By the time Gale and the others make it back to the dorms her face is curled into a scowl at the pain in her chest. When she sits on the 'spare' bed he takes his spot by her side, just as he's been since the forest. Mal begins flipping through her mother's spell book while Evie mutters questions to her magic mirror. Minutes later Evie walks over to Mal.
"I found something that should help." Evie says with a smile blossoming on her lips.
"Is it a spell?" Mal says moving closer.
"No, it's a potion. Most of the ingredients are pretty easy to find so we should have it done in no time." Evie replies, this time drawing the boys over. To the group's surprise Gale stands up.
"What are we looking for?" Gale asks.
"You should just stay here. We can go find everything." Carlos says worry evident in his tone.
"I can't just let you guys go off without me. You guys are only doing this for my benefit." Gale says her expression saying that she won't back down, but her posture betrays her condition.
"You can and you will. You're already hurt. You don't need to hurt yourself anymore." Mal says in her 'leader' tone.
"I'm not helpless. I can-" Gale starts only to be cut off by Evie.
"Who said you're helpless?"
"We just want you to stay here and get rest." Carlos explains.
"I'll stay here with you if you want. With the magic mirror Evie can lead Mal and Carlos exactly where they need to go." Jay says looking her in the eye.
"No. The idea was to help not actively hinder. If you won't let me help, so be it, but you should go Jay. I need time to think anyway." Gale says.
"Are you sure?" Jay asks, concerned.
"Yeah." Gale responds, with a reassuring smile. Minutes later Evie has instructed everyone where they need to go and one by one they exit the dorm. Once the room is emptied Gale sighs to herself. If I understood how to use this magic that would have never happened. I need to be stronger. Maybe there is a way to learn… She removes Merlin's spell book from under the 'spare' bed. She places the book at the foot of Mal's bed so that when she stands in front of the mirror it's within arms reach. She takes a deep breath, trying not to wince, and looks her reflection in the eye.
"Morgana wake up." Gale says with as much authority as she can muster unintentionally causing wisps of crimson magic to flash in her vision for just a second. The act causes a small shiver to run through her body.
"What on earth do you want now? And why are you in front of the mirror?"
"I want to talk to you. I'm standing in front of the mirror cause when I was little I overheard people saying that if you're possessed and you stand in front of a mirror you can talk face to face with the other being." Gale explains feeling kinda dumb by the time she's done talking. Morgana simply laughs for a while before speaking.
"Stupid girl. That only works with enchanted mirrors." Morgana says annoyed.
"How was I supposed to know? No one ever taught me these things." Gale almost shouts in exasperation. Gale moves to sit at the foot of Mals bed next to the book but not touching it.
"If you're hoping to garner sympathy, it's not working." Morgana says bored.
"I don't want your sympathy. I want your knowledge." Gale says keeping her tone firm as she sits on the foot of Mal's bed making sure that she is not quite touching the spell book.
"What makes you think I want to teach you anything?"
"Simple. If your spirit is using me to continue on that means if I die you do too, so-" Gale starts only for Morgana to cut her off.
"Are you threatening to kill yourself if I don't teach you?" Morgana practically shouts.
"No!" Gale yells back at her. "I'm not stupid. I'm just trying to point out that this place is dangerous and for the first time I can't protect myself with just my fists. If you teach me how to use magic then I'll be able to protect myself better. We both win, you get to keep existing and I get to learn to use magic."
"And if I say no?" Morgana questions.
"Easy. If you say no I use that book to shut you down and I figure it out by myself." Gale says looking directly at Merlin's spell book so Morgana can also see it.
"You really thought this through. I guess you're smarter than you look." Morgana says smugly.
"Hey what's that supposed to mean?" Gale says, her fists clenching.
"I just assumed you were your father's daughter. The resemblance is obvious after all." Morgana says flippantly
"Are you helping me or not?"
"Fine fine. I'll help you. Just remember that I'm only doing this for my benefit. Your injuries affect me as well. Taking over an injured or crippled vessel would be useless." Morgana groans out. It's in that moment that Gale hears a knock at the door. Sorry Morgana you gotta go now. I have business to attend to. With that Gale grabs the book storing it under the 'spare' bed and she walks to open the door.
"Oh uh hi. Is Evie here?" Says a lanky boy in the doorway. Gale looks at him for a long moment. He's familiar I think.
"No. Who are you and what do you want?" Gale curtly says leveling a glare at him for good measure.
"I-I'm Doug, and I just wanted to talk to Evie but since she isn't here I guess I'll just go." Doug says timidly and turns to leave.
"What do you want with Evie?" Gale says not letting up with the tone or glare.
"I just… I kinda…" Doug says looking at the floor.
"Spit it out." Gale barks. It might be mean to intimidate him like this but I don't want a repeat of Chad.
"I wanted to know if she'd go to the coronation with me…" Doug says watching his shoe sway side to side on the hallways tile floor.
"You gonna fool around behind her back too?"
"No of course not." Doug says sternly and looks up from the floor turning to meet her eye. "She deserves better than that. Chad is awful for doing that to her."
"Do you think you can be what she deserves?" Gale says looking at him with a calculating stare.
"Well… probably not… She deserves a prince not… Me…" Doug says looking back at the floor.
"She had a prince. Look where that got her."
"I guess but…"
"Just know if you break her heart I will not hesitate to break your spine." Gale growls but once her statement has taken effect, her glare turns to a friendly smile. "She should be back in a while though if you're still keen on talking to her." If he comes back to talk to her I'll be surprised but at least he won't hurt her. Probably…
"Thanks." Doug says wearing his confusion for the world to see as he walks down the hallway.
Gale watches him walk down the hall for a moment before returning to the room and sitting on the 'spare' bed. She takes a deep breath and when the pain flares in her ribs this time she lets the grimace cross her face. It's like we're all building lives in a dream. Things are nicer here but at some point we have to wake up. I really shouldn't get used to this. No matter how much I want to. Father would be so disappointed if he knew what was going on here. Why can I never make him proud? Tears prickle at her eyes and she quickly wipes her eyes. She cleared her eyes just in time for the door to open and the rest of the group to walk in.
"Welcome back." Gale says
"You actually stayed put?" Carlos asks, surprised.
"I can't exactly be helpful just by wandering around. I'm stubborn not stupid."
"It will only take a little while to prep the potion. It was surprisingly easy to find everything."
"Thanks." Gale says with a smile.
*Next day*
With tourney practice over for the day Gale finds herself restless especially since Chad and his Cronies were nowhere to be seen. Gale stands in front of the girls locker room shifting from one foot to the other and back again. Maybe going out to the clearing will help. It's kinda nice out there. She stops fidgeting when she sees Jay walking up and picks her bag up off the floor by her feet.
"Ready to go study?" Jay asks. It'll be good to study with her again. I kinda missed it.
"I guess." Gale says with a far away look in her eyes.
"You guess? Does that mean you don't know?" Jay asks, concerned.
"It's still bright out so…" Gale pauses for a moment to find her words, "Can we study outside?"
"Like on the tourney field?" Jay asks. Why outside? Just when I think I'm starting to understand.
"Better." Gale says with a devious smile. Jay gets lost in her expression for a moment before he catches himself and looks away.
"Okay well we have our stuff so what could it hurt? Lead the way." Jay responds in the most casual tone he can muster. Gale smiles and, caught in the moment, she takes his hand and leads him out the doors toward the forest. As they approach the path into the forest Gale lets Jay's hand go, taking a deep breath that only mildly irritates the residual tenderness in her ribs, and turns to him.
"We're going off the path so stay close." She says and in return she earns a nod. She smiles and she turns back to the forest. Together they weave through the trees and after a while they exit the trees once more. Jays eyes widen at the large stones circling the clearing and the smaller one sitting in the middle.
"What is this place?" Jay asks moving so he can trace the thin swirls carved on one of the stones to his right.
"I don't know. I just kinda stumbled on it a few days ago. I kinda like it though." Gale says bashfully as she sets her bag down by the center stone.
"It looks like it's been here forever." Jay says watching her as she pauses for a moment watching a blue jay as it takes an acorn from the roots of a nearby oak. I wish I had known how gentle she is when we were on the Isle.
"It does, doesn't it? Well now that we're here we should probably study. Doing this on my own has been kinda hard." She says after the blue jay flies away. She grabs her school books from her bag and sits in the grass near him. He sits too, setting his bag to his side.
"Yeah. About last time… Sorry. I shouldn't have helped them ambush you like that…" He says rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.
"It's fine. You meant well. I just… Have things that are better kept to myself." She puts her hand on his shoulder as she talks, giving him a small smile.
"Just remember you can always talk to me. Now let me see what you got so far."