Preparations every mother should make

[Victoria Valentine]

Victoria knelt in a pond, which lay along a very specific path from a very specific lake which, once upon a long-forgotten time, a very specific King was born away from this mortal coil on an enchanted boat after having a very specific sword thrown into it by a rather reluctant retainer. Victoria didn't want to use that actual lake, naturally. For one thing, this was closer. Another? She just didn't want to draw the attention, and this pond should serve the same purpose while at the same time being more secluded.

She knelt naked in the shallow waters, washing a large mirror with a pure white silk cloth, singing the enchanted lullabye that she was using to infuse the mirror for her daughter's nursery with the magic she meant for it.

[Narrator]

Nothing happened.

This would be normal if, say, you or I were standing knee deep in a puddle of water yelling random syllables, but perhaps NOT so much for Victoria.

[Victoria Valentine]

Victoria frowned, looking at the mirror, then at the silk. Swearing, she walked over to her things, taking out her notes and leafing through them. "No, silk is right," she muttered. "Facing east... time plays no factor, what the bloody hell is wrong?"

Sighing, she pulled her dagger from wherever it was she had it and nicked her finger with it, then drove the blood into the ground so she could get a sense for the energies around the lake. If it failed here, she'd just do it where the energies were stronger.

[Narrator]

The energies sure were weak--they were nonexistant!

Now, it is possible Victoria could have made a slight miscalculation, but NO reaction? No way.

[Victoria Valentine]

Victoria frowned. "What the hell?" She pulled the map she'd used out, checking the line that passed through that lake, and it did, indeed pass through the pond. "What the bloody hell!" she shouted, now absolutely irate.

Furiously, she drew a circle on the ground, setting down inside it. Why the hell had she just been forced to waste an afternoon ritually cleaning herself and the mirror for nothing? Not even bothering calming herself, she sent her mind out to trace the paths of power. Maybe she'd taken the wrong turn somewhere. Was the pont across the little copse of trees nearby, perhaps? This was a rather unremarkable pond, maybe it was another unremarkable pond in the middle of nowhere. As she sent her mind out, she felt her heart slowing, her mind calming, thankfully.

[Narrator]

You know when you have a shitty GPS, and it starts looking and looking and looking for the satellite, and finally decides that Main Street must be NOWHERE despite the fact you're rolling down Main Street looking for your turn?

Yeah.

[Victoria Valentine]

Victoria frowned. "Damn it!" she shouted, picking the knife up and putting it back wherever she kept it. "Bloody hell, this is ridiculous!" she fumed, going over and picking up the mirror, handling it oddly carefully given how pissed she was. "Spend a month working on this, and somehow I just can't touch the bloody ley line." She was pissed at herself... but she couldn't figure out her problem. It was like the ley line just...

Her eyes went wide, and she almost dropped the mirror. "...like it isn't there. Oh bloody hell, that just makes too much sense." She rushed around, putting things away and hurriedly slipping back into the dress she'd been wearing. Her tires sprayed mud as she pulled out in more hurry than she needed be, heading off to check what she suspected, and both hoping it was true and wasn't true.

[Narrator]

Dun Dun DUUUNNNNNNNNNN!