The Daughters of Merlin
Chapter 32: The Mage

A year after Laria’s death, Grace gave birth to two healthy twin baby boys.

The older twin they named Tiberius Arthur Pendragon. He looked just like his father except for the white streak he had in his hair. As the years passed by, it was clear that he did not inherit his mother’s powers.

Adrian Merlin Pendragon, on the other hand, did possess magic. He also took more so after his mother in looks, except for a brown streak in his hair in the same place Tiberius had his.

When the twins turned ten, Adrian began his mage training with Zana while Tiberius began his knight training with his father and Grace.

As promised and expected, the only problems the daughters of Merlin and son of Arthur had to face was kingdoms threatening war, which they quickly took care of, unrest in their own kingdom which only ever happened once every few years and being one subject, and of course the troubles that came with becoming a parent and raising two boys, one of them possessing magic powers.

When Adrian’s powers surfaced, Grace and Virgil told the boys the truth about who Grace was, making them swear not to tell anyone else. The King and Queen of Camelot kept Adrian’s powers mostly a secret, him only ever allowed to practice it when he was with his Aunt, the library, or in the castle. Grace allowed him to practice magic at the library only because she trusted Dyke and because he was getting on in age causing it to be a bit harder to take care of the books and taking them down from the shelves. Adrian shared his mother’s love of books and so he spent most of his time there helping the old man when he wasn’t busy with his mage training.

Virgil and Grace threw the twins a party every year, inviting both royals and their own subjects to join in the festivities. Tiberius loved the parties, always reveling in the attention and flirting with the girls who often loved the attention they themselves received from the charming prince.

Occasionally, Adrian would have a girl pursue him from another kingdom, but he always turned them down. Tiberius was the future king and Adrian was fine with that. Besides, Adrian wasn’t really interested in girls.

There were quite a few couples of the same sex in the kingdom of Camelot to which Grace and Virgil never voiced nor punished them for it. To them, love was love, though most of the other kingdoms didn’t really approve nor understand why they allowed it. Adrian figured the other kingdoms would be even more upset if they knew what his mother really was.

It was Adrian and Tiberius’s fifteenth birthday and to Adrian, it seemed like any other. Tiberius and he were dressed in their royal suits, each tailored to fit them and in their favorite colors, Tiberius’s being purple and blue while Adrian’s was green and black. The princesses were all gathered around Tiberius, the other girls from Camelot often stealing glances at the prince. They would wait for the princesses to leave or for Tiberius to come with his parents or on his own into the town before trying their shot at catching his attention.

Adrian rolled his eyes at the scene and walked on, eyeing the crowd, looking for Mr. Lyndyle or his Aunt Zana and Valia. Those were the people he spent the most time with at these parties. Actually, he generally spent most of his time with them even outside those parties.

As Adrian scanned the crowd, his ice blue eyes landed on a boy he didn’t recognize, but who looked awfully familiar. The boy was wearing a white suit jacket which had green embroidery and brown pants along with brown shoes. He had unruly red hair which kind of hung in front of his forest green eyes which were framed by round bifocals. Adrian found the boy rather attractive and having nothing better to do in the moment, decided to approach the boy who was hiding in the corner shyly, watching everyone enjoy themselves.

“Looking for someone?” Adrian asked the boy, bringing him out of his thoughts. The ginger jumped, looking at Adrian surprised before blushing.

“Uh, n-n-no.” The boy replied.

“Oh. Well, I’m Adrian.” Adrian said, giving the boy a smile.

The boy’s eyes widened. “You m-mean, like Prince Adrian? That Adrian?”

“It’s not like I’m the future king. That’s more Tiberius’s thing. But yes, I am that Adrian.” The prince chuckled. He found it adorable how awkward this boy was. “And your name is?”

“Oh! Um, Viktor.” The boy replied, his blush deepening as he looked down at the ground shyly.

“Well, Viktor, if you aren’t too busy, would you like to dance?” Adrian asked, holding his hand out to Viktor.

Viktor looked at Adrian shocked and slightly confused. “Are you asking me?”

Adrian chuckled. “I believe so. I don’t really see anybody else that I would like to dance with.”

“I-I-I don’t really know how to dance.” Viktor replied.

“That’s ok.” Adrian gently grabbed Viktor’s hand. When he didn’t pull away, the Prince took it as a yes. “It’s not that hard to learn.”

Adrian led Viktor out from the corner and more towards the center where people were dancing. Adrian placed Viktor’s hand on his shoulder before placing his hand on the boy’s waist, causing Viktor to blush again as they began to waltz to the music.

Behind Viktor, Adrian saw Zana and Valia standing next to Grace and Virgil. Zana pointed in Adrian’s direction to which his Parents followed her gaze. Adrian locked eyes with his father who seemed surprised though his mother and Aunts wore matching proud and knowing smiles.

Two days after the party, Adrian was leaving his Aunt Zana’s house having finished his lessons for the day, waving goodbye to her before heading into town, towards the bookshop. Dyke had said that he would be having his great-nephew over there helping him out as well, though Adrian was more than welcome to still come over and help.

Adjusting his satchel, Adrian opened the door to the library, smiling at the old man who sat behind the counter, a book placed on top upon which he was reading from. The man looked up at Adrian and smiled back at him.

“Well, good morning, Adrian. How are we today?” Mr. Lyndyle greeted him. The old man was the only person besides Zana and Valia who was comfortable enough around Adrian and his parents to use their actual first names, though Zana often called his parents by nicknames they had had ever since they were kids.

“I’m doing well. How about you? Is your knee feeling better?” Adrian asked, truly concerned for the old man’s health.

“Oh, it’s just fine. That tea recipe has helped a lot though. You’re going to make a fine mage someday.” Dyke replied.

Adrian knew that he would be a good mage, though he also knew that he would never be able to surpass his grandfather and aunt. After all, Zana was even more powerful than Merlin had been. Though both Zana and his mother assured Adrian that he was very close to being almost as powerful as Merlin had been. He also knew that they were both proud of him and that Merlin would have been as well.

“Thank you. I’m glad you’re feeling better. So, has your nephew arrived?” Adrian responded.

“Oh, he arrived a few days ago. He’s putting some new books we got earlier away right now.” Dyke answered.

As if on cue, there was a loud crashing sound followed by a startled yelp coming from further inside the small building. Adrian followed the sound and was pleasantly surprised to see none other than Viktor blushing and muttering to himself as he stood in the middle of a pile of books next to a mostly empty shelf. Viktor knelt down and began picking the books up, looking at their titles before placing them on shelves.

Adrian noticed that he placed some of the books down on a cart next to him as he moved onto other books, not placing them on the first two shelves that were mostly out of the five foot boy’s reach.

“It’s a good thing I convinced Dyke to stop going up that ladder, though I keep telling him he should secure the shelves better.” Adrian said as he walked up to Viktor, picking up some of the other books.

Viktor looked up and when he saw Adrian his eyes widened before his blush deepened. “Adrian! Wh-wh-what are you doing here?”

“I usually stop and help Dyke when I’m done with my lessons.” Adrian replied with a shrug, glancing at the titles of the books in his hands before shrugging and placing them on the cart. “Would you like some help?”

“That would be nice. Yes.” Viktor nodded.

Adrian smiled, reaching into his satchel and pulling out his wand. He spoke a quick spell, pointing his wand towards the books on the cart and on the ground. Green smoke curled from the wand in his hand, wrapping around the books and lifting them into the air. Adrian moved his wand towards the shelves. The smoke lifted the books and placed them in each of their respective places.

“You’re a Warlock?” Viktor asked in amazement, a slight hint of fear in his eyes as well.

“We only call people who practice black magic Warlocks and Witches. Most of us prefer to be called Mages.” Adrian corrected him. “And Mages don’t use our magic for evil.”

Not even a month after their first meeting, Adrian and Viktor began courting. A month after their courtship began, Viktor was invited to eat at the palace to which he accepted.

“So, Viktor, if you don’t mind me asking, Mr. Lyn said that you were his great-nephew. How is that so?” Grace asked after they had gotten through the introductions and found their respective seats, Zana and Valia joining the family for the meal as they often did.

“Uhm, well, my mother was his niece. Her name was Mari’an. My father’s name is Aryas, he’s a farmer.” Viktor answered.

Grace looked at Viktor surprised. Then her expression saddened. “I take it by your choice of words Mari is no longer alive.”

“Yes. She . . . died giving birth to me.” Viktor said, looking down at his plate sadly. Adrian, who sat next to him, grabbed Viktor’s hand, giving it a comforting squeeze, causing Viktor to blush and look at him gratefully.

“Wait a minute, you met Mari and never told us?” Zana asked, looking at Grace shocked.

“She was only here for three months. It slipped my mind. I thought you figured it out by reading the letters she sent me.” Grace replied.

“You know I have trouble reading! I can’t believe you never told me!” Zana said, slightly angry.

“You knew my mother?” Viktor asked, surprised.

“Yes.” Grace nodded. “She gave me comfort in a time when . . . I really needed it. You look a lot like her.”

“So that’s why you were so happy and began talking to us again. Now it makes sense.” Virgil said, connecting the dots.

“I would have liked to have met Sunny. Though then again, they all say that he’s really annoying.” Zana muttered to herself.

“How do you know about Sunny?” Grace asked, looking at Zana surprised.

Zana looked up at Grace with wide eyes, looking like a deer caught in headlights. “Uh, what are we talking about?”