“Do you approve?” Came a slightly amused voice beside her, as Emrys took in her radiant beauty and noting that her eyes were the exact colour of the greenest Welsh field — just as he’d suspected they’d be long ago in his weavers room.
“Emrys! You’re here!” Anna exclaimed, twirling around and reaching out to take his hand almost involuntarily.
He smiled, “Yes, just as I promised, I am with you in your dreams.” He took Anna’s hand, rubbing her palm, “Do you like your clothes? I chose them especially for you. I wanted you to see the world of my youth and you needed to be dressed properly.” He explained as he pulled Anna nearer him.
“Yes, I think so. It is very different from what I am used to — the skirt is so long and so big!” Anna said turning around to show him, she giggled, “Girls in my world would only wear an outfit like this to the Renaissance Festival!” She laughed smoothing the muslin apron down as it caught the breeze.
As she moved, she felt an unusually airy sensation under the voluminous skirt which made her pause, “And what kind of underwear did you magic up for me?” Anna asked shyly, standing still with an odd look on her face.
Emrys laughed so hard tears came to his eyes, “Well, Anna, sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but girls in this age didn’t wear them. They sort of got in the way of...er...necessary personal needs.” He explained and had enough sense to look away as she blushed an even deeper shade of red.
“OH!” Anna stammered, “Yes...I can...feel that now. Well, so...um, thanks for the clothes anyway.” She looked away wishing she hadn’t asked.
Emrys smiled, “I brought you here with my song. Do you remember me singing as you drifted off to sleep?” Emrys asked effectively changing the subject.
“No...yes, I think so. It was a pretty tune, but I didn’t understand the words. What language was it?” Anna asked, grateful that he’d changed the subject.
“It is the language of this place, Welsh Celtic, and was spoken a long time ago. Much of the original language has been lost over time.” He said somewhat sadly, “Part of the song I sang to you was one I recalled that my foster mother sang to me as a child.” He explained.
“What was the rest of the song?” Anna asked, “You said, ‘part’ of the song.”
“Clever girl.” Emrys replied, “I added a few words to open this portal so you could visit the time of my youth. You’re here in reality, in this time. This is not a dream as you know it, that is to say, your body is asleep safely in your bed in New York, 2013. But, your spirit, which is more the true source of the eternal part of you than your physical body, is here.” He said seriously, “I want you to fully understand that before we go any further.”
“But, I seem to look the same, and I feel the same.” Anna said in wonder as she gazed at her hands and reached up to feel her face and hair.
“Yes, of course, we all identify with the body and image we grow into, it is no different here. You are ‘you’ where ever you go; dimensional time drifting doesn't change that.” He replied.
“Wow. Seriously, Emrys?” Anna murmured, "I am really here? I’ve always wanted to travel…but this…” She said reverently looking around with new respect for the unfamiliar land, she both dreaded and was excited to hear the answer to her next question, 'You said, ‘time of your youth’ earlier… what year is it?”
Emrys regarded her carefully as he spoke, “576 AD, and we’re near the Welsh village of Caerfyrddin, the place of childhood and favourite home.”
Anna gasped, “Seriously? I...I don’t know what to think, Emrys. That is...” Anna’s brow furrowed in concentration as she did the math, “Nearly fifteen hundred years ago."
She whispered,"Are you that old?” Anna’s voice trembled slightly, “And I don’t know any Welsh or Celtic or anything besides English...I don’t want to say or do anything wrong.”
Emrys took her hand gently, “No. I am not that old. The laws of linear time and ageing get confused by dimensional drifting.” He’d traveled as Merlin frequently between dimensions before his entrapment as a dreamweaver, subsequently when scribes recorded Merlin’s activities in historic events hundreds of years apart, they’d naturally assumed he was hundreds of years old, if not immortal. It was an understandable mistake that had caused much of the historic brouhaha about Merlin.
"I’ll explain later if you’d like, and don’t worry, sweet Anna, your ears will understand and your voice will speak perfectly to the people of this time and land.”
He gazed at her, his grey eyes sparkling with excitement, “You will be fine, Anna from New York. I will be your guide.” He paused remembering his manners, “Please allow me to be your guide here, I should say.” As he bowed elegantly before her.
Emrys crooked her arm into his as they walked along a narrow path towards the woods.
“It was a vanity of mine to want you to see this place. After our night long talk about what was, I thought bringing you here would help you to understand me and my world a bit better.” Emrys had surprised himself by how much he had wanted, no needed her to see his homeland, “I know your world and time so very well having wrought the dreams of your fellows for many years. It is how I am able to speak your language so fluently and understand your ages’ technology — but this is my world, or it was in another space and time, and I want you to experience it too.” He spoke softly as they made their way down the path.
Anna walked beside him, mesmerised by his words and no longer questioning the reality of what was happening, “Emrys, I am honoured. Thank you.” She said simply, “Where do we go now?”
“About six miles or so to the sea, and a crannog that belongs to me. Most of the villagers will be away working so we shouldn’t be bothered, just the merchants will be about this time of day.” Emrys pushed a branch out of the way for Anna to pass under as they entered the woods.
“A ‘crannog,’ Anna paused to think, chewing on a thumbnail, “Nope, I have nothing - I have no idea what that is, a dwelling of some kind?”
Emrys laughed, “Think large round boathouse with a roof shaped like a teepee. They were built to be easily defended, most are just a one room house on a small man made island. They’re made from oak so they’re strong and can last for many hundreds of years, families would use the same crannog for generations.” Emrys paused, a frown briefly flitting across his face, “Mine is larger, but has been empty for a while because I ran afoul of a witch a while ago, suffice to say it is a comfy place where we can rest while I show you around.”
Anna looked up at his face and the slight frown that still creased his brow, "This ‘witch’ had something to do with your being a Dreamweaver didn't she?”
Emrys paused, "Yes. Do you mind if I leave the explanation for another time? I want today to be a day to remember for good reasons."
Anna nodded, understanding the need to have a break from unpleasant things occasionally, “How long can we stay here? I have to be at work in about sixteen hours.” She asked as she noticed the abundance of wildlife that they startled as they strolled past.
Emrys brightened, “Time here is not relative to the physical part of yourself that is safely sleeping in your apartment. We could be here for days, weeks even, and the difference in your time-dimension would only be a few hours, its something I call the time-drift effect.”
Emrys put his finger to his lips to signal quiet and pointed at a beautiful buck that stood majestically a few dozen feet away.
“Oh!” Anna whispered reverently, “I’ve never seen a deer that large.”
“Not surprising, they have been extinct for hundreds of years in your time. Your modern palaeontologists named them Megaloceros giganteus, or Irish Elk.” Emrys explained sadly, “Many animals and plants from this era have vanished over the years.”
Anna said nothing, but squeezed his arm slightly in comfort, “I can see why they used the word 'giganteus' it is huge!" Anna whispered as the animal wandered deeper into the forest, ”When you talked about time earlier, I didn
’t ask questions, but I really don’t understand completely. How is it we can really be here and back in my apartment at the same time?”
Anna snuggled a little closer to his arm as a gust of cold air whipped leaves around them.
Emrys stole a sly glance at Anna, pleased that she’d leaned into him, “You are accustomed to believing time moves in one direction — forward. But if you think of time as if it were water, you could imagine that it has depth and flows up, down, side to side and moves anywhere that gravity influences it — not just forward.” Emrys paused to check that Anna was keeping up with him, she nodded slowly, “So if you accept that time is fluid and then imagine that the graviton particles and magnetic fields that exert the gravitational affect on its course are removed, what you would have left is a fluidity of time that is not directionally influenced, as it would be with gravity, but instead flows inter-dimensionally, or everywhere at once.” Emrys again checked to see if Anna was with him, she nodded hesitantly, “That is the true movement of time and the reason we can be physically here while essentially sleeping in another dimension.”
Emrys smiled noting Anna’s fiercely knitted brow.
“Right, I am not saying I understand it exactly, but I accept what you say.” Anna rubbed her temple absently thinking she was saying that a lot to Emrys lately, “I will have to think about it and ask more questions later. As long as our sleeping selves are okay.”
Emrys was pleased that Anna was prepared to accept as crazy a concept as "flat-Earth" people must’ve believed "round-Earth" people to have.
“Just remember time does not have the limitations or laws that you have been taught to believe it does, and yes, if there was any problem with your 'sleeping-self' you’d awaken, and your spirit would leave this dimension instantly. You have nothing to fear.” Emrys squeezed her hand to show his appreciation at her faith in him.
Anna turned to smile at Emrys, and suddenly froze in terror — her gaze directed over his shoulder.
Emrys didn't ask; he pushed her roughly behind his back, as he quickly turned pulling his sword from the scabbard on his back.
CHAPTER NINE
Emrys Home
The shrubbery around the path suddenly erupted into motion as a group of armed men who, with broad swords and arrows drawn, had them surrounded.
"Put your weapon down!” Commanded the man in the lead, his face a frightening mask of green and yellow painted streaks.
Emrys carefully laid his sword on the grass at his feet, with his left hand he swept Anna behind him, "We are on our way to Caerfyrddin, we are travellers on our way to my crannog.” Emrys held his palms up, “We mean no harm. It was my memory that this trail is freehold, and not part or parcel of the Kings property." Added Emrys noting the crests sewn on the mens tunics.”
The man who had addressed them moved a step nearer, his eyes squinting as he focused on Emrys, "Your name, Sir - your face is familiar to me, but you cannot be the man I am thinking of, for he is long dead."
Emrys looked more closely at the man before him, and he smiled, "Cador, I know your face as well as you should know mine, even with your camouflage paint, from the good times as lads we shared." Emrys allowed a flicker of a smile to curl the corners of his mouth.
"It cannot be!" Cador cried, his eyes wide with shock and joy, "Myrddin Emrys? Is it so?" He took a step toward Emrys, his sword down and hanging loosely in his grip as his sharp eyes examined Emrys closely.
Emrys inclined his head slightly, pulling Anna to his side, "The one and the same, Cador Bran, and this is the Lady Anna of York, I am escorting her on a tour of this land and to my crannog.”
Anna's eyes were still wide with fear but she recovered enough to give a hint of a curtsy as she clung to Emrys arm.
Cador's sword dropped beside Emrys as he rushed forward grabbing Emrys in a fierce embrace, "By the Gods I never thought to see you in this lifetime again! We all saw the battle and you fall — we did not think to attempt a rescue...it was hopeless; there was no trail or hint that you lived still, you’d vanished without a trace!" Cador stepped back to give Emrys room to retrieve his fallen sword.
"It was hopeless, Cador my old friend. I was taken to a far away place where rescue would have been nigh impossible." In a cold dimension where life could only be viewed but never enjoyed, Emrys thought sadly remembering his indeterminate time as a dreamweaver.
Emrys face showed the true sincerity that he felt as he said softly, “Were it not for my good lady companion," Emrys nodded towards Anna, “I’d have rotted in that prison until the end of time.” Emrys smiled at Anna with genuine gratitude.
"Then we all owe the beautiful Lady Anna a debt of appreciation and our life-long service." Cador bowed low with a sweep of his hand over his heart.
"Um...I thank-eth you...and arise, Sir Knight!" Anna exclaimed awkwardly as she proffered her hand to him, which he readily accepted kissing her fingers with flourish.
Emrys laughter at Anna's attempt to speak in an 'old world' dialect left him choking, "Cador is no knight, Anna." He coughed out, "Unless things have changed...have they, Cador?" Emrys asked with a chuckle.
Cador smiled in good humour, releasing Anna's hand, "No, sadly not my friend, it has been nearly ten years since the battle and your abduction. The land is still as it was; King Constantine of Cornwall is alive and well,” Cador nodded to Anna, “and we are not yet knighted." The men in the group guffawed, smirking at the Knight comment and coming forward to pat Emrys on the back before disappearing into the cover of the forest to resume patrolling.
“We've been conscripted as scouts on the Kings business. We’re soldiers only as much as it suits us or the King commands our service." Cador shook his head sadly, "There are strange things happening, Emrys. People disappearing and a sickness that has no cure." Cador pushed his sword back into his scabbard but left the leather strap loose, keeping his weapon ready.
Emrys frowned, "When did these things come to pass? Last I recall this was a peaceful place for woodsmen and fishermen as well as a safe place for families."
"It began not long after your battle with Nivane and ours with her dark druids." He continued in a lower voice, “These woods, the valley beyond, and the village are under a pall of fear, and for good reason."
Cador guided Emrys and Anna back to the trail and they began to walk towards the village more briskly than before.
Cador leaned close to Emrys to speak privately, ”This forest is not safe, I would not want the Lady Anna to be caught traveling in the woods at the gloaming or nightfall — even with the stalwart warriors that accompany her presently." He said the last loudly and was answered by a series of muttered comments and sniggers from the surrounding forest.
"We thank you, Cador for your company and protection, and you're right; I do not think Lady Anna should travel too far past mid-day." Emrys agreed.
“Having you return to us is the first piece of good news we’ve had in a very long time, Emrys. I Would appreciate your counsel and perhaps you would cast for us to help us fight an enemy we cannot see. People are leaving, we must find a way out of this bleak time or the village may not survive.” Cador explained wearily, the strain of battling unseen foes showed in the lines on Cador's tired face.
Emrys slid his sword back into its scabbard as he helped Anna to choose her steps carefully on the rough, vine strewn path.
"Yes, of course, Cador. You know I am, as ever, at your disposal." Emrys patted him on his back roughly, "Do you remember my old home?"
"Like my own, my friend." Cador replied with a grim smile.
"I will have the hearth blazing and the ale ready. After nightfall, come and we will talk." Emrys kept a firm hold on Anna's arm as they picked up the pace.
Cador, like his men, then vanished into the surrounding wood without further comment or sound, as did the raven that had followed them, watching with soulless eyes, leapt from its branch to fly silently into the shadows.
Emrys and Anna walked on in relative silenc
e for the next hour. Anna had tried to ask him questions, but he'd stopped her with a finger to his lips, "Later," he mouthed silently.
The day gradually brightened as they left the forest and started onto the road leading to the village of Caerfyrddin. The trail finally widened into a road that was scarred with deep wagon tracks and littered with both fresh and dried dung. Anna's nose wrinkled in distaste as she choose her steps carefully, avoiding the more recent, steamy deposits.
Once they were well and truly away from the deepening shadows of the forest, Emrys let out a breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding.
"Okay, Anna. It is safe to talk, at least until we reach the village." He patted her hand that was still looped over his arm.
Anna didn't know where to begin, "That seemed so real, not much like a dream, Emrys." Anna said quietly, "Is this a dream? If it is, it is way more real than any dreams I've ever had before." Anna stole a nervous glance at Emrys face.
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