Everyone froze, staring at the boy before them, who took another drink and sighed in satisfaction, not noticing the turmoil he'd caused with the words. Finally he looked up into the stunned faces and stared back, a flush creeping over his cheeks. Had he done something wrong?

"...Thank goodness. For a second there, I was afraid he was going to say he was mine," Gwaine muttered, breaking the silence but not the sudden icy tension around the circle. Leon took care of that by slapping Gwaine soundly on the back of the head.

Galahad's blush darkened. "…I'm sorry, I…I guess I should have warned you somehow…I thought you would be pleased…"

"…We are, um…pleased," Elyan said, shooting a look at his sister. Gwen was carefully avoiding looking at either Arthur or Galahad, and might have started shaking. Arthur just stared. "It's just that…"

"We weren't really expecting…I mean…" Leon said, stumbling over the words.

Merlin bit his lip. "He never mentioned…well…" He looked at the ground and shuffled his feet.

"Are you sure you're not mine?" Gwaine asked, earning him another round of resounding slaps, from Leon and Percival. He grumbled at them and rubbed the back of his head, then went to stand by Merlin where it was safer.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said, shaking his head and finally looking alive again. "I…I understand where your skill with a sword comes from, but…it wouldn't exactly be in your best interests to use your father as a reference."

The boy frowned, handing the water skin back to Elyan. "What do you mean? I thought he was one of you. A Knight of the Round Table."

"Lancelot is shamed knight," Arthur said, and though his eyes were alive again his voice was dead.

"…But…after all he did…"

"I don't know what you know of his…activities," the king continued. "He was a great man and…and a dear friend to all of us, once. A long time ago. But he lost his honor since then. He died in disgrace in Camelot's eyes, and was the source of a great deal of…of heartache."

It pained all of them to hear Arthur speak like that, even more so as Galahad was looking more and more confused and crushed the longer he went on. At last the boy raised his head again, a determined set to his jaw, his hands clenched into fists on the bench at his side. "What happened? I want to know, please."

Gwen looked nauseous at the idea of the story being hashed out again. The others looked at each other, then took their seats on the surrounding circled benches. "We're much more interested in hearing your story, Galahad," Arthur said, nodding to the boy. "Lancelot must have been…um…very young when he met your mother."

"Well…I guess he was…" said the boy. "I'm from Astolat, which is.…well…outside of Camelot at the very least. My mother's name was Elaine Corbenic. She died when I was young, shortly after Lancelot left us. She drowned. I was raised by my aunt and came here as soon as I could find my way out of Astolat. But please, your majesty—why is my father shamed?"

Arthur's jaw twitched, but Merlin nudged him in the side. "He's got to find out sooner or later," he muttered in his friend's ear. Arthur relaxed, just a bit.

"Very well. Do you…uh…well, you know he's dead?" Arthur asked, then nearly bit his tongue. "That is…I mean…you said was, I just…"

Galahad gave him a ghost of a smile. "Yes, I know he's dead, and I know he died to stop the Dorocha."

"He didn't," the king said, looking like a kicked puppy again—there was a face the others hadn't seen in a while. "We thought he had, but…a few months after that…about two years ago now…he came back. The Mudhavi people, they…they found him, nursed him back to health. He returned to Camelot and…and…"

"…and I kissed him," Gwen said softly, not meeting anyone's eyes. "The night before I was to marry Arthur. I don't know why. It was the worst mistake of my life. I wasn't even in love with him, not anymore. Not for a long time."

"Gwen was banished and Lancelot…" Arthur swallowed. "I'm so sorry, Galahad. He killed himself."

"I buried him," Merlin said softly, "if you'd like to go pay your respects."

Galahad blinked at them all, his look of confusion growing darker and darker with every word. "…Two years ago?"

"Yes," said Gwen.

"…I'm sorry…that's…" The boy shook his head. "No, that's impossible. He didn't. He couldn't."

Leon sighed and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Galahad, we know this must be a shock to you—"

"Well, you're right about that. It didn't happen. It couldn't happen. Father couldn't have been in Camelot having affairs because he was dead."

A horrific prickling feeling stirred in the back of Merlin's mind. Something told him that he should have paid more attention to Galahad's short story and Gaius' occasional middle-of-the-night stories about the days when magic was free in Camelot. That the almost-glow around Galahad meant something very important and that the very faint smell of smoke wasn't just coming from him. That he should find a way to end this conversation before it went much farther.

Gwaine sighed. "That's what we thought, too. It was a shock to us—"

"No, you don't understand," Galahad insisted, practically buzzing with frustration. "He couldn't because he wasn't here. He was in Avalon. The circumstances of his death granted him a half-life in Avalon, as a vassal of the Lady of the Lake."

…Too late.


Thank you Smoochynose for the epic Gwaine line icebreaker! I was having some segue issues that that line cleared up quite nicely.