Sorceress

Chapter 18

The sun streaming through my eyelids woke me up.  I lay in bed, my eyes closed, relishing the feel of the hot sun, the warmth of the blanket wrapped around me and the sound of birds chirping outside the window.  I stretched luxuriously.  My hand hit something, knocking it onto the floor.  Opening my eyes I leaned over the bed and peered down at a small leather bound book, wrapped with a purple ribbon.  The previous evening’s events came rushing back to me.  I leapt out of bed, stooping to pick up the book as I ran to my looking glass.  I stared hard at the reflection in front of me.  Something had to be different.  I had changed, I was sure of it.  My senses felt heightened, alive, as though I’d been running in sand and was now running on firmly packed earth.  Laying the book down, I stripped my clothes off.  Surely there was a mark, an indication of what had transpired the night before.  I ran my hands across my stomach, turning to run them across my bum.  Nothing, not a single thing.  The same face I had seen in the shop glass by moonlight weeks ago was the same one looking back at me.  I inched forward, bringing my face closer to the glass, staring hard at my face.  I blinked my eyes.  My reflection did not blink back.  I blinked again, watching my familiar face in the mirror.  A chill swept down my spine, causing an involuntary shiver.  My reflection remained perfectly still.  I felt frozen on the spot.  I watched in semi-fascination and semi-terror as my reflection’s hand lifted, and rested against the glass.  Slowly her fingers reached through the glass, first just the tips of her fingers, and then her full hand emerged.  The glass rippled like water on a pond.  She slowly reached out towards my face.  I looked at her eyes.  They looked like grey smoke moving over a cloudless sky, changing with the winds.  There was something behind those eyes.  Something dark, something that terrified me in its familiarity.  They were my eyes, but they were not.

The sound of the door opening jerked me out of my reverie, causing me to jump in surprise, my eyes breaking away from those in the reflection.  One of my ladies, breakfast tray in hand entered, smiling broadly at me.

“I thought I heard you up my lady,” she said.  Ignoring her I looked back at the mirror.  My usual reflection stared back.  Gently I lifted my own hand and watched as my reflection mirrored my actions.  I stepped away from the mirror feeling like the blood was pounding through my veins.  I smiled slightly.  Something was different.

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“I believe that it is time to teach you some unconventional skills Morgana.” Melena stated later that day, as she paced back and forth in front of the desk I was seated at.  I had been tasked earlier with coordinating my first household banquet, including entertainment, food, decoration and one million other things.  Melena had informed me that as a King’s daughter these sorts of things would fall under my care should I marry.  Nothing portrayed a man’s status and wealth better than an extravagant and well planned banquet.

“You have a firm grasp of herbology,” she continued “and you have taken a keen interest in the land and the people on it.  I feel like perhaps I am being premature in my decision, however, there is so little time, that I have decided that we must begin your physical training.”

Shrugging slightly, I continued pouring over the list of entertainers, plays, songs, poems, sonnets and acrobats.  I already knew I exceled at anything physical.  My dance skills, although perhaps unconventional, were fluid and graceful.  I could walk the length of a great room with a book on my head, carrying an egg in my flattened palm.  My curtsey was low and I could hold it for as long as necessary.  What else could I possibly learn?  My question was answered promptly.