No one answers the door, so I barge right in only to be met with darkness.
"Lorna?" Something in the air feels out of place. My instincts study the parameters of the tiny room of a house before I notice some half-burnt scraps beside the fireplace. The ashes surrounding the written message, glaring up at me, are still warm. Only the edges of the tiny scroll of paper were bitten off by flames, leaving the words distinguishable in black ink.
I gently tuck it in my bosom because I have a sensation that it is not safe to read it here. This is the moment I notice a raven's feather float through the open crack in the window of the room. The gleam of its edges become invasive and foreboding. I attempt to hide myself behind a changing screen. I have seen this spell before. My mother used it for many years to travel to places without the fanfare of being noticed. Who would suspect a feather tossing in the wind? I count the seconds before the feather lands gracefully onto the unswept floorboards. A crawling rise of onyx grows into a woman's form. Fully expecting to see mother, I am surprised to acknowledge it is someone else entirely. Tangled and thick curls, tied in green, waterfall down her back; her Jade eyes are cold and menacing. This must be the high priestess Morgana, the one Merlin once spoke of. A burn blooms in my bones as I slink back to evade her knowledge of my presence. I don't bother to think, only to watch in secret as Morgana sits at the table. I hear an unsuspecting hum of a melody. Julah. She must be warned of the danger. I don't care if I hate her; the woman's life is at stake. Before I can bolt for the door or even cry out to the girl, the door opens, and Julah speaks.
"Grandmother will be right with you." Anger. Pure anger makes my other emotions writhe. This means that Julah is in league with the witch. The exchange so familiar, so normal, that even her grandmother...
"I don't like to be kept waiting," Morgana snaps. "Where is she anyway?"
"A' visitin the court physician; despite the queen's wishes, she still enjoys a visit with him now and again."
"Regina, nor I, believe that to be wise. There is too much risk as it is," Morgana picks up a pink and yellow apple from the bowl in front of her and takes a bite. The crunch of its flesh unsettles me. "The plan is almost complete. All that is needed now is the heart of the one she loves most, and we cannot allow Emrys or Gaius to destroy everything."
"Don't a' be worryin," Julah shakes the dust from her cloak. "I assume the Evil one will be a'lurkin around here for the princess then."
"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Morgana smirks, but the conversation is interrupted by footsteps from outside. Julah, from noticing Morgana's defensive stance, checks to see who was approaching.
"It's only grandma." Panic erupts in my heart. Betrayal. Grief. And they all crumble and crash together all at once. I hold my breath and cover my lips with my hand. The gravity becomes too real for me as the kind and sweet mentor I have come to know and love enters the home.
"Ah, old woman, it is about time you showed up." Morgana's eyebrows lift in jest.
"Appologies, my lady," Lorna croaks. "I was detained by special matters."
"Whatever." Morgana rolls her eyes and rips another wedge of flesh from her apple. "I am here to gather a report."
"You may tell the queen that the both of you will have two kingdoms' adoration soon enough." I notice the frown on the old woman's face; she looks to be in pain. Julah just smiles in excitement as her grandmother's answer pleases the high priestess.
YOU ARE READING
Savage Ends(Permanently Discontinued)
Fanfiction"Overbearing" is only a single way to describe my mother. Her bedazzled war-gowns say a lot about her, but so does her decision to curse our people and the citizens of Camelot. The prim and proper princess you imagine I am, exists, but is hidden...
