The Kidnapped Prince

The Pond of Brigantia

"Pardon?"

"Go east, then turn north when you see a large knot that looks like a horse's arse," A blushing Sir Percival repeats. The knight found the stream while looking for more firewood. He stumbled across it quite literally. While walking back to the campsite, he tripped over a root and fell into the stream.

You can only imagine the surprise on the knight's face. He thought the stream was a ways away. Usually, running water is a lot louder. But not this stream.

"Got it."

"DON'T FORGET THE HORSE ARSE KNOT!" Sir Gawain yells after the ladies. A light dusting of pink splashed across his cheeks.

Lady Alys chuckles at her betrothed. She loops her arm through her sisters and begins walking the way Sir Percival's instructions intended.

Sir Percival, on the other hand, looks like he wants to die. His main reason is the embarrassment he's currently enduring. Never in his life has he said arse to a lady. And certainly not Lady Alys or, god forbid, Lady Rhoslyn.

As the young ladies walk east, they overhear Sir Percival saying he wants or rather needs to crawl into a hole. They don't hear Sir Gawain trying to comfort his friend. It's a sweet moment to witness.

'Come with me, my sweet, I will show you the way, the way, the way. Come with me, my sweet, I will show you the way, the way, the way,' A decidedly female voice sings.

"Are you singing?"

"No," Lady Alys states, confused as ever. Usually, she isn't one to hear voices. That's Lady Rhoslyn's department. "Are you?"

Lady Rhoslyn shakes her head. The ladies continue on their way. Keeping an eye out for the horse arse knot. When they find it, they turn north. The ladies walk for a few minutes before the voice sings again. This time louder.

"I should have brought my sword,"

Lady Rhoslyn nods, clutching her glowing staff.

'Come with me,'

'I will show you the way,'

'Come with me,'

Lady Alys stops abruptly. So abruptly, Lady Rhoslyn bumps into her. Lady Alys grins at her sister. "It's not a stream, but it'll do,"

In front of the ladies is a nice size pond. Water deep enough to go up to the tiny ladies hips. Perfect for a quick bath.

The young ladies easily strip and change into their nightgowns. The nightgowns provide some sort of modesty. They'd rather not feel exposed while bathing in the wild, even if the only thing peeking at them will be birds.

Lady Alys slips her feet into the pond. She sits on the bank while Lady Rhoslyn wades hip deep. A washcloth and a bar of soap in hand. Lady Rhoslyn gasps as she slips on the silty ground. Under the young lady goes.

'Am I dreaming?' Master Merlin asks Lady Rhoslyn. The young lady just appeared in his tower. He knows he's had too much wine when non-corporeal forms begin to appear to him. This doesn't feel right.

Master Merlin was there to see the young lady off on her journey. He knows she wouldn't be back so soon. The company's appearance would have been announced via horn. The sorcerer would have heard it.

'How should I know?'

'You're my apprentice. You should know a lot about me,' The sorcerer is right. His apprentices know a lot about the old man. How he likes his tea, when he wants wine instead of tea, how his desk is to be organized, when to usher the old man to his bed-chamber and most of all, how to put up with his shenanigans.

'Master Merlin, you are an enigma to high society,' Lady Rhoslyn snorts in an unladylike fashion.

Master Merlin glances sidelong at Lady Rhoslyn. As if trying to put two and two together. 'Where are you?'

Lady Rhoslyn pauses. The young lady thinks back to recently. 'I was wading in a pond with Alys when I slipped,' Not an exact answer but close.

'A pond? Where? What pond? Where are you?'

'The Perilous Lands,'

Master Merlin pales. He, of all people, knows not to touch the water in the Perilous Lands even if it looks safe. Especially if it looks safe.

Master Merlin once made the mistake of bathing in a stream while in the Perilous Lands. When he stepped in, he was pulled into a hazy state much like the one his apprentice finds herself in now. 'The Perilous Lands?'

'Correct,' Lady Rhoslyn nods.

'Lady Rhoslyn. You need to wake up!' Master Merlin urgently grips her shoulders. He gives her a short jolt. Hoping it will be enough to open her eyes.

'Why?'

'Your drowning,' Master Merlin states. He's not about to let his favourite pupil die in a pond. Sure, he has Llewellyn, but he's not the same and doesn't excel like Lady Rhoslyn.

'What?' Lady Rhoslyn's eyes go wide.

'You found one of Brigantia's ponds,'

Lady Rhoslyn's eyes widened. Brigantia is the goddess of rivers and water cults. She's not to be trifled with. And one should never disturb the goddess's ponds. It's considered sacrilege and a bad omen. 'The goddess of river and water cults?'

'The one and the same,'

'How—'

"Wake up!" The loud voice of Lady Alys breaks through her sister's hazy mind. Master Merlin disappears, and a dark-covered forest, along with Lady Alys kneeling, appears in her line of sight.

Lady Rhoslyn shoots upright and hurls the water from her lungs. Lady Alys rubs her sister's back and waits for her to feel better. After a long while, the ladies begin the walk back to the campsite. The knights don't ask what happened. They know if the ladies wanted to talk about it they would.

The young ladies simply stand by the fire to dry off and warm themselves. Then without a word, they pack off to sleep. Too tired to converse.

The next morning the company rises before the sun. As they begin to ride, they wonder if the sun will ever show. Even at an early hour, the sun still shows its rays. Days go by. Each one ends with scrambling to light torches or Lady Rhoslyn's staff. Something to see around them.

Then the attacks begin.

A great winged beast. The size of two horses, with screeches more violent than that of a falcon. Three-inch long talons. Interlocking scales the sizes of a young man's hand covering the beast's body. Armour made for battle.

A wyvern dives for the knights. It lands on the path, several feet ahead and sniffs. Cold eyes scan the company leading their horses. The wyvern's long tail whips at Galahad. The squire pulls his horse out of the way just in time. The tail smashes into a tree.

Lady Rhoslyn yells for someone to distract it.

Sir Percival yells and begins clanging his hunting knife against his sword. The wyvern whips its head around to the knight making the racket. It's eye-zero in Sir Percival. Like a bull, it charges for Sir Percival.

The knight leaps out of the way uncovering Lady Rhoslyn standing with her staff planted in the dirt. The crystal atop the staff blazes with bright white light. The wyvern lets out a painful screech as it skids to a stop.

Lady Alys leans out from behind the cover Sir Gawain is providing her and shoots an arrow at the wyvern's eye. Her arrow holds true. It embeds itself in the fleshly eye. The beast lets out a painful screech and takes to the sky.

"That's right! Fly back to where you came from!" Gaheris yells at the retreating wyvern. The wyvern cries out as if to respond to the foolish squire.

"You shouldn't have said that." Sir Bedivere frowns at the winged beast. "It's bad luck."