The King & the Stable Boy

Epilogue: End of an Era

William | 16 Years Later

"Again!" I bark out, keeping a watchful eye on Mira as she hoists herself up off the mat and readies herself in proper stance again.

She just a bit shorter than me, her hair tussled back, eyes wild with determination. She was tired of losing to me, she wanted to win. Now she's gotten serious.

"Come on, pup, show me what you got." I taunt her, bouncing on my feet in anticipation.

To my surprise, she didn't take the bait, simply stayed in position, waiting. Her eyes looked indifferent, he body language not betraying her motives, and I nearly gave her the satisfaction of seeing my confusion, but then the hit came, not from my front but from behind. I quickly turn and duck down, a mirror image of her just behind me.

I was unsure on whether I was meant to condemn or commend her for finding a loophole to fighting one on one, but she didn't leave me much time to think as both of her worked in tandem, to take me down and pin me.

I slap the mat to single my surrender and pop back up gingerly, grinning at her.

"You're doing really well. You'll be just fine for your spar later. How are your coronation classes?"

She groans at the mire mention of them.

"I don't see why I need to teach Marcus how to adapt. The man is hopeless."

I laugh.

"Trust me, I wanted to give up on your father several times. He never quite got the hang of it without hand holding."

"Can't I just push him off a cliff and hope his instinct kicks in?" she questions.

"No. He may be Zion's baby cousin but he's still a witch. He needs to think harder about the changes than a shifter. It's a learned behavior, he doesn't have a spirit animal to fall back on. Be patient." I advise.

She sighs out, nodding.

"Now go shower. You smell absolutely horrid."

"As do you." she scoffs, leaving the room as I roll my eyes at her attitude.

Half an hour later I go back to the commons, clean, and spot Marcus just about to go out to the gardens.

"Marcus! Wait!" I yell after him.

He pauses and turns to greet me, giving a small bow of his head.

"Hello, dad." he greets me.

"I've heard your lessons aren't going too well."

"Mira is honestly trying to help me get it, but it's nearly impossible. I can't think of a spell as fast as she needs me to. I'm just not an elemental witch. My strong suit is time and harder light magic. Turning into a fireball or remembering to additionally make sure I cast a skin preservation spell as well as a anti drowning one is all a bit much for me."

"You need to try harder, son. I know it seems trivial and useless now, but when you need to go out and meet our people, taking the steps to make them comfortable by conforming goes a long way."

"I will. I promise." he says.

"Good. You'd better. I don't need Mira stressed over this, she has enough on her plate at the moment."

"Yessir."

With that I let him go, sighing.

"That was hardly necessary." a voice sounds behind me.

I turn to see Artan looking at me, hardly impressed with my warnings to his elder sister's mate.

"I'm just making sure he's motivated. How was your trip?"