Savior of Avalon

Chapter Eleven

Nestled inside of a thicket of trees, was the kingdom of Avalon. I had thought Camelot was magical, but Avalon was something else altogether. The town square was filled with people—upon closer inspection, I discovered these "people" weren't people at all. Some were trolls and some had odd lights that seemed to emanate from their skin.

Aengus rode his horse beside Aurea, keeping firmly to my side. Thom was on my other side, not even batting an eyelash at our surroundings. Thom always seemed so normal, I always forgot that he came from a world where magic and trolls existed. Arthur brought up the front with Merlin at his side. Arthur's knights followed in a loose formation, two were behind Aengus and I and the other two followed behind Arthur.

The beings stopped their shopping and stopped to stare. In horror, I realized they were staring at me, their eyes wide and their mouths agape. Almost immediately, they all fell to one knee, bowing their head and only lifting it once I passed.

Leaning over to Aengus, I whispered, "What the hell are they doing?"

Aengus laughed. "Showing you respect, m'lady. You're their soon-to-be queen and the savior of Avalon and Camelot. They're honored you've returned after so many years."

I didn't really know how to respond to that. I was apparently a big deal. Bigger than I was comfortable with.

We were making our way to the castle in the distance. Even though it was pretty far ahead of us, you could still make out its shape. It took up a lot of the distance. From here, I could tell it was huge.

Only once we were away from the town square could I breathe. All those eyes on me and all that bowing had made me uncomfortable.

The younger knight—the one around my age—pulled his horse up next to Aurea, his deep blue eyes looking at me curiously.

"You don't like that much, do you?"

"Like what?"

"Attention."

"If I'm being honest, I hate it," I admitted. "All my life, I was kept away from people. For my Mom, everyone was a threat. But, I learned it was best to keep my distance. And now, so many people are relying on me...it's..."

The boy c****d his head to the side, his expression intense.

My skin warmed under his gaze.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. It's just..." He paused, struggling to come up with the right words. "In the prophecies, they make you sound like some old maid who's sure of herself and her power. And here you appear, this beautiful goddess-like creature with powers I cannot even begin to fathom, and yet, you are as unsure of yourself as I am of myself."

I almost fell off of Aurea when he called me a "goddess-like creature" but forced myself to hold on. How embarrassing would it be if I actually fell?

"You're unsure of yourself, too?"

He nodded and smiled. "All the time. King Arthur is my father, so I'm expected to be as great as he is. To rule Camelot as justly as he—before Morgana took it from him. I'm expected to be as brave a man, as noble a man and as good a fighter, too."

"I guess we both have kingdoms resting on our shoulders," I murmured, looking forward and losing myself in my thoughts.

"That's right. The prophecy does say you will come to rule Avalon." He smiled kindly at me, his blue eyes sparkling. "I hope you and I will come to be good friends, Lucinda. I hope our kingdoms will be great allies."

I laughed. "I don't even know how to run a kingdom on Clash of Queens, I doubt I'd be any good at running a real life kingdom."

The boy tilted his head to one side, looking puzzled. "What is this 'Clash of Queens'? It sounds, in no way, respectable to have ladies clashing."

I laughed again, this time so loudly everyone turned to look at us. Merlin looked at me, then looked at the boy beside me, his expression growing dark before he turned around sharply.

"What's your name?" I asked, my laughter ceasing after seeing the dark look on Merlin's face.

"Mordred, m'lday." He reached out with one hand, taking my own and planting a kiss there.

My skin flamed up where his lips touched my skin. All the while, I thought of how strange it was how my world had gotten so much wrong. In my world, Nimue tricked Merlin into teaching her everything he knew about magic, then she turned him into a tree. In my world, Guinevere had been unfaithful to Arthur of her own free will and this led to Arthur losing his life to Mordred, his son he'd been tricked into conceiving by his half sister Morgause.

But in reality, Merlin and Nimue were a couple. Guinevere and Lancelot had been spelled into almost having an affair, which Arthur had put a stop to. And Mordred was Guinevere and Arthur's son.

It was definitely strange.

We eventually ended up at a wide lake only a few feet from the castle. The lake was frozen solid because of the cold.

"This is the Lake of Avalon," Mordred explained, leaning toward me. "One drop of water from this lake can heal any wound. Some even say it can bring a man back from the dead. But, because of Morgana's curse, the lake has frozen solid. She cannot enter Avalon, but her curse was on all of the land from Camelot to Avalon to all over the land. Many kingdoms have surrendered to Morgana just for food and shelter."

The more I heard of Morgana, the more I disliked her. I knew she had been an antagonist in the stories, but she was the one thing my world had gotten right. She was rotten in my world and she was rotten in this one.

"We're going around the lake," Arthur called out, turning to smile at me. "There are many people waiting for you, Lucinda."

I held back a sigh and Mordred laughed.

"Don't look so down. There'll be a great feast now that you're here. I don't know about food in your world, but here, the Elven chef, Faelyn, makes the best apple pie I've ever tasted. I could eat two of them and still not be tired of them." He smiled a boyish smile and I couldn't help but smile back.

In no time at all, we had gone around the frozen lake and made our way toward the castle. It was even more impressive up close. I remember once, during homeschool, as I studied about King Arthur, I had seen many castles. All of them were large and all of them were impressive, but none of them were as impressive as this. It was so tall that craning my neck to look at it all was almost painful. It was so wide that it seemed to go on forever. It was honestly no wonder we could see it from such a far away distance.

Aurea came to a stop and looking around I realized everyone was climbing down from their horses. Aurea bent her body gracefully and Aengus came to my side, helping me off.

Standing there was a large number of people. They all had colorful hair, like Merlin's mother. One woman—with long white hair and extremely pointy ears—came to me immediately. Her eyes—the color of Lapis Lazuli—were sharp.

Her eyes went from me to Aurea and back again.

"You did this?" She asked, her voice just as sharp as her eyes.

"Umm...yes?" I would have been relieved to have someone do something other than bow at me and look at me in awe, but to be honest, she kind of scared me.

She looked at me for a moment, then bowed her head, her eyes shining into mine.

"I'm Reyna, stern yet kind, after all this time I am pleased to meet my future queen."

"Ummm..." I looked over at Nimue, then looked back at Reyna. "Isn't she your current queen. Shouldn't you be kissing her ass?"

Reyna looked amused and Aengus, Arthur and Thom chuckled.

"She is the queen, but she does not rule the entirety of Avalon. I'm sure the kingdoms in your world work much different than the kingdoms in our world."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Smiling kindly, she placed a hand on Aurea.

"I've never seen a cross breed between a Unicorn and a Pengai before. I wonder if she can shift."

"Shift?"

Reyna looked at me in a mild surprise.

"Surely you know by now, your own father was a Unicorn. They were able to shift into human form whenever they liked. They were truly a powerful species. I just wonder if she can. Pengai are unable to shift and because she is a cross between the two, she probably cannot. Still," she turned slightly, "Zulabar. Come here, please."

A troll with dark purple skin and stringy dark hair shuffled forward. He bowed nervously, sneaking curious glances at me.

"This is Zulabar," Reyna introduced us. "He is the finest stable boy in the land. He's recently come to Camelot because many humans mistreat him." She frowned. "Humans are such unkind creatures and because of his appearance, clearly they think he lacks a heart. But here in Avalon, we have love for creatures no matter their appearance. As long as they are true of heart, they may enter Avalon as they please.

"Zulabar," she continued. "Will take your steeds to our stables. They will be well taken care of," she assured me when I shifted closer to Aurea, suddenly feeling anxious. "You have my word, future Queen of Avalon, none of us wish to see harm come to a creature as magnificent as she."

Aurea bumped my shoulder with her soft muzzle. She whined once, her eyes reassuring. It was almost as if I could hear her assuring me I could trust Zulabar with her safety.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded once and Zulabar stepped forward, pulling softly on Aurea's golden mane and leading her away with the other horses.

"Now that we've got your steeds taken care of," Reyna said, clasping her hands together loudly. "We have much to discuss, Sibyl."

I frowned at the name. "My name is Lucinda. You can call me Luce or Lucy. Everyone does."

"Ah, Lucinda." She smiled kindly. "Tonight, we shall hold a grand feast in your honor."

Behind me, I could hear the knight high-fiving each other and whispering "yeses."

"For now, let's get you settled in."

And with that, Reyna led the way inside the enormous castle.

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Reyna showed Thom, Aengus and I around the castle. Merlin and Nimue had gone off somewhere together, Arthur had gone to see Guinevere—who I would be meeting later tonight—and Arthur's knights had gone to take off their heavy armor and put on something more casual. Well, at least casual for Camelot.

The castle was enormous, with eight hundred bedrooms for guests and three hundred bedrooms for staff. There were two watchtowers that were manned day and night. Reyna informed me that—after Morgana had snatched the throne—Arthur had lost a good handful of his knights. Where he once had two hundred men, there were only one hundred of them left. Reyna had given Guinevere, Arthur and his knights, Merlin and Nimue shelter here in the castle when they asked.

She also told me we had many Elven and troll soldiers who stayed inside the castle for the safety of the queen. Five hundred soldiers, to be exact. Most of the other soldiers built houses close by so that, if there were ever an emergency, they could be here in minutes.

She also introduced me to the Elven chef Mordred had told me about. Faelyn was tiny with a round, childlike face and splotches of freckles across her cheekbones. She had white hair, like Reyna, and wide topaz colored eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, your Majesty. Oh," she suddenly looked very startled, her eyes going wide. "Although, I suppose you aren't queen yet. N-not that that means I respect you any less, your Majest—umm...ma'am." She bowed her head, looking frightened.

I laughed. "It's nice to meet you, Faelyn."

She looked up and gave me a relieved smile, showing off her dimples.

"The pleasure is all mine, miss. I sincerely hope you'll enjoy tonight's feast."

Finally, Reyna showed us to our rooms. Thom's room was located with the other knights. Reyna showed me and Aengus to our rooms next. My room was in a completely different wing, it was quieter and a garden—which no doubt would be beautiful in springs and summers—was directly underneath it. My room was made with shades of gold. It had simple things—a bed, a little sitting area to do my hair, a dresser—but these simple things were made exquisitely. Upon touch, I discovered the bed's headboard was made of pure gold and the canopy fell softly over it. There was a full length mirror off to the side.

Aengus's room was in the same wing as mine. Reyna said she understood how important it was for a knight to be near his lady at all times.

"As you travel through Avalon and Camelot alike," said Reyna, looking around. "This wing will get less empty. You will meet many people—Elves, Humans, Trolls, Valkyries, Gods and Sirens—many will wish to serve you. From them, you can choose those who you trust the most and make them your knights. They will live here, in these rooms. As close to their lady as possible."

I looked at the rooms ahead of me. Aengus had told me I had another warrior to protect me, and now I was told I could have a whole hall of them. It was like something out of a fantasy game. Where in the story line your some kind of hero who can lead other heroes. Only this was no game, this was my life.

Two Elven girls suddenly stopped in front of us. One had short green hair and her eyes were the exact same color as her hair. The other had long blue hair and, like the first girl, her eyes matched her hair color.

"These are Calen," she gestured to the green haired girl, "and Lhun." She gestured to the blue haired girl.

"Their names are Green and Blue?" I blinked and Reyna looked over at me in surprise, her head tilted to the side.

"Very good," she praised me. "Not many sorcerers can speak Elvish. Merlin is the only one who can. The Elven language is a very hard one to speak."

She was impressed, but I was a little freaked out. It was weird enough that I went around shouting spells in Latin, but it was even weirder that I could speak the language of the Elves.

"Calen and Lhun," she continued, "are your personal maids. In the mornings, they will bring you your breakfast, make your bed and throughout the day whenever you need them, you only need call them. They will help prepare you for dinner tonight. Your soldiers and the rest of Arthur's knights—as well as his queen—are very eager to meet you. Calen and Lhun will see to it that you're bathed and ready for supper."

As she said this, the two girls stepped forward, their eyes shining as they looked at me in awe. In my world, people only looked at Beyonce the way they were looking at me.

"Aengus, you should get ready, too. Dinner will be starting very soon," Reyna suggested, looking at him sternly.

"Aye aye." He gave a mock salute.

Reyna rolled her eyes and curtsied to me. "I must take my leave now, future queen. I'll see you at dinner."

She turned gracefully—her hair like a white waterfall—and walked away.

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Calen and Lhun were both very kind, although they seemed very nervous. I knew it was because I was Sibyl—and apparently, I was this land's version of Emma Swan. I was their savior. Someone who they had been waiting to come and save them for years. They seemed as awed to have me here as I was to be here.

Calen and Lhun drew me up a bath with rose petals. I'd studied enough to know this was scented water—this world's version of a perfume.

They left me with a bar of soap and a washing rag—due to my insistence that I could bathe myself. The tub was—like many things I had been given today—made of gold. The water was warm and the soap actually smelled really nice. It was almost as fragrant as the bathwater. Calen had softly told me it was made by a fairy and that if I liked it they could get more.

Leaning my head against the tub, I took this moment alone to think. The fact that there was no lights in this bathroom, only lanterns casting a soft glow, reminded me that I was truly in a land where magic happened everyday. A land where people lived hundreds of years and dragons roamed.

A land where my mother was being held captive by an evil sorceress who wanted to kill me.

Arthur had promised he would help me get my mother back and, when I remembered the look in his eyes, I believed him with every fiber of my being. However, I was anxious to get her back. I was anxious to have her safe and sound.

I knew for now that was impossible. We had no plan and storming in headfirst was suicide—for me, my mother and anyone who tried to help me. Not to mention, I didn't have full control of my powers. For the moment, I was still Merlin's student.

After I had washed, I stood out of the bath and wrapped myself in a robe that had been made by yet another fairy. I came to understand, fairies were good at making things that were a lot like things in the modern world.

After I came out of the bathroom, I was led back to my room. Calen and Lhun dressed me. This dress was exactly like something I've seen in shows and movies. It was royal blue with a wide neckline that was trimmed with an elegant gold pattern. The bell sleeves were as long as the hem of the dress, both sweeping the floor.

While Calen tightened my laces, Lhun combed out my curls gently. Starting from the bottom and working her way through the tangles. I was relieved they knew how to handle my hair. The last thing I wanted was them ripping it out.

Finally, when they were finished, there was a knock on the door.

Lhun rushed to open it.

"You decent, Luce?" Asked Thom.

I rushed to the door, grinning.

"Hey, Thom."

"Hey, kid. Look at you, all dressed up," he said, giving me that mother watching her daughter go to prom look again. "You look beautiful. I'm gonna have to stop calling you kid. Nicole would tear up if she could see you now."

I smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We're getting Mom back, Thom."

He gave me a mock punch to the jaw.

"We will."

Aengus came from his room, barreling toward us with his natural wide smile. From his height and his natural scary exterior, no one would ever guess he was a huge softie.

"Ye look beautiful, m'lady. Everyone will see for themselves why the Muses sing of yer beauty."

"You know, you've said that before," I murmured, curious. "Is that an expression?"

Aengus chuckled, patting me on the head. "No. It's exactly as I said. The Muses have sang many songs of yer beauty and yer kindness, m'lady. The Fates tell them of yer future and they sing it."

"Come on, we should head down to dinner," Thom recommended, tilting his head in the direction the smell of food was coming from. "They're waiting for you."

My stomach growled and butterflies danced in it at the same time.

Sighing, I said, "Yeah, that doesn't make me nervous at all. How many people are coming to dinner anyway?"

"All of your soldiers, all of the knights of Camelot, Guinevere and no doubt the servers will be sneaking peaks," Thom answered.

"So, like a million people. Great." The sarcasm in my voice was strong. In this moment, I sounded more like Merlin than myself. Turning to Calen and Lhun I asked, "Are you two coming?"

Lhun and Calen looked at each other before Calen spoke up.

"We eat after everyone else m'lady. However if you need us to attend to you, we can go."

I opened my mouth to tell her that was ridiculous and that they should come with us and eat now, but Aengus put a hand on my shoulder, smiling understandingly.

"It their job, Lucy," he said. "Besides, Faelyn makes more than enough food for two kingdoms. There's always a ton of food left, so none of them ever starve."

Holding in my urge to argue, I just nodded and let Thom and Aengus lead me to the place the smell of food was wafting from.

My heart was pounding at the idea of facing hundreds of people at once. I was not ready for this.

"It'll be fine, Luce," Thom was saying, coming to a stop near the open doors where chatter was coming from. "I'm here and so is Aengus. Merlin's in there, too. We've all got your back."

I nodded and taking a deep breath, I forced myself to stand straighter.

"Let's kick this in the ass," I breathed.

Thom led the way inside and I followed. Aengus walked behind me, looming over me in a way that begged someone to try to harm me.

The dining hall grew quiet and all eyes turned to stare openly at me. Instead of focusing on all the prying eyes, I instead took this moment to take it my surroundings. The dining hall was lit with lanterns, casting a soft glow. The room was huge. Actually, if I were being honest, the room was enormous. Enormous enough to fit five large, long tables inside. The tables were filled—mostly with men, but there were a few women, too—save for three seats. One at the head of the table, one on the right side and another on the left.

Reyna, moving forward with grace, held the chair at the head of the table out to, her eyes meeting mine as she gestured for me to come forward.

I moved forward and Thom and Aengus moved with me. The entire dining hall watched me walk toward Reyna and the chair she presented to me. I prayed I didn't do something stupid, like falling flat on my face.

Luckily, fate seemed to be on my side tonight, because I reached the chair without incident. Sitting down—almost gracefully.

"Our future queen has arrived," Reyna called out, her voice clear yet soft. "Let the feast begin."

There were cheers as the servants bought out all kinds of food, sitting it before us.

And in that moment, I was so hungry, I didn't care about all the eyes on me. I simply ate.