The streets of London were so much more crowded than she remembered. It was as if everything in the city and multiplied. The buildings were taller and closer together, rows of red bricks houses next to the new tall skinny cement ones with slate roofs; and there were so many people jostling on the sidewalk elbow to elbow shoulder against shoulder a great army of pedestrians marching purposefully to who-knows-where. For a moment she felt claustrophobic and trapped lost adrift and alone in a sea of humanity. Her senses were assaulted from every direction smokestacks bleaching into the gray sky newsboys yelling the headlines, the salty-tangy smell of fried fish from the sidewalk vendors. It had only been four year since she left the city, but it felt like four decades, and Aelwyn Myrddyn stood in the middle of it all, clutching tightly the battered leather valise that contained all she had in the world. The bag was heavy with bottles of herds, toxins, and potions from Avalon.
"All right miss?' the driver asked tipping his hat in her direction.
She hesitated for the briefest moment, feeling a pang in her heart. She thought of Viviane waving a solemn goodbye from the shore her golden hair shining through the mist. For a movement Aelwyn wondered if she had made the right decision in returning to the city of her childhood. When Aelwyn had turned sixteen, Viviane had told her that it was time to determine her fate. Magic users had two options when they came of age: to join the invisivel order, or chose to exile im Avalon.
"Miss?" the driver asked again.
"Yes, quite all right" she said thinking of the letter in her pocket from her father. She squared her shoulders and nodded. The diver's order were to take her to the palace directly but she had persuaded him to stop a few blocks away. She wanted to some time to walk by herself to see the city up close before she disappeared behind the black iron gates of St. James Palace. Aelwyn watched as the river whistled and shook the reins which were connected to an empty harness hanging in the air. The black horseless carriage rolled away slowly down the street and disappeared all at once with a thunderclap and a cloud of smoke. Viviane's hansoms were a rare sight in the city, and so few pedestrians blinked in surprise, but most hardly missed a step, and were more concerned with getting out of the way of the newfangled automobiles that were clogging the narrow roads.
"Need a hand?" asked a nearby gent, his eyes lingering over the curve of her form underneath the cloak. "That bad looks heavy, lass"
She shook her head and pulled the cowl over her mass of auburn curls. The ability to command male attention was its own kind of magic, but one that could backfire on a girl if she wasn't careful. Aelwyn had learned caution during her time away from home, and not to waste her charm of unworthy candidates. The nubby fabric of her warp was cozy and comforting; the cloth was handspun, and reminded her of the island and the simple pleasure of life there. She had given them up to return to the metropolis.
As a child she had not been allowed out of the palace very often; but after the first few movements of terror and disorientation, she had navigated her way easily using the tall tower spirea of the castle as a guide and beacon through the crowded street.