Teaching her has been … interesting. Morgana’s talent for magic far exceeds even mine, but she herself doesn’t seem to realize just what she could become. I hope it remains that way, that she finds peace in the simple pursuit of the art, for should she ever step off the path I’ve laid out before her, those steps may very well be her last.
And yet, as fear fills my heart, fear for Morgana’s casual cruelty and seeming lack of morality, I cannot help but be filled with pride. My apprentice will guide this world through a revolution, and it will be beautiful.
Excerpt from Uther’s notes on his first student
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Melody woke up the next day, thrilled and excited. Her wounds had healed perfectly. No scarring, no mark she’d even been hurt last night, save for the bandages of course. She checked her bags to make sure she had taken everything with her and stopped when she found her knife. It wasn’t rusting or damaged anymore, the blade was as spotless as the day her mom had given it to her. Blood still stained the hilt, but that was the only evidence it had even been used.
Melody shook her head, probably some weird magic stuff, something she could worry about later. She would need to talk to her mom too to ask her about the knife in the first place.
Her eyes turned to the drawer in her nightstand that contained the small revolver her mom had given her. After hesitating a bit, she put it in her bag too. She would never let something like what happened to her last night happen again, never. She shook her head after that last thought entered her mind, it came from the same place her rage had come from and she didn’t know how to feel about it so she decided that it was also a problem she could address later.
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Catherine arrived at the Magus’ classroom and once again repeated what she wanted to say to him. How many times had she done this in the last ten minutes? She’d lost count but one does not talk to Uther without knowing exactly what one is going to say. She’d heard of too many who’d made that mistake. And when his patience ran thin and you weren’t one of his students … Well let’s just say that it rarely ended well.
She knocked on the door and entered after she felt a pulse of acknowledgment. He knew enough about her to know that she could sense magic in some way, it made her uncomfortable. Catherine Black had done many things, she knew many things but her strength had come from being an unknown. People knew of her, yes, but they didn’t know who she was, what she looked like, what she could do.
Uther was bent over tomes and grimoires, his eyes constantly moving both as he wrote down something else on a small stack booklet, pages flipped themselves and notes moved around without ever being touched as was needed. Catherine moved to start speaking but stopped herself as he held up his hands. She sighed but accepted his wordless request.
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After five more minutes, he seemed to be done as the notes and grimoires disappeared and the notes turned into a small booklet.
He turned to her with a strange glint in her eye as he extended his hand. “Very nice to meet you, Miss Black, to what do I owe this great pleasure.” His voice was softer and smoother than she’d expected and his physique was more filled out with muscle than she was used to. Most Magi relied solely on their magic but it was obvious that Uther did not. His long curly brown hair flowed behind him in luscious locks and his beard was obviously well taken care of.
Catherine caught herself, she could feel the subtle touch of a seduction spell doing its work, pointing out how charming he looked. She shook her head as she looked at him angrily, “That’s a dirty trick, Magus.”
Uther smiled and let the spell fade, “Needed to check if you’d notice. Now that my little test is out of the way, I ask again, what can I do for you Miss Black.”
“You and I both know why I’m here, so let’s not beat around the bush,” Catherine said, “My daughter is your apprentice, a student of the ancient arts. I came here to warn you, Magus. Melody is …” Uther chuckled. “She’s different? Is that what you came here to tell me? Because I think we have already established that.”
Catherine shook her head and sighed once more. “Melody is dangerous Magus.” She started. “If I had gotten my way, she would never have even touched the Arcane.”
Uther looked at her in surprise, “Someone as inclined toward magic as her? That would have been as impossible as stopping time from passing. It would be like telling light to go slower, like telling gravity not to exist. Why would you even try to attempt it?”
Catherine shook her head, “I knew that it was probably impossible but I still wanted to try. But listen to me Magus, listen to me very well. I know this is probably futile but I’ll still try. Don’t try to uncover the mystery that is my daughter, don’t even try to look any further than what you can see. Some things are better left unknown.” With that, Catherine turned and left. Leaving an intrigued Magus in her wake.
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Uther summoned another tome, its cover so aged that its name was hard to make out but he didn’t need to read it to know what it would say: ‘Creatures of the Arcane’. The tome had been much smaller when he’d acquired it, he’d used his superior skills and knowledge to complete it, but the author had been much more skilled than Uther at one thing. Uther had never been a slouch at sensing the Flow but it was hard to compete with a Fae, they could see the damn thing after all.
The tome had contained the most detailed descriptions he’d ever seen. He perused them all once more, trying to discern what Melody was. Ever since he’d found her, Uther had known that she was different, more than she seemed. But Catherine’s warning had shaken him, she was known to be fearless, she had spat in the face of gods and survived if some of the stories about her were true, and yet she was afraid.
Uther started writing in his Codex, creating a new chapter. ‘Melody Black: A study of something new’