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

A Brighter Future (Arthur)

Nothing was going according to how Arthur had thought it would. Ealdor didn't have nearly enough men available to fight and the men they did have were nowhere near the levels of trained soldiers. Every day that Arthur spent trying to train the men was more discouraging than anything else.

He really wasn't sure how they were going to win this battle.

To make matters worse, it seemed like Emrys had already sensed this. Since their arrival, Emrys had steadily become more and more distant from him, and it was driving Arthur crazy. All day, she busied herself with crafting weapons and collecting other supplies. If she did drop by their training area, it was with Morgana, and only to try to convince him to include the women in training.

"It's too dangerous," he told them each time, knowing full well that they would still try to argue against it. But he had no time to entertain their wild ideas. He needed to come up with a plan.

Emrys had been right about the people of Ealdor listening to him. There was still the exception of Will, but he seemed to stay out of the way for the most part. Arthur wanted to ask Emrys more about her time in Ealdor—why she thought that the people didn't trust her, about her relationship with Will—but she didn't seem interested in talking about anything other than allowing the women to fight.

He found his eyes wandering to her often, especially in the mornings and evenings, when they both returned to Hunith's hut. Never had he seen someone look so lost in their own home before. Emrys knew where everything was, but she always seemed to have a hard time finding a place to settle down in the house.

"Prince Arthur, you didn't finish your breakfast," said Hunith, suddenly, bringing him back to reality. She handed him a bowl full of sand-colored mush before exiting the hut to get started crafting more weapons.

Arthur forced himself to smile. He was grateful for Hunith's hospitality and for her knowledge in forging their essential weapons, but definitely not for the food. He knew it couldn't be helped—there was a food shortage, after all—but Arthur was pretty sure he'd have just preferred to go without any food than have to make do with the bland meals of Ealdor.

"Didn't I," he asked, realizing he'd been silent for too long. He glanced at Reuben, wondering if there was a way he could get Arthur out of this. But Reuben made no moves to assist the prince.

Morgana was even worse, showing off her empty bowl with a smug smile as she passed it to Emrys and said, "Go on, eat up." She playfully bumped her shoulder into his as she rushed out the door.

Arthur lifted the spoon out of the bowl, watching in disgust as the mush slid back down. Emrys passed in front of him, emptying her own bowl before bringing it to the side table to be cleaned later. Suddenly, Emrys turned to Arthur with crossed arms.

"If you're not going to eat it, give the bowl to me," she told him sharply. "But see to it that you at least make yourself useful somewhere since you've placed most of the other men on sentry duty. We could use wood—lots of it. Reuben can show you where we normally collect it."

He handed her the bowl but frowned at her tone. "I thought I was the one who gave orders."

"Maybe in Camelot you do, but I'm afraid life's more simple out here than what you're used to." She shoveled a few spoonfuls of the mush into her mouth before continuing. "You eat what you grow and everyone pitches in together. No one lords over each other or turns their nose up at something they don't like. Out here, we're all equals, all friends."

Arthur reached for her, but she turned away from him. "Emrys, I'm not trying to lord over anyone."

"Then prove that to them. Show the men that you believe in them, that you believe in the lifestyle they're trying to protect. Otherwise, they're going to think that Will was right about you." She finished the rest of the porridge and put it with the rest of the bowls.