Alex and Candy were again kneeling in the office by the small table, bowing to Mistress Lyrei who is sitting behind the large table. Mistress Lyrei looks towards the closed door before returning her attention to Alex.

“Eilaes, I want you to charge that larger core in front of you. The gloves next to it have had the rune that converts prana into nonaligned disconnected. I still want you to try and regulate the flow as you did before. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Talia, I want you to charge the other core using the gloves as usual.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Then begin.”

Alex glances over to Candy as they both put on the gloves, then he watches briefly as she holds the core and begins to meditate. He takes deep breathes and after a while, he begins to relax, as he senses the alien prana in the room. He begins to cycle his prana and then tries to will it into becoming tasteless. It does not take very much time until his prana feels ready for him to direct a small stream towards his arms. He manages to stop the prana cascading as it did last time, but still struggles to restrict the flow. He eventually manages to stabilize the prana entering the core without it rushing back to his own.

As he continues to cycle his prana, he perceives that there is a lot less prana present in the air than there had been yesterday. Most of what is present are from Candy and Mistress Lyrei. He senses the prana in the air seems unaffected by any air currents but is attracted to the people present. He also observes that there is a little more prana surrounding Candy and Mistress Lyrei every few minutes. After a while, Alex feels the dull pain in his chest he has come to recognize means his core is empty as he pants for air and unconsciously rubs the scar on his chest.

Mistress Lyrei instantly looks at Alex with anticipation. “Place the core in the bowl.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Alex says then leans forward and does as instructed and the runes on the bowl glow.

Mistress Lyrei begins tapping on the screen in front of her. After a few minutes she Lyrei looks up sharply. “Have you emptied your core?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“That’s strange. This core holds less prana than the one you charged yesterday, but you say you’ve emptied your core.” She taps on the screen for another five minutes before leaning back. “I don’t understand how the results are so different in less than a day.”

Alex reviews what happened differently before and during the charging of the two cores. After consideration, he realizes there are two potential reasons which could have caused this. The first is that his body was still processing the residual prana in the basic he had consumed, just before he was summoned yesterday, and this could have boosted the levels. The second is that he was absorbing the prana in the air as he charged the core. But, why is Mistress Lyrei not considering either of these?

“Mistress, may I ask a question?”

Mistress Lyrei looks at Alex in surprise. “You may.”

“Mistress, is it correct that all prana I use to charge the core can only be generated by my body?”

“Yes. Every child knows that you can only control the prana generated by your own body.”

“Mistress, yesterday you were surprised that I could charge the core directly because of my prana, why is that?”

“I would have thought it was obvious. It’s because your prana should not be able to enter the core unless it is converted to nonaligned.”

“Mistress, the thing that may explain the difference in my performance is that I consumed two bottles of basic before I was summoned by you. The basic I’m given contains something for restoration and doesn’t that contain nonaligned prana?”

Mistress Lyrei starts at Alex in amazement, then shifts to a calculating look as she begins tapping on the screen. “Yes, you’re right the restoration potion uses quite a lot of nonaligned prana. I suppose it’s possible that if your own prana is also sufficiently nonaligned you could be able to control that prana as well.” She continues to contemplate the situation when she unexpectedly leans forward with an excited gleam in her eyes. “If you can control any nonaligned prana in your body, it would open a whole new set of possibilities. I absolutely need to test this out. Remove the core from the bowl and continue working on the literacy lessons.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Alex replies as he retrieves the core and turns to the rough paper that is on the table.

Candy takes a further thirty minutes to finish charging the core and place it in the bowl for Mistress Lyrei to check. She then continues tutoring Alex and points at a series of words written on rough paper.

“Remember writing Elven is similar to writing English. You have a good grasp of the first simple rule in that we have a subject and then we have a verb. You can now recognize many of the smaller words and we just need to continue to build your vocabulary. How about you try and write a more complex statement about me teaching you Elven every day?” Candy then writes out two words, one for her name and one for teach. “Okay, give it a try.”

Alex stifles a yawn before he picks up a brush and dabs it into a shallow bowl of ink. He begins to carefully write out the requested sentence on the rough paper. After a minute he put the brush down and leans back.

“Not bad for your second lesson. You have written ‘Candy teach I elf each day.’ Your brushwork is crude but that will improve with practice. What’s your normal handwriting like?”

“Awful. I hardly ever write anything down using paper and pen. I tended to use ‘email’ and ‘text’ to communicate so typed everything.”

“Only speak Elven and not that barbaric tongue of yours.” Mistress Lyrei admonishes from the other side of the large table.

“Yes, Mistress.” They both respond.

Candy continues with the lesson for another thirty minutes until there is a knock at the door. “Enter.” Mistress Lyrei calls.

The door opens and Master Ardreth enters, accompanied by a guard and they both bow. “Mistress Lyrei, it’s time for the merchandise’s training.”

“Oh, it's that time already?. That’s fine, I’ll see you this afternoon.” Then something the guard is holding grabs Mistress Lyrei’s attention. “Is that the replacement collar?”

“It is Mistress Lyrei. We will be fitting it shortly.” Master Ardreth replies.

“Good. Eilaes you may leave.” Alex stands, bows to Mistress Lyrei and then to Master Ardreth before following the guard from the room. Master Ardreth does not move to exit once Alex leaves and Mistress Lyrei looks at him inquisitively. “Is there something else Master Ardreth?”

He gazes briefly in Candy’s direction before he speaks. “Master Syllen requests a meeting to discuss how things are progressing at your earliest convenience. Now, if you will excuse me, I have duties I need to tend to.”

“Of course, Master Ardreth. I will contact Master Syllen presently.” She responds Inclining her head to Master Ardreth. Who bows again before leaving the office and once he had left, she turns to Candy. “Talia, go to the kitchens and get some tea and pastries. Ensure that the pastries are freshly prepared, I don’t want anything inferior to embarrass me in front of Master Syllen. Now go.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Candy replies bowing and scurrying from the room.

Mistress Lyrei pulls a pebble from her pocket and holds it as the rune script on it glows a faint red. She places on the table and adjusts her position, sitting up straight before settling into light meditation. After a short time, there is a knock at the door. “Please enter.” She calls.

The door opens and Master Syllen strides confidently into the room and he stops on the other side of the large table. “A pleasure to see you as always Mistress Lyrei.” He says inclining his head.

“Please sit and join me for some refreshments. They should be here presently.” She responds with a smile.

Master Syllen shakes his head and gives a sad smile. “Ah, I wish I could spend more time with your lovely person, but I have an important meeting with the Baroness, which is why I requested to see you. I hope you will forgive my deplorable manners due to my limited time. I’ve come to ascertain the status of my merchandise?”

Mistress Lyrei smiles. “Talia is progressing well and I have confidence that her core has reached ninety units. The enhancers I’m giving her are improving her performance and I do not foresee any issues in achieving a core volume of one hundred. Her output capacity and generation rate have also shown growth. Her other training is progressing satisfactorily and I don’t foresee any problems having her ready in time for Lady Vaeri’s ball.”

“And the boy?”

She sighs. “He seems to be coping with the trauma of what that brute subjected him to. His chest has healed with only a minor scar, which should fade. His back is well on the way to healing and fortunately, I see no evidence of any unsightly scarring despite the application of the stinging bush. We will have to see if there are any evident scars after he’s healed further. He’s still able to use the sleeves and there appears to have been a small improvement in the control of his flow. He’s behind in his training, but based on the progress he has made here today I expect to be able to remedy this.”

Master Syllen gives a small smile. “You’ll be pleased to know Master Ardreth concurs with your assessment.” He then frowns. “On the other hand you started with Talia, so there must be something about the boy that has you concerned.”

“There is.” She pauses. “The wound to his chest caused by the discharge of prana may have cracked his core. He complained that his chest felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing him when he cycled prana afterwards. What did the physician say?”

Master Syllen frowns. “The physician did not check his core as there was no obvious pain or prana poisoning and he reported the wound was healed. He states he did successfully remove the stinging bush debris from the wound on his back, so it should heal without any major issues and expects that if there is any scarring it will be minimal.” He scowls. “I was advised by Master Ardreth that the boy took quite a hit to the chest, so there is the chance his core is damaged.”

“The physician’s intervention and the restoration potions must have been costly.”

“It was, but the Baroness has been most understanding as it was Sir Folliun that caused the problem and she has covered these costs for now. The Baroness has been quite insistent that I have the best opportunity to succeed in wooing Lady Vaeri.”

“You’re a recognized war hero. What do the other suitors have?”

“Money, status and family connections, everything I don’t. Plus my renown as a war hero is mainly bluster. I was lucky to be in the right place at the wrong time when my supply base was attacked. It was even more fortunate that a veteran combat unit was recovering at the base and I was the most senior officer that survived, so I got the credit. That’s why I need to make a good impression with a suitable gift.”

“Well, if the is core is damaged it doesn’t appear to have impeded his prana abilities, nonetheless, I think it prudent to check just in case.”

“I agree. I’ll get the physician to check.”

“What will you do if there is a crack?”

“On the basis his core could rupture, I will have to tell the Baroness and then I will need to find an alternative gift. But whatever I find will not have the same impact as a breeding pair of exotic humans from Terra.”

“And what about your sponsorship by the Baroness?”

“I’ll probably lose it unless the alternative gift is as spectacular.”

“Can you afford something as spectacular? Your current merchandise would be worth very little if it's damaged.”

“The merchandise will still be valuable as he’s a berserk. The Baroness has been approached by the house labs that are using the new technology to improve merchandise. They are anxious to make use of him in their experiments.”

Mistress Lyrei winces. “On the other hand, what if it’s a just minor crack?”

“I still couldn’t gift defective merchandise to someone of Lady Vaeri’s status. What if someone discovered I knew?”

Mistress Lyrei thinks for a few seconds, then locking eyes with Sir Syllen. “You currently do not know there is a crack and the physician didn’t detect anything. What if there is a way to check that allows you to remain ignorant of any facts?”

“What would that achieve? I still couldn’t in good conscious turn a blind eye if there is a crack.”

“If it’s only a minor crack and could be healed by the time you present your gift, what would the harm be?”

“What are you suggesting?”

“Master Syllen, we both know I only benefit from our arrangement if they are presented to Lady Vaeri and cause the expected stir. If you have to replace them with another gift I lose out. Now, if you can get me access to the main lab I could complete a scan of his core. If there is anything other than a major crack, then you don’t need to be informed. I can then monitor his status until the ball and make sure everything is good. In the meantime, you can search for another gift just in case.”

Master Syllen pauses as he thinks this over. “Do you know how to use the equipment in the lab?”

“I’m familiar with a multitude of equipment, but we both know that each craftsman does things slightly differently. What I would suggest is that you arrange for the lab to test Talia and that I will be present. I can then observe what equipment they use and how it operates and from that, I would be confident I can do what is needed.”

Master Syllen looks concerned. “I can’t really condone you being close to the boy for the tests, especially since he can be violent.” He holds up his hand to forestall her protest. “Even if you have a guard present at all times.”

“Master Syllen he is being fitted with an upgraded collar, the same one I have on Talia. The new collar not only allows the infliction of pain and for the boy to be silenced but it also stuns him. As for the guard, you’ll have a trusted one bring him to the lab and wait outside until I’m finished. I can’t afford to have the guard present in case he realizes what I’m testing for.”

“It’s much too dangerous. If anything happened to you the Baroness would be very upset.”

Mistress Lyrei smiles sadly. “Master Syllen. Our status within the House is one of the lowest possible and any improvement in our lot is doubtful by normal means. We both know that we are unlikely to get a better opportunity than the one before us.”

Later that morning Mistress Lyrei and Candy are escorted to the labs.