The Daughters of Merlin

Grace was sitting in a willow tree in the castle’s garden using her powers to play with a little man and girl statue that she had created out of snow. Grace was now thirteen, meaning that her powers had been fully developed. Over the past month, she had been training and had mastered the more mundane spells as well as the element of water which was the easiest for her, being the daughter of a naiad.

Grace was brought out of her thoughts by the slam of a door coming from the direction of the palace. The snow statues collapsed, dissolving into water from the summer heat as Grace no longer concentrated in keeping them together and elevated in the air. Grace paid little attention to this as she sat up, looking in the direction of the palace.

Grace wasn’t too surprised when upon doing so, she saw Virgil walking over to a bench. She was surprised however to see him wearing his more formal suit. The last time Grace could recall him wearing that suit was when they first met, all those ten years ago. She also noted that Virgil’s skin was slightly paler than normal, and despite wearing a formal suit, his hair was extremely messy, as if he had been running his hands through it repeatedly.

Before Grace could say anything to him or announce her presence, another man exited the palace, spectacles perched on his big nose, small eyes squinting at the prince as he frowned at him. The man held a book in his hand, and Grace figured he must be a tutor, having seen a few men like this one hanging around the village’s library; men who apparently had been tutors.

“Just where do you think you’re going?! We aren’t done yet!” The tutor shouted, his voice awfully high for a grown man. Grace smiled to herself, almost laughing, though she stopped, not wanting to make her presence known quite yet.

“Oh, I think we are.” Virgil replied, his voice deep and full of malice, whirling to face the absurd and hilarious looking and sounding tutor.

“Don’t make me get your father!” The tutor warned, surprising Grace. She had never seen anyone besides herself, Zana, Merlin, and Virgil’s own parents ever talk to the prince like that.

Virgil scoffed at this, rolling his eyes. “I’d like to see you try.” He said before turning his back on the tutor and taking a seat on the bench.

With an indignant huff, the Tutor swirled his big robes in a half circle before marching back inside the palace with his head held high. It was how Grace imagined other royals to act, though Virgil and Arthur never did.

Virgil gave a weary sigh once he heard the door shut behind the tutor, running a hand through his hair as he hung his head. Virgil looked up quickly however when he heard the soft thump of Grace’s bare feet landing on the grass, followed by a gentle whoosh as her dress and hair settled down around her as well.

When Virgil’s eyes locked with Grace’s, she half expected him to smile at her. After all, neither of the two had seen each other for a month, which was how Grace had been able to learn how to somewhat master her magic. But Grace was sorely disappointed when instead of smiling, Virgil narrowed his eyes at her and frowned.

“Go away, Jynx.” Virgil said before turning his back on her.

For a few moments, all Grace could do was just stand there in shock. Virgil had never, not once, called her Jynx. He always called her Angel, which he had done ever since they first met. As both got older, they realized why their parents always found it so amusing, but Virgil didn’t stop using the nickname, having grown rather fond of it as had Grace.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said to go away!” Virgil snapped, whirling to face Grace again, getting to his feet.

Grace narrowed her eyes. Virgil wasn’t sure what he expected her to do, but he definitely wasn’t expecting her to punch him. Though it didn’t hurt very much, it did surprise him enough that he lost his balance, tripping over the bench and falling on his back. During the fall, he had accidentally bit down on his lip, splitting it open and causing his lip to bleed.

“There are only two people allowed to call me Jynx and you aren’t one of them!” Grace shouted, finally having found her voice, though she struggled to swallow a lump in her throat as she glared down at the prince. She angrily wiped away a tear that had managed to fall though more were still gathered in her eyes. “Just because everyone else does everything you say because you’re a prince doesn’t mean I will! It sure doesn’t give you the right to treat your oldest friend like garbage!”

“Well, Grace, I’m surprised to see you here, though I should have expected you to come eventually.” Arthur said before Virgil could respond. Grace whirled around in time to see the King exit the palace followed by the Tutor.

When the Tutor saw Grace, his eyes widened in surprise before noticing Virgil, causing the Tutor to be even more surprised. Virgil angrily got to his feet, wiping the small amount of blood gathering on his lip and chin away.

“I got your letter, though it conveniently failed to explain Virgil’s absence of not only yesterday but over the last month as well as the lack of response to my own letters that I sent.” Grace sent a quick glare in Virgil’s direction before glaring at Arthur, crossing her arms over her chest.

“And why is my absence such a big deal?” Virgil snapped, hurt slightly by Grace’s actions though his anger showed more than his hurt.

Grace looked over at Virgil incredulously. Seeing that he was serious, she pressed her lips into a thin line, tears welling up in her eyes again as she balled her hands up into fists at her sides. Ice began forming at her feet, and despite it being over eighty degrees outside, it began to feel more like thirty. The Tutor was staring at Grace with wide eyes and he took a nervous step back, though Grace wasn’t paying any attention to him, instead focusing on Virgil.

“If you weren’t the prince I swear I would freeze you right here and now! I can’t believe you forgot! You of all people!” Grace screamed at him, the temperature around them continuing to drop. Before anyone could reply, Grace turned on her heel and ran off into the forest, leaving a trail of icy footprints behind her. The farther she got, the more the temperature rose back to normal.

Virgil was about to run after her when Arthur stopped him by grabbing a hold of his son’s shoulder. Virgil whirled around to face his father, shrugging him off.

“Don’t! I’m not going to continue my studies. I haven’t stopped for who knows how long and because of this, because of you Grace is mad at me!” Virgil glared at his father before looking at the ground kind of sadly.

In a much quieter voice, he added, “I don’t even know what I did wrong.”

“I can not believe this. A king who allows his son to conspire with witches!” The tutor exclaimed.

Arthur whirled around to face the man, narrowing his eyes at him. “Don’t you dare call them witches! They are Mages and my closest friends so I suggest you watch your tone!” Arthur turned back to his son, his expression softening as he did so. “I understand why you are mad at me. I will admit that this is partially my fault. But before you run after her, I suggest you go get her her present from upstairs. Her birthday was yesterday.”

Virgil’s eyes widened. “No wonder she was so angry.” He said to himself before he took off running into the palace.