[Original Novel] Mistress of Magic: Morgan's Apprentice - Chapter 1

 A story of magic, love and loyalty.

Previous Chapter: Prologue

A Girls' College

The first few years I spent at the Sisterhood were strange. In retrospect, it seems like a blur of classes, chores, lessons and tests. My hope was that I would study at The Emerald Tower, a small but respected circle in the Sun-Kissed Valley, only a day's travel from my parents and brothers in the village, but The Emerald Tower was just a stop on my way to the arcane collage in the Citadel of Ladies in the far, cold north.

I didn't think much of it at the time. A place in the mages' college of the Citadel of Ladies was reserved for the most gifted of mages and those born to families of influence. It was more than an honor to be selected. It was an expectation, a demand. So after spending just a few days in the Emerald Tower, mostly gaping at the tower's incredible view of spring adorning the Sun-Kissed Valley in color and floral scent, I was shipped off to the Citadel. I spent what seemed like weeks in a well-defended carriage, nothing but a small window to keep me entertained while we rode. Even the men traveling with me, knights of the Sisterhood, kept their distance. I didn't blame them. I was just a 14-year-old farm girl, probably a complete bore compared to the Mistresses these men were used to escorting on their travels. But that was the first time in my life I felt lonely. I think that all my time in the college, I never stopped feeling lonely, though I was never again alone.

Upon my arrival, I was given a new name, new clothes, new shoes and a title. As of that day and for almost five years I was to be Lady Initiate Lilith Sunkissed, named after my place of birth (because I didn't come from a noble family) and some ancient mage Goddess I knew nothing about, at the time. 

The Citadel was an odd place. A lot of things about it were odd, in retrospect, but the oddest thing was the absence of men. While I did catch the occasional glimpse of labor workers and knights, most of the citadel was accessible to women alone. Not even children were allowed, only Ladies, Mistresses and hired female workers like cooks and tailors could enter those areas. The college was one of those areas, strictly forbidden to all men. Even the King would not dare visit his daughters at the college and offend the Sisterhood. For someone whose childhood was spent with three younger brothers and a loving father this was unusual and I never quite got used to it. 

Imagine going through puberty with no contact with the opposite gender. If you weren't born gay, it's weird. Many of the girls at the college developed forbidden "crushes" on random men they glimpsed at through the windows of the college dorm. It was rumored that a few years back, one of the lady initiates actually spoke to a knight guard she's been lusting after. She was quickly expelled, reprimanded and shipped off to a different college somewhere far. No one knows what happened to him. Personally, I was surprised she found the time. 

All my days at the college were tightly planned by the lady mothers down to bathing times, breaks for rest, physical exercise and sleep. I was never alone. There was always a lady mother watching and listening, even when I slept in the dorm room I shared with three other initiates. We didn't form bonds as every year we were shuffled around and placed in dorms with other lady initiates and a different dorm mother. The lady mothers were many, each with her own role and character. Some took the time to hug us, speak to us and wipe our tears, while others were strict and distant, focused only on teaching us what we needed to learn and keeping us quiet and obedient. 

There wasn't much time for friendships, either. At best, you had your study partner for whatever class you two happen to sit next to each other in. Relationships between initiates were based on studies and any discussion of anything else was discouraged by the lady mothers. The most intimate conversation I had with a classmate was about a mix-up in laundry deliveries. She accidentally received a pair of soiled panties belonging to some girl who was rumored to be one of the king's daughters and shared a dorm room with me that year. 

Although boys were not part of my life during my years at the college, sex was. Of course it was. I knew how the Power worked since I learned of the birds and the bees from my mother, but the very thought of it made me blush and hope I would never be a mage. Or a grown-up, for that matter.  

During their later years of training, the college initiates learned how to give and receive pleasure. We learned how to touch a man or, to be more exact, how to touch an anatomically similar puppet in class. I could sketch a penis from memory, including a map of erogenous areas and particularly sensitive spots but I've never actually seen one, if you ignore my childhood memories of bathing my infant brother. We didn't learn about pleasure only, and anatomy was hardly the only subject. We learned of pain, and how it can intensify the pleasure of men (and women), of the history of magic, its dangers and applications and even etiquette, botany, history and psychology. But it was the study of sex that always felt lacking to the point of annoyance. Yes, great, I technically know how to make an average man reach his peak in under five minutes, but knowing doesn't help me perform any magic stronger than a light spark.  

We practiced "small magic" daily. Float a feather or bind your will and natural power to make a spark of light in the air… that kind of thing. Small and harmless. It was exhausting. Every spell cast would leave me aching, breathless and sleepy. If I held a light spark spell for more than a moment or two, my head would start pounding and continue to do so until I've slept and my brain would just slow down for a day or two. I hated it. Our teachers always told us to steady ourselves and never push too hard, but some girls did. I once saw an initiate lady, probably sixteen or seventeen, try to set fire to some dry twigs she was only supposed to float. Her nose began to bleed, and before the instructing lady mother could scream at her to stop, she dropped to floor unconscious. The twigs did give off a tiny puff of smoke, but I think it was hardly worth it. 

In retrospect, I realize just how much of the studies, prayers and exercises were just a method of indoctrination to shape the young ladies' minds toward a single goal: loyalty to the sisterhood. We were taught to obey the lady mothers without question, to respect the order of the sisterhood and be prepared to die for it, if need be. Our magic was a gift, but it was not ours to use, but that of the sisterhood. We were but tools, destined to live as the sisterhood saw fit. 

We learned of ancient times before the sisterhood, and the chaos and bloodshed and misuse of magic that nearly wiped out life in our world. I often wondered if there were lady mages out there that did not belong to the sisterhood, hiding out alone somewhere and practicing magic in secret. Who did they learn from? Did the sisterhood hunt them down? I was scared to ask, and never dwelled on it too much, even when I missed home and daydreamed about running away into my mother's arms. This was my life now – a sister of the order, bound by its laws and led where the sisterhood would lead. I followed the rules as I grew up and changed, molded into what the sisters wanted me to be. Just like my fellow initiate ladies at the college. 

The hunger for power was in all of us. We were instructed to ignore it and restrain it, along with our natural urges as teenaged girls. At eighteen, we were interviewed and tested in order to determine our future in the sisterhood. This was not just a series of tests, but also a process, where each initiate would be given a path, no matter how long it would take to determine it.  The paths were quite clear for most so it rarely took long. The default was a local circle or coven, doing practical magic for the benefit of the kingdom, like healing and assisting in large-scale construction and agriculture. However, this was not a role that would normally be given to an initiate from the arcane college. Girls in the college were usually pre-selected for higher purposes or had powerful and rich parents.  

If you came from a prominent bloodline, or had particular strength and beauty combined, you would probably end up as a royal mage bride to some noble, sufficiently unrelated to you according to the bloodlines written in the books of the scribes of the sisterhood. If you were good at studying and your magic and your loyalty to the sisterhood were notable, you might be appointed scholar, if you wished. The third major order of the sisterhood were the lady mothers, the teachers and keepers of young initiates. They were nuns, sworn to never receive power from a man, and I always thought they had the worst job - taking young girls from their mothers and turning them into sister mages. And then there were the mistresses. 

I've learned of mistresses in my studies, but only in hints and hushed whispers. I knew they roamed the citadel, home of the order, but have never actually seen one. They were described as stunning, powerful women who wielded magic as a tool and a weapon. They were the real strength of the sisterhood. Only the mages with the strongest natural magic and ability were chosen. Being able to seduce men and receive power from them was also a major factor in the choice, but I didn't find that out until later. 

I didn't meet a mistress until the very late stages of my testing period. I was told she was appointed to me as personal instructor and tester on matters of accepting power from men. Her name was Morgan and she was magnificent.

Note: This chapter will probably be redacted from the novel when it's published off Steemit. So it's almost exclusive. :)

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