The Mage's Apprentice

CHAPTER ONE

It was scary how quiet it became.

Usually, even in the quietest of places, I feel my heart throb in my chest or hear its faintest beat in my ears, but at this moment, everything was silent aside from the smooth scrape of the pen on the paper.

The room around me was coated in a calming but unsubtle yellow that made the desk I rested my elbows on a much deeper brown, and the paper a brighter white. I had never signed a contract before, I've never even had a signature, but the man across from me, with his false kind smile and strangely long ponytailed black hair, assured me that printing my name was fine.

I liked my handwriting, but I didn't like the old styled pen they handed me to write with. It was so thick my fingers began to cramp up after the fourth letter. But I pushed through the discomfort until my name was entirely written.

Antionette Erin Hayhurst.

"Lovely, darling," the man purred as he pulled the paper back to himself.

A blond man, who came in with me and stood behind me, walked to the opposite side of the table, taking the pen from my little hands as he went, and considered the contract a moment before signing a line under my printed name titled 'Witness.'

When I breathed in, the air felt cold, and was a satisfying feeling in my lungs, as I breathed out.

"Excellent." The ponytailed man had been wearing gloves, and quite animatedly took off his left glove, revealing a hand covered in pale scars. He produced a pocket knife, a shiny silver one covered in very royal looking leaves.

I didn't flinch as I watched him slice the tip of his finger with the edge of the blade.

"Now, this isn't something to take lightly, little lady," he informed as he pressed his bleeding finger against the corner of the contract, specifically in a small square bordered with gold. "This is the last possible chance for you to back out before-"

I held my left hand out, reaching over the table to present it to him. I wanted him to stop talking.

My enthusiasm seemed to shock both men, the man across hesitating to bring the knife to my hand. "I know I sought you out, dear, but are you certain?"

My eyes felt heavy, a growing sense of exhaustion enveloping my limbs, but I slowly nodded my head, my eyes cast down to the contract as I waited.

I tried not to think too hard about this. I decided not to think at all as I waited for the man to cut me. This had been the first indication that anyone was concerned about what I was doing. But I knew, I knew all too well what this meant, what I was doing, and what this could mean.

I winced from the sudden pain in my hand as the knife sliced down my finger. I recoiled in fright, watching the red pool on the surface of my finger before slicing down the sides and onto the table. I was expecting to get a scolding or some sort of grimace of annoyance at bloodying the table, but the man cleaned off the knife with a white handkerchief, while the other blond man stared, expressionless, at the contract. Occasionally, I saw a shadow of a reaction twitch in the corner of his mouth, a blink with a bit more personality then intended, but otherwise nothing.

I kneeled on my chair and leaned forward, stretching my bleeding hand out and pointed downwards at my designated blood pact box. One droplet of my blood splashed in the border, leaving a messy red signature compared to the man's simple press. This didn't seem to bother him, or the contract, as the words glowed a brighter yellow then the room and made the table disappear in its light. I leaned back in my chair and turned away, closing my eyes to endure the light better.

A second later, I opened my eyes to watch the blond man roll up the contract and fix it with a red ribbon. The ponytailed man rose from the opposite seat and gestured to the people behind me. "Miss Antionette Erin Hayhurst, you have just legally signed away independence. You are now seen as property until further notice. There will be consequences to disobedience here and out. Say yes if you understand."