Siren prepared a little table full of herbs and had a vat of nearly boiling water close by. It was tricky working with such hot water and such clumsy paws. It was worth it though. Aliana seemed interested in the how she had scented the bathroom with the steam, and Siren vowed to show her what she knew. Lavender, rosemary, ginger, and peppermint were all laid out nicely. All harvested somewhat recently. Along with her herbs there were varied small cups and jars.

Everything had to be lit by candlelight, but it lent to the atmosphere. Siren almost felt like a witch over her boiling brew. She giggled softly to herself as she finished preparing while waiting for Aliana to arrive in the garden workshop.


"Speech"

Aliana trotted frisky down the long dark corridors from the west wing where her alchemical study was to Siren's wing, sniffing to follow the queen's trail to the room she'd selected as a workshop for their lesson of the day. When Siren had offered to teach her how she made the perfumes in her bath the other day, Aliana was more than intrigued and interested! If she was going to be a queen, she needed to learn to pamper herself and maintain her beauty not just for Chimera, but for the pack. Wolves from all over Boreas and Ardent would see her at Chimera's side, and she needed to represent the regality and strength of the Klein name she now carried.

Ali followed Siren's trail until she arrived at the candlelit room, knocking on the doorframe before stepping inside to announce her presence. Siren had already laid out a number of tools and plants, but what caught Ali's attention instantly was the vat of simmering water being heated off to the side. The room smelled of fresh florals—Aliana could only pick out lavender and ginger right away—and smelled almost identical to the bath she'd been gifted. "Wow, it smells good in here!" Aliana said, her paws carrying her over to join Siren at the table. She smiled warmly to Siren, sitting herself beside the smaller fae. "I'm ready for my first lesson, Professor Siren!"

"Aliana"

Blue and silver eyes lifted to the door at the sound of the knock, Siren invited Aliana in and the woman did not hesitate to accept. The new Queen looked worlds different from just a few short weeks ago, there was a smile on her features, the luster had returned to her fur, and her eyes had a glint to them that had nearly disappeared. Siren smiled softly as Aliana walked in and her own gaze swept over the supplies gathered.

Their lesson today wouldn’t be so complicated, really it wasn’t very difficult to begin. Since Aliana was a natural healer she would likely pick everything up quickly. The clouded woman was quick to mention how good it smelled in Siren’s work room. Part of the braided beauty’s dream was to have her own apothecary, now that they were on the island that dream was in reach.

She couldn’t help the tender blush that filled her cheeks hen Ali sat beside her and called her a professor. Siren knew the other queen looked up to her as a role model, but she really didn’t believe she deserved that admiration, but she would do whatever she could to live up to it.

"Then let's get started,” She grinned shyly and turned her attention to the plants upon the table. "I’m sure you recognize most of what is here. Lavender, ginger, rosemary, and peppermint.” She pointed to each just in case Aliana did not know. "All of them have distinct scents and properties and these are the most basic when healing with aromas.” Siren pulled up the lavender. "We’ll start with the lavender. For immediate release, hot water to steam is effective, for longer storage and concentration we want to make an extract.” Siren pulled one of the bottles closer to her, a distilled spirit from one of the primate tribes deeper in Auster. "So, we let it steep in a clear alcohol.” It was really the main use she had for the rare substance.

"Speech"

A big grin of her own spread across Aliana's face when Siren declared their lesson's beginning. "Okay!" she remarked with excitement. Aquamarine eyes followed Siren's paw over each plant, recognizing them from her own lessons and studies. None of them were exceptionally rare, save for maybe the ginger root, but all of them were highly effective medicines from what she remembered. Siren lifted the sprig of lavender, beginning with the branch of small purple florals. All the while her teacher spoke, Ali listened intently, nodding subtly to show she was retaining the information passed on. Immediate release, use hot water and steam... Long term storage, alcohol extracts... Ali glanced to the bottle of clear liquid that Siren picked up. Aliana wasn't exactly familiar with alcohols, having never been allowed near them or to partake in them when a slave, and never finding the opportunity since her liberation. She knew the island had an abundance of bottles left around the estate and other ruins just waiting for the taking though. Perhaps she should explore into those avenues...

"What would you use these alcohol extracts for? How long do you need to steep them for?" asked the clouded ash and snow fae Sith a curious tilt of her head. She knew how to make basic oil extracts of flowers and herbs to use in potions and medicines, but she was entirely unfamiliar with extracts created from alcohol. Could they be used as perfumes or fragrances as well? Or did they have other purposes? Although she was quite knowledgeable about the science of medicine and healing, Siren was still leaps and bounds ahead of her. Ali looked to Siren's delicate features, hoping her cheeks didn't explode into a shy burst of blush like they tended to do when she focused too much on the radiant Klein queen.

"Aliana"

Siren did her bes to focus on the lesson at hand instead of letting Aliana’s gaze distract her. Not that she wouldn’t have enjoyed the distraction, but learning was the most important right now. Siren shared her skills and grasped hold of the expensive bottle. She’d given the children the task of removing all of the flowers from their stems and Siren poured a smaller jar a third of the way with the flowers and topped the liquid with the alcohol.

"For when having steaming water is inconvenient.” Siren giggled softly, glancing towards Aliana. It was difficult not to notice the cute tilt of the woman’s head. "I let them steep for at least a season, two is better, but really as long as you can.” Siren still had a couple of her very first infusions. "You can use it whenever you feel anxious, place a dab between your toes, or on a pillow to help put you to sleep.” Siren followed up with to close out the session on lavender as she corked her new bottle of infusion.

"Speech"

Aliana watched with focused, curious eyes while Siren demonstrated her process, filling a glass jar with the buds and blooms of the lavender before pouring some of the clear alcohol on top to nearly fill the jar. Ali gave a tentative sniff of the liquid, recoiling instantly from the acrid scent of the alcohol as it burned at her nares. She wrinkled her nose and had to resist a sneeze. That was the stuff wolves liked to drink? Why on earth would anyone willingly ingest something that smelled so... strong? Siren explained the uses of the extract and how to best use it. She knew of the relaxing and sedative properties of lavender in pharmaceutical purposes, so it made sense that the extracts would just be a more powerful and potent version of the flowers' natural properties.

"Fascinating," Aliana cooed while Siren capped the jar and set it aside to ferment. The petite fae turned her blue-green gaze across the other plants strewn across the table's surface. "Will we be making extracts of all of these, or do you have different purposes for these?" Aliana lifted the sprigs of rosemary, taking an exploratory sniff of the woody herb. She loved the scent of fresh rosemary—she loved the smell of most fresh flowers and herbs, actually. Ali began to wonder if she should take up cooking some meals for the pack. Certainly culinary arts couldn't be too starkly different from mixing medicines with herbs, right?

"Aliana"

Aliana was a perfect student, not that Siren expected anything different from the cloudy queen. She found herself enjoying this time together, teaching the woman what she knew. Siren was now well aware of Ali’s reservations and the self doubt within her. The tiny queen was determined to help alleviate and chase them away. Aliana was perfect, she just needed her eyes opened to see that fact. Despite her bringing up she truly seemed born to live this role and Siren was glad to have her at her side.

Siren finished her bottling and Aliana asked after the other herbs and plants on the table. Siren nodded, "If you don’t mind helping, I figured we could spend the morning working on them. I.. I also had the steaming water brought up for you to experiment with and maybe create a mixture you would like to bottle as an extract.” Siren offered softly. The hot water released the scents immediately, the alcohol soak took much longer.

"Speech"

Aliana was actually having quite a lot of fun learning from and working alongside Siren. She'd never done any of her alchemical work with a partner before—not when she was learning as a slave and not now that she was a freed queen. Having someone beside you who also shared your same interests and passions... it was nice. It was more than nice; it was lovely! Siren was a patient and cheery mentor, a far cry from the harsher elderly crones she'd learned her practice and studies from back in the slavers' camp. She made the alchemical work fun. Ali watched while Siren concluded preparing her extract, then her expression lit up when the gold and ivory queen asked her to help make some extracts of her own, even providing her the materials to create her own perfume.

"Oh, that sounds lovely!" Ali cheerfully exclaimed. She was quick to follow Siren's example, lifting each of the ingredients her tutor had laid out for her to use and sampling the scents of each to gauge their freshness and notes much like a perfumer would. In the end, Aliana selected the ginger and mint, but pondered for a moment as she considered the smells. They were both very sharp scents... she would need something softer to round them out. Aliana pondered for a brief moment, then perked up when an idea struck her. "Oh! I have an idea! I'll be right back." Ali trotted briskly out into the gardens, following her nose until she found her vines of jasmine and carefully extracted a few of the powdery-smelling flowers. She swung around to a eucalyptus bush and took a few of the long green leaves before returning to the workshop.

Aliana laid out the flowers and leaves beside the ginger and mint, briefly sniffing over the collective bunch to sample the scents combined into one fragrance. "What do you think of this combination?" she asked her lab partner, valuing her input as much as she did her own ingenuity. "Do you think it'll balance out once I get it in the water?"

"Aliana"