The Prince and the Count's Daughter

Chapter 16 - Wondrous Magic

Knock, knock

The door swung open to reveal Cyrus behind it. He beamed at me as he stood aside to let me in. I set down the picnic basket I had brought and turned back to him as he swooped me into his arms.

"I've missed you." he said earnestly.

"You only saw me yesterday." I teased. In the week since Cyrus had told me about Hazel I had gone to visit him everyday and today was no different. I gave him a kiss and returned to the basket. "I hope you're hungry."

"A picnic?" he asked as he came over to help me set the food out.

"Well... I thought this could be our first actual date... you know, as opposed to just hanging out."

He nodded in agreement and smiled brightly at me. "I like the sound of that."

When we had eaten he waved his hand at the plates and with a golden glow they raised and returned to the basket, completely clean.

"What's wrong?" he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I now realised I had been absentmindedly staring at the plates.

"Can you teach me?" I hadn't really meant to say it but now I had.

He gave me a puzzled look. "Magic?"

"Yes. You don't have to though, I know it's against the rules." I rushed to say.

He considered it for a moment that seemed to last forever. "I'd love to." he told me with an endearing grin.

He looked around the room with a pensive expression. Finally he strode over to the bed and picked up a pillow.

"Lesson one, with something you can't break." he joked as he walked back over to me and thrusted it into my hands. I was suddenly racked with nerves. What if I can't do it... at all? He looked me in the eye and put his hands over mine around the pillow. "No one gets it right the first time, I promise you." he reassured me.

Something about him made me feel confident where I'd usually run away, telling myself I'd be hopeless at it anyway. I gave him a determined nod, causing him to smile at me, dare I say, lovingly.

"Magic is powered by emotions but you still have to have a clear idea of what you want it to do." he explained. "Close your eyes and focus on whatever emotion you are feeling most strongly."

I closed my eyes and thought, hard but I was feeling so many emotions. He squeezed my hands reassuringly and I decided to focus on that - exactly how I felt when I was with him. I focused on the warm feeling of happiness of his magic and the way I lost my train of thought looking at him and the dizzying way my heart skipped a beat and my stomach did somersaults when I was in his arms.

"Focusing on that feeling, imagine the pillow floating." he continued, as I felt the tips of my mouth turn up at the sound of his voice. I did as he instructed and felt as my hands became warm. It was different to Cyrus' magic though. Where his magic had felt like the sun shining down on me, mine felt far more intense, like fire without any pain. I opened my eyes to see the pillow hovering an inch above my hands, with Cyrus' still steadying mine. Suddenly the pillow fell between our hands and hit the floor.

"I was doing it! I did it!" I beamed at Cyrus with glee. He pulled me into a hug.

"That was fantastic." he assured me.

After a moment I pulled away. "Should I try again?"

"It can't hurt." he said with a shrug.

I picked the pillow back up and closed my eyes again. His hands weren't on mine anymore and it was harder to find how that felt without it. I tried to remember our dance at the ball, how breathless I felt and how blissful I felt engulfed by his magic.

My hands felt set alight once more and this time I felt the pillow leave my grasp but I couldn't hold it. My hands suddenly returned to normal and I felt the pillow hit my hand on the way to the floor again.

I opened my eyes, feeling defeated. However, Cyrus beamed with pride.

"What?" I asked honestly.

He took my hands in his. "That was a fantastic first and second try! No one gets it right straight away." he reassured me with a smile.

His was so genuine that my crestfallen feeling left me and I smiled back at him. "Can we try again tomorrow?"

"Of course!" he assured me.

His expression turned thoughtful as it often did. "Do you mind if I ask you something?" Cyrus began, hesitantly. "I've been meaning to ask for a while now."

"Um, sure, go ahead." I said, unsure if I genuinely wanted him to.

"Why is magic banned?"

"Oh, well, when my dad, the Count, went missing the advisors banned it." I explained.

"Yes, but why?"

I'd never thought about that before. "I'm not sure actually. They must have had a good reason."

He looked thoughtful. "I don't think it's right. Magic is a huge part of who we are, it's like asking someone to pretend to be someone else."

I'd never thought of magic as being that important and I suddenly felt very betrayed that I'd been forced to live my whole life without it. Cyrus gazed at me with a pensive expression and I wondered if he pitied me.

"I'm going to ask the advisors," he said resolutely.

My mind filled with dreams of being able to learn magic, of seeing the castle filled with magic, of how amazing that would be. I smiled at him, sure that he just made everything better, just by being there.

He smiled back, confused but enjoying the moment. "What?" he chuckled.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking about the possibility of being able to legally learn magic." I said dreamily and then leant forwards pressing my lips against his.