Chapter Three
A/N: Thanks to my only reviewer, Kelly Pearl. To answer your statement, I know that LeFay means witch, but Morgana probably wouldn't, as Uther banned anything to do with magic.
September 1st dawned bright and sunny, the son streaming through the curtains that were being drawn all around Primrose Gardens, the home of Annetta De Bois, where Morgana was sitting downstairs, staring at the clasped hands in her lap.
The matriarch of the De Bois family swept into the room, noticing at once that her granddaughter was sat in the large drawing room alone, looking as if she were barely awake, when in truth, she was fully alert.
"Good morning, my darling." smiled the elder woman, pulling open the curtains of the room. Annietta had never liked to have servants and only had a cook, a maid and a manservant, who had been dismissed after the death of her husband, since there were no men remaining at the house.
"Good morning, Grandmama." said Morgana in a small voice, not looking up from her hands. Her tone brought her grandmother's attention towards her.
"Morgana?" questioned the elder woman, striding quickly over to the chaise longue that her granddaughter was sitting on. "Morgana? What's the matter, darling?"
"Nothing. It's silly." she replied, making an effort to make the smile she had plastered onto her face seem convincing.
"That doesn't matter, darling. Whatever it is, you can tell me." persisted the woman, taking Morgana's dainty hand in her own.
"Well, Grandmama, it's just that... well, what if I let you down? I don't know any magic and I may well be atrocious at it! I just don't want to disappoint you, I want to make you proud of me. You and Mama." Annetta suddenly realised what the young girl was so worried about and knelt down on the floor in front of her, resting one hand on each of the girl's upper arms.
"Morgana, your Mama loves you. She always will, sweetheart. Just because she is not here anymore, it does not mean that she loves you any less at all." Annetta spoke clearly, her head tilting slightly out of habit when talking to young children. Especially with Vivienne.
"But, Grandmama, she never got a chance to love me. She didn't know me at all." Morgana returned, her eyes filling rapidly with tears that she had concealed for so many years.
"But she loved you all the same, Morgana and she always will." Annetta finished quietly, pulling her granddaughter into her arms and holding her close to her chest.
"Now, sweetheart. Dry your eyes and gather your bags. We have a school to reach, correct?"
"Yes, Grandmama, we do." Morgana conceded, drying her eyes on the sleeve of her emerald gown and standing alongside her grandmother, looking towards the corner of the room, where a large brown trunk stood, alongside a wicker carrier basket that Sapphire Selene was mewling from inside of. The elder woman walked over and grasped the handle of the trunk, lifting it from the ground, while handing the wicker basket to her granddaughter. She then extended her right arm to the girl, nodding encouragingly towards it.
"Take my arm, Morgana, grasp it tightly and do not let go." Annetta instructed strongly. Morgana quickly took the proferred arm and held on tightly, as she was told. Then, with a rather loud 'pop', grandmother, granddaughter, cat and trunk disappeared from the room.
When they reappeared, the two were standing before a magnificent stone castle, with lights twinkling in the windows of many of the rooms, though the darkness of night had not yet fallen. From the white stone bridge she was stood on, Morgana could see the magical beauty of the structure before her, of its simplicity and majesty far greater than that of the Camelot citadel itself. She could hardly conceal the loud gasp of amazement that escaped her lips at the sight.
"It is truly beautiful, isn't it, Morgana?" Annetta smiled, gazing between her granddaughter and the school.
"Yes." Morgana breathed in reply, her eyes not averted from the castle at her grandmother's words.
They stood and stared together for just a few more minutes, hand in hand, before setting off down the path towards the school. The path to Morgana's destiny.
A/N: Thank you for your patience, as always. Please review!
