A/N: Next chapter should be up soon. Enjoy! -- .:.Meandering Muse.:.

Time seemed to stretch until eternity until finally I was able to dismiss myself and change and come back down to sit at our places at our long table. It was only my immediate family and the eldest of the tribe's members attending this sacred banquet. The Lady of Avalon was settled next to me at the top of the oaken table next to my father. It was the place of an honored guest.

I could have done without the honor of sitting next to Lady Dierna. It made me quake with a certain fear… or energy, maybe not quite fear. I couldn't stop glancing over at her. The woman in her astounding blue, with the fiery hair of a phoenix and blue crescent between her brows far outmatched any I had ever seen before in terms of beauty and power. This was a woman who could control an army of men, and even Rome itself. She radiated it, flaunted it even. She was power, the very essence of the word, and I could feel it, I feared it.

It was noticeable that my father also could sense what I did. It was apparent even from where I was sitting that he was sweating. The little beads rolled down his temples and he reached up with a gruff hand to wipe them away and then ran his fingers through his brown scraggly beard. He glanced at the Lady of Avalon, his hazel eyes narrowed in thought before speaking. "How was your travels, Lady?" he asked, his voice containing the same course gruffness that his movements did. "I assume you had no trouble with bandits along the road?"

The Lady's mouth curved into a pleasant smile that seemed to make her face even the more beautiful. I sighed inwardly, finding myself wishing to be graced with that dazzling smile. It was wasted on the likes of my father. I was startled out of my daydreaming as she murmured that she had indeed had a well enough fare here, and that she hoped the return journey would be just as relaxing. They traded many more little pleasantries, asking about the welfare of Avalon and the welfare of Lindinis, about the health of my family. It wasn't long, however, before the talk turned to Rome and the growing numbers in our village.

"Chieftain, I assure you, I have no control over the Roman army. None of us do, except Caesar and his officials. All we have is Avalon, which is why I am here tonight." Her voice was quiet, but strong, and everyone present heard what she said. The chatter around the table died, and my father motioned for the food to begin appearing. The Lady of Avalon sighed quietly. I was sure I was the only one who heard it, and if I wasn't, everyone else pretended not to notice.

My eyes strayed from the great Lady for a moment to see the food that was being laid before us. A large pig with an apple in his mouth was carried out first, the grease still shimmering on its pink back. Random fruits and salads emerged as well, settled in a circle around the pig. Cheeses and chicken appeared next, and three loafs of beautifully baked bread, the heat still rising from its crust settled next on the table. My green eyes widened. I hadn't seen so much food in a long time. Dad must have been saving for weeks.

I turned my eyes back to the Lady. She seemed unimpressed. Smiling, however, she watched as my father carved the pig and then took a heaping portion for himself. Shaking her head when it was offered to her, she passed it to me, I took a small bit, confused at the Lady's refusal. She must have seen the look on my face for she bent close to me and whispered, "Those who dwell on Avalon do not eat meat. It is our way there."

I nodded like I understood. I couldn't bring myself to speak to the figure next to me. What if I said something stupid? What if I made a fool of myself? I sighed, as it was in my habit to do, and helped myself to more food while I watched her plate. It was sparse with only salads, fruits, and cheese. I pitied her. What a life must be without meat.

My father glanced at her plate, looking offended. He shook his scraggly mane slightly and then asked, "So what is your purpose here, Lady?" The servants came around, refilling wine glasses, stopping all conversation for a moment.

The Lady smiled at the woman pouring her drink, before replying melodically, "I am hoping to take your daughter to be trained on our Holy Isle."

I could feel myself stiffen. I glanced across the table to my brother Andros, his childlike face was frozen in a battle of fear and sadness. I could feel my heart yearn to go out and lay a comforting arm across his bony shoulders and stroke his curly black locks, but it was not to be so. My father looked to be deep in thought. He took a swig of wine and ran his fingers through his hair.

"When would she leave?" he asked, his voice low, "It would cost us naught, yes?"

The Lady shook her head slowly, "There is no cost." she said simply, "and she would leave tomorrow afternoon with my caravan and myself."

"So be it." My father grumbled into his wineglass, and I felt as if a dam had just burst over my head crushing me to the floor. Go with this great Lady to Avalon? It was once my dream, when I was a little girl to be a Priestess of the Holy Isle, but… to actually go, and be there?

I could feel her eyes turn to me, those gray, beautiful eyes. My heart beat laboriously in my chest as I tilted up my head to look into those beautiful reflective pools. "My child," she said quietly, taking my head between her palms. "I will not take any not willing. Do you wish to be one of my sisters on Avalon?"

To be kin to the Lady before me? To be her sister? My eyes widened. This opportunity was too great. A Priestess of Avalon was free, tied down to no one but to her Goddess and Avalon. What a life would that be! No lords, no children… free to choose who I bedded, free to be what the Great Lady wished of me. I could feel heat rise to my cheeks as I nodded, "I would," I whispered. "I wish to come with you to Avalon."

Slowly the woman bent and kissed my forehead between my brows, where a crescent, should I choose to become a Priestess, would lay just as it laid on hers. "Welcome, sister." She whispered to me, for my ears only, before breaking away and beginning to converse once again with my father. I couldn't believe it. I was going to Avalon.