Chapter 21 MORGANA'S CONFESSION
CHAPTER 021: MORGANA'S CONFESSION
They bring us back through the gates like prisoners.
Guards flank us on both sides. Kieran walks so close behind me I can feel the heat coming off his skin. He hasn't stopped glaring at Morgana since we left the forest.
Students line the halls staring as we pass. The whispers are worse than before.
"She brought Morgana back?"
"They're both cursed now."
"I heard the Hollow King marked them."
Morgana keeps her head down. Her hands are bound with enchanted chains that glow faint blue. They're not tight enough to hurt but they're there. A reminder that she's not trusted.
I'm not bound.
But maybe I should be.
Headmaster Corvus waits for us in his office. His expression is carved from stone and his eyes are too sharp when he looks at me.
"Explain," he says.
So I do. All of it. The forest, the Hollow King using Morgana, the way the bond let me pull him out. And the way he marked us both before we got away.
Corvus listens without interrupting. When I finish he's quiet for a long moment.
"This is worse than I thought," he says finally.
"Can you break the bond?" Kieran asks.
"No."
"There has to be something," I say.
Corvus shakes his head. "Soul bonds can't be severed by force. They either fade naturally over time or they're sealed through death."
Morgana flinches.
"Then what do we do?" I ask.
"We learn to understand it." Corvus looks between us. "The bond makes you vulnerable to each other. But perhaps that vulnerability can be used to your advantage."
"How?" Morgana's voice is barely a whisper.
"By learning to work together instead of against each other."
Kieran makes a sound like a growl. "You can't be serious."
"I'm very serious." Corvus gestures to one of the guards. "Take Morgana to the east wing. Not a cell. A secure room where she can rest."
"I'm going with her," I say.
Every head in the room turns to stare at me.
"Absolutely not," Kieran snaps.
"The bond connects us. If something happens to her I'll feel it anyway. I might as well be there."
"Thalira this is reckless."
"It's necessary."
Corvus holds up a hand before Kieran can argue more. "I'll allow it. But guards will be posted outside. And if anything happens they have orders to intervene immediately."
Kieran looks like he wants to punch something. "This is a mistake."
"Noted," I say.
The guards lead us down a different corridor. This part of the academy is quieter. Older. The walls are lined with portraits of past headmasters and their eyes seem to follow us as we walk.
They stop at a door near the end of the hall. One of the guards unlocks it and gestures for us to enter.
The room is small but not uncomfortable. A bed against one wall. A desk. A single window that looks out over the courtyard. The chains around Morgana's wrists dissolve the moment she steps inside.
"We'll be right outside," the guard says to me. Then to Morgana, "Don't try anything."
The door closes behind them.
We're alone.
Morgana walks to the window and stares out at the courtyard. Her reflection in the glass looks hollow.
I sit on the edge of the bed. The bond hums between us, softer now but still there. Always there.
"Tell me everything," I say quietly.
She doesn't turn around. "Why?"
"Because if we're stuck together I need to understand what we're up against."
She's quiet for so long I think she's not going to answer. Then she speaks and her voice is so small it barely reaches me.
"The Hollow King came to me two years ago."
I wait.
"I was weak then. Pathetic." She presses her hand against the glass. "My family disowned me because my shadow magic wasn't strong enough. I couldn't do the things they expected. Couldn't meet their standards. So they threw me out like I was nothing."
My chest tightens. Through the bond I feel the shame rolling off her in waves.
"I was alone," she continues. "No family. No friends. Just me and magic that everyone said was useless."
"It's not useless," I say.
She laughs but there's no humor in it. "You've seen what I can do. It's all destruction. Darkness. Nothing good comes from shadow magic."
"That's not true."
"Isn't it?" She finally turns to face me. Her eyes are red. "The Hollow King thought it was useful. He came to me in a dream. Told me he'd been watching me. That I had potential no one else could see."
"And you believed him."
"Wouldn't you?" Her voice cracks. "When you're drowning and someone throws you a rope you don't ask questions. You just grab it."
I don't have an answer for that.
She sits on the floor against the opposite wall and pulls her knees to her chest. "He said if I served him I'd never be weak again. That I'd have power people would fear. That I'd matter."
"What did he ask you to do?"
"Watch you." She looks at me. "He knew you'd come back to the academy eventually. Said it was only a matter of time before you awakened. And when you did I had to be ready."
"Ready for what?"
"To challenge you. To kill you in the duel." She hugs her knees tighter. "He said if I did that he'd give me everything I wanted. Power. Respect. A place where I'd never be alone again."
My stomach twists. "But the bond happened instead."
She nods. Tears spill down her cheeks. "I failed him. And he doesn't forgive failure."
"He's going to punish you."
"He's going to kill me." Her voice is flat. Matter of fact. Like she's already accepted it.
"No," I say firmly. "We'll find a way to stop him."
She stares at me like I just said something in a language she doesn't understand. Then she laughs. It's bitter and broken.
"You don't get it. The Hollow King doesn't lose. He's been planning this for lifetimes. Centuries maybe. You think one girl with unstable time magic is going to stop him?"
"I'm not just one girl." I stand and cross the room to sit beside her on the floor. "I've got four idiots who won't leave me alone and apparently I've got you too whether we like it or not."
She wipes her face with the back of her hand. "You're insane."
"So I've been told."
"He's too strong Thalira. He's older than this academy. Older than most of the magic we use. You can't fight something like that."
"Watch me."
Something flickers in her expression. Not quite hope. But close.
"Why are you doing this?" she asks. "I tried to kill you. Twice."
"Because you didn't want to. I felt it. Through the bond. You were scared and desperate and he used that against you."
"That doesn't make it okay."
"No. But it makes it understandable." I lean my head back against the wall. "And because if he's really been planning this for lifetimes then he's been using people like us the whole time. I'm tired of being a piece on someone else's board."
"So what? You're going to flip the board over?"
"Something like that."
She looks at me for a long moment. Then a tiny smile cracks through. "You're definitely insane."
"Maybe," I say. "But I'm not giving up."
The bond pulses between us. Warmer this time. Less like a chain and more like a bridge.
Morgana takes a shaky breath. "If we're really doing this I need to tell you something else."
"What?"
"The Hollow King didn't just mark us in the forest." She meets my eyes. "He planted something."
My blood goes cold. "What do you mean planted something?"
"A seed. A piece of his power." She presses a hand to her chest. "I can feel it growing. Like roots digging deeper every hour."
"Can we remove it?"
"I don't know. But if we can't..." She trails off.
"If we can't what?"
She swallows hard. "He'll be able to take full control. Not just influence. Complete control. And once he does we won't be able to stop him."
"How long do we have?"
"Three days. Maybe less."
I close my eyes and try to steady my breathing. Three days to figure out how to remove a piece of the Hollow King's power before he takes us over completely.
No pressure.
"Okay," I say. "We tell Corvus. We figure this out."
"Thalira there's one more thing."
I open my eyes. "What?"
She hesitates. Then, "The seed isn't just in me. It's in you too."
The room spins.
"What?"
"When he marked us he planted it in both of us. We're both infected."
My hands start shaking. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"Because I was hoping I was wrong." Her voice breaks. "But I can feel yours too. Through the bond. It's growing just as fast as mine."
I stand and pace across the room. My chest feels tight. The mark on my ribs burns hot.
"Three days," I whisper.
"Maybe less."
The door bursts open.
Zev stands there breathing hard. His eyes are wild.
"We have a problem," he says.
"What now?" I ask.
"Alaric and Cassian are missing. They went to investigate something in the south tower and they haven't come back."
My stomach drops. "How long ago?"
"Two hours."
"And you're just telling me now?"
"We thought they'd come back on their own. They didn't." He looks between me and Morgana. "We need to find them before the Hollow King does."
Morgana stands. "He already knows where they are."
Zev's jaw tightens. "How?"
She taps her temple. "Because he's in here. And he just showed me."
"Showed you what?" I demand.
She looks at me with fear in her eyes.
"They're trapped. And if we don't get to them in the next hour they're going to die."