Camelot

Twenty-Two - Inheritance

Twenty-Two – Inheritance

After finding out that Leith had volunteered to fight the dragon alongside Arthur, I was not at all surprised when Madeline came bursting into my chambers moments after the meeting had finished.

"Has he always been like this!?" she exploded, slamming the doors behind her. "Has he always been so willing to throw himself into danger whenever it presents itself? I don't know what was going through his head when he decided he was fighting that dragon and there's no way he's doing it alone."

"He isn't going to be alone, he's going with Arthur's best knights and Arthur himself," I reminded her, knowing that trying to reason with her was no use.

"Swords and armour are no match against a dragon," she said.

"Uther managed to defeat many dragons with only weaponry, perhaps Leith and the others will be able to as well," I persisted.

"No Emalia," she fought. "I'm going to help them."

I turned to look at her for the first time, and realised that she was no longer wearing the pale blue gown that she had on earlier. Leather's and armour had replaced the fine silk and her sword gleamed on her belt. I should have known the minute that she came in here that it was not to complain about Leith, but to reason me into fighting with her.

"You know as well as I do that we will not be able to fight alongside them," I said. "Men are proud, especially knights. Besides, our best weapon is our magic and you know we cannot use it in front of the knights of Camelot."

I knew the moment I spoke, that Madeline's pride would be wounded by my words. I just hoped that her desire to protect Leith outweighed her pride. That was what led her to her next idea.

"What if that's just it?" she questioned.

"I am not sure that I'm following you," I responded inquisitively.

"What if we conceal ourselves while they fight and remain hidden," she explained. "If it looks as though they are in danger then we will use our magic to help them. That way we can keep them happy and give them the extra hand."

Finally I understood where this was headed. There was no way to keep Madeline away from this battle aside from physically restraining her and there wasn't a person alive who was capable of doing that.

"You mean that's the best way for you to get in on the action?" I laughed.

I was relieved when her haughty laughter filled the room.

"I cannot say that being right in the middle of that battle doesn't appeal to me anymore, you'd simply see right through that," she said, smiling.

"But?" I questioned, sensing that she had more to say on the matter.

"Protecting Leith is something that appeals to me much, much more," she answered.

In all the years that I had been friends with Madeline, we'd gotten ourselves into some pretty dangerous situations. We'd come up against all sorts of magical creatures, as well as soldiers from almost all sides of Warrendor's borders. None of that compared to the situation we faced now.

After realising there was no way to keep her from the battle, the two of us had approached Jensen and told her of our plans. Then the three of us had departed the castle well ahead of the knights, heading to the clearing where they were planning on defeating Kilgharrah for good. It saddened me that killing him was the only way for the kingdom to be saved, but there was simply no other way.

The three of us were now crouched in the dense tree cover, just off to the side of the clearing. The knights had not yet arrived, but it was only a matter of time before they did, along with Kilgharrah.