Understanding Morganna

Morganna and Fiona looked at each other, then at the men. "We can see that you need some time to process all of this information; we'll let you do that."

Before they could blink away, Jon put a gentle but restraining hand on Fiona's arm. "Wait, what if we need to see you; talk to you again? What if we have questions?"

Fiona smiled. "We're always watching you," she said. “We’ll know. And if it’s safe? We’ll talk to you.”

Richie paled. "Always watching?"

"Well," Fiona answered, "up to now, it was just me, so I could only watch one of you at a time, so technically not always, but now that Anna is helping me, we can be more vigilant."

Richie groaned.

"Don't worry child," Morganna said, "I have no interest in watching you perform your, uh, morning ablutions." She smiled. "Other things, however..." Richie groaned again and Morganna laughed at his expression.

The two fey linked arms and strode out into the sunlit afternoon. They stepped into the ring of flowers, and disappeared.

"What the hell do you make of all that?" Richie asked Jon.

"I don't know," Jon answered honestly. "I mean it all sounds like a good story, but you know me, I don't believe in this shit."

"Yeah, but you saw what Fiona did. I mean, she didn't even lay a hand on you, and she had you so you couldn't move."

Jon nodded. "I know. It was the strangest feeling." He smirked. "Remember back in the day, when we were so angry all the time, and Teek and D had to keep us from beating each other silly? That's sorta like what it felt like -- like Teek was pushing me up against the wall." He shook his head. "Damned disconcerting if you ask me. And you, asshole," he punched Richie's shoulder. "What was all that flirting you were doing with Morganna?"

"Aw, bro, you know me, I can't let an opportunity pass to flirt with a pretty girl."

"Man, she is anything but a girl." His tone wasn't complimentary.

Richie chuckled. "Yeah, I know," he said, "but she's still a knockout; Fiona, too."

Jon smiled wryly. "I know." He grabbed the coffee from the freezer to start a fresh pot of coffee, and nearly dropped the can on the floor, as something occurred to him. "Rich, they said something about powers. You and me having some sort of magical connection."

"Oh yeah, I had totally forgotten. Dude, though, that sounds totally gay. Don't say that in front of anyone."

"Fine, fine, but what do you suppose they meant?" Jon's mind was working furiously, trying to solve this particular riddle.

Richie just shrugged. "Can't say. I have no clue. Do you want to call them back and find out?"

"No," Jon said. "I want to find out more about their brother. I mean I go to church, I know about the devil and Armageddon and all of that... I just..."

"Want to know what you're getting into?"

"Yeah."

“Don’t you think it might be too late for that?” When Jon looked at him, Richie shrugged and continued. “I mean it seems like a done deal, right?”

“Right...”

The two men researched for hours in Jon's office, reading and printing and talking about hundreds of pages of information. Perched up on a high shelf, Morganna and Fiona were watching intently.

"Do you think I made a mistake in telling them so much?" Fiona worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

"I don't know, Sister," Morganna answered. "Richard seemed to take it all in stride at the time, but now he's just as nervous and worried as Jon. Maybe we should have made them forget the entire conversation. We still could, you know."

"Maybe..." Fiona answered, frowning; her thoughts clearly wandering.

Morganna looked over at her. She could tell her sister had something on her mind. "What's on your mind, Fiona?"

“I’m wondering if I haven’t made an error in judgment in having you help me.”

“What are you talking about?”

"Don’t think I didn’t notice what you and your new charge were doing. What were you thinking, making a wager like that? You can’t possibly have wanted to kiss him! Or did you?”

Morganna just laughed. “Oh come now, Sister, I knew you would not relent, and this saved me from having to steal something from him, should I need to cast a spell. That reminds me; you’ll need to get something personal of Jon’s for me.”

“You’re avoiding my question.”

Morganna sighed. “Sister, you and I will always be different in this respect. He has a pretty mouth and a beautiful face. His hands look gentle, and there was laughter in his eyes. I wouldn’t have minded kissing him.”

Fiona shook her head. “Even after everything you’ve been through. All the heartache and betrayal. You would STILL trust your heart to a male?”

“Not my heart,” Morganna said. “Not necessarily. You don’t understand.” Morganna stood on the shelf and paced back and forth, careful not to disturb anything. Below them, the two men were still reading and taking notes and talking quietly to each other. “Fiona, I am a romantic. I always believed, and still do believe, that there is a soul mate there for me. I feel sure that the Maker, in his infinite wisdom, does not want me to be alone for all eternity. How can I find my Other Half if I do not look? How can I find that which I do not try to seek?”

“But Anna, every time you think you’ve found your mate, something bad happens.”

Morganna shrugged. “So I made mistakes.”

Fiona wasn’t ready to let it go. “Your husband absolutely was a mistake. I still can’t believe our step-father promised you to Urien of Gore.”

“More like Urien the Bore,” Morganna snorted. “But he wasn’t my choice, wasn't my mistake. I knew that he wasn’t my soul mate, but how could I defy Pendragon? He would have surely killed mother. I had to do my duty.”

“And you bore him a son, and what did he do?”

“Sister, I know full well what he did. I still keep the scars lest I start to forget. Had I not been studying magic for some time at that convent before the betrothal, I would not have been able to keep it from being worse.”

“You should let Merlin smooth them.”

“No,” Morganna said. “They serve to remind me to be more careful, and not so confident in my magic that I act foolishly.”

“Then if you’re being more careful, trying not to act the fool, why act on some frivolous connection to the mortal?”

“I don’t quite know,” Morganna admitted. “There’s just something about him my soul is drawn to. It’s different than with the others. It’s almost like...”

“Like what you felt with HIM.”

“Ah yes, HIM,” Morganna agreed, smiling beatifically at the memory. “Accolon.”

“But you remember everything he did, yes? Not just the good.”

Morganna’s smile faltered. “Aye, Sister, not just the good.”