Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – The Penthouse

Ding! The private elevator chimed, signalling that it had come to a stop at our destination, the topmost floor of the Skytower. Once here, the elevator doors slid open with the smoothest of motions, revealing the spacious living area of one of the most expensive penthouse apartments in the entire city.

Although it appeared sleek and simple in its modern design aesthetic, a closer inspection of the living area would reveal that only the highest level of thought and care went into its creation. From the pristine marble tiles that lined the floor, to the extravagant white sofas positioned in the centre of the space, and even the priceless works of art that adorned the walls, everything in the room was purposefully arranged by the best interior designers money could buy.

"Woah, this is amazing!" Hannah gasped as she ran out of the elevator to marvel at the opulent display of unapologetic wealth all around her.

Overcome by the selection of luxurious sights, unlike any she had seen before, the young woman spun on the spot. Her deep brown eyes flickered with wonder from one piece of outlandishly priced decor to the next, all the while causing the short black locks of her hair and the blue plaid length of her skirt to twirl in the air with her every motion.

Like me, Hannah was still dressed in the uniform of our school, the Caellas Academy for Elite Young Arcanists, where we had just come straight from. However, unlike me, she was wearing the girls’ uniform, which consisted of a navy blue plaid skirt, a lighter blue button-up shirt, and a black tie. All of which hung loosely from her slender and petite body. 

Because of this poor fit, it was quite apparent that the young woman was uneasy and inexperienced with wearing such a prestigious uniform. In many ways, you could have said that she wasn’t wearing the clothes but instead that they were wearing her. Of course, this served as an indicator of her lesser heritage to our more harsh-tongued classmates, but I could not have cared less about such things. 

If anything, it made me think more of her, as unlike most of our egotistical peers, she wasn’t handed a place in the academy just because of who she shared blood with. No, she had to put in the hard work and effort to earn herself a place among the best and brightest of our generation. Someone with that kind of dedication was destined for a great future, making them a prime candidate for anyone seeking to forge connections that would pay off in the long term. 

After only a few short seconds, Hannah’s wonder-fueled spinning slowed to a stop, but this only came about because she laid her eyes upon the greatest of the sights that this room had to offer, one that took her breath away completely. After straightening her thick-rimmed glasses and tucking a few loose strands of her hair back behind her ears, the young woman found herself running over to the far wall. When she arrived there, the school bag that was slung over one of her shoulders fell to the ground as she stared out in amazement from the window, which made up the entire length of this wall.

Despite all the other attractions that my family’s wealth had bought and put on display within this room, none of them could ever come close to this utterly amazing view. From high atop my private residence, the skyline of the Flying City of Caellas stretched out across the horizon. Countless skyscrapers rose up from the streets below, where the millions of citizens that lived and worked in the city were housed. Above all these towering buildings stood two that reached even higher; the one we were currently in and the Starspire, from where the city was governed by the Council of Thirteen, a ruling body of thirteen unimaginably powerful archmages. 

Almost three kilometres separated these two buildings from one another, but this distance did nothing to diminish the grandeur that was the Starspire. To the simple-minded, it may have looked like the towering skyscraper was carved from raw gold and obsidian, but for anyone even remotely skilled in the arcane arts, it was clear that a powerful enchantment was crafted into its surface to create this effect. One that also slowly shifted its facade, repeating a set pattern that played out over the course of a year. 

"I knew you came from money, Alek. Almost all who attend the academy are, but I didn’t think your family was this rich. What do your parents do for a living?" Hannah asked, despite not turning her head away from the vista to look at me.

While the young woman may have left the elevator in a glee-filled hurry, my entry was far more casual. In fact, my pace was so relaxed that it was only as I answered her question that I finished making my way towards the window and stood beside her. "My mother owns and runs several properties within the city, but the majority of her money comes from being the last descendant of an old and powerful bloodline, whose name has long since fallen out of favour among the kingdoms of the earth. Although she is not poor by any standards, her wealth is still insignificant compared to that of my father, whose name you’re probably familiar with. I imagine there are few in the city who don’t know the name of the Archmage, Arthur Amonvar."

"You’re father’s one of the Thirteen?" Hannah practically shouted as she turned to stare at me with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. "And not just any, but Archmage Amonvar, the Warden Arcanum, arguably one of the more important council seats. Wait, isn’t he rather..." The young woman trailed off, trying to think of a word that wouldn’t be considered rude.

However, before she could think of that word, I could already assume the direction of her question. "Old? Yes, my father is quite ancient. In a few months, he’ll even be two hundred and thirty-eight."

"Wow, I had no idea you were so special." Hannah smiled at me as she said this, but it wasn’t the kind of hollow smile that was so often sent my way by those just trying to achieve renown through associating with someone of high standing. Instead, she was simply delighted to find this out, to find out what type of person I really was. "It speaks highly of you, Alek, that you don’t walk around the academy wearing your station on your sleeve like some of the more pompous scions of powerful families do. Actually…"

The young woman’s smile gave way to an expression of curiosity as she went on to ask. "You don’t even bear your father’s family name, do you? Is there a reason for that?"

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"If it’s alright with you, I’d rather we didn’t talk about my father. It's a topic I’m not all that fond of and, besides, we have more important things to do."

"Right, sorry, I shouldn’t pry into your personal life." Hannah apologised as she bent down and started rummaging through her school bag. "I was quite thrilled when you invited me over to study. Trading notes with someone whose family has been in the arcane arts for generations isn’t something I get to do all that often, or ever really."

"Nor, I with someone like you," My response caused the young woman to wince at the mention of someone like her, but my next few words surprised her greatly. "That being someone who has held her spot at the top of our class since we were first admitted into the academy, a little over two years ago. That is quite an achievement, Hannah. One that is much more impressive than simply being born to influential parents. Don’t let the viper pit that is our school ever get you down. You deserve to be here more than most. You are the one that is special.”

"I… I… I…" Hannah stammered upon hearing my compliment, no doubt unused to such things as she had most likely grown accustomed to having her efforts go unappreciated by our covetous peers. Trying her best to change the subject, the embarrassed young woman quickly pulled several of her textbooks out of her bag, but in her hurry, she failed to notice that something else had accidentally fallen out. "I’ve come prepared to cover whichever classes you want to go over, but I thought we could start with runic encoding since it's one of your weaker areas."

"By the looks of it, you’ve come prepared for something of an entirely different nature as well." A grin stretched across my lips as I bent down and picked up the unopened box of prophylactics that fell from her bag. "Condoms, huh? How mundane. Oh, is this why you made that stop on the way here, to buy condoms? And it’s a thirty pack too. Someone’s expecting to have quite a bit of fun, aren’t they?”

"Those aren’t… I didn’t… I just thought…" The young woman stammered, unable to finish a sentence as she blushed bright red.

Taking a single step closer, I asked her. "You just thought what?"

"I… I thought that since you kind of have a reputation around the academy for being a bit of a… womaniser, that it would be best if I was prepared for when you umm…" Hannah fumbled over her words as she tried her best to explain herself.

I took another step closer to her so that we were standing face to face and only separated by a foot at most. "Prepared for when I did what?"

"For when you made a move on me." The young woman couldn’t even look me in the eyes as she spoke. "Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a slut or anything like that, I’m still a virgin. It’s just that all I’ve been doing these past two years is studying and I… I… I…" 

With a gentle hand placed on her cheek, I turned her head so that she all but had to look me in the eyes. Like this, I let a few silent seconds pass and just stared deep into her rich chocolate brown eyes. 

"You wanted to have a little fun? There’s nothing wrong with wanting that." I said moments before I leaned in and kissed her.

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