The Mage's Son

by T Ariyanna

  “I…I didn't know,” he stammered.

  “No, you didn't, but I did! That's why I told you to stay away! He's not just some bully, Arion, he actually wants to kill you! I know you're stronger, but this isn't you. Picking fights with him? You wouldn't do that. And I don't know what's gotten into, but it's obviously not permanent. Not sure if you noticed, but you choked. If I hadn't been here, I don't want to know what could have happened.”

  “But he hurt you. Your arm…” He pointed to her injuries, though it seemed she had completely forgotten about them.

  “I fell on a rock. It's just a scratch, but you. You broke your arm!” She waved the cut in his face. It had already stopped bleeding, and had begun to scab over.

  He looked down at his own arm, and felt the middle. Two separate pieces poked into his fingers, and he winced. “I can fix this,” he whispered.

  “But can you fix death? Magic can't do everything, Arion. Please, just let me take you home. Where you'll be safe.”

  “Why do you care so much, Kaitlyn?” he muttered, unable to meet her gaze.

  She threw her arms into the air. “You really are an idiot. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Let's just get going.”

  Without meeting his gaze, she grabbed his hand led him away from the school. There were whispers as they passed through town, but Kaitlyn ignored them defiantly. Her head was held high and her shoulders thrown back. Any who dared to look for too long were quickly shot down with a glare.

  They walked to his home in silence, and Arion was worried he would get another lecture from her. Or worse, she would cry again. Even Cy was scared into silence.

  They walked through the door, and Kaitlyn pushed him into the closest seat. She marched to the desk she made him keep stocked with bandages, and rummaged through them. She returned to him with a roll of gauze and two splints in hand. Arion started to protest, but lost his voice at her glare.

  She bandaged him up without a word. He fought to keep his pain hidden, but he didn't think he was doing very well. Her face had relaxed, and she moved more carefully as she wrapped the gauze around his wounds.

  Once she was done, she leaned back and stared at him. “What am I going to do with you?” she said with a sigh.

  “Locking me up doesn't sound like that bad of an idea,” he offered. She raised her eyebrows, and giggled under her breath. She caught herself, and took control of her composure.

  “Don't make me laugh. I'm still mad at you.”

  Arion looked away from her and bit his lip. An idea surfaced in his head. “Are you too mad to go on an adventure?” he whispered. Her eyes widened, and he smiled.

  “What kind of adventure?” she asked slowly.

  “You know that castle in the woods? I think I know how to get back in.”

  “Really? You're not just tricking me again, like when you said you could show me fairies, and just showed me the pictures in Tome?”

  “Not a trick. I promise. I found a teleporting spell in Tome's newest batch. I've tried it once to get back to the castle, just to check if there's really anything there. It looks as deserted as it could be, but I didn't get to do much exploring.”

  “Is it dangerous there?” Kaitlyn shifted in her seat.

  Arion flustered, “No, no it's not that. I wouldn't take you there if it was, it's just so big. I checked it out a few times before, to make sure it was. But I wanted to explore it with you.” He turned to hide his blush, playing with his fingers.

  Kaitlyn was smiling, her cheeks a bright red. “Let's go then, before my father gets after me!” She jumped from her seat, grabbing Arion's hand.

  He plucked Tome from his left pocket, and gave her hand a squeeze. “Don't let go until I tell you, okay?”

  Kaitlyn nodded enthusiastically, and gripped his hand tighter. Tome opened without a command, and Arion studied the spell on the page, tucking Tome away once he was confident.

  Deep violet smoke spilled out from his fingers, and Kaitlyn shuffled closer to him, clinging to his good arm with her free hand. She closed her eyes as they were engulfed in the smoke.

  Arion breathed in the smoke, and it filled his nose with a rich scent, like a campfire mixed with lavender. By the time he exhaled, the smoke had vanished. He opened his eyes, and was met with the stone interior of the abandoned castle.

  “Open your eyes,” he whispered, turning to Kaitlyn. Her knuckles had turned white. She had buried her face in his shoulder, and looked up slowly. She blinked a few times, puffs of smoke falling from her lashes. Her hands fell limp at her sides as she gazed around her in awe.

  Kaitlyn wandered the edges of the grand entryway, stopping to stare at every decoration. She swooned in wonder, running her fingers along the frayed edges of the tapestries, tracing the cracks in the stone walls. She came to stop at Arion's side, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady herself.

  He took her hand and pulled her to the rest of the castle. “Come on. There's something you need to see. Close your eyes.”

  She did as he asked, and he led her through the castle. He had been here more often than he had admitted to Kaitlyn, but he had never gotten through the whole castle. It seemed to change every time he entered it, but there was one room that had always stayed the same.

  After two flights of stairs, countless doors, and nearly endless hallways, they came to a large set of double doors at the very back of the castle. He used his magic to shove them open, and pulled Kaitlyn just inside. Closing the doors behind them, he said, “Open them.”

  She peeked through one eye at first, but then they shot open quickly as she realized where they were. The room was more than twice the size of Arion's house, and was three stories high. Mosaic stained glass windows filled the far wall, and the colors from them danced upon the air. The room itself was a labyrinth of shelves, filled with books. In the center of the room was a giant sundial set into the floor, surrounded by luxurious chairs.

  Kaitlyn gasped, struggling to find words. Her hands flailed around as she sputtered, and she ran to the railing, leaning over it and eyes darting over everything as she gazed at the library. Looking back to Arion, she tapped her foot. He nodded once, and her face lit up.

  She squealed and bolted for the stairs. She took them two at a time, her dress hiked nearly to her waist. Arion watched from the balcony as she ducked between shelves. She had a stack in her hands higher than her head in no time. One fell from the top, and she tripped on it. The books rained down around her, and Arion raced down the stairs.

  A book had fallen on her head, and she rubbed it. “Are you alright?” Arion asked frantically. She looked around them in desperation before turning her eyes on Arion.

  “There's so many books,” she whispered. She started gathering her mess into her lap, and Arion laughed at her.

  “We can take some with us, as long as we bring them back.”

  “Really? We can borrow them?” Kaitlyn's face lit up, and she picked up the pace to gather all of the books. She started shoving them all into Arion's hands, and he nearly dropped them trying to catch them all. He laid them all out on the floor, Kaitlyn glaring at him.

  “Whoa, whoa. How about we just take what you can read in a couple weeks, and then we can come back and trade them out.”

  Kaitlyn scooped up all of the books and dropped them onto Arion again, glaring at him. “All of them,” she said defiantly.

  He simply laughed at her and started tucking the books away into the pockets of his coat, until there was no more space. Tome jumped out from the crowd of books, and shook itself out between them. Kaitlyn had left his side before he had noticed, diving back into the maze of literature.

  “Can we go see the rest of the castle now?” Arion asked cautiously.

  Kaitlyn froze on a ladder, her arm reaching towards another book. She glanced to the shelf, then at Arion's stuffed pockets, and slumped. She climbed down the ladder slowly, and trudged to Arion's side.

  “You swear we can come back?”

  “I swea
r.”

  With that, Kaitlyn beamed at him again. She led the way to the door they entered from, Arion lagging behind with the extra weight. She turned halfway up the stairs and opened her mouth, but broke into a laughing fit as Arion dragged his stuffed and swollen coat behind him. He hopped up the stairs two at a time to catch up with her, flying past her to the top of the stairs while she continued to laugh.

  “Come on already. I want to find the kitchen,” he called. She pulled herself together, and they exited the library.

  “Did it look like this when we got here?” she asked, moving closer to Arion. The hall was pitch black and seemingly endless. There were no windows or decorations.

  “It changed again. I didn't think we were in there long enough for it to do that,” Arion grumbled.

  “It changed? On its own?”

  “Yeah. Every time I've come here, there have been different rooms. At first, I thought the castle was just that big, and I was always in a different part of it. The entry room and the library have never changed places, though. I really want to know what kind of magic was used to do this.”

  He stepped forward and placed his hand to the wall. He could feel the magic buzzing within the stone like his own, but it was faint. He could tell nothing about it, except that it made the castle almost alive.

  “I thought you said you had only been here one other time?”

  “I had to make sure it was safe before asking you to come. I just wanted it to be an adventure for both of us. I swear I haven't seen everything there is in here. We can still explore if you want to.”

  She put her hands on her hips and puffed up her chest. Narrowing her eyes, she stared him down until he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. She sighed and dropped her arms.

  “What am I going to do with you?” She smiled at him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “I told you, lock me up in my house.” They laughed together, and it echoed in the hall.

  “How are we supposed to get out of here, though?”

  Arion created a blue flame in his hand for light, and looked around them. High up on the wall was an ornate candelabra with three candles. He sent his flame to the candle, and the hall was lit with a blue light. Watching the light flicker atop the candles, he got an idea.

  He sent a jolt of magic through the wall, and the candelabra popped from its place. He caught it easily, and held it in his right hand. He plucked the fire from the middle candle, and squeezed it in his hand, forcing magic into it. The flame grew into a large ball of red, blue, and green blending together. Kaitlyn oohed at his side, and he gave a smug smile.

  He replaced the flame on the candle's wick, and held on tight to the handle of the candelabra. As soon as the wick was ablaze, the candelabra shook in his hand, its outer prongs flailing wildly. Kaitlyn jumped back with a scream, but Arion calmed the candle down easily. In the middle flame were two spots of black for eyes, and they watched him.

  “We're a bit lost. You've been here a while, right? Do you think you can help us?” he asked, relaxing his grip.

  The candle's eyes darted from Arion to Kaitlyn, clutching onto the back of Arion's coat.

  Entranced by the flame, Kaitlyn stretched her fingers to the candle. It reached out to her, and its flame met with her fingers. She jerked back automatically, but there was no burn. She put her finger back into the candle's fire, and relaxed.

  “Now this is cool,” she swooned. “Can I hold him?” She held her hands out and took the candle gently. She smiled at it, and the flames grew at her touch. She watched them dance, and Arion smiled at her.

  “Oh, sure, let her play with the candle. But you still can't tell her that your romantic date for two is really for three,” Cy whined.

  Where have you been? Arion asked, surprised.

  “Trying my best to avoid you, but there's not many places to go in here.”

  Do you really think it would be a good idea to tell her?

  “Why not? She's been handling all of this magic stuff pretty well. Give her some credit, kid.”

  Why do you want her to know about you so much? You're not making any sense lately, Cy. What's going on?

  There was a long pause in his mind before Cy answered. “I'm getting bored just standing around. Didn't you say something about a kitchen?”

  Arion dropped the subject, and returned his attention to Kaitlyn. She was twirling around with the candle, humming softly.

  “Hey,” he called. She froze and turned to him, the candelabra looking at him as well. “You ready to find the kitchen?”

  She nodded enthusiastically and skipped over to him. He held his hands out, and she passed the candle to him.

  “Can you lead us to the kitchen?” he asked tentatively. The candle was still for a moment before jutting a prong to the side. Arion and Kaitlyn glanced at each other before following the candle's direction.

  It led them through various hallways and a flight of stairs until they arrived at the entryway, following the candelabra further into the castle. At the end of a narrow hallway, they found a small wooden door with a barred window at the top.

  “This is the kitchen?” Arion asked. The candle nodded exuberantly. Sharing another glance, Arion pushed the door open.

  The room was about half the size the library had been, with a fancy dining table stretching along the whole room. There were place settings for thirty or forty, and the walls were lined with cupboards and pantries. The far end of the room held a few ranges and large iceboxes. The room was well lit by large chandeliers hanging low from the ceiling.

  “We're never going to be able to go through everything in here,” Kaitlyn gasped.

  The candlestick jumped from Arion's hands and hopped onto the table. It poked at the plates and cups, staring knowingly at Arion. He jolted with realization, and followed after the candle. At the vast amount of dinnerware around him, he slumped.

  “I can't do it to that many,” he complained to the candle. It pointed up at the chandeliers, then at its own flame. Arion nodded at the idea forming in his mind and took a step back. Another fireball formed in his hands, twice the size of the original. He tossed it up to a chandelier, and it burst on impact. The flames turned blue, and infected the rest of the candles. Sparks rained down from the ceiling as the plates began to move on their own, floating in the air.

  Kaitlyn shrieked behind him, and he whirled. A chair had swooped her up and was galloping around the table as she clung to the arms. He went to save her, but another chair caught him off guard. They were paraded around the room a few times, and then tucked into the table next to each other. The candlestick was dancing across the table as the dinnerware created a symphony, knocking against each other.

  The dinnerware spread a feast out in front of them, and they fought against the dancing plates to get to the food. More furniture burst into the room and joined in the dancing. The candle was forced to share the spotlight with a small clock that was desperately trying to push it out of the way. The candle danced circles around the clock, making it dizzy. It fell to the table and shook in its attempts to right itself.

  Arion and Kaitlyn laughed at the chaos around them. The plates had synchronized, and empty cups clanked together in a musical array. Silverware feigned a war as weapons, with no handlers. The chandeliers swayed above them in time with the music, raining blue sparks.

  When they finished eating, Arion called over the ruckus, “I think I might have overdone it a bit!”

  “Nonsense. This is amazing!” Kaitlyn yelled back, jumping from her chair. It chased her around the room as she tried to dance in what little open space there was. With a shrug, Arion pushed himself from the table and went to join her. He ducked around the floating objects and reached her side. As he took her hand, the room fell silent.

  They stared as the dinnerware and furniture backed away from them, the table walking to the side of the room, making an open space. Everything hovered around the edges of the room, but the candlestick was at their feet, pushing them to
ward the center.

  “I think they want us to dance,” Kaitlyn whispered. At her words, the room erupted into sound again. Everything worked together to create a beautiful song, with a slow beat of high pitched chimes. From deep within the castle, the sounds of an organ filtered into the room.

  Kaitlyn squeezed Arion's hand, and he swallowed nervously. “I don't know how to dance,” he admitted, his cheeks burning.

  He tried to pull his hand away, but her grip was firm and her smile was reassuring. His stomach did back flips. He looked around at the expectant furniture. The candle pushed against his legs again, then hopped away.

  Kaitlyn reached for his other hand, but he pulled it away. “If we're going to dance, we ought to at least look the part.”

  Before she could speak, he rested his hands on her shoulders. He closed his eyes to concentrate, releasing bolts of magic into her dress.

  He pulled away when she gasped, and it was all he could do to keep his composure. The dress he had made had long sleeves and puffed shoulders, with a flared skirt and tight corset. White frills showed under the edges of the yellow gown.

  “Yellow definitely suits you.”

  She bit her lip and glanced up at Arion. She held her hands behind her back, her blush contrasting with the new dress. “Your turn,” she said.

  Arion looked down at himself, unsure what to do. He removed his weighted coat and tossed it to the side, where a chair caught it. He ran his hands over his vest, and it turned into an extravagant blue coat. His gloves covered his fingers, and became pristine white. With his hands, he combed his hair back from his face. He hadn't realized how long it had been getting. It was nearly to his shoulders.

  He smiled awkwardly at Kaitlyn, and she giggled. She straightened his coat and said, “You look great.”

  The music picked up in volume. It was time to start. Arion grabbed Kaitlyn's hand and placed his other on her waist. Her hand rested lightly on his shoulder.

  They were spinning around the room in time with the music. Arion stared at his own feet in surprise, and Kaitlyn beamed at him. “I knew you'd do fine,” she reassured him.