Roman watched his mother and Virgil converse, taking small bites, just in case if his mother asked him a question. Queen Rusul looked at Virgil and asked, "Virgil, is there anything else you do then blacksmithing?" Virgil swallowed a bite of his food, and replied, "Well, I am a renowned trainer for all of the spell-bound weapons and armor. One of the best in the kingdom, Your Majesty." The queen raised her eyebrows and looked at Roman, a gleam in her eyes. Roman does not like 'the gleam'. 

The queen looked back at Virgil and gave off a smile. "Virgil Black, how would you like to be the swords trainer for Prince Roman? I'm sure he would be enlightened by your expertise in spell-bound weaponry." Roman's eyes widened, and he side-glanced Virgil, seeing a shocked expression. Virgil shook out of his shock, and politely put down his fork, rolling up to show his spell tattoos. "Your Majesty, you are asking of something very dangerous and taboo in the rest of the kingdom. Are you sure that you want to appoint me as the prince's trainer? I could do just swordsmanship and avoid the controversy, Your Majesty," Virgil informed, showing a bit of anxiety.

Working as a spell-bound blacksmith is a very dangerous job, and many people are killed due to the taboo and controversy around being a sorcerer. Queen Rusul hummed in acknowledgment and nodded. "Yes, Virgil Black, I would like you to be Prince Roman's sword trainer if you so wish." Virgil nodded, and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. I would like to be Prince Roman's trainer, as long as the kingdom does not know." The Queen nodded, then stopped talking the rest of the time, letting Roman's father ask Virgil some questions about his family and how his mother was doing. Virgil glanced over at Roman, mouthing towards Roman when the dinner would be done, also mouthing that he wanted to talk after dinner. 

After an hour, dinner was disclosed, letting Virgil leave the room last, but, catching up with Roman, bringing him back to the blacksmithing shop. "I can't train you," Virgil stated, making Roman's jaw drop. "What- But- you- you made a promise! To the Queen, no less! You can't just back out now!" Roman exclaimed, Virgil's safety coming in mind instead of his own. Strange. 

"It's dangerous to be trained by a spell-bound trainer. The public would be more than furious. Only a few towns would be fine with you being trained by a spell-bound blacksmith," Virgil said, picking up some pig-iron, throwing it into the melter. Roman's mouth opened and shut, surprised by Virgil's sudden boldness. He must've been lying to appease the Queen. Almost everyone does that nowadays. Roman looked down at his hands, thinking of a way to get Virgil to continue with the training. To be honest, Roman was looking forward to Virgil training him, wanting to spend more time with him and to see his swordsmanship. Roman looked back at Virgil, rotating a large cauldron that had red-hot molten metal in it, looking like Virgil could burn himself if he would as much as touch the outside of cauldron. But, he wasn't, using a spell that rotated the molten metal, his right hand glowing purple as he used the spell. 

Roman opened his mouth and begun to protest. "That is not fair to the Queen,  Virgil. The public does not need to know. Hell, we can refuse to let people in at a certain time so that we can get the training in. At least give it a shot, Virgil," Roman said, sounding like he was border-line begging for Virgil to train him. The darker male raised his eyebrows at Roman, trying to find any aspect of lying in his eyes, resulting in none. Virgil sighed, placing down a sword that was in the works. He bit his lip, grinding it in between his teeth, thinking over his possibilities. What would be the better option? He was not given direct orders by the Queen, King, or Prince, so, on a technicality, he could flat out say no, but, would that be the wise answer? 

Virgil looked Roman in the eyes, eyes glowing with his arms, legs, and hands. "Prince Roman. What you are asking for is something very dangerous, and, once you go in, you can't go back. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself to the life of spell-bound?" Virgil asked, glaring down at the Prince. Virgil was about to put a starting spell scripture into his body, and, once that happened, he can't turn back. Roman blinked, watching as a lavender purple engulfed Virgil, weighing his options. Virgil was willing to do this, but, Roman didn't want to be spell-bound. He read the repercussions it had on the human body, making him frown. Virgil watched Roman's eyes, sighing, losing his glow. "That's what I thought. That will be a no in spell-bound training. I can do regular sword training and how to make regular weapons, and that is all I can offer," Virgil said, turning back to his sword, took a mallet, bringing it down on the metal to flatten it.

Roman frowned, and said, "Deal. We can talk about spell-bound stuff later. I'll be in my study if you want to continue talking."

~^~

After that conversation, the two boys have not spoken about spell-binding, even though Roman had several questions. He was reading up on spell-binding, every single book he could get his hands on, which wasn't many, taking notes. The language was familiar to him due to it being ancient Greek lettering, being taught how to read some of it. Roman went back to basic lettering and sentence sequence, noticing that many of the spells that Virgil had were related to healing. 'Odd. I would have figured that his spells would be around lifting objects and heating them, but, I suppose this makes more sense, due to his family history and past experiences.' Roman thought to himself, taking notes on the tolls that experience can do to the spellcasters' body and manipulate the spells based on age and wisdom. 

Roman's eyebrows furrowed, reading over a peculiar sentence. 'All people who are spell-bound must find a successor, otherwise, that magic is lost forever and will go to the dragons, whether it be a Dragon Witch or a regular dragon.' "What the actual hell...?" Roman questioned to himself, writing that particular sentence down, circling it to show emphasis on his confusion. He pushed away from the desk, rubbing his eyes, sighing softly. He wanted to understand this spell-bound thing, but, if he can't understand something as simple as the origins, then he can forget even trying to master a spell-bound sword.

Roman frowned when he heard a soft knock on his door, grumbling a come in, hunching back over his notes and book. Virgil's head poked in, eyes softening at the disheveled look, but, was quite worried from the stressed atmosphere. "Prince Roman, it's Virgil," he spoke softly, causing Roman to look up quickly, a glimmer in his eye. Maybe Virgil could clear some stuff up, but, that would ruin the surprise. He'll ask Patton later when he comes back from a council meeting that he filled in for the Queen and King that was held in a different country. Roman put away his notes and books, turning towards Virgil, a strained smile coming across his features. "Virgil, a pleasure seeing you. How can I help you?" Roman asked, making Virgil raise a brow, crossing his arms. "The better question is how can I help YOU, Prince Roman?" Virgil shot back, making Roman sigh. "Roman is just fine, Virgil. And, to answer your first question, I don't need help, I'm doing just fine. I was just about to take a break," Roman said, even though he was lying. 

Roman stood up, gesturing for Virgil to follow him. "Let us go fence or ride the horses together. I want to do something physical," Roman said, not giving an option to not hang out with him for a bit. Virgil glanced at Roman's desk, recognizing the books that were tucked away. Roman was trying to educate himself. Virgil's heart tightened at that, knowing that, eventually, Roman will seem himself ready to take on the challenge of being spell-bound. "How about horse riding? I wanted to go to a village today and grab some materials that I would usually grab when I'm in the village," Virgil suggested, making Roman nod, eager to get out of the castle.

Virgil leads the way to the stables, quite familiar with the castle now, as it had been about five weeks. Virgil hummed softly as he opened the stable for Storm and Cornelius, both making a noise of happiness to get out and stretch their legs for the day. Virgil brought out Roman's horse, grabbing his red stained-leather saddle and reins, placing them in Roman's arms. "You know how to set up your saddle, right? Or, do the stable boys do it for you?" Virgil teased, grabbing Storm's black leather saddle and reins.

Roman rolled his eyes, making a 'pft' sound at Virgil's sarcasm. "Of course I know how to saddle up, how would I have snuck out of the castle so many times?" Roman quickly shut his mouth, eyes wide as he so easily spilled his secret. Virgil looked over to see if he was serious and laughed at the face Roman had. "Pft- haha, little Prince is a bad boy! Who would've known?" Virgil teased, buckling up the underbelly and hopping onto Storm's back. Roman pouted at the teasing, grumbling curses under his breath as he finished buckling the saddle down, hopping onto his horses back. Virgil smirked, and squeezed the sides of Storm, getting into a nice trot. Roman yelled after him, scrambling to follow after him quickly, not quite sure where he was going.

~^~

Roman and Virgil were in a tiny town, named Kriosten, Roman believed, Virgil briefly mentioning his best friend that lived here, Janus "Deceit" Tront. Roman had heard about Janus, or, as he preferred to be called, Deceit. He was a very powerful sorcerer, but, he wasn't spell-bond like Virgil was. Roman followed Virgil, hands behind his back as people were whispering, bowing or doing a curtsey whenever he crossed paths with a man or woman. He could hear them talking about Virgil, which irked him. Why were they talking about someone that never really talked to anybody else unless spoken to? Roman does suppose it might be how he holds himself and what he wears, but, he can't help it. 

Roman watched as Virgil stopped at a cottage that had a sign hanging from the side. 'Snake's Potions and Poisons' is what it read, causing a shiver to run down Roman's spine. Why did Virgil's friend have to be so... weird?

Roman was snapped out of his thoughts when Virgil opened the door, gesturing for Roman to enter the cottage. Roman glanced around the front room, seeing variations of color liquids that lined shelves, all in a variety of bottles. Tall, short, wide, thin, some black, some blue. What could each of them mean? Roman picked up a glowing red potion, reading the description. 

'Want someone to fall in love with you? Use this potion in another liquid or food to help them ingest this bitter liquid and be around for the desired effects.'

Roman's eyes widened as he read this. Do people believe in this stuff? Does it work? Many questions ran through his head when a voice cut it all off, making him whirl around to see a man in a bowler hat and cape, one side of his face scarred with burns, a green and brown eye staring at him as he spoke, sounding menacing and scary. 

"Virgil, how may I help you?"

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