Chapter 26: Ca 900 AD The Gathering

Just a few days later, Godric and Peverell left to Londinium again for the next Gathering of the Lords. Sal originally did not want to come along, but soon found out, that he had no choice in that matter. Godric and even Peverell were insistent.

When they reached Londinium, the other two Lords took Sal to a cave that contained the hall for the Gathering of the Lords. The day before in the morning Sal had decided to brush up his etiquette lessons.

"Don't worry" Godric had told him at that time, when Sal asked how he should behave in front of the other Lords. "No one will judge you for not knowing the etiquette. Just behave as you usually would - Peverell and I will do the rest."

Sal had not been happy with this answer, but stayed silent. He had guessed that Godric had wanted to sooth him because the other thought Salvazsahar never had any formal training - and Sal could not fault him for that. Still, he would have preferred a short over-view over the common etiquette - just to see if his knowledge still matched with the current time…

In the end however he decided not to ask again. If his knowledge didn't match anymore there was no way he would be able to learn it all until he met the other lords - and if it still matched then he did not need the help of the other two. So he stayed silent. The next morning however he searched his meagre possessions for the official court robes he normally had worn on Arthur's court. Then he combed his long, black hair and started to braid it in the way he had been taught by Gawain. Simple green and silver ribbons - the same colour his official robes had - now adorned the braided parts of his hair and a simple hair piece, which looked like a silver three-angled spider web completed the headdress.

Over his robes he simply wore his travel cloak with the hood concealing his hair.

Godric and Peverell also wore more formal robes that day, but told Sal he should not worry about something like that. So Sal shrugged and decided not to mention that he indeed possessed and wore formal robes - even if their style was older than the robes Godric and Peverell were wearing.

So he followed the two lords to the hall where the Gathering would take place. The first thing, Sal saw when he entered the cave, was the obelisk.

In the middle of the hall stood an obsidian obelisk which was high enough to lay your hand on it comfortably.

"The stone of judgement" Godric whispered. "It was enhanced by Myrddin himself. It's the same stone, Arthur drew Excalibur from."

Sal said nothing. He knew, that his father Arthur definitely did not draw Excalibur from anywhere - after all the legendary sword originally belonged to Sal…

But Sal also knew that Arthur indeed drew a sword from the stone. Caledfwlch - the first sword he had had. And it had been this stone, apparently…

"The stone judges you. It will decide if your family truly is a part of this Gathering or if it isn't" Peverell added.

Sal just sighed and looked at the rest of the room. The most of the room was made of stone. The only exception were the wooden chairs for the Lords. And even there was an exception. A throne-like stone chair was seated at the end of the hall, facing the chairs of the lords.

"The throne" Peverell whispered, when he saw Sal looking at it. Sal blinked and turned to look at Peverell.

"You're joking, aren't you?!" he said shivering. He vividly remembered sitting on a throne for three agonizing weeks while Arthur recovered from his wounds. Sal had no intention doing so again…

"I am not" Peverell answered. "We are still subjects to the Pendragon-family - even if there is no one who can claim the title anymore…"

"Lord Grim!" a voice snarled in that moment and interrupted Peverell while speaking. "What a pleasure to meet you and Lord LeFay here in this humble halls."

Immediately Peverell's back stiffed with distaste. One moment his features darkened, but then he schooled them to an unreadable mask and turned to the speaker.

"Lord Gaunt" he greeted. "The pleasure is mine."

The other Lord just waved with his hand.

"I am truly surprised that you even decided to come, Lord Grim" he said. "I thought a Gathering from such lowly men like us is way beneath you - but then, you also decided to bring a commoner to this holy halls… I am intrigued how Lord Selwyn will react."

Sal raised an eyebrow when he heard the words. His eyes searched Godric's and asked a silent question to explain.

"Lord Selwyn is the leader of the Gathering" Godric whispered but before he could add another thing, a second man entered the cave.

"Lord Gaunt" he greeted. "Lord Grim, Lord LeFay." Then he looked at Sal and raised an eyebrow at Peverell and Godric.

"I hope you have a good explanation for disrespecting our traditions and bringing a commoner to this place" he said.

"There is a very good explanation, Lord Selwyn" Peverell said. "Just hear us out before…"

"I told you that the Lords LeFay and Grim still think themselves superior to us" Lord Gaunt interrupted him. "They even think that they have the right to bring a commoner in the Halls of the Gathering! This behaviour is outrageous, Lord Selwyn!"

Sal saw that other lords had entered the cave while they were speaking. The most of them nodding when Lord Gaunt spoke.

"Throw him out and punish these two children! Even if it is the first time - we cannot let them do everything they want just because they are Olde ones!" Gaunt finished and Sal snapped. He had grown up (again) on Arthur's Court and had been taught how to behave as the son of Arthur. Throwing a person out of a lordly hall after this person was invited by other Lords was one of the foulest things you could do…

And not asking for a person's name before throwing them out was an even greater break in etiquette - after all, throwing someone out of a Gathering was like declaring a blood-feud. It was especially foolish to declare a blood-feud with a family that could have more influence than your own…

Of course, it could have changed over time - but the rules Arthur, Gawain and Lancelot had taught him were routed deeply in his mind and Sal could not stop himself from reacting like he would have reacted if he had been on Arthur's court.

Salvazsahar threw back his hood and stared at them with emotionless eyes and a face like a mask, in his green eyes hidden the blasting of the Phoenix's eternal flames.

"I thought this hall was build out of stone to last for eternity" he reprimanded the lord softly, still displaying no emotions at all. "Now I see I was mistaken. The stone seems to be here to shadow your eyes from the world around you, my dear lords. And truly, this chamber works wonders. There even is a shadow on your names as you have not named yourself and also not asked for mine until now."

Lord Gaunt blinked and stared at him.

"What are you implying, boy?" Lord Selwyn asked in Lord Gaunt's stet.

"I am merely inquiring why the lord asks for strife between our families by looking down on his own breeding and everything his parents might have taught him since the day he was born" Sal said softly. "I am quite sure a lord of his calibre would not fall so low to forget his own education in our ways."

Lord Selwyn simply gawked at him and Sal started to ask himself if the etiquette he had been taught had changed so much since the last time he had to use it, that they did not recognize the faux-pas they had committed.

It was another, very old looking man who broke the sudden silence with his laughter.

Then he stepped up to them and bowed to Sal.

"I am Alistair Conor Declan McGonagall, Lord of the Glen Gal in Pictia" he said formally. "I am intrigued who you are, dear child. I have never seen someone chastising a lord with so much elegance like you did today."

Sal raised an eyebrow when the old lord answered.

"So I take it that the conduct in a formal Gathering has changed since the days of my father?" he asked the old lord softly. The man - Lord McGonagall - simply shook his head.

"It hasn't, young child" he answered. "They simply are not used to anyone who knows better how to behave then them themselves. It has been a long time since I last encountered someone who knew our ways as good as you seem to do."

"I am honoured by your words, Lord McGonagall, even if I am sure that you are exaggerating" Sal said, a little bit surprised that the other lords seemed not to have been as harshly reprimanded for behaving wrongly in their youth than he had been. "For my name, I am Salvazsahar Serendu Harryjames Emrys, Lord of Emrys and ward-holder of my ancestral home in Pictia. I am pleased to meet a neighbour of my realm."

Sal also answered the bow of Lord McGonagall, but kept his bow not as deep as the lord had bowed before. He did it automatically and stiffened, when he stood straight again and recognized his slip. A lord to another one bowed equally low, a prince or king instead - like Sal had been trained - bowed less than a lord. And the lord in front of him definitely had seen his slip and was calculating its meaning…

Was he the only one?

Sal glanced at the other lords - especially his slack-jawed friends - and relaxed. To his relief no-one - except of the old lord in front of him, that is - had seen his short slip up. The lord in front of him still stared at him with calculating eyes. The others instead roared at him.

"Emrys?!" Gaunt roared. "You should know that it will not become you well if you make a joke like that in this halls!"

"The Emrys line is extinct!" Lord Selwyn hissed. "There is no way that a mere boy like you does belong to a line as powerful as Emrys!"

Others said the same and more while Godric and Peverell still seemed to gawk at him for his ability to act like a lord should - until Lord McGonagall intervened.

"Follow me, young lord" he addressed Sal and winked him to the obelisk.

"Just lay your hand on the stone and state your claim."

Sal hesitated just a second, then he followed the instructions. The stone was warm to his hands when he touched it softly.

Then he stated formally: "I am Salvazsahar Emrys. I am Lord to my line. I call forth the Lordship I carry. I am Lord Emrys as I was born to my father who was the last Lord Emrys. So be it, so mot it be."

White light erupted from the stone and bathed him in a soft golden glow. At the same time the throne, to Sal's dismay, started to shimmer in the same golden glow that enveloped Sal. The old lord raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the stone throne and then at Sal.

Sal sighed and shook his head.

"But you could" the lord whispered softly so that the other lords who were staring at Sal could not hear him.

Sal just raised an eyebrow, then the mischief took over and he answered. "Of course I could" he said. "I am his son after all. I just won't because I hated to be a prince - and I definitely will loath it even more if I were a king. So don't tell anyone." And with that he chuckled and returned to Godric and Peverell, leaving behind a slack-jawed old man.

"Well" that was Godric. "Well - that should be enough to prove that we did not bring a commoner to our Gathering."

Lord Selwyn simply blinked at Godric, still absolutely flabbergasted after the display he had seen a minute before.

"Er… of course, Lord LeFay" he finally said. "And I apologise to Lord Emrys for doubting his claim."

"You do not have to apologise for doubting my claim" Sal answered. "Doubting the claim was nothing I would hold against you. Breaking the rules of a gathering and trying to throw me out without hearing me out at first and even without asking for my name instead - that is something you should apologise for, Lord Selwyn."

The lord blinked again, then he inclined his head.

"You are right, Lord Emrys. I apologise for my behaviour."

"I accept" Sal answered, also inclining his head. "But do not forget. I will not accept another breach in etiquette against myself as easily as now next time it happens."

"You are a harsh lord, Lord Emrys" Lord Selwyn said softly. Sal just shrugged.

"If I would have followed my father's lead, you would be dead by my feet now - I do not see it as harsh when I think of the answer my father would have given you by now."

Lord McGonagall nearly choked on his own saliva when hearing Sal's answer.

"Er… yes… well… we should get started…" Lord Selwyn finally said and the other lord sat down in one of the chairs. Sal followed Godric and Peverell and sat down next to them. Lord McGonagall instead sat next to Sal.

And while Lord Selwyn took one of the chairs and sat it down next to the obelisk so that he could see the whole gathering, Lord McGonagall whispered in Sal's ear: "Was what you told me earlier a joke - or are you really somehow the son of… of King Arthur Pendragon… or did I just understand it wrongly…?"

Sal smiled at the old lord.

"My mother belonged to his line" Sal answered as softly as the lord. "I was adopted by him as his son and heir until he would have a child of his own. He never had a son he recognized except of me."

The old lord shuddered.

"So you're…"

"I am fine by being my blood-father's heir. The title of Emrys is definitely enough to carry. I do not need this…" he nodded to the throne. "Also on my plate."

The lord opened his mouth again, but was interrupted by Lord Selwyn, who started the Gathering.

"Today is the seventieth Gathering of the Lords" he said. "Our people are flourishing and the cooperation with the mundanes is getting along well. Is there something you want or need to discuss today?"

"There is, my Lord" a Lord in the background said and stood up.

"The Gathering recognises Lord Arthur Bones" Lord Selwyn said and Lord Bones continued.

"My clan is flourishing well but there aren't enough teachers for our youth" Lord Bones said gravely. "We need some masters to teach our ways and our magic to them but there is no-one in my clan that hasn't an apprentice or that has the ability to teach an apprentice. I came today to ask for places to send our youths to so that they learn to control their magic."

When he ended six other lords also stood up.

"I have come for the same" they chorused and after that stared at each other, surprised that they were not the only ones.

"I am looking for a place of our youths as well" Lord McGonagall said while standing up. "I do not need it this year - but I need it next. I simply have not enough masters anymore that can take on an apprentice."

"I told you that the apprenticeship will be a problem in the near future, Peverell" Godric whispered softly. "Rena and Helga are right. Taking on more than one apprentice will be the only way to ensure the education of our youths."

Peverell just inclined his head and stood up.

"I came here with a declaration that could aid your needs" he said loudly to the gathering. Lord Selwyn nodded and said.

"The Gathering recognises Lord Peverell Grim" he said and the eyes of the other lords fell on the Grim-Lord.

"My wife and my sister are planning a new concept of apprenticeship" he said. "The Lords Emrys and LeFay are also aiding in their task. My clan will have the same problems like yours in a few years' time, because of that my wife and sister want to open a place to teach our young in groups. It will not be an apprenticeship, instead it would introduce the children to magic and its ways. We plan on teaching them enough so that a real master will be able to take on more than one apprentice at the time they have finished their education with us. We are here to ask for your allowance to do so and to ask for your trust in our abilities so that you would send your children to us to be trained."

"How do you plan to take on more than one apprentice?" Lord Selwyn asked surprised.

"We plan to teach them the basics for all apprenticeships" Peverell answered hesitatingly. "The easy things that could be taught to more than one child even now. It's simply the idea to take away the first eight years of apprenticeship from the masters. After that the children should know enough so that a master does not have to worry anymore. And when the children do not learn only the basics of one apprenticeship but of more there should also be less problems with their understanding of magic which would aid the masters in their tasks. Then maybe the masters also can take on more than one apprentice at a time. It would aid all."

"An interesting concept you have" Lord McGonagall said, staring at them. "I think I would like to send you some of my children to test it. If it really aids them and the masters I would think about giving the rest of my children in your hands for the next eight years."

Another lord in the back nodded.

"I would do the same" he said. "But there is the problem with harvest. A lot of the parents need the aid of their children at that time of the year."

"And if we would send them back for harvest every year?" Sal asked and stood up. "They could be taught by us for the most of the year and they could be send home for harvest. Like that you can test them and be sure that they know as much as they should know at that time in their apprenticeship. And if they do you can send them and others that want to join back after harvest. If they don't you can chose to search for another way."

"As long as they learn to control their magic and they still can help in harvest I would not even be bothered if they would know a little bit less than they would if they were apprenticed" another lord said. "The children need to be taught and I would like to test your idea. If they learn less I still would send them back until I have enough masters that could teach them better."

"There is just one question: When will you start with it?" Lord McGonagall said.

"We planned to start in a year's time after harvest" Godric said. "We still have to gather some ideas about what we need to teach the children. It will take some time to decide what we will teach and how we will teach it. We will send out letters when we are ready to take in the first apprentices."

"Then I will wait for your letter eagerly" Lord McGonagall said and others also inclined their head to show their content.

"Well - your idea seems to have merit" Lord Selwyn said. "The Gathering recognises the idea of the Lords Grim, LeFay and Emrys. We will watch over it for the next years. If it really aids us we will think about inducting laws that will establish this idea in our culture. Anyone against this decision?"

No-one raised a hand.

"Anyone for this decision?"

Nearly everyone raised their hands this time.

"Well, so mot it be. Let us see the following years how this idea of yours will develop."

And with that the last word was spoken in the Gathering about the idea of a school. Nearly eighty years later the laws about Hogwarts would be added to the laws of the Gathering - until than every year the Leader of the Gathering would ask about the school and how the lords felt about it. It never had a negative reply in all the years the leader asked…