Chapter 12: 15 AD A Caste in The Woods

Salvazsahar was back. After he had returned to Myrddin 370 BC he had lived in Loandom for some time. There he had met a descendant of his godfather Ollivanneder. This descendant had the idea to start a business in Loandom - and Ollivander's wands were born. Sal had helped to create wands and sell them for some time. But then he got weary again. He had wanted to do something else. So he had visited the elves and lived with them. Then he had lived with a Vampire coven. He finally had left Britain some two hundred years ago and had travelled through Europe. He had lived in Greek, with the Germanic tribes and in Rome. He even had returned to Egypt once or twice.

And now he had returned home again.

It was an old known path to him he was travelling now - a path that would him bring back in a few weeks to his childhood home. The first time he had travelled the path was more than five hundred years ago when he first arrived in this time.

Yesterday he had reached the place where Myrddin had found him and now he was following the invisible route they had been wandering. It felt good to return home… He knew his father was well. They were writing each other regularly. But his father had no idea that Salvazsahar was returning.

Sal hadn't told him. Instead he wanted to surprise him.

In that moment a rider suddenly broke through the woods. Salvazsahar stopped dead. The rider instead turned and looked at him, in his hands a shield and a sword.

"Who entered the realms of the king?" The rider asked.

King?!

There was a king in Britain?!

It was the first time, Sal had heard something about that.

"I am Salvazsahar Emrys, at your service" he finally answered. "I have been born in a place some fortnights south from here."

"Emrys?!" This time he heard surprise in the voice of the rider - maybe knight. "As in Myrddin Emrys?"

"My father" Sal answered sincerely. "I was going to visit him."

"Then your path has led you astray" The rider said. "Camelot is a little bit more West from here."

This time Sal stared at the man in front of him. Camelot?! Like in King Arthur's Camelot?! And why, pray tell, should his father be in Camelot?!

"I have been away for some time" Sal finally said carefully. "And I never have been in Camelot before. I would not know if my path leads me astray."

Now the knight - he had to be a knight when he was from Camelot - laughed.

"So your father's description was lacking?"

"He never gave me one" Sal answered. "I came by myself. I wanted to surprise him." He was still not sure that they were talking about the same Myrddin Emrys, but he decided to first understand the situation a bit better before mentioning something like that.

The knight shed his sword again and turned his horse so that it faced the direction he came from.

"Lancelot, at your service" he said. "I will bring you to your father."

"I don't want you to burden yourself with me" Sal said a little bit uncomfortable. "Just give me direction and I will find him myself."

"Oh, you are no trouble, lad" Lancelot said, smiling down at Sal. "I am glad to accompany you, my friend."

Salvazsahar stared at the knight in front of him.

Lad?!

The knight might be looking like he was at least thirty winters and Sal again had his fifteen year old body, which might look more like a thirteen or fourteen year old - but really… Lad?!

Sal finally decided to say nothing. Instead he followed the horse through the woods.

"So… how long it is that you last saw your father?" Lancelot asked while riding beside him.

"I don't know" Sal answered, shrugging. "Some years, maybe."

"Some years?"

Sal shrugged again.

"I did not count them" He said carefully. "Maybe a decade or longer. It was some time ago." Of course it was longer - but Sal knew he did not look old enough for that so he had to be careful what he was telling. He could be a little bit older then he looked - but there was a limit. After that it would sound unbelievable.

When the knight heard his words he raised an eyebrow.

"So you had no contact with him since he started to teach King Arthur fifteen years ago?" he clarified.

"He has been writing me" Sal answered, shrugging. "So we definitely had contact."

Lancelot stared at him.

"How old are you, lad?" He finally asked.

Sal blinked and stared back.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked.

"How many winters do you count?" The knight asked again. "Fifteen? Sixteen?"

Sal opened his mouth to tell him that he was older then he looked, but the knight continued oblivious to Sal's protest.

"You know, since I joint King Arthur, I sometimes talked to your father. He is always watching over Arthur, always at his side when Arthur needs an advice. And maybe the rest of the castle is blind to it - but I am not. I see him often looking at Arthur with a gaze that tells me that he doesn't want to talk to Arthur now. Sometimes he locks himself in his study, not leaving it for days, standing at the window and searching the sky."

And suddenly Sal felt guilty.

Did his father miss him?! Of course, Sal also missed his father, but he had been searching for a way back home to the future - a home that felt less home with every year that passed. Did his father dread that Sal would find a way back?

And did Sal even want to return?

He had learned to live here. He had a family. Maybe… maybe he should stay. Maybe he should stop his search until… Until what? Forever?

"Your father mentioned your name sometime" Lancelot said. "Every time he had to tell a story at the story-time we have every fortnight in the Great Hall. It is a gathering of Arthur's knights and his mentors. Arthur lets us tell our adventures and our pasts. Myrddin normally says nothing. But when Arthur wants him to tell a tale, he always tells about you. He calls you Sal - and some things he had told us sound unbelievable."

"Unbelievable?" suddenly Sal could picture that it was really his father that was living at King Arthur's court.

"Well, the last one was about killing a Basilisk with nothing than a sword when you were a mere child."

And suddenly Sal laughed. It really was his father. He remembered Myrddin's pride and horror when he had stumbled over this memory while teaching Sal Occlumency. Sal had told him all after that and Myrddin was livid. He had right-out ordered to take him with him to the future so that he could scream at Sal's Headmaster for letting such a beast near mere children.

"He was stricken with horror when I told him" Sal said, still laughing. "He wanted to see my arm trice before he was sure that the Basilisk-venom had not killed me!"

Lancelot nearly fell from the horse-back.

"The story was true?" he asked half-horrified half-awed.

Sal shrugged and pushed back his sleeve to show the scar. "It bid me" He said casually. "It was a phoenix that healed me."

The knight looked at the scar and shuddered.

"I am surprised that your father did not insist that you would never leave his side again." He said, shuddering.

"How many winters did you count when this happened? Two? Three? As big as the scar is you must have been no more than a toddler!"

Sal wanted to protest again, tell him, that the Basilisk simply had been a very old and maybe senile one, but Lancelot talked again.

"Then the rest of the stories are also true? Fighting dragons? Flying a carriage? Visiting places you were forbidden to go? Fighting trolls?!"

"Uh… maybe" Sal answered nervously. "I… I was not very good at listening as a child. But atr wasn't there for the most of it so I was not reprimanded by him…"

"You mean your father was teaching Arthur for the most of the time" Lancelot said grimly. "And neither of us ever thought about letting Myrddin go so that he could get you. We even held him back every time he wanted to return home!"

Sal blinked, not knowing what to say. He had been all grown up and wandering when Myrddin had started to teach Arthur - so how come this knight thought that Sal was still a child?!

Salvazsahar decided that that was a question just his father would be able to answer.

"We were egoistic and cold-hearted bastards weren't we?" Lancelot said. "He told us about you but we never thought that maybe you really existed. We never thought he was talking about his own son!"

"Arthur is an Olde one" Sal said, remembering what his father had once told him in one of his letters about his new apprentice - not that Sal had known his father was talking about King Arthur… "It is dangerous not to train an Olde one. Arthur needed him to learn about his heritage and father knows his responsibility. He would not leave him as long as Arthur needs him. This is the responsibility of a Firbolg-born - even if said Firbolg-born isn't the father of the boy."

"Even if he has left behind his own son?" Lancelot asked bitterly.

"I did not need him" Sal answered sincerely. "Arthur did."

Lancelot snorted.

"I don't believe that" he said stubbornly.

Silence filled the air for a few minutes, then the woods stayed back and suddenly they were standing in front of a castle.

"Welcome to Camelot" Lancelot said and Sal looked up.

His eyes grew big.

He knew this castle!

Memories washed over him, while he stared that the majestic silhouette, that ruled over the hills and forest like a beloved queen. Even if he would forget everything he ever knew, Sal knew he would remember this castle.

His home.

His first home ever.

It was… Hogwarts!

They strode to the entrance, Lancelot had left his horse at the stables - which stood where later Hagrid's hut would be standing.

With a nod to the guards Lancelot entered the old castle, guiding Sal through these ancient and well-known halls until they reached the Great Hall.

There one of the guards stopped them.

"The king is talking with Myrddin about the stronghold. They are planning defence-strategies. Arthur asked not to disturb him."

"He might have asked that" Lancelot said. "But some things are more important than defence-strategy - and I know a prisoner in this castle that would stop feeling like one if we're allowed to enter."

Prisoner?

But this time Sal could not protest. Maybe Lancelot was right and the duty of his father had held him prisoner.

Lancelot simply by-passed the surprised guards and grabbed Sal's arm to bring him with him.

The knight opened the door and it banged on the walls.

In the middle of the Great Hall stood a round oak-table. The ceiling wasn't enchanted and on the pedestal was just one throne instead of the teacher's table - but it clearly was the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

And at the table stood a man, maybe as old as Lancelot and another one who looked very old. He had white hair but the eyes… the eyes…

"Lancelot!" the younger man said with annoyance in his voice. "I told the guards I do not want to be disturbed!"

Sal could see the other man's eyes travel over his face, his clothes and his own eyes…

"Atr" he said.

And suddenly the man came running. He had rounded the table before a startled Arthur could even utter another word. And a second later Sal found himself in the embrace of his father.

"Salvazsahar!" He heard his name while his father's hands seemed to search his body for injuries. "Thank to whoever it belongs! You're alright! You're alright!"

Sal blinked. At the moment he was smaller than his father so he had to look up to the old man's face. And there he saw the fear. The fear that something could have happened to him between one letter and the next. The fear that he would see him never again.

Guilt crept through Sal's stomach.

"I am sorry, atr" He murmured in his father's tunic. "I am so sorry!"

His father's embrace tightened.

"You are back - and that's all I ever wanted" Myrddin answered, still caressing him.

In that moment Arthur butted in.

"So you know the lad, Myrddin?" he asked, but before even Myrddin or Sal could think about answering Lancelot did.

"The lad is Myrddin's son" Lancelot answered and his voice sounded chilly. "The son who has not seen his own father for fifteen years - just because you did not let Myrddin leave for even half a year! Have you ever spent a thought that Myrddin maybe did not want to leave to have some free time but to see his own family again?!"

Arthur opened and then closed his mouth again. He looked at Sal who was still in the tight embrace of his father.

"Your son, Myrddin?" He asked.

Myrddin loosened his embrace, but one of his hands remained on Sal's shoulder.

"Yes" he said calmly. "This is Salvazsahar Serendu Harryjames Emrys, my child. Sal, this is King Arthur Pendragon, my student."

Sal bowed.

"Your majesty" he said, unsure how he should react to this situation.

The king laughed.

"As the child of my mentor, you may call me Arthur" he said but his eyes were sever. "I did keep you apart, didn't I?" he asked.

"It was not your fault" Sal said but Arthur's eyes had turned to Myrddin.

"I would have sent someone to bring him here" he said. "If you would have told me, I would have brought him. He must have been a mere babe when you left him to train me."

Sal huffed. Did he really look so young?! But he said nothing because of the squeeze his father gave his shoulder.

"He was young" Myrddin confirmed. "But you had to learn - and there was no-one but I. My child had his godfather to learn from."

Sal looked at his father surprised. So Myrddin had created a farce… whatever why…

"His godfather?" Arthur asked sounding suddenly guilty. "What is with his mother?"

"She died shortly after my first winter" Sal answered.

"She was ill?" Lancelot asked softly.

"She was killed" Sal corrected. "She died to protect me."

When he said that his father's eyes became grim.

"She did - and one day this mad man will pay for that." He said.

"Just tell me where he is and who and I will send my men" Arthur said, looking from father to son. But both of them just shook their heads.

"You can't" Myrddin answered. "Just like I could not send your men for my son."

Arthur opened his mouth to protest, but Myrddin just kept going.

"I told you I visited the world when I was young" he said to Arthur. The king nodded.

"My son's mother was part of this world." Myrddin said. "I returned home to Britain, but the last time my son had been in Britain he just had been born. He did not grow up here and I could not send your men to a foreign country to bring him here, as much as I would have liked that."

Sal could just admire his father. Myrddin had not straight out lied to Arthur - well, except of some minor corrections to smother the story - but he had put the truth together so that it sounded different than it really had happened. Sal's mother had been from the future and as such never had entered the Britannia Myrddin knew. Sal had been reborn in Britannia and left to search for a way to return to the future - and he did not grow up in this Britannia also. And of course there had been no way to send men after a grown up adult, travelling the world. So all Myrddin had said had been true somehow - and still all had happened different then Arthur would understand it…

"I will have to let him teach me that" Sal mused. "It will take time - but I'm sure it's worth it."

Arthur just sighted when he heard Myrddin's words.

"I understand. But please remember that I would aid you whenever you need it. Just tell me and I will send my men. This is all I can do to repay your kindness."

Myrddin just inclined his head.

"As you wish, Arthur" he said.

But then he stayed silence. Arthur waited a few minutes, and then he sighted again.

"You will not ask for my help, will you?"

"No" Myrddin said. "I told you before that there is nothing you can do."

"And there is also nothing else…"

This time Myrddin stopped and looked thoughtfully at his son. Sal said nothing. He knew his father was thinking about something that would change Sal's life - but Sal had accepted long ago that in that time he was living now the father had the right to decide for his son, even if said son was normally all grown up… Sal did not like it but he knew that he had to accept it.

Myrddin had the right to choose what Sal would do. He normally did not use his right and that he was thinking about it meant that it was something his father thought was necessary to learn…

"If you want to help me" Myrddin finally said. "Would you teach my son? You have skills I do not have as you have been taught it by your uncle and father until you lost them when you turned fifteen. You can repay me with teaching some of it to my son."

This time it was Arthur who scrutinized Sal.

"It would be an honour" he answered finally.

"And I will do the same!" Lancelot declared. "For a long time I wanted to teach a youngster how to fight - this is the ideal opportunity!"

Sal was not sure if he really could say the same.

"Well… we will stop working for today" Arthur said looking at Lancelot. "Lancelot and I will work out a training plan for your son and will present it to you tomorrow. For now enjoy the time with your son, Myrddin."

"I will" Myrddin answered and led Sal from the room. They stayed silence until they reached Myrddin's quarters. There, after he had shut the door and silenced it, Sal started to speak.

"Please explain, atr" he said. There was no need to add what he wanted to know. Myrddin knew that Sal was talking about the misdirection he was using on Arthur.

"We are both too old to explain it without telling everyone that we are more creature then human" Myrddin said. "Even if they know about Firbolg-born no-one ever understood the difference between us and them - and I do not like to explain it."

"But… isn't Arthur himself an Olde one? Will he not live longer than the others?" Sal asked surprised.

"He is and he will" Myrddin said. "But he still will just live on for another century or two. His family still might have the soul of the Firbolg-born but he is not a descendant of a Phoenix."

"So it's the Phoenix-blood" Sal said.

"Yes" Myrddin answered. "A Phoenix is a creature which is born again and born again. It decides when it dies to be born again and it decides when it is old. Its blood in our veins does give us longer lives than even the other Firbolg-born have."

"And you decided to tell him nothing about that…"

"Yes" Myrddin said. "And also nothing about our ability to age. This is Family Magick - so no-one does have to know except of family, do you understand?"

"Yes" Sal nodded.

"It is the same with the Family Magick of Arthur or the others" Myrddin said. "We are unable to use them and we should not know them at all."

Sal just nodded.

"So I have to be fifteen because I came looking like it" he concluded.

"Yes" Myrddin said smiling. "But I am glad you did. Arthur and Lancelot are some of the best fighters I know - it will be good if you learn from them as much as you can."

"And because of that you decided to take Arthur's offer…"

"Yes" Myrddin said smiling. Then he turned serious again.

"I also discovered that someone of your family started to live near Britain."

Sal stared at him confused.

"Someone of my family?"

"Your green eyes - I once told you it's a family trait, didn't I?" This time Sal just nodded.

"Well, the LeFay-family has started to live in Avalon" Myrddin said. "I know you know nothing about the rest of your Family Magick. You might want to seek an apprenticeship with them."

"But…"

"One day you need to know what you are able to do" Myrddin said. "Learning Family Magick is an important part of your abilities - if you ever discover the rest of your ancestry I want you to go to the family to learn from them, do you understand?"

"Yes" Sal said hesitating. "Do I have to go soon?"

"No" Myrddin answered. "But I want you to go to Morgana LeFay one day. I heard she is a healer - and as a healer she cannot hurt anyone. There is an oath to prevent it. She would be a perfect candidate to learn from."

Sal just nodded while his mind was reeling. He was a descendant of Morgana LeFay?! The witch whose son had killed… would kill… Arthur?!

Sal did not know much about history but that was something he had learned in the Muggle-world a long time ago in his own time. He wasn't sure if Binns ever talked about it in magical history but he knew enough from human history to shudder at the thought to belong to Morgana's family…

Not that he could prevent to belong to it…

"I will go to her one time" he promised. "But I will first stay with you."

Myrddin smiled at him.

"And I am happy about it" he said while he ruffled Sal's hair. "And now tell me about your adventures."

And so they spent the afternoon and the evening with stories about Sal's travel through the world. They finally climbed to bed late at night exhausted from telling and listening.

The next day Arthur indeed had worked out a lesson plan and Sal's lessons with Arthur, Lancelot and Gawain - another knight of Arthur - started. Arthur had been the one to decide what Sal had to be taught and Myrddin had just nodded when Arthur talked about the lessons he had chosen.

Sal himself was not entirely happy with his lesson plan but a glance of his father prevented him from protesting about it.

So it came that he had lessons about history, fighting, politics, etiquette, battle magic and battle strategy.

Arthur was teaching him battle magic and politics, Lancelot fighting and battle strategy and Gawain etiquette and history. Because of Sal's unusual good memory they could teach him very fast. Especially Arthur used this ability of Sal to his advantage and soon Sal had to dodge fire-balls Arthur was hurling at him with pleasure.

Sal himself had never seen magic like these fire balls. Arthur produced them with his bare hands and seemed to use them with ease. Sal just thought that they were utterly awesome. Because of that he started to try to produce them himself when he was alone.

At first he was unable to do it but some weeks later he finally could produce a simple little flame in his bare hands.

"Now I just have to try to make them grow" Sal said to himself grinning, looking at the easily produced flame in his hands.

"What are you doing, child?" a voice asked him from behind. Sal turned and stared at Arthur.

"I… I…" he stuttered, feeling like a little child in front of his elder. "I…"

Arthur instead looked at the flame in Sal's hands with an astonished gaze.

When Sal saw where Arthur was looking he extinguished the flame in his hands.

"Forgive me, Arthur" he said with guilt in his voice. "I should not have…"

"Can you do it again, child?" Arthur asked instead. His voice sounding strange.

Sal hesitated a moment, then he produced his flame again.

Arthur extracted his hands at the flame until he could feel it. His eyes widened and he looked at Sal with an astonished gaze.

"Can you tell me how you did it?" he asked Sal.

Sal just shrugged.

"I wanted to" he said. "I… I tried to do it since I saw you using the fire balls the first time… I… forgive me if I did something I shouldn't have done… !"

"No… no it's all right, child" Arthur said softly and ruffled Sal's hair. Sal wasn't sure how to interpret this gesture. Normally an adult not related to a child did not touch it. It was seen as improper to do so - and Arthur had never broken this unwritten rules until now…

"Tell me child: what do you know about your mother?" he asked Sal.

Sal hesitated, then answered truthfully.

"I know that she was young when she died and that my parents weren't married long. I know I have her eyes and I know that she was brilliant. I don't think that atr knew her a long time" he said, mixing the truth with a little lie to make it believable.

"So you don't know the family she was born into?" Arthur asked.

Sal just shrugged.

"Not really" he answered not fully lying.

"I see" Arthur said, ruffling Sal's hair again. "And don't worry child. I am not angry with you. Come with me. I will show you some other things."

Sal hesitated a moment but then did as he was told.

Four hours later he returned to the rooms he shared with his father, utterly exhausted. Arthur really had shown him other things. He had shown Sal how to control fire without trying to produce it and the same he had also shown him for plants. Sal had tried both until he was able to help a flower to bloom and a fire to burn without wood.

It was an exhausting way to use magic and Sal just fell to bed to sleep. He slept through the night and was woken in the morning by his father who told him they were called to Arthur.

So Sal stood up and followed his father to the Great Hall.

"Myrddin, Sal" Arthur greeted. "I have called you to ask you for a favour."

"My Lord?" Myrddin asked. Sal was equally surprised but as a 'minor' he was not allowed to speak until been spoken to. He had long ago learned to follow rules like that - even if he not really was a minor anymore.

"Myrddin, I wish to adopt your son" Arthur said. Sal blinked. Adopt him?! Sal had a father so why…?

"I need an heir and I am unsure how long it will take until I get one myself. I ask for your permission to take on your son as my heir until then." Arthur said.

"I am honoured, my Lord" Myrddin answered. "Unfortunately Sal is too old to take in a part of your soul - he cannot be your true heir. Maybe an adopted substitute who has access to a little bit of your family magic but never like an adopted heir of a normal druid. Don't forget, we are Firbolg-born. Our souls don't have the softness and flexibility of human souls. If you were a normal druid you could give him full access to your family magic - as an Olde one it cannot be."

"I know" Arthur said calmly. "You taught me well, Myrddin. And because of that I decided to ask for your son. He can use my Family Magick. I saw it myself. Somewhere in your wife's line there has once been someone of my family. My blood is already flowing through his veins. I just need to adopt him in the main line."

Sal blinked in surprise. He was a descendant of Arthur?! But how did Arthur know?!

And then Sal remembered Arthur's gaze when he saw Sal's fire - when he touched Sal's fire…

Family Magick?!

Had Arthur tested him yesterday to confirm what he had seen the first time he had seen Sal producing the fire?! Had Arthur given him the tasks to make sure Sal was really using Arthur's Family Magick?! Sal suddenly felt like a child who touched something he never should have been near at all…

Myrddin looked a little bit astonished himself and he turned to Sal to scrutinize his son.

"Are you sure about that, Arthur?" he asked. Arthur nodded.

"I am." He answered. "Will you give me permission?"

"Do you know how far from the main line he is?" Myrddin asked.

Arthur just shrugged.

"We will see" he answered. "The nearer he is the stronger he will be after the adoption."

Again Myrddin scrutinized Sal. Sal knew he would have no say in this decision. Myrddin was his father - he was the one who would decide on Sal's fate. Sal knew he would have hated it back, when he was in his own time - but he had long ago learned to adapt, especially because he knew his father would decide against it if he believed Sal would be unhappy in the arrangement.

"I will not give up my rights for my son" Myrddin said in that moment.

"I do not want you to, Myrddin" Arthur said. "I simply want to add a parent."

Myrddin was silent for another minute, then he slowly nodded.

"If you wish" he said. "I will give you my son as your heir. You will have the right to teach him and the right to decide what is best for him - but I have the same rights. I will not give them up."

Arthur hesitated a moment, then he inclined his head.

"So mot it be" he said.

"So mot it be" Myrddin answered.

Sal blinked. He had thought that his father would not allow Arthur to adopt him. But he said nothing until he reached the rooms he was living with his father.

"You will let him adopt me?" he asked.

Myrddin sighted.

"I know you don't like the idea, Salvazsahar" he said. "You are older then he and you feel like an adult. But please understand my decision. Arthur said that you can do parts of his family magic - so someone of your family must have been a descendant of him. I cannot teach you the magic you need to know for this part of your heritage - and if Arthur wants to adopt you and teach you I will not deny it to you. You have a right to know your Family Magick."

Sal sighted.

"So I will have to play a child again" he said. Myrddin just smiled.

"I am sure you will have to do something like that more often in the future. As long as you don't find a way home you will have to fit in. Sometimes it will be easier to fit in as a child" his father answered. "So don't fret, Sal. You have been playing a child since you arrived. You just continue like that."

"Yes. And I will be taught by someone again" Sal said sneering.

"You have been taught since you have arrived."

"Yes" Sal said. "But at that time I wasn't the son of one of my teachers…"

"Deal with it" was his father's cold-hearted advice.

And that Sal had to.

A day later he was given a potion with the added blood of Arthur in it - the adoption potion. He drank it without protest.

He did not change much after that. Just his eyes started to be even greener then they were before. They suddenly seem to carry an inner light that they had lacked before.

But there also was a different. Not soon after the adoption Sal discovered that his ability to do Arthur's Family Magick had risen skywards.

"You must have been quite near to the main line" Arthur said when he discovered that Sal suddenly could nearly feel the fire he could control. "The entering in the main line has given you a power bust like it is seen seldom. You must understand that you now have the ability of your previous status in the family and the ability of your new one. They mixed and created… well… your power."

"I see." Sal answered. That night he asked his father if it was possible that he had belonged to the main line all along.

"Yes" his father answered. "I even guessed that you did belong to it before. The power behind your Family Magick indicates that you had enough ability to be the Lord all along. You might even have been the Lord in your time."

And he hadn't known it - but that was left unsaid. It unsettled Sal that everyone in his time had kept something important like that from him.

"If I ever return I will find out why I do know nothing about my family at all" Sal vowed to himself. After that they never spoke about his position in the future again.

Sal was taught by Arthur and the other knights. His lessons had increased after he was adopted to the main-family.

But the most important part Myrddin told him some weeks later.

"When I and Arthur die" Myrddin said. "You will have to hold the wards of Camelot. The castle was built by me and Arthur so it's our magic that is holding the wards. As our heir it will be yours when we are gone. After we die you will be the one who is the lord of the land. You have to look after the people that live here."

"But what's with the child Arthur will have?" Sal asked.

"As long as he does not acknowledge it, it will not have control of anything" Myrddin answered. "You are his heir until he decides otherwise. Prepare for it."

And that was the final word spoken in that matter. Sal learned all he could and finally he said good-bye to his fathers and started to travel again. Arthur let him go as Sal told him that he wanted to learn more and Myrddin knew where Sal would go. It was time to learn more about family.