The Man in The Cave

Chapter 27

Morgana stomped her feet on the ground, letting out a loud groan that if she had been calmer, she would have been terrified she could get caught. So far, all her attempts to make the trees around her move at the same time had been futile, sure, some moved, but not in the way she wanted them to.

She no longer dared to freely use magic in the castle. With Emrys busy for the day while Uther visited a duke, Morgana had to go on her own to be able to practice her magic. All she could feel was disappointment when the only thing she could see with clarity at the moment was that, while she was perfectly able to summon ghosts in the nunnery, moving something as simple as a group of trees was proving to be an exceptional challenge.

Morgana allowed herself to drop to the grass, caring very little by the fact that it could stain her dress. Stains she would have to hastily explain to the people in the castle.

"I don't believe I've seen you around." A calm, curious, feminine voice resonated, Morgana's eyes opened wide. She stood up as fast as she could, passing her hands over her skirt to clean it, as she looked around to find the owner of the voice.

The only person near was a woman standing at the edge of the lake, she had dark long hair, pale skin, green eyes, was wearing an olive dress, and had a golden ring around her head. She was beautiful, Morgana noted, and was looking at her with curiosity. The girl found herself unable to tell if she was standing on the edge of the lake or if she was standing above the water. No matter what the answer was, the mere fact that she was around was dangerous.

"Is this... is this your land?" Morgana found herself stammering, "I'm deeply sorry, I thought no one lived here, I shall leave, please don't tell the king." Upon the mention of the king, a shadow covered the woman's face, one that she seemingly tried to brush off. Morgana looked at her up and down. Her heart beating fast in her chest finding herself unable to move.

"You're a child of a Fae, aren't you?" her eyes still glinted with curiosity. Morgana knit her eyebrows together, "I won't hurt you, it's been so long since I've seen anyone like you, or anyone worthwhile for that matter. You don't need to worry, I can't go and talk to that king even if I wanted to, and I'm honest with you when I tell you, the least thing I could ever want would be to interact with that man or his lineage" an expression of disgust covered the woman's face before she smiled politely at Morgana, who took a step back

"A... a child of the what? I'm not quite sure what you mean, my family name is Lefay, I'm not sure if you mean that or... I... who are you? What king are you talking about?" Morgana asked nervous. The woman furrowed her eyebrows slightly, her expression softened.

"Poor thing, all that power and you don't know where it comes from, do you?"

Morgana shook her head, feeling her cheeks get warm.

"Are the Pendragons still in power?" Morgana tilted her head slightly before nodding.

"Uther Pendragon is the current king of Camelot," Morgana explained, the woman's nose wrinkled, an expression of disgust covered her face, "Who are you again?" Morgana questioned, knitting her eyebrows together.

"I apologize, it seems I've forgotten how to interact with others. My name is Nimueh, and yours is...?"

"Morgana," the girl said, "Do you know the king?"

"Fortunately, no, but I had the misfortune of meeting Cederic," there was a hint of fury in Nimueh's tone that made Morgana take a step back.

Morgana hesitated. Eyes shifting between the woman in front of her and the woods behind, "I think I must go..."

"What were you trying to do before? I couldn't help but notice you were struggling," Nimueh interrupted, Morgana closed her mouth.