Chapter 3

Cecilia felt a strong lurching in her stomach as a man, with a name she did not know, led her to a place, she could not see. Not that such an occurrence was unusual to Cecilia, but it made her uncomfortable none the less. In the group of men that she and Theodoric met she only knew two of them; Percival, her brother, and Merlin, a manservant to the King, who she had yet to meet on an official level. Since her tumble with Merlin, Cecilia had been talking to the trees, trying to pry any information about the men she was with from them. The trees had been less than helpful for all they told her was that Arthur was the King of Camelot, and that all beside Merlin were knights. A small smile danced across her lips as she heard the wind tell her off all the times Merlin and Arthur would travel together and the honest joy and friendship the two shared, it made Cecilia deeply happy to know that the King that Percival worked for, and would willingly die for, was someone who had a kind heart and would easily become friends with those he trusted, even if it was in some weird backhanded way like the relationship between Arthur and Merlin was. Cecilia sighed when the man handling her stopped and finally spoke to her.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." A soft voice hushed, Cecilia smiled slightly when she recognised it as Merlin's, it had a certain calmness and boyish charm to it that made Cecilia feel even more at peace with the world than usual. She tried to reach out to Merlin, to reassure him that she was, indeed, fine and unharmed. Cecilia frowned slightly when she couldn't feel Merlin, she had been sure that he was within her reach, but now she became panicked that what she heard was merely an echo and that Cecilia was further away from people than she had thought she was. Her breathing quickened in pace as Cecilia flailed her arms about in an attempt to find anything that she could use as a landmark, the winds felt her panic and sent breezes to direct Cecilia to a more secure destination, the Earth rumbled gently whenever Cecilia came near a root that protruded from the ground. "Cecilia, I'm so sorry I made you fall. I swear I didn't mean to, I'm not like that." The voice continued, Cecilia was so sure that it was Merlin originally, but as it echoed on it became clearer that the voice wasn't Merlin's, Cecilia felt a shiver run down her spine as the voice became taunting and sadistic. It's tone colder than ice and harsher than the northern winds.

Cecilia opened her eyes wider in a, futile, attempt to see what was there. The winds had stopped responding to her and the Earth was basically dead under her feet, suggesting that Cecilia had somehow managed to find a building and get a way inside, cutting her off from the natural world. Cecilia was all but hyperventilating at being separated from her only way of seeing. A pulsing had made its way to the forefront of Cecilia's brain, signalling that powerful magic was about, she had felt it when she had fallen with Merlin, but this…this was different. The magic in Merlin was soft, not weak, but kind and obviously had only been used for good reasons. The magic Cecilia felt now was darker; it had been misused, and be it in deceit or an actual act. Either way the magic Cecilia felt was something she wanted to avoid. Despite being trapped in a room with it. There was a creaking coming from behind Cecilia, like a door…closing and locking. Cecilia ran towards the sound, not caring if she stumbled along the way, she found the wall and door that she must have come from, but when Cecilia turned the handle of the door she realised that it was locked, from the inside. There was someone, or something, in the room with her.

"Please." She whimpered, tears beginning to sting her eyes. "Please don't hurt me." Her confidence, her courage, dying in less than a second. Hands shaking slightly, Cecilia felt her way forwards, trying to find another was out, or a place where she could hide, but at her pace of movement even she knew that hiding would be pointless. "I'm sorry. Whatever I did. I didn't mean to do it. I'm sorry." While apologising for something Cecilia may have had nothing to do with she was inwardly cursing herself. I trusted the Earth. Nature was my friend, why would she betray me now?

"Stupid woman." The voice from before sneered, unlike before where it seemed to echo and transform, it was now clear and directly behind Cecilia. It was childish, but not in the sweet way, more in the 'I'm an adult in a child's body' kind of way. There was more hatred and distrust in that voice than Cecilia thought possible. "I thought you were smarter than that." The voice continued, Cecilia calmed down slightly, knowing that there was probably no one else in the room beside the person talking.

"I apologise for being scared of not knowing where I am, and panicking when I cannot find anything to help me understand what is happening. This room, it does not even have sounds in it, I cannot feel the Earth in here." Cecilia snarled back. She never did take to being insulted. "Forgive me for asking, but who are you?" If Cecilia could see whoever she was talking to, she would have glared at them.

A dark chuckling came from the other person. It was like a child who had pulled the wings off a butterfly, while the creature was still alive. "Mordred. And you are Cecilia, sister of Percival." She would have gasped, but it became obvious to her that the other person knew who she was.

"How did you convince the winds to bring me here?" Cecilia snapped, she didn't like not knowing where she was, especially when she knew that there was people who would worry about her disappearance, at least she hoped they worried that she was gone.

Merlin was panicking. No, that is the wrong word. Merlin was in the middle of hysterics. He had taken Cecilia back to the horses so that he could collect the arrows and swords that the knights had left behind, he hadn't been gone long when he returned to the horses. At first he couldn't see Cecilia, but he hadn't thought much of it, she had probably just sat down nearby, was his initial thought, but when he got no responses from Cecilia when he tried to talk to her, he knew that something was wrong. He searched the area around where he had left Cecilia, but there was no sign of her, there weren't even any footprints so that he could guess where she had gone to. He started calling her name in a vain attempt that she would reply, maybe saying something like; 'she got lost' or 'she got stuck' or even 'I heard a butterfly so I followed it' but there was nothing. He started pacing around the horses when Arthur and the knights returned.

"Merlin. We were just talking about you." Arthur called, a stupid smirk plastered across his face. "Percival was saying about how quickly his sister took a shine to you, but I said that he shouldn't hope for you as a brother-in-law, that's a fate I wouldn't wish on anybody. Speaking of which; where is Cecilia?" His smile left when Arthur saw Merlin pale. A nervous smile wavered across the dark-haired man's face. Pale eyes showed pure, unadulterated fear. "Merlin." Arthur drawled his tone suddenly dark. "Where is Cecilia?" Arthur looked like he was ready to pounce on Merlin, but Percival looked like he was ready to bury Merlin in a shallow grave.

"Well. You see…I was just getting the swords…and I mean… I hadn't been gone long…she was right here when I left…" He babbled, fear settling in every pore of his being. Cecilia was a sweet girl, blind, and defenceless. She would be the perfect target of anyone looking for an easy prize. "I was only gone for a minute!" He suddenly exclaimed, shaking slightly at what his own mind had presented to him as what had happened to Cecilia. "She was right here when I left. I looked for her but she wasn't there. What was I meant to do?" His hands going straight to his hair Merlin continued to pace, he glanced at Percival, he was shaking too, but probably with anger instead of fear.

"Merlin, are you telling me that you LOST Cecilia?" Merlin nodded slowly, tendrils of fear crawling up his back and down his spine. "How STUPID are you Merlin? We left you alone with her for only a couple of MINUTES and you LOSE her!" Arthur ranted, Percival continued to shake, but now Merlin could see that there were tears in the corner of his eyes. He was just as afraid as Merlin, if not more so. He had lost his mother and now he had lost his sister but there was always hope that they would find Cecilia quickly.

"My lord." Percival finally managed to whisper. "I mean no disrespect, but can we look for Cecilia and then continue to belittle Merlin. I do not feel that we should be wasting time now." His usually bright blue eyes clouded over with anger, fear and rage. Pure rage. Arthur could sense that Percival was likely to go on a murderous rampage if they didn't start looking for his sister soon, he didn't blame Percival in the slightest for being angry, nor could he fault the taller man. When Morgana had first gone missing, despite not being his actual sister, he still felt the urge to kill whoever took her. Now the feeling is something completely different, but that was beside the point. Arthur gave a quick nod and the knights began to search the area for any signs of where Cecilia might have gone. They spread out a fair distance before they came to the conclusion that Cecilia had been taken, and probably by someone, or something, that used magic.

Percival roared with rage, his fist pounded a tree as he thought about what could be happening to his sister. For all he knew she could be dead and left in some ditch somewhere, her beautiful face marred by dirt and blood. His breath came out in shudders as he tried to stifle his sobs. In less than a day he had lost his mother and his sister. Merlin was shocked about how badly Percival took Cecilia's disappearance, he was normally so polite, so calm and nice that even saints seemed slightly dark compared to the gentle giant. The thought of what Percival would be like if Cecilia had been hurt in anyway sent shivers down the spines of all the knights, even Arthur, who is known to laugh in the face of death, feared what would become of his trusted knight.

"So…" Cecilia started. She had now been sat in a wooden chair at a table. Mordred, whoever he was, was apparently sitting near her. Cecilia had given up on trying figuring out if Mordred was an adult or a child, like she thought he was. Her hands were on her lap, playing with some stitching on her skirt that would need to be fixed later. Occasionally she would play with the end of her hair, Cecilia had often wondered what colour her hair was, she had been told that her hair was a dark brown, but not knowing what brown looked like didn't help her understand what her hair was like. The pregnant pause that had been created due to Mordred's lack of a response hung stiffly in the air. "Is there a particular reason you had the winds and earth lead me here, or is this just a game and I'll be back with my brother in a moment's time?" What came next was unexpected, instead of hearing Mordred talk to her; it was a voice inside her mind. What makes you think this is a game? Did you know that you're like me? "I am nothing like you. I have no evil intents, no strong magic and I don't kidnap blind people." You and I are more alike than you think. We are like Emrys, but you are not the same. You are special. You can talk to the Earth, we can only interpret it. "That still doesn't mean I'm like you. As I said, I can't cast spells, or bewitch people or place charms. I am just more in tune with the world." It is more than that. You can control the natural world. Did you know that there is a prophecy about you? Would you like to hear it? The child-like innocence of that last question made Cecilia shudder slightly, worried about who it was exactly that was sat next to her. "I'm not entirely sure I want to answer either of those questions. I don't think I even want to know why you seem to know so much about me, but I know that you will tell me anyway, so please, continue." He chuckled slightly out loud, causing Cecilia to jump at the sudden sound. It has been said, by an ancient druid tribe, that a blind druid will be born to the family of a knight. She will be a perfect lady and a marvellous witch, without actually being either. Three times she will be spat out by the dragon, twice will she be eaten by the warlock and once will she lose her most precious gift. To please her mind she must hurt her heart, to please her heart she must destroy her body, to please her body she must lose her mind. Her life will be lost on the words of a song, in loving memory she will be forgotten, her dying breath given to another. All lost but all gained, the Goddess of Natures Song will rise. "That's not me! I'm not a druid! I don't have magic!" She screamed, Cecilia could read between the lines of the prophecy, it wasn't hard for her. "Why can't you understand?" She stood up, banging her hands against the surface of the table with streams of tears leaving her milky eyes. Mordred just chuckled again.

"If I were to kill you, if I just left you here, then the prophecy wouldn't come true, and I could stop Emrys." He sighed, as if contemplating the possibility of killing Cecilia. "But if I did that, then it would only refract back onto me. You see..." There was a shuffling, suggesting that Mordred was moving, as the noise got louder it was clear to Cecilia that Mordred was getting closer to her. "If Nature's song is never song then I can't come into my full power, so I need you alive, but I don't want to rest of the prophecy to happen. What do you think I should do?" Cecilia was tempted to slap Mordred, but she knew that she was more than likely to miss him in her attempt and make him angry with her, so she refrained from physical violence.

"I think you should let me go. I think that nature shall take its course whether you kill me or not, that there is a back-up plan that you have no knowledge about. At least if you let me live you have an idea of what is likely to happen. I don't agree with this prophecy though, I am not a druid, I have never been a druid, nor will I ever be a druid." She spat quietly, her anger was clear but not overflowing, and she sat back in her chair and waited to see what Mordred would do. Cecilia waited for what seemed like hours, but was probably only mere seconds, for something to happen, in the end Cecilia heard to door being unlocked and opened. Not what she had expected, but was great all the same. A small hand grabbed Cecilia's, it was then that she had been made fully aware that she had been taken by a child, and dragged her towards a breeze, the second Cecilia was outside she bolted. Using the winds, Earth and trees once more she all but flew through the forest, hoping that she would find someone who she trusted, or even Arthur, who she didn't know or trust but felt compelled to follow.

It couldn't be long until she found someone, she hoped.