He was never going to get back to sleep with all that banging and he knew exactly who was doing it. "Go away Gawain" he called out as he pulled the blanket up over his head. It was too early it couldn't possibly be morning yet, however, the pounding didn't stop, it only got louder. "Galahad get your lazy ass out of bed, you've got chores to do and we're to meet with Arthur for the noon meal, so don't forget your 'Holy Grail'" Gawain yelled through the closed door before continuing down the corridor.
Arthur himself had named Galahad's chalice 'The Holy Grail' when he saw the way the young knight cherish it, it had reminded him of the stories he had heard about the holy relic.
The only things Galahad brought with him to this island, besides the clothes on his back were his memories. He had nothing else that he could consider his not even the armor he wore since it was constantly being replaced as he grew, but this golden cup, which bore his name, was truly his now. He saw his cup in all it's splendor as no one else could and it was everything to him. Arthur had seen the importance of this simple item to Galahad so when the young man asked he agreed to allow the Knight to keep it in his room as long as he brought it each time the Knights met at the round table. It has been five years since he first received that most treasured possession but the time has done nothing to tarnish either the metal or its importance.
Galahad swung his legs over the side of his bed with a groan as the pounding started up again but this time it came from inside his head. He ran his hands over his face and continued up through his hair knocking small pieces of straw into his lap. A little confused but not overly concerned he brushed them from his legs and searched the small room for his clothes.
Reaching down to pick up his tunic, he noticed the bandage on his upper arm and with a little more concern than he had for the straw, he pulled the bandage back to reveal six stitches closing a large gash. Sitting back down on the bed, he tried to recall the events of the previous night with out much success.
He remembered being with Arthur and the other Knights sitting at the round table celebrating Kai's freedom from his service to Rome, it was a rare event so the celebrating went on late into the night. He vaguely remembered leaving the great hall with the others but could not remember anything after that. He figured he would ask Gawain later, along with how he got back to his room and also how he cut his arm. He was too hungry and hung over to think about it now, now he just wanted to grab his cup and go in search of food, the only problem was his 'Holy Grail' wasn't in its usual place on the table and a frantic search of the room failed to reveal it. In the past, no matter how much he drank or what mischief he got into the night before when he woke his cup was always in its place.
"Gawain, Gawain would know" he thought to himself, remembering how the other man always seemed to know everything Galahad did, it annoyed him to no end but for once he was depending on it and that annoyed him even more. Reminding himself how important the information was he pushed aside these petty annoyances and left his room to search for the man he thought of as a brother.
"Gawain" Galahad called to the other Knight as he entered the stables where he found his friend tending to his horse.
"Well I see you finally woke up" Gawain answered stopping only to glance over at the younger man making sure he was unharmed or at least still in one piece.
"Yes, Thanks to you," he grumbled to the other Knight obviously not happy with the wake up call.
"You know I'm always here to help you," Gawain answered with a smile. It was true, Gawain had taken it upon himself to watch over Galahad from the first time he met the awkward young boy. At first he helped because being the youngest Galahad needed it, now Gawain did it for his own enjoyment, he knew how much the younger man resented it which had become a great source of entertainment for the older knight.
"Well," He started desperately trying to hide his annoyance at the statement which implied he depended on the older Knight, but he was not completely successful in his attempt, "if this is true then perhaps you can help me by answering some questions."
"I will do what I can" Gawain answered delighted by his friends growing irritation.
Galahad hesitated before continuing, he knew Gawain would realize why he was asking and he wasn't looking forward to the lecture he knew would come but he figured it was better coming from Gawain than Arthur, Gawain didn't scare him as much, so he prepared himself and went ahead and asked. "Last night when we left the hall did I take my cup?"
"Of course you did, you didn't loose it did you?" Gawain's attention was now completely on Galahad his tasks quickly forgotten. "You did, well you had better find it before the noon meal or Arthur will not be happy." Gawain leaned back against the post and for a brief moment, Galahad thought he might have gotten out of this one with out the lecture, when Gawain suddenly continued. "Galahad your not a boy anymore you need to start acting more reasonably, there is more to growing up than drinking, whoring, arguing and killing. You need to learn the proper time and place for each and you need to know your limit for all."
For once, he didn't interrupt or argue, he simply let Gawain say what the older man felt needed to be said before he spoke, maybe he was growing up. "I know, now since you're always willing to help me tell me where did I go after we left the hall."
Gawain was so impressed with the younger Knight's restraint and willingness to listen to his advice that he gave in and answered Galahads question with out any more lectures or his usual teasing. "You said you weren't done drinking and headed towards the tavern."
Galahad thanked Gawain and hurried off to the tavern glad that the other man answered his questions without giving him too much grief.
The tavern was empty except for Vanora who was busy picking up shattered pieces of a flagon, which one of the many drunken patrons dropped the night before. "How's your head this morning Pup" she asked when she saw him enter.
"I've been better" he answered cringing at the nickname Bors had bestowed on him years ago. The name caught on with most of the Knights, actually all of the Knights except for Gawain and Lancelot. Gawain took to calling him the Perfect Knight he had said it was because Galahad was such a perfectionist when it came to his training, insisting on perfection in every aspect and he became unbearable when he failed to achieve it. And for some reason which Galahad has yet to understand Lancelot insisted on calling him son. He didn't know which of the three names he hated more.
"What can I do for you Galahad?" she asked, deciding to call him by his given name after noticing his reaction to the other. Galahad often reminded her of her oldest boy which was why she sometimes treated him as one of her children.
"Did you see me in here last night?" he asked her as he righted one of the many upended chairs scattered about the room. Taverns within fortress walls were notorious for their rowdiness and this was increased ten fold when Roman soldiers and Sarmatian Knights shared those taverns. Arthur was very good at keeping control of people and situations within the fort but looking at the condition of the tavern this morning, he didn't succeed last night.
"Yeah I saw you here, you didn't stay long. I saw you leave through the back with Ana" she answered with a knowing smile as she continued with her cleaning.
Galahad carried a heavy tray of tankards over to the bar before continuing with his questions. "Did I have my cup with me?" he asked as he placed the tray down on the bar.
"Yeah", she answered, "you had a death grip on it you wouldn't let anyone touch it not even Ana." Walking over to the door, she dumped out the bucket of dirty water then disappeared into the back to retrieve another bucket of clean water before she went back to her cleaning.
Galahad continued helping Vanora clean up as he resumed his attempt to remember what he did with his cup, when he suddenly stopped to look up at her. "Who's Ana?" he asked confused after hearing the name a second time and still not able to place a face to it.
"The new bar maid" she answered before it dawned on her what his question revealed and she tried to suppress her laughter before she continued, "You don't even remember her do you. Well don't let her know that" she advised him.
Vanora's desire to laugh left as quickly as it came and she sighed as she looked around the room wondering why she left early last night, knowing this never would have happened if she had been here. But her thoughts were interrupted by Galahad's next question. "Where can I find her?"
"She just went to the well to fetch some more water," she answered as she moved on to wipe down yet another table.
Galahad thanked Vanora and turned to leave but in his hurry to find the mysterious barmaid, he failed to see the slick ale coating the stone floor in front of him. He felt his foot start to slip out from beneath him but the drink from the night before slowed his reflexes and he was unable to regain his balance before his chin and bottom lip made contact with the hard wood of one of the tables. He sat there on the floor of the tavern tying to ignore the laughter of the woman standing above him as his half-numbed brain registered what had just happened.
The now embarrassed Knight waved off Vanora's offer of help as he got back up on his feet and rushed out of the tavern to find Ana, heading for the well he could feel his lip start to swell and he tasted the blood that was dripping from his split lip into his mouth.
As he rounded the corner he saw a petit blonde-haired women lifting a bucket from the well, "Ana my lovely you look as beautiful in the sunlight as you did in the moon light of last night," he said as he approached her. "Don't tell me you're not happy to see me," he continued ignoring the look of confusion on the young women's face.
As she Placed the bucket down and picked up another she looked around before turning back to face the Knight "Galahad I'm Sara, Ana is over there," she said nodding her head toward the woman leaning against the building across the courtyard from them.
He gave Sara his sweetest apologetic smile before he started toward the other woman.
As he made his way over to the tall dark haired woman resting in the shade two full buckets of water at her feet he noticed that she was not the type of woman he usually fancied. It wasn't that she was unattractive, in fact she was quite pretty, she was just built sturdier than the ones he usually brought to his bed she looked more like one that Gawain would prefer. Galahad usually preferred girls that were more delicate like Sara, girls he thought needed his protection, Gawain told him it was to fulfill the younger man's desire to be needed, it wasn't easy being the youngest. After years of the other Knights watching out for him he wanted to prove to them and to himself that, he was capable of taking care of not only himself but also someone else.
"Galahad I didn't think you would be up this early especially after last night" She said as she watched him approach. Galahad had a reputation, around the fort, for his less then pleasant early morning mood and was rarely seen before midday.
"Yes it was a festive night and speaking of last night there was something I wanted to ask you" he said using the sweetest smile he could manage with the tiny gremlin in his head still pounding its hammer against his brain.
"What would that be?" she asked as she moved closer to the handsome young Knight. She had been working at the tavern for less than a week but had quickly taken an interest in the curly haired Knight and she was both surprised and thrilled when he took her out behind the tavern last night. She knew he had consumed a great amount of ale and wasn't in top form but she enjoyed herself nonetheless and was hoping for another chance, this time preferably while he was sober.
"When I left last night did I have my cup?" He asked using all the charm he could muster never letting his smile fade from his face despite the pain caused by his recent meeting with the tavern table.
Ana's smile quickly disappeared when she heard his question, "Not that bloody cup again," she started yelling "I'm tired of hearing about that cup" Galahad was quit taken aback and confused by her sudden outburst. He really wished he could remember what happened last night.
"Then I had it with me" he cautiously asked her.
"Yes you had it with you; you kept going on saying that if you lost it, it would bring devastation to the land and everyone upon it. You wouldn't… Wait you lost it didn't you?" she said as the smile slowly returning to her face.
"No, not lost only misplaced." He corrected her
"Well I for one hope it stays misplaced," she told him her voice louder then necessary. The courtyard started to fill as both Roman's and Britain's went about their daily activities and Galahad felt that all their eyes were on him. He searched his mind for words, which would calm the angry woman while also obtaining the information he sought, but he wasn't the diplomat that Gawain and Dagonet were and he didn't possess Lancelot's smooth tongue with the ladies so he mistakenly welcomed Sara's arrival.
Sara approached and placed her buckets down before looking up silently questioning her friends strained expression but Ana never saw the question. "Sara, have you meet Galahad" she asked the younger woman without turning her gaze from Galahad.
"Yes I have, we met a few minutes ago over at the well when he thought I was you," her words were meant for Ana but the devilish smile was aimed at Galahad and he felt it before he even saw it.
He wasn't expecting the slap and in his surprise he instinctively stepped back not realizing Sara had just placed her buckets down behind him. If he had been over the effects of last night, he could have regained his balance but he wasn't so he didn't and he landed on his ass again.
The two girls picked up their buckets and turning on their heels they headed back to the tavern, Ana cursing all men under her breath and Sara laughing at the site of the young Knight on his ass.
This was not his day, and now he knew all eyes were on him.
Galahad sat there on the ground the mud created by the over turned water bucket dirtying his last clean pair of breaches, when he remembered the straw he had found in his hair this morning. The straw meant he had been in the stables maybe he had fallen asleep in the straw and somehow someone got him back to his room leaving his cup behind, hopefully it would still be there.
With renewed hope he pulled himself up off the ground only to be met by a stabbing pain in his right ankle, he must have twisted it when he fell. Steadying himself against the wall, he tested the injured ankle and after determining it was bearable, he limped his way back to the stables.
Luckily, for him the stables were empty when he arrived and he headed right for the loose straw piled in the far corner. He dug franticly through the pile throwing straw everywhere as he searched for his cup, not finding it amongst the straw he sat on the small bench to try to think of where else he could look. As he crossed his arms over his chest, he felt the bandage on his arm and realized he must have visited the medicus sometime during the night.
Galahad rose from the bench and once again headed in a new direction in search of his elusive cup. The straw that he had just searched through was now scattered across the stable floor hiding the rake that lay beneath it. When he stepped on the tongs of the rake the handle swung up catching him in the eye and obviously not learning his lesson from the last incident he took a step backwards and for the third time today he found himself on his ass, this time tripping over the bench he had just been sitting on. No, this definitely was not his day. He couldn't blame this one on last nights drink, even if his reflexes were at their best he had no chance of avoiding it. It all happened so fast it took a few seconds before he even realized what it was that had just attacked him. Getting to his feet he was again relieved no one else especially Gawain was around to witness it.
He could already feel the swelling and knew he'd have a black eye shortly but he had been through too much to abandon his quest so he wiped the straw and manure from his clothes and took off towards the medicus.
Galahad found the medicus in the valetudinarium busy patching up a couple of Roman soldiers who looked like they had some kind of disagreement and the third soldier standing behind them with his hand on the hilt of his sword made him doubt it was over.
"Another fight?" the medicus asked when he saw the condition of the Knight as he limped into the room.
"No I just had a little accident," Galahad answered slightly embarrassed as he glared at the two injured Roman's daring them to say something and it looked like one was actually going to take up the challenge when the soldier guarding them cuffed him on the back of his head, which succeeded in silencing him.
"I'll see to your injuries as soon as I'm done with this one," the medicus told the injured knight as he went back to stitching up what looked like a rather deep knife wound on the mans upper arm. Seeing the cut out of his one undamaged eye Galahad allowed a smile to cross his face knowing these two were not going to enjoy explaining it to Arthur. The medicus also seemed to be enjoying himself, Galahad knew the man didn't mind healing injuries from battle or even accidents but he felt those caused by their comrades over some silly dispute were senseless something he had little time for and right now he was expressing his feelings with his needle. He was not going to be gentle with his victim. This was why after the occasional tavern brawl the Knights always went to Dagonet for any necessary repairs.
"No that's alright I'm fine" he told the Roman healer "I just have a question for you."
"Go ahead" the medicus told him not looking up from his work.
"Did you stitch this last night?" Galahad asked raising the sleeve of his tunic up to expose the white bandage.
The older man turned on his stool to see what the Knight was referring to even though he was sure he already knew. "Yes I did that, I'm not surprised that you don't remember, actually I'd be surprised if you remembered anything about last night" he answered before turning back to his work.
"I don't that's why I'm here, when I came in last night did I have a gold cup with me?" He asked the other man as he looked around the room for his missing item.
"Yes you did you were holding it below the cut catching the blood you told me that Arthur said that was what it was used for." A smile stretched across the healers face as he remembered the conversation from the previous night. "You never told me what had happened all I could get out of you was that you fell in the stables."
"Yeah well that's been happening a lot lately. Do you have any idea where I went after I left here?" It was the same question he had asked everyone else he encountered today, always one person leading him to another who then lead him to another leaving him feeling as if he was following a path that he could not see.
"I told you that you should go to your room and rest but I doubt you did you said something about being too hungry and needing to find something to eat" he was going to continue with a lecture on the effects of too much ale and the need for rest but he knew it would fall on deaf ears. He learned long ago that the Sarmatian's were a different breed of people able to withstand much more than the pampered Roman's, besides he figured Galahad was becoming aware of the effects of over indulging in ale, the hard way.
Turning to leave he misjudged the corner and almost smacked his knee into the edge of the small but solid table beside the door, but the ale must finally be wearing off because for the first time today he was able to avoid an injury. With the hope that things were starting to go his way, he tuned and nodded his thanks to the Roman before turning back to the door. Unfortunately he didn't turn soon enough to see the door swing open on a direct path for his head, the medicus' assistant on the other side of the door apologized, the medicus cringed, and the Roman soldier laughed which earned him another cuff to the head. Galahad was just happy that for the first time today, he didn't end up on his ass and he continued on his way.
Galahad knew that if he indeed had been hungry last night sober or drunk he would have headed for the kitchen as he had done many other times. Ignoring the new throbbing lump on his forehead he quickly headed toward the kitchen or at least as quickly as his injured ankle would allow him.
Entering the kitchen Galahad scanned the large room for his golden treasure before weaving himself through the busy women offering each a warm smile and ignoring there concerned and questioning looks about his battered condition. The Knights were not an unusual sight in the kitchen especially when they were trying to woo one of the young girls or attempting to sweet talk one out of some extra rations but today this young Knight did not seem interested in either.
Looking over the room one last time Galahad was ready to abandon his quest and resign himself to Arthur's wrath when he saw the sparkle of gold from beside the great fireplace. As he approached, he saw it, the object of his search sitting there peacefully on a stone ledge of the large stone structure the light from the fire making it look as if it glowed. In his excitement and relief upon finding it, he failed to take into account the cups proximity to the fire, or perhaps he just didn't realize the effect the hot flames would have on the metal.
The busy kitchen fell silent and all eyes turned to him when Galahad screamed in pain, which was followed by the sound of the golden cup hitting the stone floor. Galahad was quickly surrounded by the young cooks and serving girls offering comfort but little help when a older woman who he knew to be the one in charge of the kitchen grabbed his arm placing the still burning hand in a bucket of cold water. The women ordered everyone back to work before wrapping his hand in a wet rag, then using another rag gathered up his cup winding the rag around it before handing it to the Knight and sending him on his way.
Galahad returned to the medicus who had finished with his two Roman patients and was in the process of putting away his supplies, when he saw Galahad limp back into the room now with a rag wrapped around his hand, he wasn't even going to ask, for which Galahad was grateful. He led the Knight to a chair and gently unwrapped his hand. The Healer was a lot gentler with the Knights then he was with the soldiers largely because the Knights only came to him when they really needed to, for minor injuries they tended to each other, but also because they never complained except when it came to bed rest and that he left to Arthur to handle.
The Knight's were all gathered in the great hall when Arthur arrived, that is all except for Galahad. Greeting the Knights Arthur noticed Galahads absence and sighed, it was something that he unfortunately was used to, Galahad was always the last to arrive. "Gawain any idea where our young Galahad is" he asked the blond Knight.
"Last time I saw him he was starting a great quest" Gawain answered his Commander.
Arthur was about to question Gawain's response when the heavy doors suddenly opened and everyone's attention was turned to the young battered Knight who came limping into the hall. Fat lip, black eye, bandaged hand , large bump on his forehead and twisted ankle Galahad felt none of it as he triumphantly raised the 'Holy Grail' over his head. The other knights could only look on in shock and silence before Arthur finally spoke. "This should be a story that is sure to become a legend".
(legend) chalice used by Christ at the last supper Synonyms: Holy Grail, Sangraal
It's a story that is sure to become a legend
This tale I'm sure be legendary