Coming Home

Chapter 11

I watched Morgana move down the aisle, shelving books as she went. Her dark, curly hair fell down her back and shone in the sunlight streaming in through the window. Shit. I didn't need feelings for anyone right now. She had her own things to worry about, and I had to worry about Arthur. What they both needed was to adjust to modern life. Sighing, I checked in and grabbed a cart to start shelving books as well.

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She walked around the back part of the store taking inventory of the books. Her shift was almost over. Merlin's had just started. It was one of the few days in the week where her schedule was not the same. She finished up taking inventory and helping customers, and took the back door out.

Morgana walked down the street to the local nursery, list in hand. She grabbed a cart and pushed it around the store, looking for the things she would need. Henbane had the highest priority in the spell she was casting. Spotting the white flowers, she made her way over and picked up the small, potted bush and continued browsing as she picked up various plants: green hellebore with its familiar rounded, green petals; wormwood with its feathery leaves; hemlock with its small white flowers; and finally valerian with its thin leaves. When she was done, she continued to browse gathering up other flowers and seeds. Nothing extravagant, just enough to make her room remind her just a little bit more of her time with Morgause. When she was done, she paid and walked home.

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It was dinner time and Arthur and I were cooking together. Morgana had come home with a few potted plants and was setting them up in her room, so for today, it was just me and Arthur.

I read out the instructions to Arthur and watched as he grabbed and mixed ingredients accordingly. He was getting better at working with the appliances, save for the occasional mishap or freak out. I mean, he'd come far from when he'd first arrived.

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Morgana was setting up the materials she needed for the poultice. She cut a five stems from the henbane, the main component of her mixture. From her green hellebore, she plucked three flowers and a single stem from the wormwood. She had left her valerian out of the pot and cut off one of the larger roots. She would have loved to use mandrake as well but didn't want to risk Merlin hearing its scream. She placed all the ingredients into her bowl and began to mash them to a paste. Grabbing a cheese cloth, she spooned the thick mixture into the fabric and tied the top with string. Finally, she took a clump of flowers and leaves from the hemlock. Her eyes glowed as the juice extracted itself from the flowers and soaked itself into the cloth. Morgana left the pouch in the sun to dry and cleaned up her mess with a whisper.

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It was quiet around the table as we ate. It was like that most days. We didn't have much to discuss as there wasn't really much left to talk about. I had discussed the fall of Camelot with Arthur and, later, Morgana but I couldn't discuss anything that happened later. They didn't need to know about it and I didn't want to talk about it. Truth be told, they also needed time to process everything that had happened since they arrived.

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She watched Merlin slowly eat. Those pale, slender fingers, the mop of dark hair covering his blue eyes. God, how she longed to dull those eyes, to break those fingers.

The poultice was almost done. She just needed to enchant it and then place it under his pillow.

I miss you Morgause. Thank you for all you have taught me.