Children of Avalon

by Meredith Bond

  I blinked a few more times to clear my eyes and gave myself a good mental shake. Aron hadn’t ever actually said anything about liking me, I reminded myself. It wasn’t like we were a couple in any way. Then why did his arms around Scai hurt so much? And poor Dylan!

  Not now, I repeated to myself. Not. Now. I took a deep breath and used Dylan’s trick of shoving my emotions to the back of my mind.

  I raised my voice, saying loudly from outside the door, “I’ll get them.”

  <><><>

  I’d always thought our drawing room was large, but with so many of us, the room had shrunk considerably. Most found space to sit either in a chair or on the wood floor, but Dylan and James stood near the brick hearth.

  “I didn’t know there was more.” Sir Dagonet said, after we’d all settled down. My brothers, Aron, Scai, and Dylan had been caught up on Old Maude’s well-being and the prophecy that she had spoken.

  “You knew there was something important here in Gloucester we needed,” Dylan pointed out, giving the old man a pat on the back.

  “Just a feeling, an intuition, don’t you know?” Sir Dagonet answered. He did look rather pleased with himself, as I supposed he ought to be.

  “And you were right, sir,” Scai said, smiling at him.

  “Yes, wot, wot? Had no idea what it was, just that we needed it and it was here. And now we have it.” Sir Dagonet said, giving a little laugh.

  I blinked away the vision of Scai in Aron’s arms still swimming behind my eyes and tried to focus.

  Scai and Dylan laughed at Sir Dagonet’s nonsense, but I hadn’t been paying close enough attention to catch all that he’d said. Clearly, a number of my brothers hadn’t followed him either because there were quite a few confused faces around the room.

  “Quite right, sir,” Scai said, agreeing with the old man, as she always did. I still couldn’t believe Scai…

  No! We had to figure out what Old Maud’s prophecy had meant. Focus.

  “But what is it that we have?” I asked, trying to get my mind to cooperate. “We don’t know what it means.”

  “No. But you’re all clever. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out,” Aron said, giving me a warm smile that a few hours ago would have sent shivers of heat down my spine, but now only made me seethe.

  How could he smile at me that way when he was really interested in Scai? Two-timer.

  “All right, then,” Dylan said, being the first to take up the challenge. “Repeat it again and lets figure this out.”

  I turned my back on Aron and bent my mind to the task as well. I really didn’t want to think about him right now.

  “Right. ‘Coming to the end of time; All things now will start to align; Hark ye to this last advice; With little time left, I’ll be concise.’” Sir Dagonet quoted.

  “Well, that’s clear,” Scai said. “It means we’re almost through with our quest. We’ll soon defeat Nimuë, right?”

  There was a general agreement until Matthias spoke up. “It sounds to me like the person giving the prophecy is out of time: ‘with little time left, I’ll be concise.’”

  There was silence.

  “Yes, it could be that,” Scai conceded.

  “But either way, it doesn’t make a difference. Whether we’re at the end of our time or the speaker is. It doesn’t matter,” I pointed out. “What’s the next part?”

  Sir Dagonet cleared his throat. “’To join with me is what you need; Defeating her with haste and speed; It’s lips and gaze and then the will; The one that’s left will have the skill,’” he quoted.

  Again there was silence. With so many people there you wouldn’t think that there could be so much silence. It filled the room as everyone just sat there thinking, puzzling out the words, which seemed to make no sense at all.

  I was the first to sigh aloud, followed by Sir Dagonet.

  “Indeed, indeed,” the old knight said.

  “It’s gibberish. It doesn’t mean anything,” Piers complained.

  “Well, but it does. We just have to figure out what,” Scai said with a patience I’d always envied.

  “Okay, let’s take it line by line,” Dylan suggested. “’To join with me is what you need.’ Clearly we have to join with… who? What?”

  “Merlin,” I offered.

  “We have the chalice,” Scai pointed out.

  “You have it?” Peter asked.

  “Here?” Piers said.

  Dylan, Scai and I all glanced warily from Piers and Peter to each other. Non of us wanted to risk taking it out and showing it—not even to my brothers.

  “Safe and sound, wot, wot?” Sir Dagonet said, filling the awkward silence. “It’s not that with which they’ve got to join, don’t you know?”

  “Maybe it’s old Maude,” Matthias laughed, as the three of us all breathed a sigh of relief.

  I gave Sir Dagonet a grateful smile.

  “Old Maude?” Dylan asked.

  “Well, she’s the one who said the prophecy,” Matthias defended himself.

  “No. She just repeated it to us. It was told to her by…”

  “Our mother,” Scai said quietly.

  “And was passed down for generations through our family,” I added.

  “So who said it first? Who gave the prophecy to begin with?” James asked.

  “Merlin,” Sir Dagonet answered without question.

  “Then it’s Merlin you need to join with, right?” Peter said.

  “I suppose so,” Dylan agreed.

  “Okay, so you have to join with Merlin. But he’s dead,” Piers said.

  “You guys have to die?” Matthias asked, jumping to his feet.

  “No! Calm down,” I scolded.

  “But Sir Dagonet just said…”

  “Merlin’s not dead,” Dylan explained quickly. “He’s, he’s in an oak tree, or in the chalice, or something, right?”

  “Nimuë tricked him and shut him into an oak tree,” Scai said.

  “But he’s been talking to us through the chalice,” I added.

  “But that was just through the water—through the magical water from Avalon,” Sir Dagonet explained. “Remember how Lady Morgan spoke to you through the font at the church when we were trying to get to Avalon?”

  “So we don’t really know where Merlin is,” Scai said.

  “But we’ve got to go to him,” Dylan added.

  “And you’ve got to kiss somebody,” Matthias pointed out, sitting back down.

  “What?” Dylan turned on him.

  “It says, ‘with lips and gaze…’ That means you’ve got to kiss someone, no?” He giggled.

  “I’m not kissing anybody,” I said with meaning. And I never, ever would, would I? Not with Aron kissing Scai behind my back.

  Scai laughed. “Me neither. You can kiss him, Dylan.”

  “What? Who am I kissing? I’m not going to kiss anyone!” Dylan joined in, finally seeming to relax and join in the laughter that was tittering around the room.

  “Not even Scai?” Sir Dagonet teased.

  Dylan turned bright red and everyone burst out laughing except me. I knew the truth. He may not be kissing Scai if Aron had anything to say about it. I truly felt sorry for Dylan.

  As if he could feel my sadness, his eyes caught a hold of mine across the room. His expression turned quizzical, but I just shook my head and then lowered my eyes. I didn’t want to talk about it.

  Scai was also a brilliant shade of pink when she said, “I don’t think it’s me he’s got to kiss.”

  I turned to look at Aron, but he wasn’t giving anything away. If he felt anything at all about the idea of Scai kissing Dylan, it wasn’t evident on his face. He was chuckling along with everyone else. I just didn’t understand him at all—or Scai for that matter. She had Dylan, why would she want Aron, too? Ugh. I had to stop thinking about this!

  “Maybe it’s Old Maude,” Matthias said, drawing my attention back to the matter at hand. “She gave the prophecy.”

  “You do
n’t want to kiss her; she’ll kiss you back,” James said, a huge smile on his face.

  “Oh? Have you done so?” Piers teased.

  “No! But I know her and she’s always talking about how this man is adorable and she wouldn’t mind having a cuddle with that one.” He laughed.

  “At her age?” I said, surprised at the giggle beginning to bubble up inside of me.

  “Hey! Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you don’t…” Sir Dagonet stopped talking abruptly and turned as red as Dylan had earlier.

  “Okay, that’s enough on the kissing, I think,” Thomas said, coming to Sir Dagonet’s rescue. “What else is in there?”

  “’The one that’s left will have the skill,’” I quoted, as happy as everyone else to leave the topic.

  “Oh! I know,” Matthias said jumping up again. “One of you has to kiss Nimuë and then either the one who kisses her or Nimuë will die from it. The one who is the better kisser is the one who will survive.”

  Everyone burst into laughter at that one.

  “I think I would be the one to die if I had to kiss Nimuë,” Dylan said.

  “I think I would go sooner,” I challenged.

  “She nearly did kiss me once, remember? When we were captured by her the very first time, when we thought she was Father du Lac?” Scai reminded us, beginning to get a little serious, even though there was still a twinkle in her eyes.

  “Yes! Oh, my goodness. We do have to kiss her,” I shouted.

  “I’m not doing it. Don’t even look at me,” Dylan said quickly.

  “Better you than either of the girls,” Aron said.

  “I’m with Dylan,” Sir Dagonet said, shaking his head. “She may be Lady Morgan’s sister, but I wouldn’t want to kiss her either.”

  “What has Lady Morgan to do with Nimuë?” Peter asked.

  “Sir Dagonet’s in love with her.” I giggled.

  “You should have seen him. Every time he was in her presence he fell or tripped or did something equally clumsy,” Scai said.

  All of my brothers, Joan and Aron burst into laughter, but poor Sir Dagonet only turned redder and redder.

  “Yes, well…” He cleared his throat. “Known her a long time.”

  “And have been in love with her since when?” Scai asked.

  “Ever since I met her. Lucky Arthur won the lady. But, well, he was the king, after all,” Sir Dagonet said.

  “But he was married,” I objected.

  “Yes, well… Guinevere wasn’t exactly faithful. Had a thing with Lancelot, didn’t she?” Sir Dagonet said. “Not quite the same in those days.”

  “I don’t think we need to pursue that conversation,” Joan said, giving Sir Dagonet a dampening look despite the amusement in her eyes.

  The old man cleared his throat again. “Er, no. No, we don’t.” His fingers reached up into his sleeve and toyed with the bracelet there as he always did when he was nervous.

  “What’s the last bit of the prophecy?” Thomas asked, changing the topic back to where it should have been.

  “Oh, er, yes. ‘Come to me so you may prevail; Fear not, the right shall never fail; From she who wants, have no fear; Forever will I hold her dear.’”

  “Once again, someone is going to Merlin,” Piers pointed out.

  “But this time it sounds like Nimuë is going to him. He says, ‘forever will I hold her dear.’” Aron offered.

  “That could be either Nimuë or one of the girls who goes to him,” Dylan pointed out.

  “I’m not too sure I want to be held by Merlin. He’s been locked in an oak tree for two hundred years. He probably smells,” I said, giggling.

  Everyone else laughed and nodded their heads in agreement.

  “Well, don’t look at me,” Scai said.

  “No one’s going anywhere tonight, except me, to bed,” Sir Dagonet said, standing up with a bright smile on his face.

  “And tomorrow?” Dylan asked.

  “Tomorrow we leave for Saerdbury, I suppose,” Scai said, looking around the room.

  “Are you sure you’re up for it?” Aron asked.

  “I will be after a good night’s rest,” she assured him and the others.

  I sighed. This visit had been much too short.

  “Must you go tomorrow? You only just got here?” Joan asked.

  I gave Sir Dagonet and then Dylan a hopeful look.

  “Yes, I’m afraid we must. Whether we’ve got to kiss Nimuë or kill her, we’ve got to get to her first,” Dylan said, giving me a slightly apologetic look.

  I wanted to cry. Now that I was finally here, at home with my family, I did not want to go back on the road. I didn’t care if Nimuë lived or died, I just wanted to stay here. I looked around at my beloved brothers, each of them now with serious expressions on their faces.

  “I know you don’t want to go, Bridget,” Thomas said gently, “and we would want more than anything to keep you here with us, but we can’t be so selfish.”

  I crossed the room and put my arms around my brother. He was almost more of a father to me, and right now I needed his love and comfort more than anything. He gave it to me freely, holding me tight and kissing the top of my head.

  “The sooner we take care of Nimuë, the sooner we can return here to you,” Scai said, watching Thomas and me, her eyes shining with unshed tears. My heart went out to my sister. She had no father figure to go to for comfort. Aron and Dylan didn’t count, I told myself sternly.

  I tore myself from Thomas’s embrace and folded Scai into my arms instead. I would not let men get between me and my only sister. Thomas came over to join us. We were quickly swallowed by the rest of the family. Only a laugh-filled sob from Scai after a few minutes made our brothers disentangle.

  “How wonderful it is to have a family,” she said.

  “It is absolutely the best thing in the world,” I agreed.

  “But we still need to find Nimuë and take care of her,” Dylan said.

  I sighed and nodded, as did Scai.

  “Well, then, I’ll ask that you not leave too early so that I can get some supplies together for you. You’re all looking much too thin. I don’t like it,” Joan said. From the look in her eyes, I could tell she was already beginning to plan what she needed to get together for us.

  “I thank you most sincerely, madam.” Sir Dagonet bowed toward Joan. “Have to admit, there’ve been a number of evenings when we’ve gone to sleep with rumbling stomachs.”

  There was a moment of embarrassed agreement with that.

  “Right, then. Let me show you to your rooms and then I’ll see what’s in the larder,” Joan said, clapping her hands together. “Sir Dagonet you’ll be in my room. Dylan and Aron you’ll need to bunk down with Piers, Peter and Matthias. Bridget…”

  “I’m in my bed with Scai, I know,” I said. All of a sudden my limbs were so heavy I could hardly move. Just the thought of sleeping in my own bed made me more than ready for it.

  “A real mattress,” Scai sighed.

  “Yes, but you’ll have to share it with me,” I warned her.

  “That’s okay. You don’t kick.”

  “Not yet I haven’t,” I grinned. “But I make no promises.”

  “And Scai, I’ll take out a few warm dresses of mine for you to take with you. You’re not dressed nearly warm enough for the weather that’s to come. Bridget’s will be too small for you,” Joan said, moving off toward her room.

  “Oh, thank you.” The words were most definitely heartfelt.

  “And a shawl,” Joan called back.

  “Make it two!” I called after her.

  Chapter Eight

  The morning was a blur of running around, gathering foodstuffs, washing, and packing as many warm clothes as we could carry. Poor Joan looked ready to drop by the time we were ready to wave our final goodbyes. After giving her a hug, I wondered if she’d even slept or if she’d been up cooking and arranging things for us the entire night. How she got so much together in such a short amoun
t of time was beyond my understanding.

  “You take care of our sister,” Thomas said, looking from Dylan to Sir Dagonet.

  “We definitely will,” Aron said, stepping forward to reach out and shake Thomas’s hand.

  Thomas looked confused for only the briefest of moments, then gave Aron a nod and took his hand.

  My heart did a little flip. Was it possible that Aron still cared for me? How could he? Why would he? I was completely confused.

  James distracted me from the interchange between Thomas and Aron by giving me a hug. He then stood back and smiled at me. “You’ve really grown up, Bridget. I’m very proud of you.”

  That startled me. Had I changed?

  “Yes, she has become less annoying,” Matthias added, giving me a little squeeze around my shoulders.

  I frowned at him.

  “You’ve calmed down,” Peter agreed.

  “Have I?” I couldn’t tell, naturally.

  “Most definitely,” Piers agreed.

  “Is this a good thing?” I wondered aloud.

  “Yes!” Matthias and Peter answered in unison.

  Scai laughed, as did Aron and Sir Dagonet.

  “I didn’t know her before, but she seems quite, I don’t know, enthusiastic and energetic to me,” Aron said, smiling at me.

  “Oh no, this is nothing. She used to be constantly sparking, talking…”

  “Bouncing all over the place.”

  “A little spitfire!” my brothers said, talking over one another.

  I just laughed. I had been that way.

  “Now you seem calmer,” Thomas said.

  I shrugged. “Maybe I’m tired?”

  “Or just more mature,” James said again.

  “We’re counting on her to do a lot,” Sir Dagonet said, patting my back.

  “And now we’re counting on her to get to Saerdbury,” Dylan said, putting a dampening on the party.

  I didn’t mind. It was a little awkward standing around having my family analyze me.

  “Yes, yes,” Sir Dagonet said, now that he was reminded of what we were doing.

  I just hated leaving my brothers, though. I felt as if my heart was going to break or I would. This was my family. The men who raised me. Who loved me no matter what—no matter how annoying they thought I might be.