Ryder

Ryder explores his new home.

I honestly couldn't believe everything that had happened in the last few hours. It seemed like an elaborate dream. Not only had I found an apprenticeship but it was with the most influential Mage in our world. My parents were going to flip their s**t and Ryan was just going to be extremely proud of me. I'd been expecting to apprentice with someone with a few years experience and then have to find another. Now, I could apprentice with Styxx for...centuries. The idea was amazing. Styxx had been around for easily a thousand years if not more and he knew pretty much everything. Being his apprentice was going to be amazing and I couldn't wait to see what he could teach me. And mother's reaction was going to be priceless. It would no doubt piss her off that Styxx could see something great in me. Most likely, she would try and get him to reconsider making me his apprentice. Something told me Styxx wasn't the type of person that would be fooled by my mother's charm. 

 

Harrison, Styxx's driver, pulled into the docks at Blackwater Isle and hopped off the boat to anchor it to the dock. Styxx opened his eyes and looked up at the Palace with a smile. I followed his gaze to the Palace and my breath caught in my throat. It was huge. Four stories tall with two turrets. Unlike medieval castles, it wasn't surrounded by a moat. Instead, there was a heavy oak door. Styxx stood and I followed him off of the boat. He stopped to tell Harrison to take the rest of the day off before leading me up to the door. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. Letting me step inside first, he smiled as my eyes widened when I saw what was inside. The Entrance Hall was filled with portraits of ancient people who had the same silver eyes as Styxx. There was a table and four chairs along one wall, under Styxx's portrait. I stared at Styxx's portrait for a few minutes. He had the same blonde hair but it was shorter in his portrait than it was now. His silver eyes were bright and aware, even in the portrait.  

 

 "That portrait was painted in 1042. I was in London at the time."  Styxx said, following my gaze.  

 

"Wow."  

 

"It was shortly before my father's death. My brother painted the portrait. It was the first one he ever painted."  

 

"You have a brother?" 

 

Styxx nodded. "Shia. He's two years older than me. Lives in Whitehall, England. Our family founded that particular Secret City so he's something of a legend over there. He comes to visit once in a while. Always has an interesting story to tell."  

 

"That's awesome. I have a twin brother and a younger sister. Ryan and I are close but...Haley's too like our mom. Domineering. Kind of overbearing. We don't get along like at all."  

 

"I know what you mean. I have a little brother as well. He's a High Mage in Germany. He's exactly like our dad. Cold, no sense of humor or adventure. Shia and I don't bother talking to him and he doesn't bother talking to us. His name is Caden. Once he finds out I've taken an apprentice, he'll come here to find out about you."  

 

"Mother will probably come here to beg you to reconsider. She's trying to find Ryan and apprenticeship right now even though he doesn't want one. He's incredibly strong Magickally but he's only really interested in War Magick. Unfortuately, Mother is set on him being the next Head of the Eternal Order so he's stuck learning everything but War Magick."  

 

Styxx rolled his eyes. "She'd be wasting her breath. I've made my decision and I'm not changing it because she wants to be in control of everything."  

 

I laughed. "I didn't think so." 

 

"Come on. I'll show you your rooms."  

 

"As in plural?"  

 

"Well duh. There are 14 suites in the castle. I'm giving you one of them. They come with a bedroom, a bathroom, a small kitchen, and a sitting room. Didn't you have something like that in your old home?' 

 

I shook my head as we started to walk. "No. My bedroom was Mother's old office. She still had filing cabinets full of her paperwork in there."  

 

Styxx gave me an incredulous look. "Are you bloody serious? That's...insane."  

 

"Yeah. Ryan had his own set of rooms but...well I was just the second born son in her eyes."  

 

"Well, you'll have your own rooms here. With your love of learning, I'm gonna put you next to the Library. I have a massive library. It covers all four stories of the palace and has books about all subjects in it. Most of 'em I got from Merlin himself. He had a vast collection of books that he left to me when he left his home to travel."  

 

"He's still alive?"  

 

"Yeah. You'll probably meet him when I write him to tell him I've taken an apprentice. He's only recently started using email so he prefers to see me face to face for big news like this. I'll email him in the morning to tell him something big has happened and he'll come here. He visits usually every fifty years but we email and call each other all the time. Merlin's a good guy. Little eccentric but he's awesome." 

 

"I heard he died in like 1884."  

 

Styxx laughed. "That was a myth. Morgana died in 1884. Merlin killed her because she attempted to steal a portrait of King Arthur. King Arthur was his lover and he doesn't take kindly to people stealing his portrait."  

 

"Wait, Arthur was Merlin's lover? Wasn't Merlin like a century older?"  

 

"Yeah...but we stop aging at twenty-one so he didn't look it. Arthur did marry Gwen but he didn't love her. She was in love with Lancelot and he with Merlin. They lived in harmony until Gwen and Lancelot were caught fornicating in public. Arthur banished them and lived the rest of his days with Merlin. I met Merlin about twenty-years after Arthur's death. He said I reminded him of Mordred, the one who killed Arthur, but in a good way. He said I was strong Magickally and that I had the potential to be every bit as powerful as he was. I'm still not quite that powerful."  

 

"Wow. The history books don't tell you that." 

 

Styxx grinned. "Mortal ones don't and there are very few Mage history books that tell the truth about Arthur and Merlin. Most of ours simply say that they were close friends."  

 

"Yeah, that's all I've ever read."  

 

"Same sex relationships only recently became common in our world. Back when I was young, being gay was a curse. I've borne that curse for over a thousand years."  

 

"Yeah, me too. I realized my sexuality when I was thirteen. Mother was beyond pissed. Father threatened to kick me out. Ryan was indifferent. He said it didn't really matter what gender I liked as long as I wasn't into him. My little sister said I scared her."  

 

Styxx laughed. "My mom wasn't concerned. I had a lover by the time she found out. My father was pissed but he couldn't do anything about it so he just kinda ignored it. Shia, my older brother, was freaked out at first but that was just because he didn't want me outcasted by our village. Caden just didn't care."  

 

"Ryan's the only one whose reaction I cared about and he turned out to be okay with it so I was happy." 

 

"The only one I cared about was Shia. After he got over the initial shock, he was good with it." 

 

We stopped in front of a a huge white door and Styxx handed me two keys.  

 

"The one with the S. 13 on it is your Suite key. I would keep it locked when you're not it. Otherwise, you'll have servants in there cleaning your room and messing your stuff up. The one with the L on it goes to the library. I only keep that one locked so the servants don't go in there and rearrange the library. I'll let you get settled in. Feel free to explore if you'd like."  

 

"Thanks."  

 

He walked away and  I unlocked the door to my Suite. Inside was the living room. It was a decent sized room painted blue and gold. The couch and armchair were both a deep blue color and there was a flat-screen tv on one wall. There was also a stereo and a speaker system that was set up to both the tv and the stereo. It was beautiful. On the other wall was a door that went to the small kitchen. I entered the kitchen and smiled. There was a small stove and sink. Very little cabinet space and a few shelves along one wall. It was decorated in dark green and white. Leaving the kitchen, I went to the bedroom and gasped. The bedroom was decorated in dark red and black. The bed was a King size four poster bed that was dark red. The nightstands on each side of the bed were made of cherry wood and had a touch lamp on each one. It had a dresser and a walk in closet. There was a small desk on one wall and a small bookshelf on the other wall. I smiled and went into the last room, the bathroom. It was decorated in black and white and had a jacuzzi-style tub inside. There was a stand-up shower on one wall and a beautiful victorian-style sink.  

 

Walking back out into the bedroom, I set my bags down and began to unpack. I put my underwear and socks in the dresser and then hung up the rest of my clothes and shoes in the walk-in closet. Sliding the empty duffle under the bed, I opened the other one and unpacked my books onto the bookshelves. I slid the money into one of the desk drawers and set my laptop on the desk. Plugging it in, I pulled out the chair and turned it on so that I could write Ryan an email. I couldn't wait to tell him all that had happened today.  

 

 Ryan, 

Hey bro. You'll never guess what happened. I went to the Black Cove to talk to Frank and Styxx f*****g Lancaster walked in. He asked me to be his apprentice dude! He said I have great potential and that he'd love to teach me. I'm writing this from Lancaster Palace, his home. He set me up in my own rooms and they're gorgeous. I'll get my camera out tomorrow and send you some pictures. There's a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, and a bedroom, and they're all amazing. He even gave me a key to the library but I haven't seen it yet. I wrote you before I went to explore the library. Anyways, I'd like to go explore the castle and the Library a bit. Please don't tell Mother and Father about this just yet. I want them to find out like everyone else. I'll talk to you later, Ry.  

 

Ryder. 

 

After I'd finished the letter to Ryan, I left my Suite and locked the door behind me. I unlocked the library and stepped inside. It was beautiful. Like Styxx had said, it was four stories tall with what had to have been millions of books. I stood in the doorway for a while, just taking in the sight before walking further into the room. I couldn't wait to explore this place. There were books about all kinds of Magick and I knew I could spend hours here just reading the titles of the books. I started doing just that, never feeling the amused set of eyes at my back.  

Author's Note

Same as before.