Chapter 17: June

The next morning, the siblings were woken by their mother calling, “Max! You need to wake up! Breakfast will be ready soon!”

Max called from upstairs, “Coming, Mom!”

May’s eyes shot open. She saw her brother, naked, embraced in her arms.

“Good morning, sis,” he said with a smile.

“Oh God; last night we really did it, didn’t we?” she whispered.

Max nodded, “Any regrets?”

She paused and thought, “Maybe, when it all sinks in later.”

Putting on his pajamas, Max exited his sister’s room. Instead of finding himself in the hallway, he was in a large empty room, with a large roaring fireplace and two arm chairs next to it, facing each other.

In one chair was Henry. “Good morning, Maxwell!” he said with a smile.

The twelve-year-old returned the greeting with some trepidation.

“So, what was it like, fucking your sister?”

Max decided that now was not the time to show any weakness. “It was fantastic! Me being inside her felt too good for words. She made me come so hard.”

The sorcerer nodded. “I see.

“You need to get to breakfast, so I’ll make this quick. Instead of going to class, come to my room. I have a business deal for you.”

“I can’t see past the illusion. How can I get in?”

Henry stood up and placed his thumb on the shorter boy’s forehead. “You’ll also be able to get in. You’ll be able to see your sister sigils. It will only last for four hours, so don’t delay.”

Max nodded, “I’ll be there.”

He exited through the same door he’d entered, and found himself in his own bedroom.

Quickly dressing, Max walked down the hallway, heading for the stairs that led to the kitchen.

In front of him, the door opened. May, fully dressed, exited her room.

Her cheeks blushed a deep red. “Good morning,” she said softly.

“It certainly is,” he replied, with a wide grin. Instantly, he felt his dick go hard.

He leaned in and whispered, “Henry wants me to come to the room this morning.”

May nodded, “That’s not surprising.”

“He did something to me. He said it would allow me to see the door. He also said it’d let me see your sigils. What are sigils?”

She showed him the palms of her hands. “They are his marks of ownership. Only someone with magical talent, or magically enhanced can see them.”

He stared at the two glyphs for a moment, “I see.”

Just then, their mother called up the stairs. “Max! Your food is getting cold.”

“We’re coming mom.”

As they both came down the stairs, their mother started. “Oh, May, you’re here.”

She rushed to the dining table and set another plate and silverware for breakfast. She poured another glass of orange juice. “I’ll need to fry up some more eggs,” she said to herself.

“Don’t bother,” the sophomore said. “I’m fine with just some toast and juice.”

“Don’t be silly,” her mother reassured her. “It is so nice when you are here. It is no bother at all.

“I forget, dear, how do you like your eggs?”

May sighed, “Over easy.”

The brother and sister walked together to school. Max’s hand slipped into his sister’s, and she took it without thinking.

Max usually branched off to the left to get to his school, but since he was heading for the high school, he walked with her all the way.

They went to room E-14. This time Max saw through the illusion with no trouble.

On the door was a notice taped to it. It said: No Women Allowed.

May sighed, “I guess he wants to talk to you alone.”

The twelve-year-old nodded, “I suppose so.”

His sister kissed him, in a slightly more than sisterly way. “Good luck,” she whispered.

Gulping, he opened the door.

He found himself back in the room with the fireplace. Henry was sitting in the same seat as he was before. “Before you close the door, remove the sign,” he called.

Max nodded, and did as he was asked.

The sorcerer motioned at the seat facing him, “Please, join me, Maxwell.”

The twelve-year-old nodded and sat down.

“Before we go any farther, I want to do this for you. Close your eyes.”

Max did so.

After a few seconds, Henry said, “You can open your eyes now.”

When he did everything looked blurry.

Henry sighed, “Take off your glasses.”

“Hey! I can see!” Max exclaimed.

“When I first took over this body, Henry wore glasses too. I would not wish that handicap on anyone.”

The middle schooler nodded in gratitude, “Thank you, so much.”

“You are quite welcome.”

“What do you mean, ‘took over this body’?”

Henry shook his head. “May really hasn’t told you anything about me?”

“Not really; she said that she had to keep you secrets secret.”

The sorcerer nodded, “Her obedience does her credit. I will tell you more about myself later. Let’s just say that I am much older than I appear.”

Max nodded. He knew that there was something different about him. It now made sense.

Henry settled back in his chair. “You chose to fuck your sister. I appreciate your choice to do something that is pleasurable to you, but considered by most society to be deviant and sick.”

Max didn’t know if he had just been insulted or not, so he just nodded his head.

“I would like you to work for me,” said Henry.

That stunned him for a minute. “But I’m only twelve,” he finally said.

“A few hundred years ago, most boys started work at age eight, as an apprentice. By age twelve you’d be a journeyman.”

“But, what about school?” Max asked.

“You will learn more working for me than you ever will in public school.”

“You want me to be your apprentice?” he asked.

Henry shook his head, “Alas, no. You don’t have the knack your sister does. She is my apprentice, and I only take one apprentice at a time. But you will be in an environment rife with magic.

“What I want you to be is my seneschal. Do you know that is?”

Max shook his head.

“In medieval times, a lord with a large house would hire a steward who would look after his house maintenance and the staff. He was called a seneschal.”

“Sounds like a head butler,” said Max.

“In part, but I can assure you that there is a lot more than that. I can’t really tell you more until you agree.”

Henry produced a piece of paper and a pen, “This is a contract, like the one your sister signed.”

Max held up his hands, “Hold on, you want me to be your slave?”

“You will have to obey me, but there will be nothing sexual in our relationship. I’m not into boys.

“Plus, you have the option of ripping up this contract at any time, after a month trial period. I want you to give this job a fair try before you quit. I can tell you, none of my former seneschals have quit. They stayed with the job for life.

“I let my last seneschal go five years ago, amicably. He was more than pleased with my severance package. I believe he is still alive, if you want to talk to him.”

A month trial sounded fair to Max, “I’ll try it for a month.”

“Very good, here’s a pen.”

Max signed his name on the blank at the bottom of the page.

“Now prick your finger, and put a drop of your blood on the page.”

Like his sister before him, her pricked his finger with a straight pin. The blood moved across the page, like liquid mercury, and covered up his signature exactly.

“Now you’ve signed this document in blood. You belong to me now, Maxwell, mind, body and soul.”

“For a month,” the new seneschal added.

“That’s right. And for that month I make the rules. First rule: You will only address me as ‘Sir’ or ‘Master.’ Is that clear?”

Max nodded, “Yes, Sir.”

“Secondly, this thing with your sister ends now. May is my bitch, not yours. You will stay dressed when around all of my harem members. You won’t so much as get hard around them. You can beat off to your memories later.”

“You can do that?” the new slave whispered.

“You’ll see. I may give one or two of my harem to you for a night, but it will never be your sister.”

A tear trickled down his face, “So it’s back to a life of chastity and frustration.”

“I didn’t say that. I inevitably attract a group of servants to support me, besides my harem. Most of them are female. You will be in charge of them and they’ll be subject to your desires. They will be your slaves, second to me, of course.”

A smile crept across the twelve-year-old’s face. “I see.”

“Now, raise your hands, so they are even with your face.”

Max obeyed without thinking.

Henry closed his eyes for a minute then concentrated the boy’s hands. “You can put them down,” he said finally.

The boy looked at his palms, and saw the same sigils that had been on May’s.

“They are my stamp of ownership. If any other magic user were to meet you, they’d see your markings and know that you are my property, and not to mess with you.”

Max was not sure he liked being someone else’s property. He figured that he could quit if he did not like it.

“It also gives me the ability to bestow certain powers that you need to run this household.

“Let me show you around the house you will be caring for.”

Max looked around the empty room. “Where is this house located, anyway?”

“It is in a pocket dimension I made many years ago. It was one of the hardest magic spells I have ever worked on, but it was worth it.”

The twelve-year-old’s mind reeled. “So, we are in another reality?”

“In one way of thinking; the basic rules of physics still apply though.”

Henry led him to the only door leading out. “This is just the entry area. Here is the main part of the house:”

The door opened to the long hallway.

Max gazed down the length. “Wow! How long is it?”

“It is infinite. Of course, I only use a few hundred of the rooms. Most of its length is wasted.”

He tried to grasp the concept. “What are those glowing numbers above the doors?”

“That is another gift from your sigils. Most people, including my harem, do not see them. All the doors look identical to them. Room 1R is my bedroom. ‘R’ refers to the right side of the hallway, of course.”

Henry took him inside and showed him the poshly appointed bedroom with a king-sized four post bed. He then led him back to the hallway.

“You now have the ability to switch rooms. Look at the door we just left, now think of any number and add an ‘L’ to it.”

“Seven hundred and seventy-seven L,” said Max, with his eyes closed.

“Open your eyes,” said the sorcerer.

When he did, the door looked the same, but the number at the top of it said ‘777L’. He tried to open it, the knob would not turn. “It won’t open,” he said.

“Only doors that I am using have rooms behind them. It takes quite a bit of energy to create a room.

“Once you stop desiring that door, it will return to its original position.”

Looking up, Max saw the door number had changed back to ‘1R’.

“One room that I have created is room ‘one billion L’. Bring it up, please.”

Without closing his eyes this time, the boy brought the door in front of him. The number 1,000,000,000L glowed on top of the door.

They walked inside to find a cavernous, but empty room. The candles in the sconces glowed with a faint light. Henry closed the door behind them.

When they exited, the two found themselves in the hallway. Rooms ‘1,000,000,001L’ and ‘999,999,999L” flanked the door they had just left. The hall was lit by candles on both sides of them for a hundred yards. Beyond that was darkness.

“We are now twenty billion feet from the entrance, or over 3.7 million miles.”

Fear and panic crossed Max for a second, “But we can get back, right?”

“Of course; you can summon any door, enter, and then have it return to its original position.

“But imagine if you could not see the room numbers. You entered on the right side but exited on the left. You don’t know which direction leads to the exit and which leads even deeper. Even with that knowledge, you are farther away from the exit than you could ever walk. Your whole existence will consist of walking this monotonous corridor until you die.”

Max shuddered.

“I have left men here for ten minutes, and they had crumbled like a wet taco. They had given up any secret, promised anything to get out of this endless hall. A day in this hall could drive a man to suicide.”

Again, Max shuddered, “Please, let’s go back, Master.”

“Quite right; no need to stay here. Summon room ‘2R’, Maxwell.”

Gratefully, he did so.

Once inside, Max saw a room that looked like a banquet hall, featuring a long table with chairs on both sides. “The kitchen is over to the left,” said Henry. “This will be one of your main areas of control.”

“Cooking? I don’t know anything about that!”

“No, but you will oversee people who do.”

“What people? I am the only one working for you here,” said Max.

“Not quite; follow me,” said Henry.

The master led his new slave down the hall. “I told you that making this house was one of my greatest works. What I am about to show you is my greatest. It took me over a decade to make.”

They stopped in front of room ‘5L’.

“Do you know what a homunculus is?”

Max shook his head.

“Well you are about to meet one.”

Inside was a large bedroom with a large bed in the middle. A loveseat, mural and other knickknacks made it look like a lived-in space. Seated on the bed, reading the newspaper, was a young lady with brown hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a black French maid’s outfit.

“Max, meet June.”

The girl started, “Oh, you’re finally here,” she said with a faint British accent. She stood up and walk over to greet them.

As she walked, Max marveled on how much she looked like his sister, though not quite. Her face was too round, and her mouth was too wide. “You made her?” he whispered to Henry.

“Almost five hundred years ago.”

“Four hundred and eighty-seven years, to be exact,” said June.

“She looks so real,” said Max, as he tentatively reached out and touched her.

The homunculus reached out and shook his hand. “I am very pleased to meet you. I have been told that you are to oversee me.”

“Did you always look like this, like my sister?”

“Oh, no! I thought it would please you if I took this form. I’ve never met May, but I did my best from Master’s description.”