You WILL train me( Part 1)

" Leave the Eldmichs Rumius. Leave it all behind and dedicate yourself to being my apprentice." 

For a moment, Rumius thought he had heared her wrong. " Mistress..?" He whimpered only for Mistress Isadora to smile and start walking again. She laid a light hand on his shoulder and circled him, like a predator and its prey. Rumius followed her movements with bated breath and a tense gaze. 

" It's not that bad a deal. I think it's quite reasonable, no? I have much to offer you." She whispered. Her grip on his shoulder tightened. " Come with me Rumius, and you can have the world in the very palm of your hand." 

" Aren't I already your apprentice, Mistress?" Rumius laughed nervously. " Please don't joke around." 

Mistress Isadora smiled and continued circling. " Not truly, you aren't. I've taken many disciples over the years. Everyone of who has learnt, who has truly learnt from me have paid a price. This is yours." 

Rumius was speechless.

" And I treat you quite well, no? Come with me, and I can make this morning a commonality. You don't have to worry about living poorly." She assured.

" Maybe…but….that's not the point, Mistress." Rumius replied politely. " My Maman…she is still waiting for me. Mistress Isadora, I can't just abandon her. "

Inwardly, Rumius was half panicking. He had never seen this side of Mistress before. She was different from the noble and aloof Mistress that he knew. 

This one felt greedy and calculating. She felt…dangerous. As if he was staring down the mouth of a predator.

" Abandon? Someone like you would care about such paltry matters." She scoffed.

Her dismissal of his statement like it was nothing shocked him. " What do you mean?" Rumius narrowed his eyes.

Mistress Isadora stopped behind Rumius's back and laid her other hand on his shoulder. She leaned in and whispered. "I see it in you, you know? The same fire that burned in me. It's in you too."

" I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Rumius replied, smiling politely.. " Please Mistress, can we stop with this?" 

" I am merely stating a truth." 

" And like I said, I have no idea what you are t-"

" Right, sure you don't." Isadora sneered.

She pressed on without letting him another word in. " I'm not concerned that you defeated a Direbear, but I am concerned about how you found it in the first place." "You went to the forest to find the impacts left behind by your spells didn't you? Without even thinking of the dangers of it all. And in the process, you ran into the Direbear. Kids your age and with your level of luxury wouldn't even know a thing about magic. You could live life like a king!"

" But yet here you are." She drawled. " Leagues away from home and comfort all for a chance to learn magic from a woman who has denied you the chance for months! And you expect me to think that there is no ambition in you?" She sneered.

Rumius bit his lip and looked down and away. He could hear Mistress's laugh.

" Hahahaha see? I am right aren't I?"

The sound of rapid footsteps on stone sounded in his ears as a pair of thin, yet firm hands gripped his chin and forcefully twisted his head upwards. Rumius glared into a pair of clear blue eyes that were looking back at him with an equal ferocity. 

" Be honest. A part of you wants to accept my deal." 

Rumius twisted away. He scoffed. " I knew you were a mage, but telling what I'm thinking from my eyes really is pushing it." His tone changed.

" There is no need to be dishonest." Mistress Isadora smiled while spreading her arms. "You may not understand your ambition, but it is there, and that is all that matters. You can become the greatest mage of all time! There's a chance that you will even surpass that and rise to a whole new existence!" 

She gestured around. " You could be strong enough to level this mountain with a mere thought if you so wished." 

" Doesn't that excite you?" 

' If I so wished….' Rumius thought. ' That's absurd. This woman is crazy.'

 But as he moved to make his reply, dismissing her, telling her that he didn't want to keep at this conversation any longer, he couldn't help but question what she'd said. " Why can she say something like that with such conviction?" 

' What if…' Rumius thought for a second.' What if…it was actually possible?'

Rumius looked up, his eyes drinking in the imposing manifestation of nature's might around him. The power behind the roaring wind. The stillness and silent power of the immovable mountain. 

' All of this…..with a mere thought.' He marvelled. ' Is it really possible? Could she be lying?' 

Rumius looked up at his Mistress who was staring at him. Her face was still twisted into that knowing smirk, but she wasn't saying anything. Nothing about her suggested deceit. Only confidence radiated from her. 

' Was it..actually possible?' Rumius could feel the rhythmic beat in his chest accelerate. Adrenaline filled his body and his chest billowed with a floaty feeling. ' Was it actually possible?' 

' If it is, I want it.' Said a voice in him. 

' Magic rules here. If I become the strongest, I will rule.' 

' Accept it.' 

" I….." Rumius hesitated.

" You…what?" Mistress Isadora probed, her smile widening.

" Won't." Rumius enunciated the word with finality, signalling an end to the debate. " You may be right that I want to accept your offer, Mistress. But my answer is the same. I won't. I can't abandon my mother."

Regardless of anything, Rumius wouldn't turn on his family. It was his choice and he believed it beyond anything else as he watched Mistress Isadora's eyes widen in surprise. He had left his family once. He never wanted to go. And even now, when their faces were only blurs in his memory, the thought of their grief still made him want to hate himself. He couldn't do that to his Maman. He would never.

Mistress Isadora spoke again after a while, anger in her voice. She had sensed the hard rejection in his voice. Further persuasion wouldn't work with how things stood right now.

" Would you still say the same when you end up in chains, a slave with no freedom or right? Your mother wouldn't be able to protect you against that. The church will hunt you down like a rabbit." She threatened.

" I know." Rumius acknowledged. " But I have no intention of letting that future come to pass either." 

Mistress's eyes narrowed in scrutiny. " And how would you do that?"

" Because, you're going to teach me." Rumius said with confidence. 

The air between them became dangerously silent, dangerously fast. It was like all the air had been sucked out out of the space.

" Excuse me?" Isadora growled. 

" Because you will teach me." Rumius repeated. It took all his willpower to stare back at Mistress's blue eyes without looking away. He was sure he was imagining it, but it almost seemed as if the air had become heavier, like a heavy pressure was pressing on his shoulders. Threatening to crush him. 

" You expect me to just..impart all my knowledge to you. With nothing in return?" She growled. " Don't push your luck, boy." 

" I'm not pushing my luck." Rumius pushed back with uncharacteristic confidence. Even he didn't know where this foolhardy impulse to continue defying his Mistress was coming from. 

" I'm serious." 

" Pfft. And why exactly should I do that? There is no need for me to go so far to nurture your talents in earnest." Mistress Isadora asked." And I certainly won't without benefit."

" Then you need not worry. Because i've got a counter offer just for you." Rumius said.