After a short drive on one of the messier roads around Red Kill, I arrive at Morgan's house. Or should I say Morgan's mansion. It might not be as big as Ciaran's house in New York, but it certainly isn't the usual two-bedroom home either. I get out of my car and are assaulted by scents. Without being able to help myself I follow my nose to the right of the house and find a big flower garden next to a big kitchen garden. Big being the key word. There is slight scent of magic in the air. I didn't detect it before but it seems to be coming from the back of the kitchen garden. Cautiously I walk between flower beds and vegetables, making my way to what seems to be the edge of the property.
"Hey Cal", shouts someone hidden beneath a big and green plant. The leaves stir and Morgan emerges from the plant like some kind of elf. She smiles at me and asks how I like her garden.
"It's big", I start, rather unsure how to continue, "Do you tend to this garden on your own?"
"Of course not", comes a male voice from behind the big plant. A tall guy in his early twenties comes towards us. The resemblance between him and Morgan is striking. They have the same eyes and the same air of power around them.
"Please meet my half brother Killian", Morgan introduces him, "Killian lives here together with Caira, his girlfriend, Robbie and Bree. We tend the garden together so we can make a living growing medicinal herbs and other plants with magical properties. Since we also grow our own food, we can get by without making a lot of money."
"The house should not have cost a lot of money either", I involuntarily slip out.
Killian smiles and Morgan explains: "I kinda tricked someone into making a Faustian deal. My intention was to share the money with the coven actually involved, but they insisted that I kept it all so I could study whatever I wanted. I decided that real estate was a good investment so I bought this place for the fertile grounds it has. Caira and I were the first to move in. The rest either found a home here or", she nods in the direction of Killian, "just never left after a sleepover."
"Would you like a cup of tea? I always like talking with something in my hands"
"I would love to", I answer. Morgan starts off towards the house while Killian stays behind to further tend to the plant. I catch them sharing a look. Morgan wasn't kidding when she wrote me that Killian is protective of her.
"How exactly do you trick someone into making a Faustian deal?" I ask her to break my sudden shyness.
"By pretending that you are the devil everyone thinks Woodbanes to be."
I stop dead in my tracks but Morgan only smiles at me. "You are not used to treating the disdain with which other people treat Woodbanes lightly, are you?"
"Eh, no."
"It shows."
I don't know what to say and look dumbfounded at Morgan. She takes pity on me and changes the subject.
"Anyway, there was this woman who thought that a neighboring coven was going to wipe out Starlocket. Since I already knew that said neighboring coven had no intentions whatsoever to do that, I betted her whether or not Starlocket would still be alive two weeks later. Obviously I won the bet."
We have reached the house and Morgan opens the back door for me. It opens up to a large room with the same hint of magic in the air. Their circle room perhaps? Without a second glance Morgan crosses the room to go further into her house. I follow her, amazed by the confidence she is showing in me. Mom always does anything and everything to keep strangers out of our circle room and here Morgan just enters it with me like it is nothing. I take a discreet sniff to analyse the magic that has been practiced here lately. It is not as good as casting my senses - which Morgan will know immediately, making it a no go. Not to mention it is impolite. Just as I had expected I only smell white magic in the air. Nice, clean and pure white magic, nothing any witch could have moral problems with. I focus my attention back on Morgan as she continues her story.
"When I got Starlocket together to split the money, Alice started talking about how unfair it was that everyone just assumed that I would turn out to be a power hungry monster. Just because I am a woodbane born with power. Everyone in the room agreed and one after the other argued how they could make sure that I would follow my own path instead of someone else's political games. It was obviously a setup by Alice. She had been scrying to see my conversation with the woman because she wanted to know the details of our arrangement. When she saw how the woman played me for a devil who would go along with her power hungry politics, she wanted something different for me. She hated that I was that good an actress. So good at pretending to be a power hungry monster that I could fool someone into believing I actually am the devil some people believe me to be. She started wondering about how other people see me. You know that Alice was one of the first witches I met, right?"
We have arrived in the kitchen and Morgan pours water into the kettle to start the tea. Reaching into a cabinet, she takes out a box and offers me the selection of their teas.
"Which tea would you like?" she asks me. I am so engrossed in her story, so stricken by her honesty about how the average Woodbane is usually treated that it takes me a moment to focus on the tea box in front of me.
I pick a tea I have never had before - Lady Grey, what kind of tea is that? - and urge her to continue her story.
"When Alice met me, I had just discovered Wicca. I didn't know anything about the clans, about the clan war, about anything for that matter. I was just me, a bookworm that had come across a new subject to study. She instantly took a liking to me." Morgan smiles fondly in remembering.
"She noticed right away that I am born with power, but she has never held that against me. It wasn't until I met Hunter and other members of the council that I started to develop my devil persona. They were all so convinced that I would turn out to be a devil that it was easier to just play along. By the time they asked me to bring in my father, I only considered how I could turn it around so no one would get hurt. It wasn't until I discussed it with Alice and Bree, after Alice had seen the conversation when she scryed for it, that I considered that I shouldn't feel like it was normal. Hell, the woman even offered to pay me in order to betray my father's trust. Just like I would sell out my own relatives in order to gain more power."
Morgan makes a face. I feel for her although mom usually takes the blow for me. She has been rather successful in shielding me from this kind of intrigues. Morgan has no such protection.
"Father?" I ask her, "Is Angus still alive?"
"No", Morgan answers bewildered, "I mean, yes, he is still alive. No, he is not my biological father. Shall we take our tea into the living room? It might be a more comfortable setting to explain the mess I call my family tree."
