It took them three days of practicing and learning magic all night and sleeping every day for them to master and fully comprehend basics of magic which left both Ty and Valentine completely worn out, but when the Elemental told them to take the day off on their fourth day of training it’s words left them both speechless with surprise. They had mastered the basics of spell casting without words and were learning more complicated spell forms when it had told them to take a breather from their lessons. Exhausted and not having the energy to put up much of an argument with their teacher they obeyed, it was going to be their last night at the Coven before they were going to head towards the Council anyways, so they needed to prepare for the trek. Of course neither of them had even the slightest idea where to find the Council; Valentine did know someone on the other hand who supposedly knew not only where it was but how to get in unnoticed. Without any tutelage that night the two young men decided to head to the nearby city. In hopes of finding the contact that supposedly had the information they needed to achieve their goals.
Spokane wasn’t much to look at for the most, it had a small town feel about it with a less then popular nightlife, it was a small city according to Valentine, but Ty was still taken aback by the sheer size of it all. He had only seen pictures of cities until today, and none of those beautiful pictures could catch the life that a real city seemed to exude from its very presence. From the lights; they were so bright and on many occasions very high that they hid the stars, to the constant lively activity even in the late hours, cars, people, animals, all this life and movement left Ty speechless and in awe at such a large manmade creation. Valentine led the way to the mall on the north side of the city; he told Ty that they needed to get some appropriate clothes before meeting the contact. Again Ty had only heard of malls and seen a few pictures; nothing could have prepared him for what he encounters there. Brightly lit stores with even brighter colored displays, there also seemed to be hundreds of people walking around talking, laughing, pointing, and all seeming to be doing nothing too important other then speaking to one another and seeing what the store displays offered.
The displays, were something that Ty really enjoyed as he passed them he had to stop at each one and look at all that they showcased, the displays had so many things, phones that looked like something out of science-fiction books, clothes like nothing Ty’s mother had ever given him. Pink pant’s, bright yellow shirts, and clothes for small animals. All of this was so new to Ty, and he felt that he could thrive in this new strange world that he now found himself in. Both men and women seemed to be eyeing him, though he was not sure why. He was not sure that is until he finally noticed his own reflection in a display window. Ty’s clothes were a horribly disgusting mess, being the same thing he had been wearing when he first encountered Valentine. Once white, his shirt was now stained with dirt and grass though the servants back in the caves had tried their best to clean it, and what looked to be fading blood stains, and his jeans were in no better condition either. Quickly Ty caught up to Valentine who was patiently waiting outside of a store with the name Buckle in big bold dark red letters above the entrance.
Buckle had so many clothes throughout the store that Ty decided it was best to just let Valentine decide what would work best for both of them. The sales person, a man who was skinny and friendly with a nametag that said his name was Alex immediately tended to them when he caught sight of Valentine entering the store. Like the prince he was Valentine ordered Alex from one end of the store to another, each time he came back he had another piece of clothing that was new if not alien to Ty. A second sales person had come over when Alex had started gathering clothes and she was now buried under them with no more than her legs and shoes poking out of the pile that was supposed to be a person. When he was satisfied with his choices both from himself and Ty, Valentine ordered the sales person buried under the clothes to place the clothing in a large dressing room where he and Ty were left to try on the new clothes.
“I can’t wait to see those dreadful things you’re wearing disposed of” Valentine said still in prince mode after dealing with the sales people.
Ty rolled his eyes and smirked at him, with a bow he replied “As your highness commands so shall it be.” He then took off his shirt and proceeded to try on different shirts starting a good pile and bad pile in accordance with approval or disapproval of Valentine. After twenty minutes of trying on the shirts he finally ran out of shirts to try on. The whole time Valentine had picked out his own clothes and tossed the ones he didn’t like into Ty’s bad pile occasionally going through the bad pile and trying on the same clothes he had seen unfit for Ty to wear, though he always placed it back on the pile when he saw that it did not suit him either.
The jackets were next; there were jackets of all different colors, cuts, and materials. Again he was lost as to which ones to try on so Ty looked to Valentine as to which ones he thought would work best for him. Valentine settled with a black and bronze colored leather bomber style jacket for Ty and a black leather motorcycle jacket with a dark green hood for himself. Sorting through the remaining clothes quickly both of them were dressed in new clean clothes after having been in the store for a couple hours. The sales people rang up the clothes, and then eagerly took the credit card Valentine offered them. Valentine wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to them before walking out with the refreshed looking Ty, leaving a still shaky salesman to make calls and see to other customers who had gathered to watch as Valentine seemed to turn clothes shopping into so new sport.
When Ty went to grab his clothes he wore into the store Valentine shook his head grabbing the clothes and tossing them in a waste bin and told Ty he would explain once they were on their way to their next destination. Once outside and in a waiting cab Valentine explained “That is a painful reminder of the situation that you do not need. I know you want them, because they remind you of home, but anything that is going to distract you from what we need to do you need to remove from your surroundings. We have an important job to do and neither of us can afford anything distracting us in any way. Plus those clothes were completely ruined. Now we are headed to my favorite stylists to take care of your hair. It is defiantly time to update that mop on your head to something much more stylish and attractive.” He messed Ty’s hair and smiled playfully as they rode in the cab to yet another mall downtown.
Half an hour of describing in great detail to the stylist exactly what he wanted Ty’s hair to look like; Valentine went over to another stylist in the salon and got to work on telling her what he wanted for his beautiful shoulder length black hair. An hour of cutting, dying and styling that Ty secretly enjoyed left him surprised as he looked in the mirror, though he had already seen his shocking purple glowing eyes he wasn’t prepared for the overall look. His brown and strawberry blonde hair now had highlights and low lights that mingled with his already existing colors and added a whole new definition and depth to it, cut short while being all spiked up in a rather attractive and modern style, and in the front above his right eye about an inch in width was dyed the same purple as his eyes. He looked like a completely different person, between the white button up shirt with the black and bronze colored jacket over it, to the acid washed dark jeans and the black sneakers; it all looked like some model from a clothing magazine, not like a homeschooled boy who had never met another person or even been out of the woods their entire life.
Valentine appeared in the mirror next to him with his normal smirk and asked Ty “So what is your personal opinion about the changes?”
Ty was still staring at his own reflection as he replied “I look absolutely awesome! Who would ever have guessed I could ever look like this?”
Valentine laughed and turned Ty’s face so that Ty was looking at Valentine instead of himself “I wanted your opinion on how I looked dummy.”
Ty laughed at him then stood up motioning Valentine to do the same so he could take in whole new look, his black hair was no longer shoulder length but j
ust past his ears smooth and shiny, with a streak of green swooping through the bangs over his left eye the same color as his eyes. Valentine had soft but attractive facial features, with perfectly formed eyebrows and a narrow neck, which led to shoulders that seemed both slim and strong all at once. He was wearing a grey t-shirt with some bands name on it, with his new motorcycle jacket on top of that. His legs were covered with simple skin tight black jeans and he was wearing some kind of dark grey designer shoe. The overall look was stunning and very handsome, but not wanting to boost the princes’ ego any more than it already was Ty just said almost offhandedly “Not too bad,” and walked out with Valentine scowling behind him following.
Exiting the salon Ty bumped into a man knocking him over, and he quickly helped him up and while doing so looked into his eyes. The man was somewhere in his forties with medium brown hair tied in a long ponytail and a short multicolored beard with flecks of grey and strawberry blond throughout it. As he saw Ty’s face and eyes he froze, and his blue-green eyes seemed to fill with sadness and fear before he ran to the elevators and out of sight. Ty and Valentine looked at each other quizzically and shrugged before heading down the escalator and out the doors into the fresh night air that smelled of car exhaust and many different forms of life. Neither Ty nor Valentine gave the incident with the stranger another thought.
They opted to walk to the meeting place, since it was only a short walk away into the large park. Valentine enjoyed explaining to Ty all the different things in the park like the metal statues, and large colorfully lit circus tent skeleton looking thing that was on the other side of the park, but his favorite thing was the old merry-go-round that he was insistent on riding. While Ty was riding the merry-go-round for a third time Valentine went off where he could keep an eye on him while making a call on his cell phone.
“Meet me in twenty at the usual place in the park, and make sure that you come alone. My plan is almost to its most crucial point, and I would be very upset with anyone who may try to mess it up. Do you understand?” Valentine in a deep masculine tone threatened the person on the other end of the call before hanging up and rejoining Ty for his last time around.
Ty still laughing and smiling like a small child followed Valentine as he was lead through the park to where they were supposed to meet Valentines contact. It took them little time to reach the spot that Valentine had previously appointed for their meeting, and when they reached it, it was still deserted. They had a few more minutes left before the contact was meant to arrive and Valentine wanted to make sure Ty acted appropriately around the contact.
“You need to come across as I did in Buckle and with the stylists, stern, demanding and powerful. Also I know you hate when people call you by your full first name but you must use it for the time being. A shortened name gives off an air of friendliness that we cannot afford to express with this particular type of individual. So the whole time we are here you must be addressed as Prince Ahti of the Coven, Engaged to Prince Valentine Wolstencroft.” Valentine explained to him emphasizing the importance of these details with his fierce gaze.
Giving him the same ‘I am better then you’ look he had seen him use on the sales people and stylist’s, and in a voice almost perfectly royal and pretentious sounding Ty replied “I understand perfectly Prince Valentine Wolstencroft of the Coven, and I will not let you down no matter what circumstance may arise during this abundantly important meeting.” Punctuating each word with authority.
Valentine surprised at how well Ty was able to pull off the correct changes smiled “So shall it be, Prince Ahti Wolstencroft of the Coven, soon to be my husband.” He winked when he said the last part.
The contact showed up on time and alone as far as anyone could see, he bowed to the two apparently regal young men and with a polite gesture to Valentine he said “An honor as always me lord, and who be this new friend?”
Valentine standing straight and looking down his nose was about to answer but was cut off to his surprise by Ty “I am Prince Ahti Wolstencroft of the Coven, engaged to Prince Valentine Wolstencroft of the Coven, and I believe it is rude of you to ask for my name without first presenting me with your own name.” He said looking down his nose at the homeless looking man.
Bowing deeper and with a now shaky voice the man replied “My name is Jonathan your highness, please forgive me I meant no disrespect or rudeness, I don’t mean to be disrespectful to you in any way me lords.” Fear reverberating in his words.
Nodding his head as if in approval to the man’s apology Ty answered “Rudeness aside” he paused letting those words sink in for dramatic flair before continuing “we have need of you, so you’re lucky and shall live for the moment, but do not allow it to happen again or no matter your usefulness you may hold to Prince Valentine or myself I will not hesitate to kill you, slowly and painfully.”
Backing up at the threat Jonathan stopped bowing and without looking either prince in the eye asked “What can I do for you my lords? What information do you need from someone as lowly as me?”
“I need to know where the Council is located, and if you can give me the information I seek I will be more than happy to pay you whatever boon you see fit to ask of me.” Valentine said sternly.
Jonathan was shocked by the answer he was given but did his best to inform Valentine without mumbling “It is located in New York, no one knows exactly where their head quarters are located. Once you get there though they might take notice of you and you could possibly be killed on site your highness. Not that I doubt your power me lords.” Shaking still as he backpedaled verbally and physically.
Suddenly a shadow moved from behind the man and the Coven’s king stepped forward “What business do you have with the Council my son?” his voice like two boulders crashing into one another.
Shocked but able to keep his composure with some effort Valentine replied to his father coldly “That is my business not yours. Now if you will excuse me father…”
He was cut off by the king as he roared in anger and jumped at Valentines throat prepared to kill him. Unfortunately for the king Ty had mentally erected a shield around the king stopping him in his tracks. Grabbing him by the arm Valentine dragged Ty who stumbled behind him as they ran as fast as possible away from the struggling king. They quickly found a cab as it was pulling away from the curb and pulled the woman out of the back of it and took her place as Valentine instructed the driver where to take them. After a forty-five minute drive they arrived at a small motel in the area that Valentine had informed Ty was Spokane Valley. Paying the cab driver several times the amount he was owed for the fare asking that he not mention to anyone that he had seen them, Valentine was assured by the man that he would stay quiet about seeing them or where he had dropped them off.
“It seems we will be leaving sooner than we had originally planned my friend” Valentine said putting on a very fake looking smile as the concern shone through in his eyes.
Ty sighed deeply “We will do what we must, and try to stay alive in the meantime in hopes of reaching your,” he paused thinking it over for a moment “our goals.”
Valentine retrieved a keycard from the clerk. He informed Ty that he had set the room up for them before coming to Spokane so that when they were ready to leave for the Council they would have all the stuff they would need for their journey. Not wanting the details on how Valentine had gotten a picture ID and passport for him Ty accepted the explanation and soon undressed and was asleep in his bed before long. Valentine stayed up making calls for a while before getting into his own bed and falling into a troubled yet deep sleep.
Chapter: 6
How do you keep the sun out?