Chapter 15

                                    

                                          
Morgana lay on her bed and a blanket of blue butterflies had settled over her. She woke, sitting upright, and the butterflies scattered like a cloud of fluttering petals. They flew back to the gilded mirror in the corner of the room. Her mouth was bitter, and her head hurt. 
What happened? 
Then it all came back to her slowly like a vague dream. She had been in the training room and magic had exploded out of her. Morgana's heart quickened. She looked over herself, searching for any signs that the magic had injured her, had started ripping her apart. But there was nothing, except for a mild ache in her muscles. Morgana sighed in relief. At least there wasn't any physical damage. But where Erik was concerned there was trouble. He'd seemed so angry that she couldn't repress Elysia's magic. As if it was something that she could even control. It wasn't Morgana's fault that she lived in a dangerous environment that was toxic to humans. Perhaps he was worried that if she didn't control the magic then her death would be a burden. A burden to console Larania and Damon. A burden to organize a funeral for a human. All her life he hadn't cared about her, so why did he care about this training? Or maybe he was just disappointed and saw her as a failure, annoyed that she couldn't do something that was rudimentary to all fae. 
By her bed was a pitcher of water. A note was propped against it. Morgana picked up the note.
 You did well with your training today, there should be less magic absorption from now on. We'll do another session in a couple of weeks. Let me know if anything changes.
Damon.
 Morgana blinked. She'd done well? But magic had exploded out of her. She gulped a glass of the water down and washed away the taste of vomit. A bath would be in order because stale sweat clung to her clothes. 
There was a soft knock on her bedroom door and Morgana placed the glass down. "Come in," she called.
 The door cracked open, and there stood Aelys, wearing a floaty yellow gown. Morgana blinked, surprised. This was the first time Aelys had ever visited her. Aelys shut the door and Morgana eyed her warily. 
"I didn't see you at lunch. Damon said you had a headache?" Aelys walked over to the foot of the bed. She fidgeted with her hands.
"Yeah." It was partly true. 
"How are you feeling now?" 
 "Okay."
An awkward pause followed.
"I need to have a word with you." Aelys sat down on the end of Morgana's bed, eyes on the floor. Her freesia scent was like a heady bouquet.
 Morgana stiffened, wondering what nasty thing her sister was going to say next. 
"Since you saw Brighid and I the other day, I've been waiting for the rumors to spread." Aelys looked at Morgana. 
"I told you I would keep that secret." 
"I know." Aelys's throat worked. "I just thought it would've been the perfect thing for you to use against me, because ..." 
Morgana frowned. 
"Because I've always been so horrible to you, and it would've been within your rights to get me back."  
"I'm not that kind of person."
"I know and ... I'm sorry I've always treated you differently."   
Morgana's heart skipped a beat.
"I'm grateful that you kept my secret. I love Brighid with all my heart, so it means a lot to me that you haven't said a thing."