“But I don’t feel an affinity.”
“No, but you have it nonetheless. Even if you don’t know how to control it, it’s there. It manifests itself in The Spark. Your body and mind are both open to the magic in ways that make you uniquely susceptible to others’ malevolence.
“That’s why you need me—a teacher to guide you. You need somebody who can show you how to protect yourself. You need somebody who will stop you from killing yourself by wielding too much magic, too soon.
“I was wrong to give you three days. I should have commanded you to begin lessons immediately. But I wanted to give you the illusion of choice. If you came of your own volition, if you yourself saw the need for it, our relationship would be strengthened. You would be willing instead of hesitant. Trusting instead of suspicious.
“But now the choice has been made for us.” The Queen holds out her hand. “Do you remember what else I asked of you?”
Slowly, I nod. My chest constricts as I pull Raul’s ring off and place it in Morgan’s hand.
“What are you doing?” he exclaims.
“I’m sorry,” I say in a small voice. I don’t meet his eyes.
“Excellent,” Morgan says. She tucks it away in a fold of her dress. “The first lesson, which you will be given now, is how to shield your mind so you cannot be made vulnerable again.”
“Okay.” I nod and feel a growing determination. I push myself higher in the bed. “Tell me what to do.”
“You need do nothing… except open yourself to me.”
A faint blue-ish glow appears around the Queen’s fingertips. All the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I feel the energy she is channeling in the air.
She raises both hands and brings them to my forehead. “Lean forward,” she says. “I’m going to put a guarding spell on your mind.”
Raul watches us both tensely.
I start to move—then stop. “A guarding spell?” I ask. “I thought you were going to teach me how to protect myself.”
“That type of training will take weeks. For now, this spell will protect you. It’ll form a link between you and me similar to what you experienced with Victoria. That will give me warning if anybody tries to take control of you again.”
I look at her, and then at Raul. I’m having second thoughts.
Suddenly, I’m not sure how smart it is to let Morgan into my mind.
Especially if I don’t know how far I can trust her.
“Come, Eleira,” she says. “It’ll be quick.” She smiles in a serpentine way. “It won’t hurt, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
“It will… link me… to you?” I ask.
“Yes, temporarily.” Morgan clicks her tongue in exasperation. “This isn’t a debate. We’re losing time.”
She grabs my head. I gasp as a torrent of energy floods into me. I feel a force descending upon my brain, almost like it’s being shrink-wrapped. My eyes roll back and all I see are alternating flashes of white and blue.
“Don’t fight me,” Morgan hisses. “Let your mind go. Let me in!”
“I’m not fighting!” I grind my teeth together. The pressure inside my head builds. It feels like all my powers, all my strength, are being bundled up and pressed into each other, in a space much too small to hold any of them.
My body fights back, pushing against the shrink-wrap, against the pressure…
A sudden flash of light explodes from my body. Morgan and Raul are both knocked away. The furniture near me is shoved away, slamming against the walls. A vase smashes and breaks.
And I’m left panting, even more sweat soaking my skin, as the feeling in my head slowly returns to normal.
“That,” Morgan hisses, picking herself up, “was not very smart.”
She launches herself at me, hands outstretched—
But Raul is quick. He knocks her aside, and they both crash to the floor.
“You will not harm her!” he says. “Eleira.” He looks at me. “Are you all right?”
I nod my head shakily. “I… think so.”
“What did you do to her?” Raul demands, pinning his mother to the ground.
The Queen makes no effort to rise. In fact, she seems to take a kind of perverse pleasure from being on the floor with him like that.
Raul grunts and picks himself up. Morgan does, too. Then she laughs.
“You think we’re still on opposing sides, don’t you, son?” She turns to me. “We’re going to try that again. But this time, you will not resist.”
Chapter Forty-Four
JAMES
For the fifth time I go over all the defences of The Haven.