The Return of Bryn 3
She looked….she looked…he didn't know how to put his feelings to words. With the utterings of this lady, Lady Roslyn of the House of Lyon, his love had been devotedly surrounded by a soft, radiating nimbus cloud of what could be only described to him as a mother's lovingly, nurturing embrace.
Her hair danced on the winds that fluttered around her; giving her and angelic halo of red fire around her heart-shaped, rounded head.
The power blooming out from her made the surrounding air hum and shimmer with soothing warmth much like on hot summer days when the eye was tricked by the sun in the distance by watery mirages in the distance.
He had never known the true devotion of a mother's love. Using his own observations of sincerely, dedicated mothers caring for their children and Doubar's own descriptions of their mother's true love for them, the light that was emanating outwards from Maeve's very soul could only be described as a mother's love.
Was this Maeve's true power? If so, why had it been bound by her father? Why had had father weakened his daughter and THEN sent her out into the world?
A world full of heartbreak.
A world full of danger.
Full of sadness.
Full of suffering…
Full of death…?
In the moment he felt an illogical wave of hatred for a man he had never met rise up within him. How dare this so-called FATHER send out his love, his only love, into the world so unprotected?!
He looked at Maeve's beaming face as the light from within cuddled up around her. She looked like one of those angels that the Christians spoke of. Her hair, as beautiful as the dying orange-red sun at dusk danced on the lightly blowing southern warm winds.
Her eyes danced like fire is want to do in the night as it eagerly ate up the air around it to keep it burning alive. Her lightly golden tanned skin, still so pale against his own, glittered like a million stars at night and her smile was the softest he had ever witnessed.
And it all was focused on him.
He felt a wave of disgust for himself roll up within his soul. He didn't deserve her or her love. He, who had slept with Shirenz, because he could no longer stand the horrible pain of missing her and because she had a passing resemblance to his Celtic Sorceress.
Just as his thoughts took on this dark tone, he felt her hand lightly touch his cheek. He looked into her chocolate brown eyes and once again felt her loving warmth sooth his chilled one.
Her eyes were pleading with him to let her explain things more fully.
To take her cousin onto his ship.
To bring her home.
Could he do it?
He looked at the petite raven hared woman once more.
And again he felt the torturous fear clamp his heart and rent it in two.
She was dangerous to him.
She was going to bring him more heartache than ever before.
He looked into Maeve's fiery brown chocolate orbs of life.
His anger and resentment of Lady Roslyn dissolved the gentle warmth infusing him.
He nodded; they had planned on going to Albion anyways.
Her smiled lite up her face and made her shine with an inner light he was slightly jealous of. Was her devotion to his Lady so much that the releasing of her secret completely changed her so?
Did he truly know his Maeve then?
The closer they got to the Nomad, the stronger his resentment for this Roslyn grew. Just who was she really? If she was such a powerful sorceress, why did she need a ship to travel? Why did she come to him? There were plenty of other merchant ships at port, so why his?
She is pregnant. His mind reminded him. Are you truly so evil to wish danger and possible death to an unborn child?
Guilt immediately hit him as he thought this. No matter what he felt about the mother, the child was innocent of all wrong doing. He wouldn't let the child possibly die just to save himself the heartache he knew was coming.
Once on board, Sinbad raised his hand and said, "Welcome aboard My Lady."
Lady Roslyn easily climbed aboard. The ease of her attempt showed how experienced she was with traveling on ships such as the Nomad. She walked towards him as the others climbed aboard and gave him a knowing smile.
He frowned at her. How could she seem to be so familiar with him after so short a time? Her grin grew just a tiny bit more as Maeve reached her. The differences between her and Maeve was so startling that he could not see how they were related at all. From Maeve's strong, tall stature to her fiery spirit and hair and attitude to Roslyn's petite, unassumingly normal stature and sable black curly hair to her cool persona spoke of no relationship at all.
But then again, Bryn was Maeve's second cousin and they looked very different from one another too.
Bryn and Roslyn though, their family resemblance was easily seen. It was all too easy to see their family bloodlines. Even when he was human, Dermott looked more like Bryn and Roslyn than he did to Maeve.
He turned to Maeve and raised an eyebrow.
She gave him an even stare and nodded to his silent question. She would reveal it all now.
Silently he led the way to the entrance of the below cabins and into the galley. There he walked purposefully to their food stocks and grabbed a loaf of newly bought bread, still slightly warm from the morning fires that birthed the bread and a hunk of goat cheese and pure, clean water to drink from and the others filtered into their seats.
Sinbad turned and faced the others. Maeve and Roslyn, with Dermott still perched quite contently on her arm were the only ones who seemed quite calm and serene. For a moment he felt a jolt of anger at Maeve. Why was she so calm in the face of all this emotional discontent he, himself, was facing?!
She doesn't know, does she? He conscious gripped back. It's not like you've told her anything, have you? He pushed those thoughts aside. He knew his conscious was right, but with all the emotional upheaval he had been through recently, with confronting the devil, finding out the truth of what he was changing into, finding Maeve, and her return had sent him through all sorts of emotional ups and downs he wasn't quite sure where north was any more.
He comforted himself with this. It was understandable that he was so confused and lost within his own mind.
He placed the food down and glanced at the others. Bryn looked lost, but there was a glimmer of something more shining in her eyes that had never been there before. Perhaps the return of Maeve and meeting this Roslyn lady again, apparently, had stroked a fire within her that she had forgotten about with her amnesia? Even with Maeve and Dermott telling her stories of her past, Bryn's memory had yet to return. Dermott had said there was a sort of magical ward around it, whatever that meant, that was blocking all their attempts to gaining entry, but just then it looked like Bryn's memory was the closest to the surface of her mind than it ever was; like a simply jolt of power could break the ward and her memory could come flooding back to her at any minute.
Doubar looked just as lost as he did; even more so, because Doubar was a simple man who understood the simpler ways and things of life. He wasn't one for complicated emotions or thoughts. If he felt something for someone, man or woman, he acknowledge them and then went with the feelings. He didn't complicate things with 'what-ifs' or 'perhaps-she feelings this'.
Firouz was denying the magic, but was curious all the same. His scientific mind was running at top speed he was sure, and no doubt questions were being generated ready to spill out of his mouth the moment he felt they would be answered.
Rongar, like Bryn, was calm. Sinbad knew there was hardly anything in the world that startled his Moorish friend. His potential for patience was so much that even when he was startled or surprised by something, he was able to calm down quickly and wait the problem out.
Sinbad wished he had that patience right then as Maeve nervously sat down next to his customary seat and began to play with her hair. Sinbad sat the food down and then seated himself down.
Never once did his eyes moved from her face.
He wanted answers.
He was going to get them!
His even stare, which showed none of his conflicting thoughts, met her gaze and he asked, "Well?"
He watched Maeve's face as it tumbled through a myriad of emotions.
Happiness: possibly because she was reunited with family?
Eagerness and nervousness: to reveal her past?
Fear: was that fear of him in her eyes?
He closed his eyes as another jolt of disgust rolled up inside him. He didn't want her to be afraid of him! He loved her, but how could he really love her if all he knew of her was not even the truth? Even her own powers weren't what he truly knew of her!
She sat up met his eyes and began, "First of all, as you know I'm not the daughter of a pig farmer. My mother is a Priestess of the Mother Goddess and the Guardian of the doors of Avalon the magical center of the kingdom of Albion and my father is the Head of Intelligence for the kingdom of Albion both under the power and command of my cousin-uncle, King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot."
He nodded and waited.
She took a deep breath and continued, "You also know I was trained from the moment I first expressed my magic on how to use them."
She looked at him, he nodded, and he knew she had been young, took a deep breath once more, and said, "I was five."
Shock rolled through him and he gasped. His wide eyes met her own and she nodded seriously. If she had been trained in magics from such an early age, why had she been so weak when they first met?!
She continued, "From the time I was five I learnt the teachings of the Mother Goddess. I trained in my magic and grew stronger quickly. The problems began when I was ten and four, and Rumina came to our home."
Her eyes grew cloudy with the memory and the pain it invoked. Despite his fear and anger, his heart melted for her pain. He wanted to hold her close and never let another thing hurt her, but he knew she'd not only, not, allow that she'd also burn his backside figuratively and literally for attempting to do so.
Maeve's eyes cleared as she continued, "My brother, Dermott," His eyes jumped Dermott still on Roslyn's arm, "and my father, Tristan, had been with me training in the swords when Rumina arrived. She proclaimed she was there to get revenge for her mother's banishment from the Isle of Avalon and I, as a sister of the Avalonian Order, was charged with seeing her removed from our home because I was the one who spotted her."
Sinbad saw her sigh, and despite himself, he placed his hand on hers and gave it a supportive squeeze. She glanced up at him and the smile she gave him made his heart melt once more. How she could cut through all his defenses he didn't know, but she could and he loved her all the more for it.
As she continued he felt warmth run up his arm through their joined hands, "I was young and arrogant. I didn't pay attention to Rumina as well as I should have. I had thought I was wining the fight and as such I underestimated her. She had learned our ways of magic from her mother, but from Turok she had learned another; this is was cost me my brother's life and freedom…"
Sinbad turned back to Dermott as the hawk jumped off Roslyn's arm and transformed seamlessly into the human he was still getting to know, "Maeve, we've been over this countless times, yes you were arrogant, but I CHOSE to jump in front of that curse."
Maeve's brown eyes filled with tears as she protested yet again, "But Dermott…"
Dermott's gray eyes met her own brown ones, his finger rested against her lips, as he said, "No, no buts, I did what I did, and I have no regrets about doing it Maevelynn. Please, let it go, I'm back and we are going home now. This is a time for happiness not regrets."
Sinbad's heart clenched again at Dermott's words: we are going home. Was her home the Nomad though? Wasn't it Dermott's and Bryn's too? Why was his family trying to break apart after they had finally gotten them all back together again?!
Roslyn's brown-black eyes met his as she said, "Dermott got cures by a mixed magic that none of Avalon could combat; this you already know, but what you don't know is that Maeve wasn't allowed to leave, no one was allowed to leave Albion, without Oaths of secrecy to protect us from those who would try to harm us. Even Bryn had to be oath secured before she could leave for Hibernia."
Bryn tilted her head and asked, "Why though? According to Dermott and Maeve I was heading there to meet my fiancée?"
Roslyn tilted her head and said, "Uncle Tristan always took our protection very seriously. It stems from his tenure as a literal Roman slave, I think, but he wanted no one to find out about Avalon, its magics, how powerful their priestesses are, nor our royal pasts. Maeve, not only had to take the oath to leave the island, she had to take the oaths to protect the secrets of her magic, her birth, and her brother's true past as a human. The only one she could tell, the ONLY one, was the person she chose to be her eastern magics teacher."
Firouz breathed out, "DimDim."
Maeve nodded and continued, "As a fail-safe, Aunt Morgawse built into the oaths the only way to break the oaths…three of the bloodline must say the release."
Doubar put in with a harsh voice, "Then why couldn't you, Bryn, and Dermott release you from your last oath?"
Sinbad watched Maeve's face wince at his brother's tone. As much as he wanted to help her, he also wanted to know this.
Maeve sighed, and grumbled familiar tones, "My father…."
She continued as she punched her hair over her shoulder again, "No three oath keepers can break multiple oaths."
Sinbad watched as the sun seemed to light up in Bryn's eyes as she asked but also stated, like she was remembering something but wasn't completely sure she was right, "So you, Dermott, and I could release one oath, but we couldn't release the second you were under, right Maeve? That's why we could do it just now with Roslyn…the three oath keepers were different."
The smile gracing his love's face was wondrous as she nodded and said, "Correct."
Roslyn turned to Maeve and raised an eyebrow.
Maeve crossed her arms and shook her head negatively.
Sinbad eyed them both with a mixture of anxiousness and fear, "um…is something wrong ladies?"
Maeve growled and said, "No Rose! Not yet! What about Fergus?!"
Roslyn rolled her eyes and said rather pointedly as if it should have been already known-what that something was he didn't know, "He wants to stay for a few more weeks; I don't have that luxury. I have girls to find after all."
Maeve huffed and said with crossed arms, "I'm not a water elemental Rose, I can't open the way."
Roslyn rose to her full height, still a good half foot below Maeve's true height, and said, "Maeve you are the daughter of the guardian of the gates, they WILL respond to you."
She continued, "And it's the only way to get Bryn's memory back."
Maeve's arms dropped as she sighed.
Sinbad, while he felt that no real answers had been given, for the information they had been told, they had already known from before, placed a hand on Maeve's shoulder and asked, "What's wrong?"
Maeve let herself fall into his side, and he eagerly wrapped an arm around her waist, as she said, "Although my mother is the guardian and water elemental, I am neither. I have never been able to cast the spell to open the gates, let alone the one to bring them forth! If I fail, I could cause a terrible reaction that could cause irreparable harm to not only me but you…"
He felt the rage rise up in him again. It flared with a chill so cold it could burn the skin as she looked at them all and amended, "All of you."