Swords & Spells (Book One):The Magic of Emrys

The Things Between (Emrys)

He'd gotten away. All that work, all that planning, all the attention she'd diverted away from Morgana hadn't even mattered—Faolán was still gone.

Percival and Lancelot each offered a hand to Emrys and Arthur. Emrys let out a huge sigh of frustration and dusted off the skirts of her dress. "Well, that went well," she said. "At least this time my dress wasn't sullied."

Arthur picked up his sword and sheathed it. "I'm sure it wouldn't have stayed that way for much longer," he grumbled.

Emrys spun around, eyes widened at the prince. "I beg your pardon?"

He didn't look at her. In fact, he seemed busy adjusting the straps on his gloves.

"Emrys," said Lancelot carefully, "perhaps we should escort you back to Silas."

She waved his hand away and closed the distance between her and Arthur. "No, I want to hear what the prince had to say. Go on, Pendragon. No need to pretend you're shy with me. If something's bothered you, now's the time to tell me."

Arthur snapped his attention back to her, his mouth set in a firm line. "Why didn't you move when I told you to?"

"Why didn't you stick with our original plan? You were supposed to wait until I led him out of the bakery and into an area where it would've made for an easier capture! Did you forget what we came here to do?"

"Did you? I hadn't realized I was going to end up as chaperone for this little gathering between you and your secret lover. Should I've waited for the two of you to finish getting off then?"

Shock rendered her speechless, but only for a moment. Around them, she heard the knights' sharp intake of breaths. "Is your head so thick that you don't even realize I saved your life with that kiss? All of your lives, I might add."

Arthur let out a mirthless laugh. "Oh, I'm sure. Is that what you're telling yourself?"

"It's the truth," she insisted. He tried to maneuver around her to exit the bakery, but Emrys followed. "Maybe you've forgotten, but Faolán has powerful magic. The four of you would've been overpowered in a matter of seconds."

"That's pretty bold talk coming from the girl he just held hostage."

"It's not like I was in danger. Faolán would never hurt me."

Arthur's face fell into a deeper scowl as some workers rushing by with wooden planks altered his path, lessening the distance between him and Emrys. "Yes, I can see that. I'm starting to wonder if that's the real reason he asked for you in the dark woods. He just wanted to continue your little dalliance."

With a burst of energy, Emrys sprinted forward and blocked Arthur's path. She waited until he reluctantly looked at her before she said, "I didn't have to tell you about Faolán. Say what you want, Arthur, but you know it's true. I chose to turn him in, to offer my help to capture him. If I had a relationship with him, don't you think I would've mentioned something as important as that?"

For a moment, his face lost some of its hardness, and Emrys saw something in his eyes that she hadn't noticed before—hurt. "Honestly, I don't."

In desperation, she looked to the other knights for support, but none of them would catch her eye. "I want you to be able to trust me."

Arthur shouldered his way past her. "Well, then, you should've told me earlier."

~

Emrys wasn't sure if it had been Arthur or Morgana's doing, but somehow she'd gotten stuck with the job of polishing all the armor the knights had gone through in the past few weeks. Though the task was grueling, Emrys was at least grateful that the scrubbing gave her something to focus her anger on.