The Return of Bryn 4
"What do you mean, irreparable harm?!" roared Doubar as he jumped to his feet hands automatically flying to his waist where his cutlass was sheathed.
"I will not put Maeve or this crew at risk!" shouted Sinbad heatedly as he glared at Roslyn.
Rongar's hands flew in a flurry of signs that she read to mean, "How dare you place us in harm's way for a shorter trip!"
Firouz blinked and said pointedly, "One cannot open a magical portal and simple be in one place on the other side; it's scientifically impossible."
There was a cacophony of noise all around her. Each man there was on their feet exclamations of fear and nervousness on their lips.
For her.
For them.
For them all; and she adored them for it.
She hadn't wanted this to come out as it did. Her mother's powers and connection to Albion and Avalon had always been a point of contestation for her.
As one of her mother's heiresses to the line of guardians, it was her duty to practice and will forth the mists that veiled Avalon from those unworthy. It was her duty to will the splitting of the veil and open the passage to Avalon, but she never could quite manage it.
Her powers were simply not enough back then to do so.
Part of her was glad; she was always so deadly tired after trying to will the pass open, but another part of her, the part whom tried ever so hard to please her mother, felt guilty that she could not split the veil and bring forth the island.
A part of her always thought it was because she was a fire elemental; the direct opposite of the necessary water elemental needed to open the doors to Avalon, but her mother wasn't a water elemental either; she was of the wilds. But her mother was a special case.
Another, smaller part that she didn't want to admit to being there was afraid. She fear the levels of magic needed to will the veil to split and carry the boat to Avalon's shores.
She hadn't thought she had the strength to do it then.
Then again, she had also been ten and three the last time she tried, and not two moons later she and Dermott had been on a ship heading for Baghdad, so she didn't know if she could open the doors or not.
She glanced around at the men she called her friends and felt warmth grow within her heart and smiled.
They were her family. While she missed her mother, father, and brothers, and sisters, she couldn't deny that these men had carved their own bits and pieces of her heart too.
They brought home the feelings of home she had always felt from the moment she stepped aboard the Nomad two years ago. DimDim had been right; some changes are good; and the decision to stay aboard had been a good one.
She turned to Roslyn, who was standing as unflappable as she ever was, a trait inherited from her father, as she continued, "You are of the bloodline; your own mother isn't a natural water elemental either yet she opens the way."
Maeve shook her head and protested again, "Mother was chosen for her role by the Mother herself; she has the Mother's permission to guard the passage to Avalon."
She focused more on her cousin and tried to ignore the dwindling, but still mighty protests of her friends and loved ones, "The one time I tried, with mother being there, as you recall, had me flat on my back exhausted and near death for three weeks while my magic slowly returned to me."
This caused her boys to abruptly halt their words. They blinked stupidly at her for a brief second before fires erupted within their eyes and their protests flew from their mouths again.
"Maeve won't be doing any such magics just to get you home!" shouted Doubar.
"How can you call yourself her cousin?!" cried Firouz.
"Get the hell off my ship." Came Sinbad's harsh tones.
Maeve bit her lip as absolute silence jarred the senses within the tiny room. She knew Sinbad would react this way. She hadn't wanted this to come out as it did, but she knew the minute Roslyn asked her to open the gates, the dangers would come out as well.
Roslyn turned to Sinbad and said coolly, "Opening the path will make a two month journey only two hours. Maeve can open it; her strength is many times more than what it was, and as I am the Roaming Priestess, the mother will allow the opening even though Maeve isn't the current guardian."
Firouz pointed to her and echoed, "Not the current guardian…?"
Roslyn smiled enigmatically and stated, "Her mother is the current guardian and her grandmother before her, and great-grandmother before her. 'Tis only time when Maeve herself will be summoned to become the guardian too."
Maeve saw Sinbad's face bleach white, whiter than any ghost and said strongly as she placed a hand on his, "We cannot know who the next guardian will be; not only am I a fire elemental, a direct opposite of the necessary water elemental needed, I am also one of four possible heiresses…."
She paused then added, "that is, unless mother has birthed more girls since I left?"
Roslyn nodded her head and said, "There have been seven more born of our generation. A sister and brother to you, Sierra and Breeanna, a brother for me named Gilead, a sister for Bryn named Lucinda, two daughters were born to Lunete and Dagonet named Halesia and Morina, and a daughter to Dagonet and Fulucina named Daphne."
Maeve nodded and corrected herself, "Well then, I am one of five possible choices and with my fire element I might just be last on the list despite being the first born."
Sinbad slammed his fist against the table and demanded, "Why should Maeve open this….portal when it can cause her and us so much harm?"
Roslyn eyed him and said serenely, "Maeve can cast it. All she needs to do is believe in herself."
Maeve shook her head and stated again, "I cannot; I do not have the mother's blessings too."
Rose turned to her, ignoring the mutterings of her friends, and said, "Have you tried?"
Maeve snorted and said, "Of course not, I've had no need to want too. Why should I? Mother opens the way easily enough for those who know the secret."
Roslyn looked at her and said, "You also know that the Roaming Priestess can help the process along with little to no problems to the priestess who opens the passage whether they be the guardian or not."
Bryn looked to her and then to Roslyn and said with a hesitant air, "I have waited a year to get my memory back Roslyn, two months more isn't going to matter much."
Roslyn turned to her and said seriously, "Yes actually, it does."
Maeve was suddenly filled with anxiousness as she turned to her cousin and Dermott asked with his arms crossed over his chest and his hawk-like grey eyes stared holes through her, "What do you mean?"
Roslyn sighed and said, "While it was a happy chance of circumstances that caused us to meet once more cousins, it was not by chance that I and Fergus were here. Albion stands on the brink of war with the clans of Hibernia."
She met their eyes with her own and ended, "We came to seal an alliance with marriage between Fergus and Princess Amber-Sabiriah of Alexandria."
Maeve felt all the blood in her face drain away and for the first time in her life felt like fainting. She blinked as the world around her dimmed and her eyesight grew hazy around the edges. She felt a tightening in her chest and the blood was pounding in her ears…
War.
War was coming to Albion.
War was coming to Albion and she hadn't known.
Surely her mother could have sent a message on the wind?
Even if she couldn't hear it; Dermott could have.
He could have passed the message along.
War.
She glanced at Dermott. He was frowning heavily and twitching with his throwing blades that were strapped to his chest much like Rongar's were. His fists were clenching and opening around two blades, and his feet were making him bounce up and down with nervous energy.
Bryn gasped and she stumbled and sat abruptly on the seat behind her. Her fiancée was to wage war on her home.
She bit her lip and looked more closely at Roslyn.
Her cousin, at first glance, looked to be in wonderful health, but now with this news she cast her magic into her eyes and saw her through mage-sight.
Roslyn's face was pinched with fatigue. Her face was pale and her form thinner than what was probably healthy.
Her eyes were proud but tired and her stature was hunched over as if the weight of the world rested upon it.
With a jolt, she realized that it very might be. Roslyn was pregnant; she shouldn't be travelling to begin with. It was one of Auntie Morgawse's rules. A Roaming Priestess does not travel whilst pregnant!
She watched Dermott as he too seemed to see directly into their cousin's form as grimaced as he commanded, "Lower the glamor's Rosie."
Maeve held her breath as Roslyn eyed them, but she did not comply.
Maeve rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, if that's how it's going to be."
She stood up and held her hand out.
It was grabbed by Sinbad, "Maeve…?"
She looked at him and saw the worry, confusion, and fear there. They really weren't doing too good a job at this explanation thing.
She placed her hand on his cheek and said, "This is a simple spell Sinbad, no more dangerous to cast than me creating a fireball."
She watched him eye her speculatively, and when he nodded she sighed in relief.
She turned to the others and made them each meet her eyes with their own.
"Don't worry, this isn't harmful to me."
Doubar looked troubled; but he always did when magic was afoot since he couldn't fight against it.
Firouz looked skeptical and she smiled at him. No matter what, he would always second guess her, but she also knew he cherished her as she did him.
Rongar met her gaze and nodded; he could see she had no fear of this.
When she met Bryn's gaze it held worry there, but also strength.
"I have full confidence in you Maeve." She said with a smile.
Maeve returned it, and turned to Roslyn and recited,
"What is hidden from sight,
darkened and shadowed,
Let the shadows be torn and light returned!"
She watched with smugly as Roslyn's form waivered and twisted until the beautiful form that was once there was dispersed with the sounds of a tearing cloth and Roslyn's true form was shown.
Her smugness vanished with a cry as she rushed to her cousin's side and exclaimed, "Rose!"
Rose, who had once been her idol, smiled up at her gently and said, "I'm okay, just tired. It's been a hard two months."
Before she could ask more, Firouz gently pushed his way through and said, "I'll take it from here Maeve."
She looked at her friend and saw the confusion in them, but also the promise that her cousin was in good hands. She knew this already, and she easily let him take Roslyn from her and with Rongar's help, took her to her room.
She stood up and looked at her family.
She bit her lip and looked at Dermott.
He was staring at her with the same seriousness that had always graced the face of their father. Their home was going to war. She knew without their telepathy that he wanted to be by their family's side as quickly as possible.
She turned to Bryn, who had been wringing her hands in nervousness. Her cousin must be a complete wreck. Her memory gone; and not her fiancée could be going to war with her father because she had not made it to his home.
She sighed, turned to Sinbad, and said seriously, "I have no choice; I HAVE to open the veil."
***The explanations as to WHY this magic is dangerous to Maeve will be in either the next two to three chapters.