Henry swings at the other man, but he's so drunk he misjudges the distance and misses him entirely. The swing puts him off balance, sending him stumbling into the crowd, who only push him back. The other man takes advantage of this by punching him squarely in the jaw. I tried to push my way past the row of men in front, but they wouldn't let me pass. I lost sight of the others in the mass of people. It didn't help that I barely reached the shoulders of most of the men height-wise.
I searched for Riley or Celso, hoping one of them would stop this before it got out of hand. I only spotted them passing wages. I groaned, seeing they had no intention of intervening for me. Not many of the Taharan knights actually liked Henry, seeing as he sometimes let his nasty side show through around them. They were probably very entertained at the moment seeing him have the crap beat out of him. The only reason they came to find me was out of duty.
I finally shoved my way through the crown, hand in front of Henry, dodging the other mans punch. It wasn't very hard to push them away from each other, seeing as the cider had put them both in a clumsy state. It took them both a moment to realize someone was forcing them apart.
After they saw it was a girl keeping them apart, they both tried to push me away, annoyance clear on both of their faces. I held my ground, but the other man just tried to swing around me to reach Henry. I dug my elbow into his gut, making him stumble back and keel over.
"That's enough!", I shout over the noise, drawing a knife. "This is over!." Everyone quiets down, staring at me in silence. I didn't know I could be so intimidating, but I soon realized it was only because everyone knew who I was and the influence I had in Camelot.
Henry slings his arm over my shoulders. He smelled awful. "That's my girl!", he slurs, a big grin on his face. He turns to the crowd. " This here is my niece! Good in a fight, she is!" He goes to pick up his mug of cider again, but I snatch it out of his hand, shoving it into the hands of the nearest person. "I was going to finish that..."
"I don't care.", I snap.
A loud "OOOOO" sounds through the crowd, but I pretended not to hear them, pulling Henry out from the building. He mutters the entire way out that I now owed him a round of drinks for his lost, unfinished mug. The boys and Kenji follow me, and I see Celso handing Riley some coins. The jerks bet on me. I didn't know whether to be flattered or angry.
Henry tripped, his foot catching on a loose rock, I tumbled to the ground. He grumbled unhappily about how his boots were too big, which they weren't. He was simply drunk. I stand there with my arms crossed, waiting for him to get up. But he just lies there, probably passes out. Finally, Celso and Riley each grab an arm and drag him along, back to the palace. "I'm going to kill him.", I mutter.
"That might be a bit harsh.", Gwaine grins. Kenji nudges my hip, fully aware I was upset. I bit my lip as I scratched his head.
"I just don't know why he chooses to start into the cider now. He never has before, and I can't say it suits him"
Gwaine shrugs. "He's a grown man, you can't stop him. But I would bet he'll stay away from the tavern after you did in there. Besides, you can deal with him in the morning." I laughed. Stupid man pride. Anyone who saw the brawl would never let Henry live down having a girl finish his fight.
"You're right.", I admit.
"Of course I am! I'm right quite a lot actually."
"And completely humble as well", I point out sarcastically.
"I'm so glad someone finally noticed!", he says, offering me his arm. "we really need to get you back before Uthur notices you're missing." I take it and we head back to the castle.
The next morning I stamp into his chambers bright and early. He was snoring loudly, sprawled awkwardly across the bed. Drool trickled from his mouth.
not for much longer, I thought to myself. I snatched the drapes aside, allowing the morning sun to light up the room. Henry groans. "Close that."
Instead of obeying I grab his coverings and drag them off of him, tossing them on the floor. He tries to grab them back, only to find they weren't there. "Sarah.", he moans. "I have a hangover. Any chance you could get me a tonic from Gaius then let me be?"
"Absolutely not. You can live with it. Get up."
He buries his face in a pillow, trying to block out the light. "Let a man sleep, girl."
"Should I let a man drink to much cider and start a bar brawl as well? Because that worked out so well last time. No one will respect you if you keep behaving this way. This reflects me as well, you know!"
He sits up groggily. "You're still going on about that? Because he started it."
I scowled. "Obviously. How could you be so stupid?"
"Don't talk to me about stupid. I wasn't the one who got captured by the very man I had two entire kingdoms protecting me from. And not only that, but I didn't purposely allow myself to get captured so a peasant could live!", he bursts loudly, infuriated with my scolding.
"You really are disgusting. And you know what? I'm sick of dealing with your crap." I turn to leave, not even caring anymore. I don't know what I was thinking. That I could talk sense into him? That clearly wasn't happening anytime soon.
He grabs my wrist, turning me around to look at him. At his touch I felt an intense anger wash over me. As well as a massive headache and nausea. The feeling was too intense. Too overbearing for me to stand. Before I knew what was happening I felt my legs giving out from under me. The world went black, releasing me into numbness.
I woke with Gaius standing over me, dabbing a cool, wet cloth to my face. The pain had receded, but I remembered it as soon as I regained conciousness. I sat up feeling a bump on the back of my head.
"You took quite a hit. Scared your uncle out of his mind."
"I'm sure.", I muttered, though not loud enough for him to hear. I'm sure Henry was just happy to get me to shut up.
"Do you remembered why you fainted?", he asks, looking over a book.
I shook my head, not entirely sure. "I just felt anger. But it wasn't as if it was my anger...", I trailed off, realizing how insane I sounded. Gaius grimaced and returned to his book. I go to sit besides him, ignoring his concerned look as I got up. I felt completely fine, surprisingly.
"Sarah?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you still have that mark on your arm? The one I told you to keep hidden?" I shook my head slowly. I'd meant to tell him, but it had slipped my mind. "How long ago did it fade?"
"The night Arthur came to rescue me. It got slashed. It faded afterwards." Oh God. I could feel all the blood draining from my face. I remembered what Raul had said to me.
"My blood runs through your veins. We are of the same flesh. That is a bond more powerful then any other. Even my magic is within you, passed down through the generations. It was dulled through the magicless world of the mundies, never showing because it does not exist there. Here, I had to suppress it with a mark."
"Sarah? Are you all right? You're pale."
"I have magic, Gaius.", I blurt out before I can change my mind about telling him. I didn't even know if I was right.
"I know."
I raise an eyebrow, surprised.. "You knew?"
He shrugs, as if it was no big deal. "From the moment I saw that mark. After I realized you didn't know, I thought it was best to keep it that way. Especially if the mark stayed intact. Then it would never be an issue."
I stayed quiet for a minute. "What was that, then? Why did I black out?"
"It could have been a multiple of things..."
"Gaius, please. Just tell me."
He grimaces. "Well... there have been many names for it. But the most common and obvious is 'empathy'."
"Empathy?"
"There is many different variations. It is impossible to say what your gift is exactly since it is new, and it may even progress to be stronger. It isn't magic in the strongest sense, but a form of it. Did your uncle touch you before you fainted?"
"Yes."
He nods. "Then it is safe to assume it only occurs by touch. And probably only when the person you are touching is having strong emotions, which when implied towards you might become a bit overwhelmed. In time you might be able to sense emotions without physical contact, and without fainting. But for now I would avoid letting another angry person touch you." I felt relieved. No moving objects or golden eyes for me. At least I hoped not.