He knew when Kanen's men had begun shouting that it had something to do with Emrys. It always did. Especially when something was going wrong.

Everything in him begged him to run to her, to find her and make sure she was safe. But, hard as it was, he bit back that urge. Emrys had faith in him. He had to have faith in her as well.

"Hold," Arthur whispered, more to himself than the other men. He felt Reuben's hand on his shoulder and took comfort in it. "No one moves until the signal."

They were several minutes behind their plan, but Arthur knew that their best hope was waiting. Morgana's part may have fallen through, but Emrys was out there. And if anyone was going to fix it and make sure his sister was safe, he knew it would be her.

A series of screams broke out, and Arthur knew that the rest of their plan had worked. "Now," he roared, breaking into a run for the center of the village.

He caught the first few men off guard, slicing through them without much trouble. The second batch of men he faced were not as taken by surprise. Fortunately, they weren't any better at fighting than the men he'd faced a few days ago.

As Arthur cut the last of them down, he couldn't help but pause to look around. The villagers actually weren't doing too bad, despite the fact that half of them only had shovels and other farming tools for weapons. Groups of them had even taken to yanking some of Kanen's men off of their horses.

He still didn't see Emrys.

"Arthur," cried Reuben, drawing the prince's attention.

One of the bandits paused in his attack on Arthur to block Reuben's blow. With surprising dexterity, Reuben danced around the bandit and struck the man in his side. He had forgotten his manservant's handiness with a sword.

Reuben turned his back to the prince as two more of Kanen's men rushed toward them. "Are you alright, sire?"

He was more than alright, especially knowing that Reuben was more than capable of watching his back. Sudden realization dawned on Arthur: "You lied to me. You didn't pick up your sword skills from watching me."

He heard Reuben laugh as they both felled their opponent. "I'll admit I'd hoped that you wouldn't piece it together."

In the distance, Arthur caught sight of Hunith as she slammed the hilt of her sword against the neck of her attacker, knocking him to the ground. Though Arthur thought that Reuben resembled their mother most, he couldn't help but see how Emrys reflected her in that moment. "Can't trust anyone in your family to be as they seem," he said, smiling.

"I think," said Reuben as he nodded in a different direction, "the same thing can be said for you and your sister."

Arthur followed his gaze to see Morgana as she tore through several men. She glanced up, panting. When she locked eyes with Arthur, her smile fell.

"She needs help," Reuben said, hurrying toward her.

"No," Arthur realized as his sister frantically began looking around. "She can't find Emrys."

This time, Arthur couldn't help but run, though he didn't know where she was. He hacked through each man who came his way, all the while looking for Emrys. His head pounded, unable to think of anything other than making sure she was okay.

He rounded one of the huts and Arthur paused at the scene in front of him—chaos. This side of the battle was vastly different than the one he'd just left. And it was painfully obvious to Arthur that the people of Ealdor were not doing as well as he'd thought. Regardless of what happened on the other side, it was clear, looking at the state of the fighting on this side, that Ealdor was going to be lost.

This, he knew, was the side of the fight that Emrys would be on.

He was startled by Morgana as she asked, "Did you find her?" She took a moment to look around, her face drooping with dismay. "There's too many of them."

"We can't give up," he said.

Arthur froze as the sky suddenly darkened, a surprisingly large covering of clouds taking over. As the wind began to pick up, he held out a wary arm to Morgana, who looked around and asked, "What's happening?"

"I don't know." Arthur turned his head and pulled Morgana further behind him as three men started to approach them. He tried to pull his sword to defend against their attack, but the wind seemed to be too strong to fight against.

Somewhere, Arthur thought he heard someone call out his name. As if in response to the voice, the wind turned its attention to him, coming up as a barrier between him and the men. One of the bandits charged forward anyway, the barrier of air exploding underneath his attack and sending him and his companions flying backward.

Arthur followed the wind with his eyes as it dispersed through the rest of the village, systematically disarming Kanen's men. Picking up speed, the gust began working two-fold: slamming the men into each other and forcing them back toward the forest. Overpowered, the men began fleeing from the village.

As the villagers began to cheer, Arthur turned and caught sight of the back of Emrys' head. She was standing next to Will, who gripped the side of her arm as she leaned against him, the wind circling back toward the pair.

Arthur took a heavy step toward her. That was magic—he knew it was. And it had to have come from one of them. He desperately wanted to think that it was Will. It would explain his hatred and distrust toward him. But there was something about the way that Will held Emrys, as if she would collapse if he let her go, that made him consider otherwise.

Whatever happens out there today, please don't think any differently of me.

"Who did that?" he asked. His voice was hoarse and shaky, but he knew that they'd heard him by the way that Emrys went still. He took another step. "Wind like that doesn't just appear out of nowhere."

"Oh, you're certain about that, are you? Sounds like you need to get out of your castle more often, then," Will snapped, turning to face the prince.

Emrys grabbed Will's arm, stopping him. She turned her head slowly, keeping her eyes lowered to the ground. She swallowed and reached up to hold her necklace between her fingers. Arthur felt his heart quicken its pace as she began to raise her eyes to him.

He realized something was wrong as her eyes widened, focusing on something past him. Almost immediately, Arthur recognized the all-too-familiar sound of an arrow being loosed from a crossbow.

Arthur turned halfway, a semi-stifled scream coming out of his mouth as he homed in on the arrow hurtling toward him from his peripheral. He squeezed his eyes shut and tensed at the expected impact. A full second passed by, two, then three—Arthur opened one of his eyes. His mouth dropped open in shock at the arrow in front of him, stilled in midair.

His heart pumped hard enough that Arthur could feel the beating in his ears, but he forced himself to open up the second eye. Far behind the arrow was a man whom Arthur could only assume was Kanen, also frozen in place. Arthur tried to move, but found that something held him in place.

The arrow started to move again, slowly twisting as it inched closer to Arthur. The projectile grazed his nose as it passed him. He followed the arrow with his eyes, incredulous. Arthur closed his mouth over another scream as he caught sight of Emrys.

Her eyes, fixed on the arrow that had missed him, were a staggering white. She angled them toward the ground, the arrow suddenly making a sharp dip downward before embedding itself in the grass. Emrys shuddered as if a weight had been released from her body before collapsing.

All at once, Arthur felt as if the force that had been holding him in place had been lifted. Morgana raced toward Emrys, as if she hadn't felt the same thing. Arthur looked around—had no one else noticed it?

From the side, Reuben yelled, "Arthur!" and the prince was immediately reminded that Kanen was still somewhere behind him.

He tried to clear his mind of what he'd just seen as he turned around, his instincts preemptively lifting his sword. He barely managed to deflect Kanen's attack, sidestepping to try to gain recover. Behind Kanen, Arthur could see Emrys as she lifted her head. Her eyes had somehow returned to normal.

Arthur wrenched himself away from thoughts of Emrys and jumped back to dodge Kanen's sword. Kanen swung out his foot and Arthur, still recovering his footing, caught the kick with his shoulder. Kanen wasn't particularly fast, but his strength was something of concern. If he managed to get away—or worse, win—Arthur was certain Kanen would return to Ealdor. Arthur couldn't afford to be distracted by anything.

Arthur tightened his grip on his sword, focusing only on the man in front of him. When Kanen rose his arm for another attack, Arthur struck, forcing Kanen to stumble backwards to avoid Arthur's sword. Arthur jabbed again and again, each time making sure to catch him off-guard.

Kanen caught the tip of Arthur's sword with his, barking a short laugh at his trivial accomplishment. Arthur pushed against it, leading Kanen's sword into a series of large circles. Kanen was a bully, but he was definitely no swordsman. Kanen wrested his sword out of the dance, his arm still high in the air, and Arthur drove his sword into Kanen's side.

Kanen's face contorted in shock and something that Arthur recognized was probably anger as he pulled the sword back out of the man. Kanen dropped his sword and, clutching at his side, stumbled toward his discarded crossbow. Arthur kept his eye on him until Kanen crumpled to the grass beneath him and finally stilled.

All at once, Arthur felt his frustration return. He had questions and someone was going to answer them. "Who did that?" he asked as he faced Emrys.

He saw Reuben glance at his sister and he could've sworn that he saw a hint of fear in his manservant before Reuben asked, "What?"

This time Emrys wasn't quick enough to stop Will from walking toward Arthur. He lifted his chin and squared his shoulders back as he said, "You really don't know when to let things go. Scared of a little wind?"

"I know magic when I see it," Arthur said, holding Will's gaze. "And I know someone made it happen. That person saved our lives—saved my life. I just want to know the truth."

Will pulled his head back and blinked at him, for once not seeming to have anything to say in response. Both boys turned to look at Emrys as she made her way to them, placing a gentle hand on Will's arm.

"Arthur," she said gently. And Arthur realized, as she looked up at him, that he already knew what she was going to say.

Sudden movement out of the corner of his eye drew Arthur's attention. Kanen hadn't died yet and had somehow managed to load another arrow into his crossbow, which was aimed in their direction. From Kanen's current position, Arthur realized it would probably curve on its own and strike Emrys.

He moved quickly, wrapping his arms around Emrys as Will yelled, "Look out!"

Arthur braced yet again for impact, cradling Emrys' head. Instead, he felt hands on his shoulders, and suddenly he and Emrys were tumbling to the ground. He hurried to his feet, turning immediately toward Kanen, who must've expired after firing at them.

"Will," Emrys screamed, pulling Arthur's attention back to the boy. The arrow had found its mark in Will's chest, though unfortunately, not deep enough to have given him a quick end.

Arthur dropped to his knees as Emrys cradled Will's head. "You saved my life," he said quietly.

Will gave him a strained smile. "Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking."

Arthur waved toward Reuben and a few of the other men. "Come on," he said. "Let's get him inside."

Emrys hurried into one of the huts as Arthur and the others gently lifted Will off the ground. They followed her inside to see her clearing off the table, a burlap sack rolled over a few times as a makeshift pillow for him. They lowered him onto the spot, the other men promising to get Hunith.

"She's tending to those who were wounded," Reuben said. "You lot go help her—I'll grab things to help him." He squeezed his sister's shoulder before running out of the hut.

"That's twice I've saved you," said Will, turning to look at Arthur.

"Twice?"

Will nodded grimly. "It was me. I'm the one that used the magic."

"Will, don't," said Emrys firmly.

"It's all right, Emmy. I won't be alive long enough for anyone to do anything to me." He held Arthur's gaze with a fierce determination. "I did it. I saw how desperate things were becoming. I had to do something."

"You were the sorcerer?" Arthur asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Will chuckled. "Yeah. What're you going to do, kill me?"

"No," said Arthur immediately, absolutely. He raised his head to look at Emrys, who avoided his gaze. "No, of course not."

In the silence that followed, Arthur watched as Will looked up into Emrys' face and gave her a solemn nod. A part of him wanted to believe that Will's brave face was a way of him showing Emrys that he'd made peace with his fate. He still had so many questions, but, looking at Emrys' distraught face, Arthur realized that this was not the time for him to seek answers. Instead, he told her, "Do what you can for him." and hoped that she would.

Arthur's feet felt heavy as he exited the hut. He caught Morgana's eyes, full of questions that were different than his own. He shook his head and lifted a hand to stop her from running to him. She gave him a grim nod and turned, instead, toward the other villagers to begin helping them.

Arthur didn't know where to go. He didn't want to be far from Emrys, but he knew that he couldn't be inside with her right now. But to go anywhere else…He made his way to the back of the house as he tried to figure out where to go.

"I was right about him," he heard Will say. Arthur couldn't help but turn toward the voice, finding a small window that was close enough to see them through. He knew he shouldn't watch, but he couldn't seem to find the will to turn away from the scene. "I told you he was going to get me killed."

"I can fix this," Emrys promised. "My magic can heal you just like it did Matthew. You're going to be okay."

Will gripped her hand. "No, Emmy. You've already overspent yourself. I know you have. And doing so would only raise suspicion."

"I can't let you die."

"And I can't let you ruin your destiny. You're a good person, Emrys—a great person. And one day, you're going to help Arthur become a great king. Now you can still make that happen."

"Thanks to you."

"This place has been boring without you," he said. "And I missed you more than I thought I would. Good to see you again."

"You too."

Will's mouth trembled. "Emrys. Emrys, I'm scared."

"It's going to be alright," she said, her voice shaky.

"Emrys," he said once more. Will reached up with his free hand and pressed his palm against the side of her face, a small smile beginning to form. He shook violently before suddenly stilling, his face and arms going limp.

Emrys' face crumpled. She glanced frantically around the room, Arthur barely managing to duck in time so she wouldn't see him. His heart beat rapidly against his chest as he wrestled with understanding everything that he'd just heard, that he'd seen. He heard feet shuffling and then a man's voice: Reuben. With Reuben's gentle shushing, Emrys began to sob. And Arthur thought, then, that the sound of her cries could've shattered even the strongest of hearts.

Someone coughed in front of him and Arthur looked up, his heart sinking with dread as he locked eyes with Hunith.

He scrambled to his feet, careful to keep away from the window. Arthur opened his mouth and then closed it, unsure of what he was supposed to say. Hunith smiled and motioned for him to follow her. Arthur followed her silently, grateful that Hunith seemed to be keeping away from the other villagers.

"You must have questions."

Too many, Arthur thought. He took another few steps in silence before asking, "Do all of you have magic?"

"No. For the longest time, Silas was the only practitioner. Even then," said Hunith, smiling, "he never seemed to be able to master it before he stopped."

"During the Purge," Arthur said, remembering the stories. "If the Purge was enough to stop Silas—"

"Are you wondering if Emrys is just too stubborn to stop using magic, even in Camelot?" Her smile was pinched this time. "For the record, she definitely is. But, it's a little different for Emrys. She was born with magic. It's as much a part of her as breathing."

Difficult as it was to comprehend, Arthur was starting to be able to make sense of things. It explained the irrefutable power she seemed to carry with her. Still… "Why is she in Camelot, then?"

"I've often asked myself that as well. I had no idea she'd been there these past few months and I worried about how close she is to you and the princess, how long it would be until one of you found out."

Arthur looked toward the edge of the village. "She doesn't have to go back to Camelot. I could order her to stay."

"I'd hate to be around when you try to tell her that."

"I'd hate to be the person who told her that," Arthur admitted. He looked down at his hands. "But, Hunith, I don't know what to do."

Hunith stopped walking. "Will you expose her when you return?"

Arthur recoiled, shaking his head as he said, "No. No, I—I don't know what I think about her magic yet, but I know it's not evil. She's not evil. She's probably been using it to protect me all this time while I was unaware. I would never think of turning her in."

Arthur fidgeted as Hunith turned to look at him. "I want her in Camelot," he continued, "but I don't know how to help her or how to keep her safe. I want to assure you that she will be protected, but I worry I won't be able to do that. If you don't feel confident sending her back, I will respect that."

"I suppose you're right," said Hunith. "I don't feel like Camelot is safe for her and you can't guarantee that you'll adequately protect her. It would make sense for me to demand she stay in Ealdor, wouldn't it?"

Each word felt like it cost him a piece of his soul, but Arthur forced himself to nod anyway.

"But if I steal my daughter away from Camelot, I wonder what that would do to you, Prince Arthur."

"If I lost Emrys," Arthur said, the words coming out of his mouth slowly, "I feel it'd be like I'd lost my way."

Hunith continued to stare at him, her eyes cutting into him the same way Emrys' often did. "I think she belongs at your side," she said, finally. "I've seen how much you need her, how much she needs you. You're like two sides of the same coin."

A brief smile lit up his face. "Do you think she'll ever tell me herself?"

"Of course," said Hunith, nodding emphatically. "Until then, please protect my daughter."

They had Will's funeral that afternoon. Many of the villagers had been injured during the fight, so only a few were able to join them. Emrys didn't speak the entire time, only looking ahead, as if there was something else there that only she could see. That faraway look that she often had…how often did she have it because of magic?

Reuben was the first of them, after the villagers, to leave to pack their things. It was probably best that they leave soon. Morgana rubbed Emrys' back before following Hunith back to the hut. Soon, it was only Arthur and Emrys left. He glanced at Emrys out of the corner of his eye, desperately searching for the words to say to her.

She sniffed. "William's father was killed fighting for King Cenred. That's why he doesn't—didn't trust nobility."

"I'm sorry," Arthur said. "Truly. I know he was a close friend."

She pressed her lips together, keeping her gaze on the fire.

"You knew he was a sorcerer, didn't you? That's what you were going to tell me?"

Emrys took in a deep breath and Arthur wondered if she was deliberately using magic to make the fire burn higher. "It was. I'm sorry I kept it from you for so long. I know how dangerous magic is. I shouldn't have kept this from you, sire."

Sire, she'd said, not Arthur. "Emrys…"

"We'd better be going," she said quietly, turning away from him.

"Emrys," he said again. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a tight hug. She didn't try to fight it, wrapping her arms around him and settling into his chest. They let out a sigh, long and slow, together, each of them squeezing the other at the end.

It was only when she started to pull away that Arthur loosened his grip on her. Her eyes seemed brighter, somehow, and his heart pounded as he continued to look at her. He felt it again, a warmth in his chest that he'd gotten used to denying.

His hands seemed to move on their own accord, coming up to push some of her loose hair out of her face. Before he could think more about it, Arthur leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her forehead. Immediately, Arthur began to feel a different type of heat, one that probably flushed his cheeks with color.

"Um," he said, scrambling for words as he took a step back. He absolutely refused to look at her. "Thanks for believing in me."

"You're welcome, Arthur," she whispered, reaching up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. Her eyes widened as she caught his gaze. Quickly, Emrys turned around, starting a brisk walk towards her mother's hut.

Arthur tried to help the smile that came to his face. He felt like an idiot, standing there, grinning wildly, but a part of him didn't care. He finally understood what Emrys had meant about kissing having another meaning. It hadn't been the kiss he truly wanted, but still he felt like he was floating. As he trailed after her, drunk with happiness, Arthur realized he felt a desperate urge to pull her back to him and go for her lips this time.

Almost immediately, Arthur's stomach knotted. Would she reject him if he tried to go for more? What if he shocked her so much that it triggered her magic? Maybe he would just ask her. But then, wouldn't it be worse hearing her say she didn't want him? Would she even want something romantic from him when she couldn't even trust him enough to tell him that she had magic? What if she considered herself to be out of his league because he didn't have magic?

He shook his head. He had to remember that, at the end of the day, he was a prince and had dealt with much more frightening things than a girl. At least…that was what he was going to tell himself.

"You seem chipper for someone who's just been to a funeral," said Morgana as she came out of the hut.

"Just trying to start our journey back home on the right foot." Still, he suppressed his smile and helped Reuben load the rest of the things onto the horses. By the time they were done, Emrys and Hunith had joined them outside. Arthur swung onto his horse and tried to fight the smile that he felt coming.

"You've got everything?" Hunith asked, glancing at both of them. "You're sure you don't need any more food?"

Emrys threw back her head and laughed. "You've already packed us enough for eight trips to Camelot. It's not like we're going to run out."

Hunith let out a sigh, sounding only slightly annoyed. She smiled at both of her children and placed a hand on their faces. "I love you both so much. And I don't want either of you to worry about me. I know where to find you if anything happens. But I don't want to have to worry about you two, either. Stay together and stay safe."

Arthur didn't try to hold back his smile as Reuben and Emrys embraced their mother in a tight hug. "Oh," said Hunith, as she handed Reuben a rolled letter, "and be sure to keep your uncle out of trouble. We know how reckless my brother can be."

Reuben chuckled as he lifted his sister onto her horse. He kissed his mother's cheek before climbing onto his own horse. "The only reckless ones in our family are you and Emrys."

Emrys shrugged, though Arthur could tell that it was an effort for her to play it cool while she was on the horse. "What's wrong with having a little fun? Besides, I see no problem with it when it all seems to work out in the end."

Hunith glanced at Arthur, giving him a solemn nod. He returned her gesture before spurring his horse into movement. Arthur wondered how Emrys was still confident that things would work out in the end, even as she rode back to Camelot. He wished he could be sure of what the future held in store for them.

But of two things, Arthur was certain. First, that Emrys was and had always been a sorceress, a being of magic. Magic that his father had sought to destroy and trained him to be against for the past twenty years.

And he was going to protect her.

A/N: It has been YEARS, but we are finally done with Book One of the "Swords and Spells" series! Thank you all for being with me through this journey. I've appreciated and am still incredibly grateful for all of your comments/feedback/support. Here's to the next book: The Might of Arthur.