Forbidden Love - Merlyn [2]

Chapter Thirty-Five: A Harmless Horse

A month had gone by and the troll fiasco had left many minds. Everything had calmed back down but Merlyn had lived in Camelot long enough to know the peace was not to last. However, whilst there was a moment of peace, Merlyn had decided to try and seek out one of her Blood Guards, Anna to be precise. She hadn't seen the girl since she had warned her against helping Morgana and the truth was Merlyn had questions, a lot of them. Unfortunately, finding the Blood Guard was harder than she thought and Merlyn didn't know how to contact them. She had spent the best part of her day off searching the Lower Town for the girl but couldn't find her anywhere, however, when she asked the locals about Anna, they did seem to know of one who was fairly new to the area.

The Anna the villagers knew had only been with them for a few months, arriving shortly before the Cornelius Sigan incident. It sounded like the girl she was looking for. The townsfolk all said she had a routine in where she would go into the forest just outside of the Castle walls to collect wood every three days. Following their instructions, Merlyn headed to the forest early in the morning to the common area where most townsfolk gathered their lumber. Merlyn slowly made her way through the woods, moving around the wildlife and people dotted about collecting wood. She scanned each face she passed but she couldn't see Anna anywhere.

Frustration began to overtake Merlyn as she believed that she would not find the woman. Merlyn moved further into the woods to the point where she broke out of the trees to find herself standing on the edge of the cliff. From her place she could see the lower woodland below her where a fire was looming before the green treetops, the smoke rising high into the sky. It was beautiful ... and held what she was looking for. Sitting only a few places in front of her, Merlyn spotted a familiar head of hair. There was a young woman with her ginger hair pulled back in a plaited bun.

"Morning, Anna" Merlyn called over as she closed the gap between them. At the sound of her voice, Anna snapped around to face Merlyn with a look of utter shock on her face.

"Emrys!" Anna exclaimed as she jumped to her feet, smoothing her dress out as if she was stood before royalty.

"The name is Merlyn" the young witch replied with a smile on her face as she shook her head. She couldn't believe how Anna reacted to her; it was very strange to say the least. "And you really don't have to worry about your appearance with me."

"I have only ever known you as Emrys, it's what all of the Blood Guards call you" Anna replied as she nervously tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. She kept her gaze dropped which caused Merlyn to shake her head in confusion – she wasn't this shy before. With a sigh, Merlyn decided to sit upon the floor but Anna did not follow. Merlyn lifted her gaze to the young woman a moment before she tapped the ground. Anna chuckled before she followed Merlyn's silent orders. It seemed the Blood Guard was more anxious around Merlyn since there was no impending doom that she had to stress.

"I still can't believe I have protectors" Merlyn admitted once Anna was comfortable on the ground. Anna chuckled at the words; she did not find it strange since she had grown up as a Blood Guard but she guessed to Merlyn it was completely strange.

"You have a guard in the same way a king does" Anna simply explained. "We fight for you, would die for you." It was that simple.

"You don't even know me" Merlyn replied, looking over at Anna in disbelief.

"I know magic and you are magic, so I know you" Anna answered, everything was easy in her mind. Merlyn wished she could view the old in such a way.

"It's not the same" Merlyn replied as she turned her gaze to the grass around her.

"All the people of Camelot believe in Arthur yet many of them will not have met him, only heard stories. How is that any different?" Anna pointed out with a small smirk. Merlyn went to argue but quickly found Anna was right. There was an array of people who believed in Arthur, knights who would die for him yet they didn't know him personally. Merlyn, knowing she was beaten, lifted her gaze to the scenery before her and stayed silent.