My Sorcerer

Chapter 12

The month passed without anything of note happening. Most days went by in a blur. A joyless blur. Pierceton tried, but the world felt colorless. She felt trapped within the four walls of his home. However, today was different. As she lay in bed, the smell of pancakes wafted over to her.

“Getting up any time soon?” She heard Pierceton ask.

“If I have to,” she said with a sigh.

“It is your birthday, and so, I suppose you don’t have to, but you might want to.” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“I guess I will then, but only so I can be celebrated,” she responded with a smile.

She pushed the blankets away and lifted herself off the bed. Looking over, she saw that he had set the table, two stacks of pancakes sitting and waiting to be eaten. He gently took her hand and led her over to the table. He pulled out the chair for her to sit. As she sat, he pushed the chair under her. Instead of sitting down across from her as he usually would, he seemed to be waiting for something.

“Aren’t you going to sit?”

“I will, but first, try the pancakes,” he said, somewhat nervously.

It was then that I noticed the kitchen was a bit of a mess. It seemed as though he just might have used it to cook. He never did that. I took a bite, flavor filled my mouth, mostly good. But I could tell he had definitely cooked them himself. No magic.

“Are you going to sit down?” I asked when I noticed he was still standing.

“Yes,” he stuttered as he took his seat, quickly.

They ate together, mostly in silence. It wasn’t the awkward kind of silence, but comfortable. She liked their quiet time together. Once they were finished, Pierceton waved his hand, and the dishes disappeared.

“It is more comfortable when you do that,” she said with a smile.

“Do what?” he asked, seeming confused.

“Just use magic to clean up.” She smiled.

“Right. I do it without thinking, and so most often I don’t even notice I’m doing it,” he said with a shrug.

She suddenly glanced around the room. Something was wrong. She felt wrong. “Pierceton, did you put anything in the food?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I just feel wrong,” she told him, unsure of how to explain it.

“There isn’t anything in the food that would cause you harm,” he said, worry washing over his face. “Can you explain your symptoms?” he asked as he stood up and went over to her side.

“I don’t know, hot, cold, like I want to jump out of my skin.” The closer he came to her, the more the symptoms worsened. “Stop!” she finally screamed, feeling as though her body was being set on fire and doused in ice simultaneously.

“What's wrong?” he asked, startled by her sudden outburst.

“The closer... you come... the worse... it gets...” she practically huffed out the words. It was becoming increasingly hard to think straight or speak.

“No...” he whispered as he stepped back from her, and as he did the pain lessened. “We had time...” he muttered.

“What are you talking about?” she questioned, worried.

“They must have mixed up your age...” his voice trailed off, but she understood what he was trying to say.

“I'm not 16...” she whispered back in shock.

“No... you're not. You're eighteen.” He seemed somewhat upset, or was he nervous?

“What are we going to do?” They had talked about deciding what to do about their bond when the time came... but it came so much faster than they had expected. She wasn't ready to decide. She didn't want to decide. She wanted... she wanted him... the realization shook her a bit. She barely knew him, and she was willing to accept their bond.

He stood in front of her, silent. Hesitating just as much as she was. “I will do as you wish,” he finally spoke.

“Anything I wish?” She wanted to confirm.

“Anything,” he repeated.

“Then I don't want to decide right now...” I told him.

He let out a sigh. He seemed both relieved and stressed. “I want to give you time. But that's not how the bond works.”

“What do you mean?”

“Once you turn eighteen and if you have found your mate, you must decide whether to reject or accept them.”

“But what if you just met them? Shouldn't you get to have some time to get to know them? This isn't a fairytale, and I'm not Cinderella... well, even she had time to at least meet and talk with him some...”

He didn’t say anything for a few moments. “By your standards, I would agree. But if you had grown up in this world, then your perspective would be different. It would be more natural.”

She waited, thinking that he would say something more to explain, but when he remained silent, she decided to speak again. “So, I must decide now, but if I were to wait, what would happen?”

“It would become gradually more and more painful for both of us. We both need to accept this bond, or one of us must reject it.”

“What is the longest someone has waited?”

“On record, maybe a week, but it resulted in hospitalization and later death.”

“Oh... well, that doesn't sound good.” She felt her heart beginning to beat ever faster. Pain flooded over her, but she couldn't tell if it was because of the bond or pure stress of the situation. “So it's now or else?” she muttered more to herself than to him.

“Yes,” he answered, fully aware she wasn’t completely talking to him.

“I don't want to break our bond... but how can we be sure we're going to be a good match and not want to kill each other later or leave?” She worried. Forever or at least until death seemed like an awfully long time, especially with someone you've only known for a little over a month.

“Once in a blue moon, do those who are bonded want to leave,” he answered nonchalantly, as though this wasn't a life-altering decision.

“And then what happens?” I pressed, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

“Sometimes they are fine. In fact, the Moon Goddess blesses them with a new mate or fatespell.” He was trying to give her a little hope that everything would work out if she chose not to be with him, but somehow she felt the pain in his words, or maybe it was his actual pain. He didn’t want to break the bond. She knew it, but she didn’t understand how.

“I accept...” she blurted and then paused.

“Accept what?” he asked, almost appearing as though he were restraining himself.

“Accept the bond. Accept you as my mate,” she announced to him.

In the blink of an eye, he was in front of her, so close she could feel his breath brushing against her cheek. “If you ever want to take it back... just tell me,” he whispered. However, she could tell by his tone, he hoped that day would never come.

“Won’t you live longer than me?” She suddenly worried.

“Once we are bonded, my life force will be connected to yours. I will live as long as you will. That’s how the bond works.”

“So, if something were to happen to me, you would die right away, and I would as well if something happened to you?”

“Not exactly. I would become mortal in so many words,” he chuckled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t explain more clearly.”

“Oh, okay. I was a bit worried,” she tried to laugh, but he was too close. It felt as though her skin was on fire.

They stood so close, she could have touched him with the slightest movement, but she feared it. “What happens next?” she asked, trying hard to bring her eyes to his, but failed.

“Nothing that you don’t want,” he assured her, taking a step back.

Before he could move any farther away, she instinctively grabbed his hand and pulled him back to her. “No, don’t move away,” she muttered as she looked down at his hand in hers.

“Since you are new to this world, let’s just take things slowly.”

“What would usually happen?” she asked, partly wondering what he would have been expecting.

“Usually, we would solidify the bond by...” his voice trailed off.

“By what?” she asked, finally bringing her eyes to meet his.

“A kind of marriage ceremony and then the wedding night,” he told her, appearing a bit nervous.

“Oh... I see...” she responded, finding herself at a loss for words.

“But we can just take it slow, get to know each other, and then move from there.”

“But weren’t you expecting...” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“No, I was actually expecting you to reject me...” he mumbled. She could see pain flash across his eyes. He didn’t want it. He wanted to stay with her. No one had ever wanted to stay with her. Not like him.

“Well, I didn’t,” she confirmed for him. She watched as he relaxed.