The Fae Mage

by Whiskey Flowers

  “This isn't fair” Tavin replied. “They made me cower to them Darla. Me, cower to someone.”

  “I know it hurt your feelings and maybe there is a way to get back at them but none of us know how” Darla said. “We need to know our place here.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Glen performed the wind blade spell as the others looked on. The spell was not hard to cast but took a lot of chanting and hand movements to keep the air compressed enough to slice into something. Tavin had sliced a melon in half, Darla had done so as well just not as cleanly. Some of the others were able to cut into the melon before the spell fell apart. Glen could not cut the melon in half but currently he had held the spell long enough to cut fifteen times into the melon before he let it go.

  “I don’t have the same power as the others Mage Glenda” Glen said. “That was the best I had.”

  “I don’t think you will ever be good enough to take down multiple enemies with your magic” Glenda said with a smile. “But any magic is better than no magic.”

  “That is ridiculous” Albert said. “He is worthless, in a fight I could beat him easily.”

  “And I think I can smash you” Tavin said. “Let’s put it to the test.”

  “You really want to do this?” Albert asked.

  “I will fight him” Glen said. “Albert is a good mage.”

  “He barely has the strength you do” Tavin said. “Calling him a good mage is an insult. He is a skinny little nobody that is scared to face me. I don’t know what any woman would see in such a man.”

  “And you are a fat, funny shaped hog” Albert replied.

  “No one is fighting anyone” Mage Glenda said. “Glen I think you have excellent control and need to work with what you have.”

  “Which is nothing” Albert said as his friends started laughing.

  “You are just angry” Darla said. “My brother Tavin could wipe the floor with you and I can as well. I don’t know how any woman could be satisfied dealing with a mage that is not only ugly but low in power.”

  “Shut up whore!” Albert snapped.

  “Albert that is enough” Mage Glenda said angrily.

  “Mage Glenda, little boys always resort to name calling when they are out classed” Darla said. “I doubt he will spar me, I would crush him like a bug. No wonder none of the other girls here have taken him seriously.”

  “That is enough out of you as well” Mage Glenda said angrily. “You know what? Class is over, you all have things you have to get ready for anyway. Our matching ceremony is going to come earlier this year, the Senate wants to see if any good matches can be made.”

  “The what ceremony?” Darla asked.

  “The matching ceremony girl” Mage Glenda said. “It’s only the event you have been hearing about all of your life, I am sure your mother told you all about it except this year it is going to be a little different.”

  “She doesn’t have any parents” Gilbert laughed.

  “I am sorry Darla” Glenda said shaking her head. “I forget you are new to this life. The matching ceremony is where the empire tries to identify possible matches between the magical. Normally everyone will narrow it down to their top five, the Senate hires people to research family bloodlines to make sure the mages are not too related and hands back over acceptable matches. The difference this time is that a new law has been passed allowing the head of the home to marry more than one individual. Only those who identify as head of home will be allowed to do so provided that they can prove they have enough money to take care of two separate homes. Someone could get married a dozen times if they have the money to do so, only the heirs from the first wife or husband are eligible for any inheritance though.”

  “What happens if two heads of home marry the same person?” Glen asked.

  “Won’t happen” Mage Glenda said. “I have read all about this new law and I find it fascinating. Anyone who is not single has to let the other party know. Anyone who knowingly marries or lays with another’s spouse owes that person half of their fortune, no one here is dumb enough to do that, especially the rich.”

  “I can marry two different women” Albert said. “I like this new law, especially with the abundance of female mages.”

  “Anyone can if they have the money to treat both spouses equal” Mage Glenda said. “Just think about it, women who had to make a choice between men can marry them both. I normally do not let students in on my private life but I had to choose between two wonderful men. I chose the one with the stronger magic but I still miss the other one after all of these years. My husband is an invalid thanks to a wasting sickness, now I can keep him and marry another without breaking any laws. It is a new day for me and many other people in the empire. What it means for you Darla is that you can marry an insanely rich man that will take care of you and any of your future children for the rest of your lives. What is even better is that he has to split his time evenly between you and his other wives, you could come out of this in a real good position.”

  “I would never marry a man that already has a wife” Darla said. “And any man that marries someone else while he is married to me will find himself divorced.”

  “Mages don’t divorce Darla” Mage Glenda said. “You will just have to learn to deal with it if your husband wants another woman. If you came from a wealthy family then you would not have to worry about it but you and your brothers are poor. If anything marrying into a rich family can get you instant recognition.”

  “Looks like I won’t be getting married then” Darla said.

  “What do you mean you won’t be getting married?” Mage Glenda asked. “All mages have to be married before the age of twenty-five or the Senate will pick the match for you, it is all part of being a mage.”

  “You mean I will be forced to marry some man that will most likely cheat on me with someone else?” Darla asked. “Good luck getting in between my legs.”

  “Well…” Mage Glenda began.

  “You can’t be serious” Darla said. “Don’t even say it.”

  “It is all a part of being a mage, it is why we are given good money from the senate, even the poor mages are paid good coin” Mage Glenda said.

  “Well I don’t have to worry about that” Natalie said. Natalie was who Glen thought was the leader of one of the packs of female mages at the school. They flirted with Albert and his crew a little but Glen knew they were not interested. Tavin had gotten noticed by them because of his magic and her friend Amanda had given Tavin a wink a couple of times but Glen was sure Tavin wouldn’t take her up on the offer.

  “And why is that?” Darla said still angry about finding out her future prospects.

  “Because I am rich” Natalie said. “I am going to marry a poor boy and if I get tired of him, I can always get another.”

  “Does that apply to men as well?” Tavin asked.

  “Well yes” Mage Glenda said. “With your power level I think many women may be interested in you Tavin. I can’t say it will be for a first spouse but you will definitely get some looks.”

  “I don’t care how pretty or rich she is, I am not sharing” Tavin said.

  “I don’t see how you can stop it” Mage Glenda said. “You have to try at least once every other week or go to prison until you are ready. I know you commoners are not used to the way things are done but it has been done this way for centuries.”

  “Well then it looks like I have to save up my money then and marry before twenty-five to someone young and broke” Tavin said. “You said the empire pays out based on power level?”

  “It does” Mage Glenda said. “I have you rated in the elite tier, you will get a sizable amount of gold once you leave here and will continue to do so every month.”

  “What about me?” Darla asked.

  “You are the second strongest student in the school” Mage Glenda said. “I have you ranked in the upper tier.”

  “What are the tiers?” Darla asked.

  “You are just trying to show off
” Albert snapped. “Just know you idiot brother is ranked in the poor tier.”

  “There is poor, below average, average, upper and elite” Mage Glenda said. “There are not too many mages in the elite tier, I am amazed Tavin was ranked that high.”

  “So Glen is the only one who has to worry about having some woman step out on him then” Darla asked.

  “What difference does it make, he is a…” Tavin said as a glare from Darla silenced him. “He is someone that can depend on us to find him the right woman.”

  “I don’t think you will have any problem Glen” Mage Glenda said. “I don’t think any of you will with the amount of people coming to this thing. You will be amazed at how many men and women want to find someone younger, I think all three of you will be set for life.”

  “I am going to be set as well” Albert said.

  “Your family doesn’t have a grand fortune or you would be a much better mage” Tavin said laughing. “In fact I know you come from a minor family and you have little power, if you didn’t then you would have went out to war.”

  “I don’t see you in a hurry to fight” Albert replied.

  “I want to fight in a war” Glen said. “When can we go?”

  “Yes I want to go fight in a war as well” Tavin said as Glen could tell Tavin had caught on to him. “So does my sister.”

  “Why would you want to go fight?” Mage Glenda asked. “The war is calming down, it is almost over.”

  “So what?” Tavin said. “I don’t want to be here when there is fighting to be done. I am not a coward.”

  “Well too bad” Mage Glenda replied. “No one else from this school is leaving. Have you all gotten your clothes ready?”

  “Of course they haven’t” Natalie said. “They don’t have any money. Poor Darla is going to look like a peasant woman when she meets the men.”

  “I don’t mind looking like a peasant woman” Darla said. “I still have at least eight years, I am not in any hurry.”

  “What if you get a petition put on you?” Natalie said. “Then you will have to leave.”

  “What is a petition?” Tavin asked.

  “I did not think about that” Mage Glenda said. “A petition is when someone asks the senate for permission to marry. Normally petitions are done when it is in best interest of the empire, almost none of them get accepted though. But your case is special, a powerful mage girl with no parents, someone will want to take care of you.”

  “Darla can we talk?” Glen said as he looked at his sister.

  “Why are any of you worried?” Mage Glenda said. “I know you will only make good matches. People may not be high on you for being poor commoners, but your magic speaks for itself.”

  “Yes Glen, magic does speak for itself” Albert laughed.

  Glen ignored the insult and was not surprised when Tavin joined Darla as they found a safe place to talk.

  “I am not marrying anyone” Darla said. “Not with these rules, you two are trying to go to war so you can get back into our kingdom.”

  “You brought this doom on us Fae, if we never came here I would still be back at home” Tavin said angrily.

  “You outed us as mages” Glen said. “Now what are we going to do?”

  “What do you mean us?” Tavin said. “You are used to being the other man, this is nothing new for you. I am not going to marry some rich old woman that probably can’t have kids and I have to touch on.”

  “And I sure am not going to marry some old man looking for a young woman” Darla said.

  “You guys are acting like this is going to happen right now” Glen said. “We still have time and likely only the very rich can afford any one of us. Let’s go to whatever this thing is and act normal, we can always sneak back across the border later no matter who we are set up with.”

  ~

  “You were supposed to dress up for this” Mage Rolan said looking at Tavin, Darla and Glen. “You have no nice clothes, no one was thinking about that. Oh well behind this door is a crazy amount of people looking to meet students, most of them are men but there are enough women there as well looking either for themselves or their daughters.”

  “Well they can keep looking” Tavin snapped.

  “Glenda told me none of you were happy about mage laws” Rolan said and shook his head. “It can’t be helped, after this is over I am going to have Oboe and his helpers make you some nice clothes. If you are lucky perhaps you can find someone behind that door willing to do it for you. Slip these bands on your wrist, it identifies your strength level to the people behind the door.”

  “This is ridiculous” Tavin said as he took one then stormed into the room.

  “Take one Glen and let’s see about your brother before he does something we will regret later” Darla said as she took a wristband and gestured for Glen to take the other. Glen walked into the room and was surprised at how loud it was, he was going to find a place to sit and was sad to see there were nameplates at each of the small tables, one of which had his name. Every student was separate and Glen sat down, immediately a woman sat down across from him and glanced at his wristband.

  “You are poor rank?” the woman said as she then looked into Glen’s eyes then at his shoulders. The woman had brown hair and Glen thought she was in her late thirties, he spotted a strand or two of gray hair and she had slight lines around her eyes.

  “Is there something I can do for you?” Glen asked.

  “Excuse me?” the woman said. “I sat down here to talk to you. Mage Glenda is a friend of mine and she told me about a new mage with an elite ranking.”

  “You must mean my older brother” Glen said as he cheered up and searched the room. “You can find him right over there” Glen finished and pointed out an annoyed looking Tavin who looked like he was snapping at someone.

  “Well I can talk to him later, it seems like he has company” the woman said. “So Glen, you are the one with no parents and no fortune?”

  “How do you know this?” Glen asked.

  “Because Mage Glenda is a friend and the school has books detailing a short biography of all of you here” the woman said.

  “My Da went off to war, my Ma died” Glen said. “I don’t have any money but I am a good worker.”

  “I bet you are” the woman said. “I think you would make an excellent second or third husband. What do you think of that?”

  “I think I would make a better only husband” Glen said.

  “Please boy” the woman said and waved Glen off. “Men always want to be the only one sticking it to a woman. You won’t ever be that, at least not now the laws have changed and you are broke. But you can get your own home and other things.”

  “Don’t want any of it” Glen replied. “I wouldn’t entertain being a second or third anything.”

  “You barely have any magic” the woman said. “Like I said before, you won't ever be the only one.”

  “Only time will tell” Glen said as he gave her a smile. “It was nice meeting you.”

  “You are brushing me off?” the woman asked. “What an idiot, I am among the richest women in this room.”

  Glen saw the woman leave angrily and stood up, no part of the rules said he had to be seated and if he was people would most likely keep sitting down. Glen moved over towards Darla who looked like she was barely holding it together as a man older than their father was trying to talk to her. Glen stood next to the table and had to keep from laughing from the vile words spewing from Darla’s mouth.

  “I don’t want you” Darla said and waved the man away.

  “You are a poor girl who should be happy I am giving you any attention at all with all of these women around” the old man said.

  “I only talk to men that has one as thick as my forearm” Darla said looking him up and down. “I want to make sure I am going to be satisfied since you already told me you have a wife. Either whip it out here and give me a good look or go away.”

  “You little whore” the old man said
angrily.

  “I didn’t think so” Darla said. “Go bother some other girl that wants your money and you little peepee.”

  “You stole those words” Glen said as the man stomped off.

  “I saw how mad it made Tavin” Darla replied. “I have been fighting off clumsy come on after clumsy come on.”

  “You sound angrier that these men are already married” Glen said.

  “Of course I am” Darla said. “It is the first question I ask, all of them leave here angry after I make it clear I am not what they are looking for. I don’t see you working the room either, isn’t this the kind of place you and your friends would have died for? I talked to Darius a little when no one was around and all of them dreamed of finding some rich old person to take care of them.”

  “That would have been nice but we also would much rather find someone we actually liked” Glen said. “Despite what you might think, none of us went for anyone just because they had the right amount of coin. We can turn people down as well, I am just not as mean as you and Tavin are.”

  “How do you know what Tavin is doing?” Darla asked looking around.

  “Look at his face” Glen said. “I have been on the end of that sneer enough times to tell he is saying something spiteful. Look at the shocked expressions on the face of the woman sitting down with him.”

  “Glen and Darla” Mage Giraud said as he walked over towards them. “This event is put on by the senate and many people have paid good money to have access to every student in here. Already I have gotten complaints on both of you and your brother for your rudeness. You will stop this right now.”

  “What did I say?” Glen asked.

  “You told Harriet Falda that you were not interested in becoming a second or third husband” Mage Giraud said. “If you don’t want her then just say so. The senate passed this law and you are undermining their authority, she was ready to make an official complaint until Mage Glenda calmed her down. And you Darla have greatly insulted at least two men here.”