Morganthe's Apprentice

Chapter 3: Shadowblade

Author's Note: After over a year of near-silence (I am SOOOO sorry!), I've finally finished this chapter, and I'm so excited! Squee! A huge thank you goes to my beta readers, BuBuWinter and Firestorm Nauralagos. They have been so supportive and patient with me, I just have to give a big thank you, thank you, thank you to both of them!

Thanks also go to Jesse, Arnel 63, indyheart and all of those who have reviewed and/or shared this story. It means so much! It really does. :D

And without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 3 of Morganthe's Apprentice!

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Chapter 3: Shadowblade

Rebecca froze on the topmost stair. Her visitor, it so happened, was the last person she had expected to see there, at the heart of the Shadow Web.

Yet there he stood - Merle Ambrose - just outside the Shadow Palace, complete with his pet owl, Gamma, who sat perched atop his staff.

"Headmaster, look!" exclaimed Gamma excitedly, gesturing towards Rebecca with one pearl-white wing. "There she is!"

Ambrose turned his attention away from Morganthe, at whom he had been shooting an irate glare, to Rebecca, who stared back at him, horrified. He took in her appearance for half an instant, visibly shaken by the colors of blood and darkness she wore, but he quickly recovered from the shock. "Oh, Rebecca, thank the Spiral you're all right!"

"What are you doing here?" Rebecca whispered, feeling torn in half by the two opposing forces.

Though obviously startled by the question, Ambrose answered without delay. "Why, we've come to escort you back home to Ravenwood, of course."

Rebecca shook her head at once. "No," she said as firmly as she could manage. She backed away slowly, stopping only when she had reached the outer wall of the great castle. The doors, she realized, had already been closed behind her.

Ambrose stiffened somewhat, taken aback by her refusal. "I-I beg your pardon?"

"I said... no." As painful as it was to remain here, she had a job to do. Her destiny had been woven in the fabric of the Spiral before she had even taken in her first breath; there would be no escaping it, now or ever.

The headmaster now looked quite as though he were bracing himself for a physical blow, making Rebecca cringe inside. "Why 'no,' Miss Dreamhunter?"

Before she could say a word, Morganthe stepped lower on the staircase, letting a proud smirk spread across her face. "My dear Ambrose," she said smugly, "if you've come here seeking 'Miss Dreamhunter,' I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place."

Rebecca's insides quivered fearfully as she watched Headmaster Ambrose's eyes widen in horror. "And what-exactly-do you mean by that, Morganthe?" Rebecca knew well what the Shadow Queen had meant, however; she had decided on a new surname for her new apprentice. Rebecca felt sickeningly unsure of how she should react, what with the forces of Light and Shadow both present and keenly watching her.

"Perhaps you've not yet heard the news?" chuckled the Shadow Queen. "Of course not... Ambrose, the wizard you see before you is Rebecca Shadowblade, by her own choice." She laughed harder at the heartbroken expression the older wizard wore. "Yes, I think you've finally lost your mind."

Emotionally jarred by the sound of her laughter, heartbreak swiftly turned to raw fury in Ambrose's sky-blue eyes. "How vile you've become. What have you done?" he challenged her in a dangerously low tone of voice. "You've kidnapped her... Release your captive, Morganthe!"