that's all."
Ramira and Kamai looked toward one another and smiled softly as they turned back to Lurai.
"You probably needed that bath then!" Kamai said with a laugh, "Ramira was telling us about how you hopped back into things at the manor. Nothing of that sort holding back my daughter!"
Ramira shot him a sharp glance that told him he was laying it on a bit thick, and he shuddered back in his chair a bit. Lurai couldn't help but giggle at that interaction.
"You are right, Ka'Pa!" Lurai held up her hand, balled into a fist, "I am stronger than I look, that's for sure!"
"Not as strong as me though!" Lykas chirped up.
"You can't even lift your pile alone, Lykas." Cial said with a smirk, causing Lykas to flush red.
"That's—" Lykas became flustered, "That's be-because I work so hard to get my pile so big!"
Lurai laughed loudly at the boys' bickering, which brought everyone into laughter. She smiled as she began to think about this family, and she felt her heart beat faster. She held her chest softly as she felt a wave of unfamiliar nostalgia.
"Lurai—Is this what you felt every day?" Lurai thought to herself. "How different our lives were, and yet, here I am in yours."
Kamai stood up and walked to Lurai, "You go ahead and sit down. I'll get your brothers ready for their bath, and then we can have dinner." He looked over to the boys and motioned to the bath, "Alright, both of you."
The boys bolted from their seats to the bathroom, almost racing, which made Kamai shake his head in confusion. Ramira and Lurai couldn't help but giggle at the sight. Kamai then nodded to Lurai as he walked over to the room as well.
"You don't have to say how your day went to everyone." Ramira started with a frown, "I filled in everyone on how you were cleared to work in a few hours. Kamai was very happy to hear that."
"I don't think anyone is happier to hear that than me." Lurai smiled as she walked over to her seat and sat down at the table, "I just want to make sure that I don't cause any more problems for this family. I mean, my family."
"Your problems are our problems, and strong families solve all their problems together." Ramira leaned closer to Lurai with her hands outreached as she spoke, "It's hard, but we can soften this blow, okay?"
Lurai nodded and began tearing up as she reached forwards to gently grasp Ramira's hands, "Thank you. Thank you for all of your help in this."
"A mother is nothing short of the best helper." Ramira let go of her daughter's hands to wipe away the tears that began to stream down Lurai's face, "And happiness comes to those who wait for it, not those who go looking for it."
"I'll keep that in mind." Lurai laughed solemnly as she went to wipe her own eyes more.
"So," Ramira folded her hands together as she leaned forward with her elbows on the table, "What story will you tell the boys tonight? I'm particularly interested since you surely know more stories than our Lurai did."
"I—oh." Lurai blushed a bit red, "That must have certainly been out of the blue for Lykas and Cial then."
"All of us." Ramira said with a spark in her eyes, "We all ran out of new stories years ago, and now talks and stories were about work experiences. It's been very dull at night since the boys became old enough to remember the stories told to them."
"I have plenty of new ones to add, that's for sure!" Lurai perked up, "but before that, there is something I'd like to ask."
"Ask?" Ramira looked toward Lurai in confusion, "What would you like to know?"
"Well, you said that elves do not have control of the magic they can use." Lurai replied as she looked at her hand, "But how is that measured? How do I know how much magic I use?"
"I am surprised you didn't know, but you wouldn't since you weren't an elf before." Ramira pointed at her chest before pulling away the top bit of her dress. Underneath the top of the dress was the slave crest tattoo, which seemed smaller than Lurai, as Brenda, had seen in her previous life on elves at the manor.
"The slave crest acts as our tell. The smaller the tattoo, the less magic we have used." Ramira pulled her dress back up, "If we use a spell that uses a lot of magic to consume, our lives usually pay the price. If anything, our magic has a physical limiter."
Lurai's eyes widened immediately as she quickly stood up to look down at her dress to see if her tattoo grew.
"My light, please." Ramira said softly, "Kamai told me your crest didn't glow when you used that spell, and you didn't feel a burning sensation did you?"
Lurai sat back down and shook her head sheepishly at Ramira, who smiled back in response. "It's not a painless experience. It's as if your life is burning away."
"Oh. Yeah, Seran screamed out in pain when father activated his seal to have him confess," Lurai thought to herself, "and I remember screams that Reau and other servants used to let out too. Was I that blind to things?"
"It must be very scary." Lurai said aloud to Ramira, "I—I can't imagine what that feels like."
Ramira sighed, "But you will, unfortunately. You will feel it very soon if the master compels you to."
Lurai looked sorrowfully down at her chest, "Yeah, I figured that much, unfortunately."
Ramira reached out her hand towards Lurai, grasped her hand, and said, "Ematio". Instantly, a very small light illuminated Ramira's hand and then transferred to Lurai's hands before rapidly shooting through her entire body.
"This is—" Lurai said loudly, before being rushed with a calming and soothing feeling as if all of her worries faded away. "Ematio, the calming spell." She said aloud, to which Ramira nodded.
"It's a tier 0 spell that mothers use to calm crying infants, but it can still be used to make someone relax in intense situations. It can also help overcome stress for—" Lurai said before abruptly stopping to look over at Ramira's admiring face. She felt a wave of nostalgia hit her as she remembered how Meriah used to use this on her when she fell or got upset when she was younger.
"Yes, in fact—all elven women are taught this spell specifically so that their children don't make a fuss in front of the master."
Ramira said with a smile, "Specifically for a young girl who wanted to cry her Ra'Ma all the time."
Lurai instinctively blushed as she let out a nervous laugh, "I can see how bringing that up would embarrass a young girl, for sure."
Ramira giggled, "You were a cute young girl, and you are now a beautiful older one. You are still my daughter though, so you will always be my young girl, whatever mind you have now."
Lurai felt a tear drop down her face as she smiled at Ramira. "She is so precious," she thought to herself, "My turn."
"Huh?" Ramira said as she looked towards Lurai with a bit of concern, "Shouldn't you—"
"Ematio!" Lurai said loudly, as her hands lit up with a flash of light, but instead of flowing right to Ramira gently, it surrounded her in a golden aura. When the light faded, Ramira had one of the biggest smiles that anyone could wear on her face.
"Ra'Ma?" Lurai asked in concern but couldn't help but laugh loudly as her mother slouched over onto the table with a goofy look on her face. The next thing Lurai heard was the sound of light snoring and heavy breathing, which kept her laughing as she looked at her hand. "Well, that will come in handy, I guess."
Lurai gently shook Ramira for a little bit before realizing that she was having difficulty waking her. Sighing, she looked over to the side of the room where the stew had already been prepared and was in a cauldron, and she walked over to it, picked it up, and brought it to the firepit in front of the beds. She looked towards the logs that were on the fireplace already, and then she looked at her hand before confidently snapping.
"Lait," Lurai said loudly as her hand became surrounded by flame. She moved it to the logs, which licked the flames away from her hand, and the fire began to glow brighter and grow higher within a few moments. Lastly, she looked towards the wall to see a large metal stand with a hook on the end, and with quick thinking, Lurai hung the cauldron on the hook and placed it over the fire.
"Is the food ready yet?" A childish voice said from behind her.
"Woah!" Lurai said before turning around to see Lykas standing behind her. His hair was dripping wet, but his shirt and trousers were on, slightly damp. He looked in anticipation before realizing Ramira was laying down on the bed.
"Why is Ra'Ma like that?" Lykas tilted his head to the side before going over and poking his mother's face.
"She's just a little tired, Lykas." Lurai said with a slight smile, "Don't worry! I got the food going."
Cial and Kamai walked around the corner, and Kamai looked at Lurai with a puzzling look. Lurai just nodded and continued smiling, which Kamai shrugged off and sat down on the edge of the bed his wife laid on.
"I assume that she is okay?" Kamai asked as he touched the top of his wife's head.
"I believe so. She must have been stressed out." Lurai said as she looked over to Ramira, still sleeping.
"The soothing spell?" Kamai asked and Lurai nodded, "Heh. What a strong spell you cast, eh?"
"I didn't think it would be that strong. I'll be careful in the future." Lurai said as she turned back to the boys who were waiting directly in front of her with a different sort of anticipation.
"I wanna hear the story, sis!" Lykas said with a big smile.
"I—I want to hear it too." Cial agreed as he sat down directly next to Lurai.
"Okay!" Lurai said as she pat her left side for Lykas to sit near her, which he promptly did. "Tell me, what kind of story do you want to hear about tonight?"
"I wanna hear about a hero!" Lykas said with excitement.
"A hero, huh?" Lurai pondered, "Well, how about Opahios, the prophet?"
"Who is that?" Cial looked with wonder at his sister after hearing that he's never heard of before.
"He was a hero when humans and elves fought against one another, but in the end, he unites them together in harmony, as friends," Lurai said with an uplifting voice.
"That's not possible!" Lykas shook his head, "Elves work for the humans, not be friends with them."
"This was a very very long time ago, and it is a story." Lurai looked down upon the silver-haired boy with a cross look, "Do you not want to hear it? I don't have to tell this one."
"No no no!" Lykas said shaking his head before holding onto Lurai's left arm, "I wanna hear it!"
"Allow me to help you, Lurai," Kamai spoke with a laugh before reaching over to the stew pot, grabbing the ladle that was laying on the side of it, and turning the stew to cook it. He then spoke to the boys, "This is a story where anything can happen. You gotta believe in stories."
Lurai bit her lip before thinking to herself, "This is history though. I can see why this story is never told to elves, to begin with, but tonight—that is changing!"
Lurai cleared her throat as she looked toward everyone, "Please promise not to share this story. This will be special for us, and only for us."
All nodded, even Kamai.
Lurai cleared her throat as she began to speak.