No one answers the door, so I barge right in only to be met with darkness.
"Lorna?" Something in the air feels out of place. My instincts study the parameters of the tiny room of a house before I notice some half-burnt scraps beside the fireplace. The ashes surrounding the written message, glaring up at me, are still warm. Only the edges of the tiny scroll of paper were bitten off by flames, leaving the words distinguishable in black ink.
I gently tuck it in my bosom because I have a sensation that it is not safe to read it here. This is the moment I notice a raven's feather float through the open crack in the window of the room. The gleam of its edges become invasive and foreboding. I attempt to hide myself behind a changing screen. I have seen this spell before. My mother used it for any years to travel to places without the fanfare of being noticed. Who would suspect a feather tossing in the wind? I count the seconds before the feather lands gracefully onto the unswept floorboards. A crawling rise of onyx grows into a woman's form. Fully expecting to see mother, I am surprised to acknowledge it is someone else entirely. Tangled and thick curls, tied in green, waterfall down her back; her Jade eyes are cold and menacing. This must be the high priestess Morgana, the one Merlin once spoke of. A burn blooms in my bones as I slink back to evade her knowledge of my presence. I don't bother to think, only to watch in secret as Morgana sits at the table. I hear an unsuspecting hum of a melody. Julah. She must be warned of the danger. I don't care if I hate her; the woman's life is at stake. Before I can bolt for the door or even cry out to the girl, the door opens, and Julah speaks.
"Grandmother will be right with you." Anger. Pure anger makes my other emotions writhe. This means that Julah is in league with the witch. The exchange so familiar, so normal, that even her grandmother...
"I don't like to be kept waiting," Morgana snaps. "Where is she anyway?"
"A' visitin the court physician; despite the queen's wishes, she still enjoys a visit with him now and again."
"Regina, nor I, believe that to be wise. There is too much risk as it is," Morgana picks up a pink and yellow apple from the bowl in front of her and takes a bite. The crunch of its flesh unsettles me. "The plan is almost complete. All that is needed now is the heart of the one she loves most, and we cannot allow Emrys or Gaius to destroy everything."
"Don't a' be worryin," Julah shakes the dust from her cloak. "I assume the Evil one will be a'lurkin around here for the princess then."
"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Morgana smirks, but the conversation is interrupted by footsteps from outside. Julah, from noticing Morgana's defensive stance, checks to see who was approaching.
"It's only grandma." Panic erupts in my heart. Betrayal. Grief. And they all crumble and crash together all at once. I hold my breath and cover my lips with my hand. The gravity becomes too real for me as the kind and sweet mentor I have come to know and love enters the home.
"Ah, old woman, it is about time you showed up." Morgana's eyebrows lift in jest.
"Appologies, my lady," Lorna croaks. "I was detained by special matters."
"Whatever." Morgana rolls her eyes and rips another wedge of flesh from her apple. "I am here to gather a report."
"You may tell the queen that the both of you will have two kingdoms' adoration soon enough." I notice the frown on the old woman's face; she looks to be in pain. Julah just smiles in excitement as her grandmother's answer pleases the high priestess.
"Good to hear," Morgana stands, leaving the shriveled apple core on the table. "But what about the princess?"
"Oh, grandmother's fixi'n her well," Julah shakes Lorna's arm. "A week more of treatment and she'll be more malleable than clay."
"I bid you farewell then." The high priestess utters a spell beneath her breath, and then a black feather flutters out the window once again. Eons pass before Lorna and Julah speak.
"I should get back to the tavern. They will be a'wondrin where I be at." The young girl with the energy of an arrow, but the grace of a stampede flounces back into the sunshine. Lorna, with worry lines around her mouth and eyes, spends an hour perfecting the shape of her next work of pottery. The corner designated for the craft, whirring with the sound of the potter's wheel, held an ancient one muttering to herself. I hear fragments and shards of phrases coming from her mouth.
"Too late to protect her"
"The Savior"
"She will want to"
"Banquet"
The muttering and whirring stops and Lorna takes a rag to wipe her hands, but the crusty clay on her upper forearms still clings to her veiny skin. Lorna leaves the house and this is my moment to escape. I peer our from behind the screen, relief comforting me as to the fact I've made it this long without being caught. I hear footsteps once again and panic breaks a icy sweat on my neck.. I have no time to make it back to the safety of the screen. I'm right behind the door, and there is no way I am going to be hidden by it long enough to escape. The woman usually closes it immediately after she walks in. I take two seconds to visualize Gaius's chambers and royal blue smoke envelops my body. The next thing I know, I am standing before a very shocked Gaius. My mind catches up with what I have just done. I used magic again. I felt it was the most logical thing to do, but I hate myself for it.
"I can explain," I quickly say to my other mentor. My only mentor now.
"There is nothing to explain." He frowned. "There is no possible way for you to offer any other explanation than the one where you have magic." Deep fear. I never knew I could experience such a thing. It outweighs any other fear I have had in the past. Will he tell the king? Will the king behead me? I don't want to die yet.
"Please, I beg of you not to tell the king," I squeal. "I promise, I have noble intentions. I hate magic, but I had to use it otherwise she would have seen me!" A hand before my face to silence me was not what I forsaw coming from the man. He seems a little flustered.
"I am not going to turn you in," he begins. "You are not the only one with magic in the kingdom."
"I am aware." I say. Does Gaius know of Merlin and his powers? Of his destiny?
"Oh? And just how aware are you?" Gaius's one disappointed eyebrow raises higher.
"She knows who Emrys is, Gaius," Merlin's voice defends me from across the room. I did not even notice he was there till now. His ocean eyes bore into mine. He is not quite himself, but he does not let that change his behavior too much.
"I suppose it is too much to ask why and how she has that information?"
"The great dragon called me and instructed me to find him, but that isn't what is important now." My voice shakes. The events of late start the tears down my cheeks. My new family perks up with concern.
"What happened?" They both ask in unison. I spill out every detail I can remember. Morgana, the feather, Julah and Lorna, and my mother...
"I- I don't know what they have planned, but it has something to do with the kingdom, and me," I cry. I ignore my strong walls to keep all tears on the inside of me. I can't hold them in anymore. "She was sent by my mother." The words tighten their vice grip on heart. A wound, gushing with blood, widens further when I sense warm arms around me. I bury my face in Merlin's chest. His scent of pine and cedar offers comfort. It is just as I envisioned he would smell like. I am bruised, but complete in his arms. I remember Leon. I must love him instead. I cannot hurt him. I will not. But this moment is one exception I will allow. When will I ever have this opportunity again? Never, I fear. Merlin doesn't love me. He has been through so much, yet here I stand crying and making his neckerchief soggy. I want to collapse.
"What are we going to do?" I ask.
"I am not sure, Tia."
Lifting my head, I squeeze the remaining salt from my bleary eyes. They are red and swollen.
"For now, to make them think nothing is amiss, we must act as we always have," Gaius intersects. "Until we know more, there is not much we can do."
"Can we not alert King Arthur of the danger?" I ask.
"Perhaps, but we still don't have enough evidence to support such claims against the two spying on us." A sudden memory shoots into my mind.
"Wait, I forgot I found this by the ashes right before the feather came in," My fingers dig into the front of my dress, and Merlin turns his face away. "I'm sorry, it's the only place I had at the moment to hide it. I was planning on reading it later, but now as I look closer, it seems to be in a different language."
Gaius unsheaths his spectacles from between the pages of a book, and squints at the text on the slip of paper. "It's known as the language Setseirp," he motions for me bend down closer to the table and observe the jagged points and shaved rounded edges of the jumbled alphabet. "We are fortunate that I remember how to read it."
Gaius dictates the translation.
"The first pledged allegiance with her heart. The second with her soul. The third with screams and a window to the monarchy. The fourth will soon be brought to her knees, and give her life. One night of feast before all is well."
"I know for a fact that we will not convince the king with a riddle." Merlin states immediately. I contemplate the possible meaning of those words. Too much swirls inside me to come to any conclusion.
"The banquet?" A torch blazes into flames for a second. "Is the night of feast, the night of the banquet?"
"I believe that is a valid thing to consider." Gaius says. The night of the banquet is the very night my four weeks are spent. I only now realize what little time I have left. I fiddle with glass vials as a distraction from the stress inflicted on my life today.
"What if we asked the dragon?" I offer.
"You would really want to ask him after your last encounter? He would be more angry you have not left than he would be willing to help us." I shrug at Merlin's point; he is right. But I am more right.
"Is it not worth the risk of his anger?" I blink as Merlin is taken back by the bold attitude in the question. "The welfare of Camelot is at stake and so is the safety of my kingdom!" He does not love me. I think to myself. The insecurities trickle back. He would have told me by now if he did. That is not even the issue at hand. Do not let your emotions distract you. I think again. Merlin fights with himself for a few minutes and Gaius doe not even attempt to break the silence.
"Fine. We will go and talk to him tonight." Merlin concedes. I want to kiss him, but sensibility stays my feet, my hands, and my lips. My eyes however, roam freely to study his mouth. He notices, but doesn't say anything. A blush makes my cheeks hot to the touch. Gaius writes down the translation on a separate slip of paper and hands it to me. I receive it with a glad heart. I decide to work on it the rest of the day. I anticipate another meeting with the dragon, but I also have a tendency to shake till my knees knock together while in his presence. I recall using my magic today. Perhaps, in emergencies, magic could be considered neutral.
Or not.