No.

Calla’s expression went from off in thought to one of anger. No! This was now the second time he had done something without her permission and acted like it wasn’t a big deal. She gave a little growl in anger as she ran past the other three, headed towards Marick.

“Should we help him?” she heard Blaise ask the others.

“Nah, I kind of want to see how this plays out,” Raven replied. She didn’t have time to focus as she grabbed Marick’s arm, making him stop and look back at her. She was furious as she glared up at him.

“No! I’m not going to just let this go!” she yelled at him. Marick’s eyes looked a bit bored as he turned his body completely towards her. “This is the second time, THE SECOND TIME, you have used me for some kind of potion ingredient! First, you steal a piece of my life without my permission and now I find out you took vials of my blood, WHILE I WAS UNCONSCIOUS!!”

She saw Marick’s eye twitch as one of the three gasped behind them. “Marick! You didn’t!” Gwydion exclaimed with a tone of disappointment. Marick shot a glare at them.

“Don’t you three have better things to do than standing there?” he shot towards them bitterly. His mood only soured more as all three replied ‘No’ in unison. Marick grumbled in annoyance before Calla felt him grab her hand and pull her into the cottage, slamming the door behind them. It had taken Calla by surprise but her anger soon came back when he turned to face her, his expression of annoyance on his face.

“I thought I told you not to tell them about the life thing,” he said with a small growl in his voice. Her eyes narrowed as she returned his look. She was far too angry at what he had done to become intimidated by him this time.

“It’s not fun when people do things out of your control, huh!” she shot back, her tone livid. She clenched her fists, trying to hold the angry look in her eyes which began to show signs of hurt behind them. “You had no right to do that!! You can’t just go around doing things and expecting people to be okay with it! You stole some of my blood! You stole a part of my life, Marick!”

Marick clicked his tongue in annoyance, scanning her face. “The blood isn’t a big deal. You didn’t even know I took some until now.” he shot back in annoyance. “And I told you I would replace the bit of life I stole.”

“It is a big deal!! It’s a very big deal!” Calla yelled back, her eyes narrowing. “Replacing life doesn’t change the fact that you stole it in the first place!!”

“Fine,” Marick answered loudly, catching Calla by surprise. He seemed visibly annoyed, his brow twitching as he rubbed his temple. “You’re right. I had no right to do what I did,” He opened his purple eyes again, looking down at Calla with a serious expression. “In exchange for what I have done, what do you want from me? Name your demands,”

Calla’s breath caught in her throat at the question as she looked at him wide-eyed. Was he giving her the chance to do whatever she wanted to him? Her face suddenly grew hot, looking off to think. Never in her life had she had this kind of power and she had no idea what she could do. She let out a sigh, so many possibilities in her head before something clicked as she looked back up into Marick’s awaiting stare.

“As of today, you have to follow any command I give you in the presence of this coven or alone without complaining. If you agree to that, we will be even,” she stated harshly. She could tell that struck a nerve as he looked physically uncomfortable and his body tensed. If there was one thing she had learned from her time with them so far, it was that Marick liked being in control. So if he agreed to this, it meant he was serious about making it up to her.

She watched as he seemed to process what he had just gotten himself into before he frowned bitterly with a nod, folding his arms. “Fine. I agree to those terms,” he muttered, not looking very happy about it. She blinked in surprise at that, really believing he wouldn’t have agreed.

Her eyes narrowed, wondering if he was just saying that. “Prove it,” she said bitterly, folding her arms.

Marick’s expression hardened at that. “And how do you want me to do that?” he countered back. Calla frowned, he got her there… She thought it over for a moment before looking off. She knew what she wanted, a chance to get out of the cottage for a change.

“Will you take me to one of the bigger non-magical cities tomorrow?” she asked before looking at Marick when he sighed.

“Is that a request or a command?” he stated, making Calla blink again before giving a huff. He was right, she had to act more demanding. She glared up at him.

“I...I order you to take me to one of the non-magical city markets tomorrow… a-and while there you have to do what I say,” she commanded in the best tone she could muster. Her body trembled. She was not used to doing this. She was acting in opposition to every rule she was raised to believe growing up. Girls were to be submissive, not in control.

The room was quiet for a while, and Calla couldn’t help but wonder if she had gone too far as she watched for Marick’s response. He let out a long sigh, his expression hard to read as he stood tall. “As you command,” he replied. His tone was still bitter but he seemed a bit calmer in his anger. He folded his arms. “Anything else?”

She frowned, looking him over. A blush formed on her face as she looked off. “A-And tonight, if you share the bed with me. I-I don’t want you to be naked!” she ordered, her command a bit more awkward. She heard Marick click his tongue and mutter to himself, making her look back to him to see him give a stern nod.

“Fine,” he muttered, his eyes focused on her.

She heard a laugh from behind her, turning to see the other three had entered the room. Raven patted her on the head. “Our new fearless leader.” he teased before flashing a smirk at the annoyed-looking Marick. “I’ve never seen you so pissed.”

“Leave it be, Raven.” Marick snapped angrily before moving from the room. Raven laughed at that before winking at Calla.

“I guess that means our coven is run by a non-magical now,” Raven said with a playful smirk. “Shall we call you mistress Calla or queen Calla?” Calla’s face grew flustered, unsure of how to answer that. A confused, ‘Huh’ was all she was able to get out.

“Leave her be, Raven,” Blaise muttered as he walked towards the hall, messing with his shoulder. “The guy had it coming. I’m surprised it took this long before he got called out.”

She heard a gasp, turning her attention to see Gwydion rush to follow after Marick. “Marick! Let me dress you up for your date tomorrow!” he exclaimed. Calla didn’t hear anything as the red-haired man disappeared into the hall before she heard Marick hiss something she didn’t understand from the other room and Gwydion yelled back at him something on the lines of ‘Hey, don’t spit curses at me! I’m only trying to help!’.

By the time night fell, Calla wondered what would happen. Since that afternoon, she hadn’t seen Marick all day, only hearing from Raven that he was taking inventory in the storage room and had locked himself in there to not be bothered. She sighed, slipping into her nightdress quickly while in the main room so as to not have peeping toms catch a glimpse at her. Carefully, she picked up the dress she had been wearing and moved to put it in the basket within Marick’s pantry turned closet. She closed the door just in time to see Marick walk into the room. He glanced up as she did before nodding to her and moving towards his bed.

“I’m surprised you are not going to just avoid sleeping tonight.” she pointed out, although her tone was gentle as she moved to climb into the bed. He watched her for a moment, messing with his hair as he sat at the edge of his bed.

“And I am surprised you didn’t just order me to give you your own room,” he retorted. She jolted before mentally slapping herself.

“Why didn’t I think of that…?” she muttered to herself before sighing. She looked back at him. He was following her order of not going to bed naked like he normally did even though she didn’t magically have a way to make him obey her.

Calla sighed and soon lay down, pulling the blanket around her and watching silently as Marick joined her, his eyes closing as soon as he lay his head on the pillow. She had been sleeping in his bed since the moment she arrived at the cottage, occasionally with him resting next to her, however, this felt different. Maybe it was just because she felt she had a bit more power than she normally did. She was a little relieved that he wasn’t turned away from her this time.

“Are you angry with me, Marick?” she asked after watching him for a while. She didn’t know why that would bother her. After what he had done, she shouldn’t care if he was angry. He gave her the freedom to do to him what she wanted as payback. So, why did she worry about it? Maybe it was the look of discomfort he had on the idea of being ordered around, or maybe she was too good-natured.

“Angry at you? No.” Marick answered, eyes still closed. He let out a sigh as if he was trying to calm himself. “Annoyed in general, yes, but not towards you for the time being.” Well, at least he was honest. She frowned and sighed softly, curling up in the blanket more before drifting off.

Marick opened his eyes after a while, turning his head to watch as Calla slept, something he did most nights. He never was a deep sleeper, nor someone who needed a lot of sleep to be well-rested. He scanned her face, wondering what she was dreaming about. A part of him wondered why she hadn’t yet asked for her own room or had gone to share a bed with one of the others. After all, he wasn’t forcing her to remain in his bed.

He seemed to be in thought as he remained silent. He had expected her to be angry when she found out about the blood thing, hell, he expected her to get more upset with him for leeching a part of her life away. What he hadn’t expected was how she reacted. It wasn’t a secret that Marick was someone who tended to want to be in control of situations. Being the leader had been his only request upon joining the coven the brothers were creating as he never enjoyed following someone else’s orders. Mostly because he had little faith in others.

Marick had been around for a long time and had increased his power to levels that made magicals fearful of him. Non-magicals avoided him due to his intimidating aura. That’s why he was taken back when Calla confronted him, no one ever did that, especially not timid non-magical girls. She had no way of making him do anything, everything he would do would be him complying with her request reluctantly. He wondered why he cared that she was angry with what he had done. He could have just as easily dismissed her anger. Ah well, a question to solve at a different time.

He turned his body towards her, moving to lightly remove a strand of hair from her face as he looked her over. If anything, tomorrow was going to be bothersome, if not interesting.

Marick was not in bed by the time Calla woke up. In fact, she didn’t see him for a while that morning but heard that he was taking inventory of items he needed. By the time she saw him, the group was getting ready to head to the larger city nearby.

She almost didn’t recognize him. Instead of the long blue robe, she was used to seeing him in, Marick was wearing an outfit that reminded her of a man of status. He wore gray pants and a white buttoned-up shirt with a black vest. He was pulling on a long dark coat, doing up a few buttons in the front before moving to fix his long hair back into a ponytail. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was sure Gwydion would avoid dark-colored clothing, she would have thought Marick had borrowed an outfit from him.

The others were also dressed rather non-magically, which made sense as they did say they went into those areas for resources and would need to wear clothes that didn’t scream witchcraft. Either way, it was an odd sight for Calla, a faint blush crossing her cheeks.

Marick was handsome, though it was clear he didn’t pay much attention to his looks, unlike Gwydion. Marick was an older gentleman, not old but had older features on his face. Given how old he really was, he looked great, however, Calla was taking notice of the slightly worn look on his face. He was a man who had seen a great deal already and would probably see a lot more to come, and that showed with the fleeting youth of his facial features.

Her thoughts would continue as the group would appear just outside of the city, in an area where no one would see a group of five suddenly appear. However, Calla’s thoughts would soon disappear as they went into the wealthy city, Calla finding it difficult to focus on what Marick was telling everyone as she looked at the tall buildings and fancy-dressed people around them.

She did take notice of what was being said when she heard Marick speaking about the list. “I will be marking off things once we collect them. For the items I cannot locate, I expect the rest of you to gather them,” he told the other three. Calla’s eyes narrowed at that. He was using the fact that she asked to go to the city as his day to gather resources. Was he trying to get out of listening to her?

“Marick, hand the list to Raven. He can take care of gathering things with the others.” Calla stated sharply, glaring at the older man. She saw Marick’s brow twitch slightly, an annoyed look on his face. The looks on the other three’s faces ranged from amusement to holding back laughter.

Raven smirked, giving Marick a coy look as he held out his hand to the other. “You heard the lady, Marick,” Raven said, looking highly amused as Marick shot him a death glare. Marick huffed slightly before reluctantly handing his second in command the list before folding his arms.

“As you wish,” Marick muttered in a bitter tone, before giving Calla a look over.

Raven scanned the list calmly before looking at Marick. “You act as if you don’t trust us to do what we’ve done many times before. Have a little faith in us.” He motioned to Gwydion and Blaise. “Follow me.”

“Sure thing,” Blaise answered, flashing a smirk at Calla before following the brothers as they walked off.

Marick watched after them before folding his arms and turning back to Calla, scowling slightly. “What will I be doing today, since you clearly don’t wish for me to get things done,” he asked on the snippy side.

Calla almost found his discomfort amusing to watch. The guy was clearly out of his element about following orders. Still, she hoped he wouldn’t be too upset with her for this. The guy was always working on things. He could take a moment to relax.

She couldn’t help but blush at his question, already knowing what she wanted. “I...I want you to show me around the city. I’ve never been here before but I know you have.” she said, still as an order but a lot softer in tone than earlier. She saw Marick’s body become slightly less tense before he sighed.

“Very well,” he answered calmly but still with a hint of reluctance in his voice. He walked closer to Calla, unfolding his arms enough to offer his arm to her. She blinked, surprised as he did, but wasn’t about to question him about it as she took his arm.

Once she did, the two started down the sidewalk. Marick was very knowledgeable about the city they were in, pointing out locations to explain more about it. The city was built on the trading route, goods being exchanged making the area very wealthy and attracting the rich and high-status people in society to make their homes here. The center of town had a large and beautiful building that hosted gatherings of all kinds. At the moment, it looked as if those inside were setting up the venue for a ball that was to be held. Across the street from that was the opera house that had a sign with dates for the next play, the story of Othello. Calla had heard the name before but she didn’t know anything about the story itself.

Calla listened as Marick spoke but she frowned slightly. His tone was calm but the look in his eyes made it clear that he would rather be doing anything else. The two had fallen silent, just walking with each other. As they reached a park, she sighed.

“You could at least pretend that you like spending the day with me, you know,” she muttered softly, looking down. Marick stopped walking, making her slow to a stop as well.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

They were quiet a moment before she heard him give a sigh, causing her to look back up at him. His eyes watched her gently, but his thoughts gave him a distant look. “...Calla,” he started before he moved to rub his temple. He pulled away from her, moving to sit on a stone bench nearby. He looked towards her again as she moved to sit next to him. He watched her a moment before frowning.

“Calla, what do you want from me?” he finally asked, making her give a look of surprise, confused by the question, however, he sat up straight and continued. “I’m not a very expressive person normally unless people really begin to irritate me.”

She frowned at that before looking off. “I didn’t mean I wanted you to be more expressive. I just… wish you were not acting like spending the day with me wasn’t some kind of inconvenience,” she said softly. No, that wasn’t quite right either. She couldn’t help but think back to the memory of his kiss. In a sense, he treated it like he had to, but there had been a strange sense of passion and desire there which had confused her given how cold of a person he tended to be.

Marick closed his eyes to rub them a moment, muttering to himself. “I have a lot to do today,” he stated coldly to which Calla couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“Be honest with me, Marick. Did you really have a lot to do today or did you suddenly find things to do after I ordered you to take me into the city?” she shot back, giving him a slight glare. Her tone or words seemed to catch Marick by surprise as he just opened his eyes to stare at her a moment, lowering his hand.

He seemed to be really thinking over his answer, making it clear to Calla that he would have most likely avoided the question if she hadn’t ordered him to be honest. She could understand his surprise, her question had come off a bit cold. Perhaps she was spending too much time with him, his harsh personality was rubbing off on her.

He finally dropped his arm to his lap as he crossed his legs, eyeing her a moment before frowning slightly. “I found things to do, but only because I hoped to deal with needing to go into the city for resources and you want to go at the same time. I don’t particularly like to be here and the fewer times I have to go to the markets and speak with others, the better,” he admitted before looking forward. It made her pause, again looking at him surprised.

In a way, she felt that Marick wasn’t trying to get out of doing what she said today just because of his discomfort with being told what to do, but mostly he was uncomfortable being around so many people in general. It made sense to her, seeing his posture now. He was uncomfortable, his body growing tense as people would pass by. Thinking back to what Raven said about Marick’s room being in the main room so he would socialize with the rest of the coven, she was sure Marick would avoid social interactions altogether if he could.

She looked off. “You could have just told me you are uncomfortable with crowds,” she pointed out.

“If I remember correctly, you said I had to obey all of your commands without complaining.” he returned in a matter-of-fact tone. She frowned at that, looking up at him.

“You’re right, I did say that…” she stated before sighing. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to agree to this. After all, I’m not really a part of your group, I don’t have the power to make you do anything.” She shot him a look. “Unlike what you have on me.” She was trying to be vague with what she said, as she figured it wasn’t a good idea to talk about magic and the coven while they were in the presence of non-magicals who may be listening to them talk. It seemed Marick appreciated that, looking around them a second before turning himself more towards her.

“You are right about not having the power to make me do anything, but you are wrong about your statement saying you are not a part of my group,” he stated, making her blink in surprise. He seemed confused by her surprise, raising a brow. “My group of four became a group of five the day I told you that you were staying. I didn’t particularly care what you called yourself but you are as much a part of my group as any of the others.”

He looked around at the people in the area before getting to his feet. “Let’s find a more private location to continue this,” he stated before turning to her. His stare was slightly cold again. “Unless you have a different command.” Calla glared at him for that. If he kept that up, she would find more ways to get him back for those comments. She got to her feet.

“That should be fine,” she replied with the same tone before moving to follow him. If anyone would know of a quiet place to be away from people, it was Marick.

Soon enough, they were on their way towards the pier, where there seemed to be a lot fewer people moving about. By the docks, ships were being unloaded, and anyone who was by the water was on the beach. All there was here were the sounds of the water below and the gulls cawing overhead.

Marick stopped, moving to discreetly move his hand, a strange symbol appearing in purple lettering before Calla watched as a stone bench appeared before the wall. It looked as if the bench had always been there, allowing people to watch the water from a safe distance. As much as she trusted Marick to know what he was doing, she couldn’t help but look around nervously to make sure no one had witnessed the sight.

“It’s fine, Calla,” Marick said as he moved to sit down once again. “Non-magicals can be unobservant creatures and I am very subtle when I use my spells.”

She hummed at that, moving to sit down next to him. She let go of the comment of him calling her kind unobservant for the time being as she was more curious about what he had done. She was reminded of what had happened with Madam Coffer, not knowing what Marick had done but had noticed his arm moving as he stood between her and the old witch.

“Hey, Marick? When we were at the twisted shack, you didn’t… toss a vial of my blood to the old woman, did you?” she asked, the thought had crossed her mind after they had gotten to the cottage.

“No,” he answered with no hesitation. He glanced her way. “If I had given her a vial, it would give her a reason to come after you.” He thought over her question a moment before narrowing his eyes at her. “Why?”

She frowned at that. “I saw you do something… when you were standing in front of me but I couldn’t tell what it was,” she admitted. He watched her a moment more before leaning back against the wall behind them.

“What you saw was a hex. As I said, when I use spells, it’s subtle. I do not need to use much movement to send my spells where I want them to go.” he explained, folding his arms as his eyes seemed to be distant. “I specialize in curse and hex spells. I have also known Madam Coffer for a long time and know that if I didn’t threaten her with a hex that would cause her physical harm, she would take that as giving her permission to try and come after you.”

Calla pondered what he said for a moment, a look of worry on her face. “Your magic sounds like it’s rather evil by nature…” she pointed out to which Marick shrugged.

“It depends on the spell. A hex can cause a lot of pain or control at once and is typically found in dark magic while curses are the ability to place long-term effects on people which can get worse over time, those can either be found in dark or light magic. I dabble in both, similar to Raven in all honesty, but I mainly stay in the lines of hexes and curses as I find them the most effective.” he explained calmly before she saw a darkness in his eyes as he looked off. “However, there are many more evil spells when you dig too far into dark magic. Spells that I have no desire to use but know a few people who relish in them.”

She was quiet as he spoke, wondering if Madam Coffer was one of those who he said enjoyed the darker spells. If not her, she once again worries about what she will see in the other realm. There wasn’t much that Calla knew about Marick, the guy tended to keep information like this to himself most of the time so to hear him at least speak about his powers and knowledge of other magicals was surprising. There were a number of questions she wanted to ask, but before now she didn’t think he would answer her.

“Marick,” she started, causing him to glance her way. She paused a moment before looking up at him seriously. “Tell me more about your past.” That seemed to hit a nerve as he scowled. She wondered if he would actually refuse this command as he never seemed to be someone who spoke of his past. “You said you were magical born, meaning your parents were magical as well, right?”

The air felt slightly tense under Marick’s stare. She couldn’t help but feel as if he was attempting to scare her away from wanting to hear him answer. However, he soon huffed but nodded. “Yes, that is what that means,” he said sternly as he eyed her. “I’m a descendant of Merlin.”

She looked a little confused at that. As far as she knew Merlin was known as the most powerful sorcerer in folklore. Someone who was spoken about with stories of King Arthur and the fantasy stories she heard as a child. If what Marick said was true, not only was Merlin a real person, but as a descendant, Marick was far more powerful than she thought.

“I...thought those were just stories,” she said, letting what he said sink in.

He gave a hum in thought. “So are the tales of magic and magical creatures,” he pointed out. “But that doesn’t make them less real.” He watched her expression a moment before frowning. “There are only a few people who are alive that know my lineage and I would prefer to keep it that way. I am known as a powerful sorcerer, I do not need to be thought of as some prince of magic due to my family tree.”

Calla hummed in thought, searching his face curiously. “Is that why you are hiding your past from others?” she asked, to which he nodded.

“I have no doubt in my mind that they wouldn’t care who or what I was, but I would rather not have it brought up,” he noted calmly. She thought it over before nodding.

“I won’t say anything, but I do think you should tell them. I mean, I don’t understand much about how covens work but I would assume secrets are not something one should have.” she pointed out, once again seemingly surprising him as he gave her a curious look before humming in thought and looking towards the water as he thought it over.

She watched him a moment before her other questions came to her mind. “Marick?” she asked, seeing him tense as if he was bracing himself for her next question. He glanced back her way with a scowl.

“What?” he asked as he did. However, he paused when he saw the look on her face, the distant look in her eyes, and the hesitation in asking. He frowned, his expression softening. There was only one question he could think of that she would be hesitant about asking him.

She looked off, shifting herself a little on the bench. “I...I don’t know if I want to know the answer or not…” she admitted softly, looking at the ground. “It’s just… you told me that you were 370 years old… and…”

“You want to know how many people I’ve stolen life from,” he said without hesitation. He said it so calmly that it honestly made Calla look up at him wide-eyed. He sighed, moving to rub his eyes again. The two were quiet for a moment before he spoke. “I’ve never said I was a good person, Calla. To be honest, I can’t officially say how many people I have killed, or how many lives I have taken. They didn’t matter to me to care about the morality of what I was doing.”

He opened his eyes to look down at her. “My power allows me to access the life force within others, to add and to take away. I can share my years or take away others. However, I can only take from the amount of life the person has. Meaning younger people tend to be better to harvest from than the old.” he explained calmly. “I haven’t stolen life to the point of killing the person in a long time, but when I was in my teens I took the lives of many.”

“But why?” she asked bewildered at his claim. Marick hummed a little.

“Many in the other realm tend to see non-magicals as objects. As a descendent of Merlin, my family has worked alongside non-magicals who were worthy, but outside of that, non-magicals had no value outside of resources,” he said, making a shiver run up her body before she looked off.

“You stole lives because you felt they were meaningless?” she asked, hugging herself a little.

“No,” he stated, making her look back at him. “I stole life because I was with a group of people who treated non-magicals as things that were to be used. This isn’t my first coven, and the one I was in as a boy was a lot darker than the one I am in now. I broke out of the mindset of non-magicals being worthless when I entered my twenties but by that time I had stolen enough life that I am practically immortal. Every time I take a life, I extend my years based on the years the person would have lived, and by doing so, I slow down my aging.”

Calla still had the look of horror at the idea but he sighed. “I’m not particularly proud of what I did in my past, Calla, hence why I prefer not to talk about it. If I could return the lives I stole, trust me, I would have. However, one cannot change what has been done by the time it has become hindsight.” he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. “All I can do now is live with what I have done.”

They were quiet for a moment as Calla looked off in thought. From the tone in his voice, she was sure he was being honest about being ashamed of his past. After a moment, she looked up at him again. “Isn’t it, lonely? You’ve… You’ve already lived for such a long time. I can only imagine the things you’ve seen… and the people you’ve lost.” she said. To her surprise, Marick gave a slight smirk, leaning back again.

“Funny, that is very similar to the line Raven used when he asked me to make a coven with him,” he stated, seemingly shaking his head to remove the memory. “I wasn’t one to have many people in my life that hurt when they were gone, but the handful that did does tend to make my immortality lonely.”

Calla hummed a little before a thought hit her. “Maybe you could share a part of your life force with the coven. I mean, it just doesn’t seem fair to you to go through life alone,” she suggested, seeing Marick raise a brow at her again.

“Do you really believe I want to deal with these guys until the end of time?” he asked bluntly, catching her by surprise before she gave a huff.

“They are your coven,” she muttered back, to which Marick rolled his eyes.

“Technically they follow your orders as you are the one who tells me what to do,” he stated bitterly, making her huff again and look away. However, she soon heard him sigh. “I’ll think about it.”

Calla couldn’t help but smile a little at that. The two were quiet again before Marick spoke up. “I have a question for you now,” he started, making her look back up at him. He looked serious, arms folded again as he stared her down. “Why do you bother getting to know me? I would have thought out of anyone in the coven, you would have been closer to Blaise, being that he was a non-magical.”

She couldn’t help but blush at that but narrow her eyes. “Why did you kiss me?” she shot back, to which Marick’s expression turned slightly dark.

“I answered your questions, Calla.” he pointed out, making her blush darken and she looked off.

“I...I wanted to,” she said, frowning. “I mean, I was already sharing a bed with you and you’re always so mysterious. Not even your own coven seemed to know anything about you. I was… curious.” She looked back up at him. “Now answer mine.”

He stared for a moment before a faint smirk crossed his lips. “I wanted to,” he said back, seemingly mocking her before he gave a sigh. “I never said anything earlier, but you look nice in that dress.”

Calla felt her heart give a thump at that, making her look down with a shy expression. “I-I...um... T-thank you.” she managed to say, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. “You look good in the clothes you are wearing, too.”

He scoffed at that. “I hate wearing these. I find my robes to be much more comfortable, however, they are not something non-magicals would think were normal,” he stated, clearly annoyed by it. “However, I appreciate the compliment.”

She gave him a little bit of a huffy look before his comment about the kiss seemed to sink in. “W-Wait, did you say you kissed me because you wanted to?” she asked to clarify. He seemed confused by her question.

“That is what I said,” he stated calmly, scanning her face a little.

“But you, you stole a part of my life when you did that!” she snapped back. He rolled his eyes.

“Well yes, the first kiss was because I needed something for my potion,” he explained before turning more to her. “I was talking about the second kiss.”

Her face lit up bright red again, her mind returning to that day, once again being reminded of the passion and slight desire that she had felt. It made her heart race. He hadn’t done anything like that since which is why she had been so confused by it.

Calla sighed, calming down before she got to her feet, moving to stand before Marick with her face still flushed with a pink blush but a serious look on her face. She couldn’t read Marick, never could tell what he was thinking. He was right, after all, the guy wasn’t all that expressive.

“Marick, tell me the truth and don’t hide anything. What...What do you think of me?” she asked seriously. He rose a brow at that before humming in thought, sitting tall again.

“I think you are naive,” he stated calmly, however, he tilted his head. “But that isn’t the question you wanted to be answered, now is it?” She blinked in surprise at that, seeing him lean forward. “You want to know how I feel about you, not what I think about you.”

She swallowed hard, looking down. That was what she was actually asking. She heard him give a hum in thought as he looked her over.

“I enjoy your company. I find your curiosity to be a breath of fresh air though I do hate having to explain everything. However, I forget you are new to this world so I will try to remember when you ask simple questions, they are not simple to you.” he started, making her look at him again, surprised by what he was saying. He scanned her face. “I find you to be pretty. In fact, I am reminded all the time of how you looked in my robe. I enjoy seeing you smile, especially when you are smiling at me though I don’t understand why you do. I guess the simplest way to put it is that I like having you around.”

Calla listened to him with a soft expression on her face, her heart racing at his words. Although his face was still hard to read, she knew his words were genuine. However, she saw him frown slightly as he got to his feet, standing before her. “I just want you to understand that whatever reason you may have to get close to me, I am not an affectionate person. If you are fine with that knowledge then I will not stop you,” he informed her in a calm tone. She looked up at him a moment before nodding.

“Will you kiss me again?” she asked shyly as she did. He seemed to think it over a moment before nodding.

“I do owe you a year of life back, so I do plan to do that,” he answered to which Calla frowned at the comment.

“I mean an actual kiss… not just because you feel you have to…” she said with a slight huff. He just kind of stared at her a moment before sighing.

He caught her chin before leaning down and pushing his lips to hers, making her squeal in surprise by the sudden action. It wasn’t a particularly long kiss, but it did manage to make Calla’s face about as red as Gwydion’s hair by the time he pulled away. Marick looked down at her, his expression still rather blank before he gave a slight smirk.

“Happy now?” he asked calmly, moving his hand away from her face. Calla touched her lips gently and looked down again, not sure how to respond to that.

“I-I, umm…” she started before he sighed, folding his arms.

“I’ll do whatever you ask me to do, Calla, that is the rule you put into place. As I said, I am not particularly affectionate, so you will have to tell me if you want things like a kiss,” he said with a tired tone. “Just don’t start getting overly needy for my attention.”

She looked up at him a moment before pulling her hand away from her mouth and smiling shyly up at him. “O-Okay,” she said softly. The sight made Marick’s expression soften slightly before he looked confused when she took his hand.

“Now, let’s go into the market stands we passed earlier with all the crowds!” she said suddenly, her smile turning a bit more playful. He blinked before looking annoyed, mostly at the thought of crowds.

“Why,” he asked sharply to which Calla just hummed in thought, her smile turning slightly dark.

“Because I didn’t forget about all the ways you insulted my kind earlier and because this is part of your punishment,” she pointed out, with a giggle.

He scowled at that. “Calla-,” he started before she cut him off.

“Marick,” she cut in with a serious look on her face. “You are not allowed to argue with my commands.”

The two just stared at each other for a second, Calla finding the annoyed look on Marick’s face amusing before the man just huffed, holding her hand tightly as he began to lead her back towards the marketplace.

Calla giggled a little as she intertwined her fingers with his as she quickened her steps to catch up with him. With him facing forward, she didn’t notice the small smile on his face and the slight amusement in his eyes. He had been right, the day did end up being interesting.

Relationships have increased.

Continue the story in chapter 12