Chapter 223: Your Father Knows You Exist

Astraea’s expression grew more serious, and when she turned away from Morgana and began to pace, there was a tension in her movements that hadn’t been there before.

"The council will eventually realize what you are," she said, her voice carrying an edge of warning. "When they do, they’ll move against you."

Morgana’s hands clenched into fists in her lap.

"What do you mean, move against me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Astraea stopped pacing and looked directly at Morgana, and there was something in her pale eyes that suggested she was making a calculation, deciding how much truth Morgana could handle, how much weight could be placed on her shoulders without crushing her.

"I mean," Astraea said slowly, "that the council is fractured. Divided. Not united by anything except the memory of what they once sought."

She began to pace again, her movements sharp now and somehow agitated.

"Some of them will urge the kings to claim you immediately," Astraea continued. "To bind you to them officially, to cement whatever is happening between you. They see your power and they see safety, if you’re claimed by the kings, if you’re bound to the dragon lines, then you’re controllable. You’re predictable. You’re contained and they get to break their curse as soon as possible"

She paused and turned to face Morgana.

"Some will try to weaponize you," Astraea said bluntly. "They’ll want to use your power for their own purposes. They’ll want to control you because controlling such power would make them significant in ways they’ve never been before. They’ll see you as a tool, a weapon, a resource to be managed and deployed."

She moved closer, her pale eyes burning.

"And some will try to get rid of you entirely," Astraea finished. "Because despite the fact that you are what they seek, not everyone wants you found. Not everyone wants the prophecy fulfilled. There are those who benefit from the status quo, Morgana. There are those who have built their power, their influence, their entire existence on the assumption that the old magic is dead and the prophecies are false. Your existence is a threat to everything they’ve constructed."

Morgana felt ice sliding down her spine.

"Your father knows you exist," Astraea said, and the words fell like a death sentence. "He’s looking for you, Morgana. He’s been looking for you since the moment you were born. And he’s not going to stop looking."

"My father?" Morgana whispered. "But I thought....the stories I was told....."

"The stories were lies," Astraea said gently. "Protective lies, probably. But lies nonetheless."

She returned to her chair and settled into it, her pale eyes fixed on Morgana’s face.

"The man who brought me here," Astraea continued. "Carrick Greythorne. He’s not working alone. He serves someone. Someone more powerful. Someone with their own agenda regarding you, regarding your power, regarding what you might become."

Morgana’s mind was racing, trying to process, trying to understand the layers of complexity that were being revealed.

"And that’s not all," Astraea said quietly. "There’s someone who cares about you more than you know. Someone who would do anything to protect you. But you need to understand something fundamental about the world you’re entering, Morgana."

She leaned forward, her ancient eyes boring into Morgana’s.

"The enemies you’re going to make, the people who will want to use or destroy you, they will want to hurt everyone you love," Astraea said. "They will target anyone close to you. They will use your connections, your affections, your love as a weapon against you. That’s how power works in this world. You protect yourself by protecting them. You survive by understanding that the people you love are your greatest vulnerability."

She paused, letting that harsh truth settle into Morgana’s bones.

"So I’m warning you," Astraea said, her voice dropping even lower. "Protect the people you care about. Protect them fiercely. Because they are your weakness and your strength simultaneously. Your enemies will know that. And they will not hesitate to use that knowledge against you."

***

Morgana sat in silence for a long moment, trying to process the weight of everything that had been revealed.

Finally, she stood on shaking legs.

"What do I do now?" she asked, her voice small and uncertain.

Astraea stood as well and moved to the door. With a wave of her hand, it swung open silently, just as it had when Morgana arrived.

"You tell the kings you met me," Astraea said. "You tell them everything I said. They’ll understand what I couldn’t fully explain. They’ll know how to help you navigate what comes next."

She looked at Morgana directly, and her pale eyes were intense.

"But remember this," Astraea said. "The kings will want to protect you from truth. Don’t let them. You’re stronger than they think. You’re stronger than you think. You’re stronger than anyone in this palace understands."

Morgana moved toward the door, but Astraea’s voice stopped her.

"Go back to them," Astraea said. "But remember.....you don’t belong to them. You belong to yourself. Everything else....the prophecy, the destiny, the kings, the magic, the council, your father, all of it, it’s all just the world waiting to be decided by you."

***

Morgana walked back through the palace corridors in a daze.

The world around her seemed to fade into insignificance. Servants moved aside. Guards stood at attention. Torches flickered on the walls. None of it registered. All of her attention was internal, turning over the conversation in her mind like a jewel, examining it from every angle, trying to make sense of what had been revealed.

She walked past windows and saw her reflection in the glass, dark eyes burning with something that wasn’t quite fear, wasn’t quite understanding, was something in between. Her magic was responding to the truth, even now, even as she walked. She could feel it thrumming beneath her skin, ready to erupt.

She needed to protect Rowan. She understood that with absolute clarity. The people she loved would become targets. The people she cared about would be used against her.

Morgana’s pace quickened. She needed to think. She needed to plan. She needed to understand the dangers that were circling her like sharks drawn to blood in water.

By the time she reached her own chambers, her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and implications and fears and something that might have been hope.

She pushed open the door and found Rowan standing by the window, watching the palace grounds, clearly waiting desperate for her to return.

Rowan turned immediately, and her eyes scanned Morgana from head to toe, looking for injury, for damage, for any sign of what had transpired in that mysterious chamber.

"What happened?" Rowan asked, moving toward her immediately."

Morgana looked at her friend....really looked at her and understood that everything was about to change. That the safe, small world they had inhabited since arriving at the palace was crumbling. That danger was closing in from all sides.

She took a deep breath.

"I’m starting to understand," she said quietly."