Forbidden Love (Rewritten) | Arthur Pendragon

30 • THE SACRED ARTEFACTS

"Have you got a word from your father?" Eowyn asked.

Ulric nodded. "The letter arrived this morning. I got it from Merlin. Father and Mother are incredibly relieved upon knowing that Odhran is safe. They had mobilized the Valkyries to find him and had searched the whole city. They had just begun searching beyond. Of course, upon finding out what Cenred had done, all were shocked. They have received no news from the borders but they are preparing for war,"

A few days have passed since Cenred's cowardly plan of kidnapping Odhran and Eowyn. There had been no news from Cenred yet but the reports from the borders had reached Bearach and therefore Eowyn, that unusual movements had been observed there. Apparently, guards had been posted at the borders but the patrolling knights had left, probably returning to Cenred. This was no good news.

"We cannot declare war without Uther's permission but it is a matter of time before Cenred attacks. He must also be preparing for war," Eowyn paused and pondered. "I must retrieve the Three Sacred Protectors of Usad. Then we must leave at once,"

"How do you plan on doing this? The artifacts are in the vaults. No one can enter it without the key and Arthur has the key,"

Though Eowyn would always help if she needed help (as she would do him if he needed help), she also knew that would be reluctant to give her the key to the vaults for her to steal three precious artifacts. Well, she wouldn't be stealing but rather taking back what was rightfully hers, but Uther would surely not see that with a compassionate eye. For now, the key was not the main problem anyway. The actual problem was tricking Uther long enough to believe he still has the artifacts.

"I have a plan, do not worry," Eowyn said. "But it will take a bit of time. I must prepare first,"

The entire plan relied on being able to cast an illusion. She had just barely begun to manage to project the image of an apple real enough but maintained it was now the problem. And casting the illusion of a person was also a lot tougher than a simple fruit. She had to work harder.

Three knocks on the door brought her back from her reflection. After telling the person to come in, the door opened revealing Eldrid, though she looked quite troubled.

"Is there something wrong, Eldrid?" Eowyn asked.

Eldrid sighed then looked at Ulric. "It's Odhran," she simply said.

From the sigh she had exhaled and the look of exasperation on her face, neither Ulric nor Eowyn had to think too much to know that the youngest O'Doley was being reckless again. Immediately, they followed Eldrid who led them to the training ground. All the knights of Camelot were gathered at this hour to practice their swordsmanship under the Crown Prince's supervision. However, instead of seeing a bunch of tall men swinging swords and shields around, the knights were gathered in a circle, most leaning onto the wooden fences, as all watched a young boy sparing with the Crown Prince himself.

The sounds of clashing swords were resonating in the air. Odhran protected himself with his sword, blocking Arthur's attack as the rest of the knights snickered at the young boy struggling to attack the Prince of Camelot. It had been bold of him to challenge the best knight in the kingdom. All he could do was defend himself and couldn't find any opening to strike a blow. However, he would not give up. He would keep fighting, waiting for the right moment to attack. So he blocked, dodged, blocked, dodged, again and again, and again. Until he found it. Odhran parred Arthur's strick and slightly deviated his sword away. He then quickly repositioned himself and swiftly swung his sword. But Arthur was faster and more experienced, so he stepped back and blocked the young boy's attack before skillfully disarming him and aiming his sword at his throat.

Odhran froze, breathing heavily, as he held his hands in surrender and stepped back. He didn't even hit Arthur once. It was frustrating.

"You still have a long way before becoming a full-fledged knight. But you're pretty good," Arthur said, putting the sword back in the storage. "You have a bright future awaiting you,"