Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook Drabbles 55 - Human Familiar 2

Louis was a brat, a spoiled child in an adult body struggling to grow up. He was given too much freedom to swallow in his indecision and uncertainty. He needed rules, discipline, and guidance. He also needed someone to care about him because his parents didn't. Bentley would have no problem stepping up to that plate if Louis let him. 

The boy gave Bentley a headache, and he was going to give Bentley grey hair. When he reported what he learned about Louis's powers to the council, the freedom he was used to would vanish. Louis would fight and struggle against the restrictions, but it was the law. 

How was Bentley meant to tell the young man this? Louis didn't have magic; he was magic. Everything about how he used and danced with his magic showed it. Magic was laced into his bones and blood like barbed wire and tightened with iron bolts and silver lace. His children fed from it.  His mage children soaked in the extra magic, and his children similar to Louis, bathed in the comfort of an older creature like them. 

The council trusted him with James. They trusted him with Billy, who had already bonded with Willis. Would they trust him with Louis, who was already an adult? James, Billy, and Louis were not mages; they were Familiars. 

Familiars served as a power source for magic. They could be many kinds of creatures. However, the most dangerous were those born into humans. Being human gave them an extra kick of stubbornness. It made it harder to control them. It also meant they had to be treated with a lot more respect and care. Human familiars were more powerful. It also counted as murder if a mage drained them during a time of stress or experiment. No mage liked killing their familiar, but it took on more weight with a person.

On top of all that, for a mage to control a familiar's power and make it their own, it required a mage to make the familiar obey them. A true familiar should live to serve their master, should be dependant on their master, and should be all the things that in any normal human relationship would be toxic. All without breaking the familiar's spirit, or else its powers would fade. A human familiar took a lot more work to look after its emotions and prove you care and respect it.

The fire burned in Louis with a childhood of emotional neglect fueled distrust and stubbornness that somehow both made him vulnerable to someone taking advantage of him and harder to tame. The brat did everything in his power to infuriate Bentley but please his children.

Louis's parents had his future planned out, but Louis didn't know what he wanted to do. Rebellion was difficult with no aim. 

James didn't show any signs of rebellion, and Billy and Willis would fight once they got to that stage. Bentley was fully prepared to take them over his knee to prove he was the one in control. The three youngest weren't old enough yet for teenage rebellion to be a concern. Their magic hadn't settled either but Raoul was showing signs of being a familiar.  The council suspected it when they gave him Raoul and with how he fluttered around Louis, it made sense. 

Bentley had placed a temporary claim on him to prevent people from looking at him like a snack. Young familiars were valuable, and he wouldn't let anyone touch them. 

"We need to talk," Bentley said, kissing Louis on the forehead as a good morning greeting. The sun was warm on their skin and the sky was clear and blue. Louis pressed into the kiss, eyes suspicious at the action but needing the affection. 

"You mean about the water stuff?" Louis said warily, his ocean-blue eyes glittering with the magic. He had more potential than some had in their little finger and Bentley's chest tightened with it. 

Bentley nodded with a reassuring smile. He led him out on the patio and sat them down on the sun loungers; the air smelled of the damp plants. "Elemental bending is an uncommon skill to have without instruction. Can you only use water?" Bentley flicked some water with his fingers over the boy.