"Oh, Your Highness." Matthias was startled. "I thought I'd locked the door." His hand was on his chest and there was a brief pause where the healer looked between Morgana and Aelys, a small crease between his brows.

Morgana's stomach felt like it was in her throat.

"The door was open when we arrived." Aelys's eyes narrowed, daring Matthias to contradict her. "We were looking for you everywhere. Morgana had another incident with magic. It was fire this time, our gowns were ruined, and she's suffered burns. We need a healing salve."

"Does Prince Damon know?" Matthias glanced at the raw patches of skin on Morgana's arms.

"No."

"He needs to know about Morgana's condition. He's always wanted to remain informed of any changes."

"Damon can wait, now fetch the salve."

"Of course." The healer walked over to a shelf. "I was just getting a tonic for Baron Elroy. Unfortunately, he drank too much wine." He gave a dry chuckle.

Aelys was silent, and a bead of sweat rolled down Morgana's neck.

Matthias rummaged, clinking bottles and jars. His grey hair stuck out as if he'd been electrocuted, and there was a pale stain on the back of his mustard yellow robes. He found the jar of healing salve and applied swathes of it onto Morgana's arms. "You're lucky these burns aren't too severe."

The healer met Morgana's gaze and it felt like she was staring into the beady eyes of a spider. This fae with his craggy walnut face and wet leaf stench had been poisoning her ever since childhood. Had he done the same to others? Poisoned them under the guise of medicine?

"Make sure you keep taking your elixir, or more incidents like this will happen." Matthias tutted.

"I am taking it," Morgana lied.

"Then I think we should give you four doses a day from now on." The healer screwed the lid back onto the jar. "I think after such an incident you need to drink a cup of it right now, for your safety of course."

"She can take the elixir in the morning," Aelys snapped.

"Oh, but Your Highness, as the healer of this castle I have the authority on this matter. I know that the elixir has unpleasant side effects, but it is a necessity to ensure that Morgana lives as long as humanly possible in Elysia."

Morgana felt like she'd swallowed a nest of spiders.

"What do you mean you have the authority?" Aelys's voice was sharp.

"The king decreed that I have the authority to administer healing treatments as required. Had he not done this then fae would have the freedom to refuse treatment when our numbers are dwindling. It's our duty to ensure our citizens are healthy and live long. Don't you agree, Your Highness?"

"But I'm not fae," Morgana tried to hide the panic in her voice.

"You were adopted by the royal family and still fall under the same rules as the fae."

A horrible feeling settled over Morgana and Aelys like a fog descending over a cemetery. If Morgana were to refuse the elixir then it would give them away.

Aelys glared at Matthias like she wanted to rip him apart with her earth magic.

"I better drink some then. In case something else happens." Morgana forced a weak smile.

"Good. It's what's best for you." Matthias gave her a viper's grin.

Morgana took the elixir. It wasn't long before Aelys had to take her up to her room where she spent the next three days in bed. She'd vomited and sweated, whilst Aelys remained by her bedside and tried to feed her soup and the healing tonic. The elixir's side effects had somehow worsened. Morgana's heartbeat was erratic and her head felt thick. At the time she'd wondered if the poison in the elixir was finally killing her.

But on the fourth day Morgana recovered and that was when she and Aelys decided it was time to research the Coherceo Elixir and find out where it came from. After breakfast, Aelys took Morgana through the derelict halls of the East Wing.

"There's a secret library here, reserved for Golah Court's academics and spies." Aelys walked into a mostly empty room carpeted with dust.

Morgana glanced at a lone broken chair in the corner, and an empty bookshelf filled with cobwebs. She raised a brow. "This is the secret library?"

"Not quite." Aelys grinned and walked over to where the empty fireplace was.

Her cobalt gown trailed a path in the dust, causing Morgana to sneeze into the sleeve of her green dress. Aelys twisted a small portrait of a smiling fae, and the fireplace swung open. Beyond it was a stone staircase that descended into darkness.

"How many secret entrances does this castle have?" asked Morgana.

"Too many, and I don't even know half of them. Only the spies, Damon, and father know where they all are."

Morgana stepped into the stairwell and wrinkled her nose at the familiar moldy stench of the underground castle. She was just wondering how she was going to see inside the dark stairwell when torches on the wall guttered to life, creating a spiral that led down.

"The torches are enchanted," Aelys said, moving past Morgana. "Once, when the witches were on our side, they used to enchant objects for us."

Morgana eyed the torches, wondering just how many enchanted items the fae had kept because of the witches. She thought of the maze, wondering if a witch had been responsible for enchanting the place that she'd found so much joy in.

Morgana and Aelys's footsteps echoed as they descended the staircase. Soon, they were in front of a pair of erudium doors that reflected the flickering torches.

Aelys pushed the doors open, and Morgana's eyes widened.

The library looked as if it had been crafted from the inside of a gigantic cave. There were wrought iron chandeliers that hung between golden stalactites, and endless rows of mahogany bookcases as far as the eye could see. Crackling fireplaces were hewn into the walls, sending warmth into the air. Plush velvet lounges, mahogany tables, and chairs decorated the dark stone floor. The room smelled richly of books, and at a cluster of tables near the entrance sat a trio of fae with stacks of parchment in front of them. They all wore the same black uniform. Spies.

Aelys strode through the center aisle that had bookcases flanking either side. Morgana followed. There was a reverent silence that filled the library, like a church of the Goddess on Samhain's Eve.

"How did you find out about this library? Are you that good of a healer?" Morgana matched Aelys's stride.

"I wasn't supposed to know about it. You can't tell anybody about it either. The library is supposed to be used by male fae only." Aelys gave Morgana a knowing look.

"Of course," Morgana snorted. "Females don't need their brains when they're supposed to be pretty little ornaments."

Aelys chuckled. "You sound like Brighid, she hates it as well. I hate it too, the gender roles and values we're taught in this court ... I found out about this place by accident, only because Damon brought me here when we were younger. When father found out, Damon wasn't allowed out of his room for a week, and I had to swear an oath that I wouldn't show this place to outsiders."

"Am I allowed here then?"

"Of course you are, you're not an outsider, you're family. But I still don't want Damon to find out that we're here because we might get into trouble." Aelys linked her arm through Morgana's arm. "The spies back there will keep quiet because I'm the princess. It's above their paygrade to start a fight between the royal family."

Soon, they reached a cozy section of the library that had a large marble desk in the middle of the walkway. Tables and chairs dotted the space for more scholars and spies. A thin, pale, fae with grey hair sat behind the desk. His name was Archibald, and he was sorting stacks of books into piles with his earth magic. He wore a brown suit and had wire rimmed glasses that dangled from a neck chain. There was a bowl of candied rose petals on the desk that was almost knocked to the floor when he spotted Aelys.

"Your Highness." Archibald's eyes widened, then he quickly bowed. "How may I help you?"

"I was wondering if you could help my sister and I with a recipe. We'd appreciate it if you could be discreet." Aelys smiled politely.

"Of course."

Aelys nodded at Morgana, who took the recipe out of her pocket and handed it to the librarian.

Archibald put his glasses on and squinted.

Aelys said, "I've trained in the healing arts but I've never seen a recipe like this, it has a lot of poisonous ingredients. Do you know what kind of book it would belong to?"

After a moment, Archibald shook his head. "I could only hazard a guess at what kind of book this would come from. But it is no ordinary recipe, that's for sure. All the healer's books in this library are about herbs and how to make healing tonics and tinctures. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this is a carefully crafted poison."

Morgana and Aelys exchanged a glance.

"A poison?" Morgana asked.

"Yes, one that is aimed at stifling the elements. Small doses of aconite, iron, and holly berry block access to Elysia's magic but with the amounts here a fae would be poisoned to death. But these other ingredients here, such as burdock and dandelion, help heal the body by removing some of the toxins. They counter the poisons in the elixir so that they don't kill the consumer immediately. I would think that this elixir is something that would be used for warfare, possibly torture, so that a fae could be robbed of their elemental ability but not killed outright."

Morgana sighed. "If this is supposed to stop Elysia's magic from killing me then it makes sense that there are poisons that stifle elemental ability."

Archibald chortled, "Nonsense, the poisons in this would kill a human immediately. Even with the burdock and dandelion, there's no way you could drink it."

A tense silence followed where Morgana and Aelys stared at each other.

"Seeing as you think this recipe is something that would be used for warfare, does that mean you think it came from a book about war strategy?" Aelys asked.

Archibald slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Well, it wouldn't be something that the fae would use. But concocting poisons and such were something that the witches were adept at. All witches' grimoires were burned after the war, so it would be hard to tell. But we do have a section that details their history and how the various covens operated. There's little use for it now, except for scholars who try to find out how the witches were able to drain the land of magic when they used their powers. Most fae now only teach about the war in schools and nothing else about the witches' history."

"Can you take us to that section?" Aelys asked.

"Gladly." He smiled.

**

Archibald took Morgana and Aelys through labyrinthine passages to a dark and disused part of the library. The area was far from any candelabras, so thankfully Archibald had the foresight to leave them with a couple of lanterns.

"If you need anything at all, or if you need me to guide you back just write me a note and place it on this silver tray. The note will appear on my desk." He left them with a few sheaves of parchment, a pot of ink, and a quill in case they needed to take notes. Then Archibald hobbled back through the stacks, until his lantern dimmed, and he faded into darkness.

A few hours passed where Morgana and Aelys searched various books about the witches' history. They focused on books that were about poisons and read testimonials that mainly came from fae or faeries that had been the victims. Morgana's head spun at the vast array of horrible elixirs and poisons the witches made. There was one that could make a fae or faery bleed from their eyes, and another one that melted their bones. Morgana gasped at an illustration of a fae who'd been turned into a pool of skin and flesh.

So far, they found nothing on the Coherceo Elixir, and Morgana's stomach grumbled loudly. "Let's call it a day Aelys." She placed another book back on the shelf.

Aelys sighed and closed the book she was reading. "I can't believe we haven't found anything."

But then the strange voice whispered inside Morgana's head, "Find me."

A hum vibrated down Morgana's spine and a slight breeze lifted her hair. She tilted her head up, to where a crimson book with gold lettering was on one of the uppermost shelves. The whispering got louder and louder, until some invisible force pulled it from the shelf and the book crashed down onto the floor near Morgana's feet.

Aelys jumped. "Goddess!" Her hand went to her chest. "That nearly hit your head! It mustn't have been stacked properly."

Morgana bent down and picked up the book. The sides of the pages were embossed in gold, and the title of it was A History of the Maiden Coven. The whispering in her head faded to silence and Morgana opened the book to a spot where a page had been ripped out. Her heart thumped. "Can you give me the recipe?"

Aelys handed her the crumpled page. "Have you found something?"

Morgana smoothed the recipe out and glanced at the page's edge, sure enough there was a faint line of gold that matched the book. She grinned. "I think I just found where the recipe came from."

"Show me."

They sat on the floor and Morgana lined the page up perfectly with the ripped part. The writing in the recipe matched the writing in the book. Morgana and Aelys grinned at each other. They'd done it!

There was a page that detailed what the elixir was used for. Morgana read it aloud, "For centuries the Coherceo Elixir was used by the Maiden Coven to help witchlings control their powers. When a witchling turned eighteen her powers would oftentimes be uncontrolled, and the elixir was used to stifle the witchling's magic until she gained control through elemental mastery lessons from a Coven Leader. The elixir was taken once a week, so that the witchling's power could still grow but in a controlled way. If more than the recommended dose was given to the witchling, she would sicken, and it would suppress her magic completely. There has been a small number of cases where stronger witchlings had outbursts of uncontrolled magic despite high doses of the elixir, but these were rare. After the witchling gained elemental control from her lessons then consumption of the elixir would cease. This elixir uses aconite and holly berries which is not fatal to witches. So, when in use the elixir was to be kept locked away in case any faelings were present."

A strange hush fell over Morgana and Aelys.

"That can't be right." Aelys shook her head.

There was a ringing in Morgana's ears.

Aelys snatched the book from her and read some more, "This elixir was found in a grimoire owned by a witch named Mersey from the Maiden Coven and was copied for research purposes prior to the grimoire's burning."

Aelys turned the pages. "Is that it?"

Morgana felt like she'd swallowed a lump of coal. "What does this mean?"

The sound of frantically flipping paper filled the silence.

"Am I a witch?" Morgana had a horrible sensation in her stomach, like she was falling headfirst off a cliff.

"No. That's impossible. All the witches were wiped out. There must be some other explanation."

Morgana stood up and paced. "But the book says that if anyone other than a witch took that elixir, then they would die."

Aelys tossed the book onto the floor. "Well, the book is wrong because you're not a witch, you're a human, and you're alive and well. So, you've proven that humans can drink it."

Morgana's eyes burned.

"It's okay. You're not a witch. You're human." Aelys hugged her. "Maybe you had an ancestor that was fae and that could explain why you've been able to handle the elixir."

Morgana sniffed. "Do you think so?"

"Yeah." Aelys smoothed away a lock of hair that was stuck to Morgana's face. "What else could it be?"

Morgana nodded even though a weird feeling in her chest told her that Aelys was lying. From the way Aelys's eyes darted to the floor, Morgana knew that she didn't believe the lie either. The elixir was deadly to fae, and faint traces of fae blood in Morgana's lineage wouldn't be enough to save her.

It was all so puzzling.

Morgana looked down at the book. If she wasn't a witch then how come Elysia's magic had started escaping her around the time she'd turned eighteen, just like the witchlings did when they came of age? She shook her head. There was no such thing as witches anymore. And from what little memories Morgana had of her parents, she knew that they were human. There were no memories of her casting spells with her mother, or whatever it was that witches did, and she most certainly didn't leach the land of its magic.

"Well, we kind of got some answers, but it only leads to more questions." Morgana wiped her cheeks. "I just want to know how I've been able to survive this elixir and why a memory suppressant was added to it."

Aelys frowned. "Is there anything new that you remember ever since you've stopped taking the elixir?"

Morgana bit her lip, all she could think about was Damon and Erik leaving her parents to a fiery death.

"If you remember anything let me know," Aelys said. "Perhaps, you saw something that either Matthias or someone else wants you to forget."