Broken Fate Sketches 2

Two girls were clasping hands and jumping up and down wildly, squealing. As soon as Maxie saw this, she slumped over and scratched my neck idly. She reached into her ear and started to explore around in the areas left unobserved in public since she was but a small child. The girls stopped and stared at the horrible girl in disgust as she pulled something out of the cavernous depths and then flicked it away. As soon as the newly dubbed Horrible One saw this reaction, she felt a small glimmer of hope on the metaphorical horizon.

All heads turned as the door creaked open and the wizard walked slowly into the room. Something about his presence made the girls all fall silent.
His mouth was pulled into a polite smile, but his eyes looked worried. Even a little self-conscious. His dirty blond hair fell over his eyebrows in such a way that it would make any girl swoon. His eyes were a pale blue-green. A dark robe swept behind him as he walked towards us, “Please, sit,” he gestured to the stiff-backed seats around a low glass table. Maxie followed the girls to the sofas, still slouching and frowning.
He stood so that he could see them all, looking at each of his fangirls individually, the fake smile still plastered onto his face. Maxie had expected the opposite; it apparently looked like he didn’t want to be here at all, while she had thought he would absorb the attention like a sponge.
He took a slow breath as he began to speak again, “I am the Wizard Samuel,” his voice was thickly laid with a wizarding accent, “as you know, my recently promoted status requires me to choose a wife, ergo pass on the strong magical genetics we posses,”at this a girl squealed under her breath, he paused and then continued, eyebrows raised, “I’m sure that most of you are excited to be here, and on that note, I suppose that you expect me to be excited, too,” he suddenly became grim, “But imagine having to choose the one you love without even speaking to them first,” most of the smiles fell from the girls’ faces as it fell from his as well, “I’m sure you’re all wonderful girls, but I can’t choose any of you. It’s just not right; as I have no choice anyway. We have already concluded that your magic is bright, and your soul is pure, but I need to know who you really are,” the girls looked confused, “I want you to choose for me,” blank stares all around was his reply. Maxie blinked in surprise.

The girls exchanged puzzled glances, and then a sudden uproar of commotion broke out.
“Marry me! Marry me! I’m perfect for you!”
“I’m funny, and smart and athletic! What about that? Choose me!”
A small circle of groping girls formed around a surprisingly calm Samuel.
“I love your robe; it brings out your eyes,”
“Can I touch your hair?”
“Marry me, dammit!”
His glance faltered from his fangirls and drifted over to the left-out girl, who was still slouched on the couch. As soon as his eyes met hers, she started to cough up some phlegm.
He smiled genuinely this time, and it lit up his face dramatically. He pushed through his crowd of his adoring fans. The babble started to die down.
Maxie’s eyes widened in shock as he crossed the room. Soon he was standing right in front of her. Her face was slack as she stared at him, trying to read his eyes.
He touched his fingers gently to her forehead, still smiling.
“Everyone please leave,” he said softly. Samuel and Maxie were still staring at each other. The other girls slowly exited the room, dumbstruck at the nasty trick he had pulled on them. He wanted the one that didn’t adore him. The one with an honorable heart.
As soon as they were all gone, his fingers dropped from her head. Maxie was suddenly scared, “Do I have to marry you now?”
Samuel laughed, “No, not if you don’t want to,” He sat down on the couch next to her.
“What do you mean?” Maxie asked. She didn’t understand anything that was going on; he was being annoyingly vague.
He looked at his hands for a second, and then started to explain, “Your magic is amazingly strong. More than I’ve ever seen; more than even my power,” still smiling, “I want you to be my apprentice,”
This was just about the oddest and most unexpected thing Maxie had ever heard.
“A girl, doing magic?”  Maxie said disgustedly, leaning away from Samuel.
“Yes yes, I know, crazy, right?” he said offhandedly, pushing that idea aside. He leaned right back to her, filling the space between them, “But your magic is so strong, you could do so much good for people. Your magic is too strong just to be simply wasted,”
He finally made sense, but as soon as Maxie was thinking clear another thought invaded her mind, “My mother has to approve,”
Samuel frowned slightly, a smile still hinted on the corners of his mouth, “Your mother has to approve nothing. You are of age to decide for yourself, as is the wizarding rule,”
“It’s against the law to be a woman of my age and state, and be on her own,” She stated half-heartedly. Samuel scoffed,
“You won’t be alone. You’ll be with me, of course!”
“But it’s really not the same as... as if we were married. It’s just not proper for a woman,” she had begun to smile. Oh, how my mother would hate me doing what a man should do, she thought.
“But you’re a wizard; not a woman,” Samuel retorted. Maxie didn’t know whether to be offended or take this as a compliment. He continued,
“Wizarding rule is stronger, anyway. You humans just muddled it up. It’s the rule that binds the Earth, but most people are so disconnected from magic that they can’t even tell. “One man chooses what he will do with his own fate,” that’s the rule,” he glanced up over to the wall, “roughly, at least. It’s hard to translate. It’s in the Native tongue. That’s sort of an ancient wizarding language,”
Maxie nodded, and looked down at her hands, then said, “Should I go find my mother?”
“I wouldn’t think it would be best to tell her now, she’ll be too disappointed that you didn’t get chosen. Tell her tomorrow, when she’s not expecting it,”
“So you’re telling me to lie to my mother that I didn’t get chosen?”
“Not lie, exactly,” he made a gesture with his hands that clearly said, let’s see how i can say this, then continued, “Just don’t explain what really happened,” smiling wider.
“You take your power as a wizard to a whole new level, don’t you?”
“I try,” his smile dropped a bit, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Anything to get away from my mother,” I said a bit too quickly. I cringed guiltily then followed that up with, “That was really cruel, wasn’t it?”
“It was a little thing I like to call truth,” he clarified.
“Ah, truth,” i said dreamily, “I think the evil being who held me hostage in her womb needs a few of your lessons on the subject,”
“Ooh,” he said, leaning away from me dramatically, “Now that,” he pointed at me, “That was cruel.”