After an officer finds an unconscious boy dressed in medieval clothing and discovers he has no memories of where he came from, she decides to take him under her wing. She realizes quickly, however, that medieval clothing is not the only thing that m...
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The three of us made the ultimate tracking team. Lancelot had experience, Ben was a know-it-all, and I had the enhanced senses, so I could see details they could not.
I rode on the back of a horse I remembered claiming as my own long ago. Her smooth coat was black as night, with not a spot or streak on her body. She seemed to have a fiery energy about her, so I of course felt an instant connection to her. That fiery personality of hers awarded her the name Ember, a very worthy name in my opinion. My memory was still dim, but I vaguely remembered Ember's story. She had been too wild to train, even as a foal, so since she could be of no use to the knights, orders were to put her down. But then I happened to cross paths with the horse one day, and to everyone's amazement I could calm the roan. Arthur must have pulled some strings, because Ember's would-be fate was mysteriously forgotten after that and I claimed her as my horse.
The beginning of our journey ran smoothly just as I expected it would. It was only when we wove deeper into the Great Forest that I felt uneasy. Most of the sun was no longer visible to us under the protection of the trees, which made our surroundings dark and very difficult to see, even with my sensitive sight. The temperature also seemed to drop twenty degrees, and I pulled my cloak tighter around me. I felt both Ben and Lancelot shudder on either side of me.
Ben obviously thought conversation might lighten the mood, because he said abruptly, "So, Merlin, there has been one thing about your disappearance that still confuses me."
"Ben, you shock me. You, confused? The world must be ending."
Lancelot laughed, but Ben just stuck his nose in the air, responding haughtily, "Laugh all you want but has it escaped your notice the time that passed as you were gone? You spent three years in the twenty-first century yet you were missing from Camelot for only two weeks. How do you explain that?"
I pondered that for a moment. "I know this will be difficult for you to understand, Ben, being you," I said finally, "But some things cannot be explained. Magic is a mysterious thing, especially when the Lady of the Lake is involved."
The thought of Niamh made me smile, but I instantly regretted it.
"Merlin, I know it's dark, but did I just see you blush?" Lancelot squinted at me through the dim light.
I looked away quickly. "No."
It was Ben's turn to laugh. "You should stop going to the trouble of lying, Merlin, because you really are terrible at it."
"You realize she's over two hundred years older than you," Lancelot scolded mockingly, wagging a finger in my face.
"The next comment about Niamh," I growled, "will turn you into toads, or in your cases, asses."
Something in my tone must have told them I was serious because they didn't mention Niamh again, but that didn't stop them from laughing about it.
"Do any of you have an idea what we're going to do when we walk into Morgana's little ambush?"
