Princess | Riven (Fate: Winx Saga)

Act Two: Chapter 8

With that, Rosalind gave them a curt nod and strode off to the other side of the training field, to where some other Specialists were lined up with bows and homing arrows. As Mor allowed herself to look closer, she could make out Riven's figure beside Sky, but she hurriedly averted her gaze when he caught her staring.

"You know," Harrison mused, providing a distraction from her embarrassment, "I think she just told me to murder you."

She scoffed, eyeing him up and down, "You couldn't kill me even if you tried, mate."

The redhead crossed his arms over his chest, "You sure about that, love?"

Mor cocked an eyebrow, "You really want to test it?"

"No, I'm quite happy breathing, please and thank you." Harrison declared firmly, holding his hands up in surrender as mock fear twisted his features.

"Wise choice."

"Mhm..." He hummed, glancing back to where the Headmistress had disappeared off to, "I'm sure Rosalind will be disappointed, though."

Mor snorted and settled into her fighting stance, "What can I say? I have that effect on people. Now, come on. Give it to me."

He just grinned shamelessly, "Hey, if you're really that desperate, the offer for tonight is-"

She cut him off by charging straight at him. 

*****

Wrapping the towel around her body, Morrigan stepped out of the shower and wandered through into her room, suitably clean and sweat-free after her sparring session. 

Rolling her shoulders back, she sighed heavily, unimpressed at the only slight protest her muscles gave out at the movement. While Harrison had taken it up a notch after Rosalind's criticism, Mor was still well aware that he'd held back significantly. Despite her knowing that the reason he'd taken it easy on her was simply because he cared about her and didn't want to hurt her, she couldn't stop the irritation that brewed at the rather anticlimactic training.

Without trying to sound psychotic, Morrigan enjoyed the pain that ensued after a good work out, for it proved to her that she was getting stronger, that she'd made a difference.
And right now, gathering strength was exactly what she needed to do.

After her imprisonment, Mor was painstakingly aware that she was physically weak, and Rosalind was right - it meant that she was a liability. In her current state, if her magic were to be stolen, she would be utterly useless against a Blood Witch, and being useless was one thing Mor despised. So when Harrison went easy on her, it only succeeded in highlighting to her just how weak she was at the moment.

She sighed again, holding her towel up in one hand and sifting through her wardrobe with the other.

It had been three days since the Alumni Ball, and Mor was only just beginning to settle back into a routine here at Alfea, spending her time catching up with her friends, attending classes, and ignoring the gawking expressions and whispers that trailed after both her and Bloom. Ever since word got out about the Vitae Mortem and the Dragon Flame, it was all anyone at the school could talk about.

She'd also successfully avoided contact with Riven after the moment in the woods - or rather, he had successfully avoided her. The best Mor got was the awkward eye contact that lasted a couple of seconds when one of them caught the other staring.
But that was a good thing, right? This was what she wanted, wasn't it? At least, that's what she told herself in order to squash the nagging awareness of his absence. 

"Mor! Morrigan!" 

The door to her room burst open, and the blonde startled, spinning around to see Terra standing in the threshold, grinning widely.