When Hunith finally relented, Balinor soon followed. Em felt that his parents could never truly oppose each other—they loved each other so much that their feelings, motivations, and beliefs had morphed into that of one person's. How was that even possible? He wished he could love someone that much. Scratch that—it probably wasn't healthy to love someone that much. His parents had been to hell and back, though. It made sense.
When Balinor caved, only Sefa opposed Em going to Camelot. While her opinion did not "matter" in the decision, ultimately, Em still wanted her to not oppose his decision. He loved his little sister dearly, and it broke his heart to see the ten-year-old so upset and scared for him.
So, two days after he convinced his mother to let him go to Camelot, Em took Astryd and Sefa out for a little picnic after work in the fields finished. Adelina, exhausted from her endless nightmares, was thrilled to be relieved of her motherly duties for a few hours. Sefa only agreed to go once Em said he was bringing Astryd.
Hunith gave them a bit of bread, some cheese, and strawberries. She wrapped the food in a bit of cloth and told them to have fun. Sefa, bitter about her mother's betrayal, simply stomped out the door. Shaking her head, Hunith helped Em place Astryd in the sling. Adelina, a young but fretful new mother, hovered nearby.
"She likes walking at a steady pace, Em," Adelina reminded him. "It helps her fall asleep. If she fusses, hum 'The Huntsman's Lullaby,' it puts her right to sleep."
"I know, Lina," Em said with a chuckle. "Don't fuss—I know how to take care of babies. I have three younger siblings, remember?"
"I do, Emrys. And as your older sister, that is precisely why I'm worried."
Hunith rolled her eyes. "You better go and catch up to Sefa. She's not in the best of spirits, the poor girl."
"She has to learn to accept things for how they are," Adelina muttered. Her eyes were locked on Astryd when she said that.
"Sefa hasn't been in a situation like that yet, praise the gods. She was only one when we had to flee Ealdor. Things are safer here, but hoe distant the threat of Uther really is here makes it less real for her. She doesn't understand why Em has to go," Hunith sighed.
Em opened the door. "I'm gonna go catch up to her, Ma. Try to make her see sense." With that, he left, slamming it shut behind him.
Em found Sefa tucked amongst the branches of a weeping willow at the edge of the forest, her head resting on top of her drawn-in knees. "You look like a faerie princess, up there on a willow throne," he called.
"I look like a Sefa," was the terse reply. "I'm no princess."
"Says who?" Em challenged.
"I dunno."
"Some say that Móraí Emery is a queen, y'know. The Banríon of the Druids. The ancient banríons, they had eyes as luminous and green as emeralds. And Móraí Emery, why, her eyes are greener than any banríon! Her name is Emerald, for Nature's sake. Since your móraí is a queen, that makes you a princess."
"You're just pulling my leg."
"Am not."
Sefa crept to the edge of the branch to peer down at him. Her freckled face was suspicious. "You promise, Emmy?"
He held up his maimed hand. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
"Stick a needle in your eye?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."
"You got the food?"
Em held up the parcel. "I got the food. Come down and eat it."
Sefa yawned. "I'm hungry."
"All that climbing gave you an appetite," her older brother said. "Now come down."
"I am!" Swiftly, she scurried down the tree and took a seat next to Em on a mossy log. They ate in silence for a bit.
"Sefa, you can't be mad at Ma," Em said tentatively.
"I mad at her, at Da, at everyone—but mostly you," Sefa growled. "You don't have to go to Camelot, but you still are. Why?"
"It's my duty."
"You have a duty to your family! You're my big brother, you're supposed to look out for me! You're the most powerful sorcerer in well, forever, and you're ditching your family to go help out a bunch of dirty, stinking murderers!" Sefa yelled.
Astryd began to fuss. Em took her out of the sling and rocked her back and forth. "You have four other big brothers and a big sister to look after you, Sefa."
"Will and Gilli don't have magic, Alvarr's not really my brother, and Adelina's not really my sister and she's too busy with Astryd nowadays—"
Taken aback, Em interrupted her. "I know you don't mean that. Alvarr and Lina are your brother and sister. They would do anything for you."
She didn't say anything. Em continued on, "And, Sefa, I don't want to leave you. I have to—the prophecy wills it. I'm not forsaking our family by going to Camelot—I go to Camelot so that I may free our people from oppression one day. I would never help Uther Pendragon. I would only help the Once and Future King, his son Arthur. And I would only help him so that I may help our people. Does that make sense?"
Sefa nodded a bit. She blinked back tears. "I don't want you to leave, Emmy."
"I don't want to leave, either."
"So don't."
"You know I can't."
She sighed, and the tears spilled over. "Yeah, I know."
"It will be okay, Sefa. I promise." Em tucked Astryd into the crook of his elbow and drew Sefa close to him, like he used to do when she was a baby.
Sefa closed her eyes. "I guess you can go, since you're helping the Druids and everything. But you can't help Uther, Em, you can't."
"I won't," Em said, crossing his heart.
She let out the tiniest of smiles.
Over the course of two weeks, Iseldir gathered supplies for the trip and plotted out their route. Cedran and Alvarr agreed to accompany him and Em on the way to Camelot. Will and Gilli wanted to go, but Iseldir refused. He needed magic-users on this expedition—spellcasters powerful enough to take on several of Uther's men at once.
Adelina listened, enraptured, as Iseldir explained this over dinner one night. She stared at her palm, and a blue tongue of fire appeared. "If I didn't have Astryd, I would go," she said, her eyes blazing with a cold golden light.
Iseldir patted her hand. "Your duty is here, my sweet."
The flame went out, and Adelina drew her daughter closer to her. "I know," she murmured.
Sparks danced between Cedran's fingertips. "This will be fun," he said with a sinister smile.
Mordred, Sefa, and Daegel hardly left Em's side as the day of his departure came closer. He was taken on endless trips to the swimming hole and subjected to many games of bandits and soldiers, hide and seek, and tag. Will and Gilli took him hunting and worked by him in the fields. Adelina sat next to him at dinner and insisted he hold Astryd as much as possible.
"We can't have her forgetting her favorite uncle," she said one night at dinner. This immediately started an argument between Will, Gilli, Alvarr, Mordred, Em, and Daegel over who the favorite uncle was. It made Balinor and Hunith cry. Em could not tell if they were tears of mirth or sadness.
Finally, the day came for Em and his companions to depart for Camelot. The whole village gathered to see him off. In the predawn light, almost all the villagers hugged him, whispered prayers to Mother Nature for protection and guidance, or wished him good luck. Finally, all but those closest to him remained.
Emery approached him first. Her fingertips sparked with the blue fire that was healing magic. "Are you ready?"
Em swallowed nervously and nodded. He knew his grandmother had to remove the Druid triskel on his collarbone. He removed his shirt, revealing his muscular and scarred upper body.
Emery put her hand on his collarbone. "This will hurt. I am told the pain is tenfold when it gets removed."
Sure enough, as her magic flowed from her fingers and began to burn away the triskel, Em yelled and sank to his knees. Daegel tried to run to him, but Alvarr held him back. Em felt tears streak down his cheeks as he gazed up at his grandmother. Her emerald eyes blazed gold, but she murmured no spell; the triskel-removing spell was known only to the Druid elders. It was one of the few bits of silent magic the Druids practiced.
She said to him, It is done, and the pain faded almost immediately.
Em looked down and saw an awful burn scar on his chest where the triskel had once been. He felt as if a piece of him was missing; that mark connected him to his people—it showed that he belonged. Was he even a Druid without the mark?
As if he read his mind, Balinor said, I am a Druid, my son, but I bear no mark. Do not despair.
Balinor strode forward and helped his son to his feet. He represented him with a small dragon talisman, hung on a cord. It was carved from an oak tree. Em wrapped his arms around his father's neck and did not let got for a long time.
"You are a Druid, my son, but never forget you are a Dragonlord as well," Balinor murmured in Dragonic, putting the necklace on him.
"I won't, Da," Em replied in the same language.
Hunith produced a saddlebag full of clothes. "Your Aunt Maud and I sewed you some new shirts and neckerchiefs. You can't go to Camelot looking like a country bumpkin." She winked at him.
Em buried his face in her chest.
One by one, his siblings came forward with little things he would need in Camelot. He got a shaving kit (Will), a short-sharpening kit (Gilli), a scabbard that one belonged to Ruadan (Alvarr), a dagger (Adelina), a new pillow (Sefa), another dagger (Mordred), and new boots (Daegel). When these precious gifts were all stowed away safely in his saddlebags, he felt someone punch him in the shoulder softly. He turned around to see Freya. She shoved a bracelet woven from strips of leather.
"So you don't forget me," she said.
Em hugged her tightly. "How could I forget you, Freya?"
She cried.
Cedran went to a thicket of bushes where he had hidden a large piece of leather molded so that it almost looked like a bowl. Silently, he strapped it to Em's horse's saddle so that it hung firmly on one side. He whistled, and Em's shepherd dog, Bandit, appeared.
Em felt like he was going to start sobbing. "I… I can take Bandit?"
"If you help me get his fat ass on this saddle thing I had Aglain make, then yes," Cedran said irritably.
Iseldir placed a scrying mirror in his hands and looked up at the steadily rising sun. He motioned to Alvarr, Cedran, and Em. "We are losing daylight. We must get going."
After a few more tearful goodbyes, Em and his companions (including Bandit) mounted up and began their perilous journey to Camelot.
A/N: Long time no write! You're probably saying, "EnchantingWriting, why the h*eck isn't Em in Camelot yet? WHERE IS ARTHUR?" And, as I have been saying for like the past FOUR chapters, Arthur will definitely appear in the next chapter (along with Gaius, Gwen, Morgana, and Uther!). I'm sorry I suck so much. Thank you for bearing with me and my irregular updates.
I dedicate this chapter to my dog. If she was a boy, her name would have been Bandit :) And my cats, too, because they can't be left out.
As always, a huge thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and left a review on this trashy fic. I love reviews-they literally make my day. Much love~