Gareth was surprised to see Merlin again today. He didn't think his bandage needed changing until the next day, but perhaps Merlin already had a message from his mother to deliver.
"Hello, Merlin! To what do I owe the honor?", Gareth asked cautiously.
Merlin grinned, gave the document to the guards. They broke the seal and agreed that the document was genuine. A guard took the key, unlocked the cell door and opened it wide.
Gareth made big eyes. "What does this mean? Has the king already decided what is to be done with me?"
Merlin smiled even wider and cried out, "Yes!"
"Now tell me, what punishment do I have to fear?" Gareth asked nervously. He didn't know if he really wanted to hear what consequence awaited him.
"You are free. Well, as free as a squire can be."
"Squire?", Gareth asked even more confused.
"Yes. You are now Sir Gwaine's squire for a year. This is your punishment, and believe me, Sir Gwaine is one of my friends, but this task will not always be easy. However, it will comfort you to know that it was Sir Gwaine himself who made this proposal to the King. so the knight cares about the success of his proposal, and that's definitely to your advantage. By the way, the King asked you to come with me to muck out the stables. If you can't do that, don't worry, it's easy to learn, and I'll have plenty of time to answer your questions. Let's go! Moving and washing is definitely more useful when we have finished mucking out," Merlin finished his lecture.
Gareth was petrified. He couldn't believe what Merlin had just told him. He had thought up the worst and most painful punishments, but now he even had a year's worth of work and he would learn something useful. He beamed all over his face. "There is no way I will disappoint Sir Gwaine. Thank you, Merlin, I assume you had a hand in this?" he asked confidently.
"Me? What makes you think so?", Merlin asked with feigned indignation.
Eluned finally saw the castle of Camelot. She knew her son had got himself in trouble again. How could it be otherwise? But she feared that this time it would not end as smoothly as the previous one. She was really worried. Her son was in jail and that was never a good sign. She was hoping there was still something she could do to prevent the worst. Although she knew that King Arthur was just and fair, she didn't know exactly why Gareth was in prison. You knew her son. He was a good boy, sometimes a little impetuous, but he was not evil at all. She was amazed at how big this place was. Now she regretted having refused the knight's offer to accompany her. But she had so much to do first, that she didn't want to waste the knight's time unnecessarily. Had she travelled with him, he could have accompanied her to the dungeons immediately. She didn't know where her son was or if she was even allowed to see him.
She strode resolutely towards the guards at the castle entrance and asked cautiously: "Good evening, my name is Eluned. A knight was with me yesterday and informed me that my son Gareth would be in the dungeon. Could you show me the way there?"
The guards looked at each other in bewilderment. It wasn't often that something happened on their guard duty, so they actually didn't quite know how to react to such a question.
Sir Percival took the decision away from them. He saw the woman, who obviously had a concern, and was curious. He bowed and said, "Excuse me, my lady, my name is Sir Percival and as you can see I am a knight of Camelot. Perhaps I can be of assistance. I couldn't help overhearing your question. I'm sorry, milady, but your son is no longer in the dungeons."
It was at that very moment that Eluned turned white. She was too late. Why didn't she drop everything and run after her son?
When Sir Percival saw the woman's reaction, he hurried to say, "Forgive me, your son is well. I should have chosen my words more carefully."
"He is well?" she repeated hopefully.
"Yes, but of course. King Arthur rarely inflicts severe punishment, and only in cases where the alternatives would pose a grave threat to Camelot. I can take you to your son. He's just...
He was busy mucking out the stables with the king's servant," he explained with a grin.
"I accept this offer only too gladly. But what has Gareth actually done? Why is he no longer in the dungeon? Why is he mucking out stables now?" the questions gushed out of Eluned.
Percival could understand the woman's concern and answered patiently: "Follow me, I can answer your questions on the way there." He headed for the stables and made sure the woman followed him. "It seems that your son had the misfortune to be forced by bandits to join a raid."
Gareth's mother, horrified, sucked in the air. ...and began to rant and rave, "That little rascal. He's not even fifteen and he's probably been back to the tavern. I've told him so many times not to go there under any circumstances. Oh, oh, I'm going to pull the boy's ears so long that afterwards he can only walk around with his hands on his ears, because they are so much ..." She interrupted herself and she realized that the knight could hardly suppress his laughter.
"Excuse me, you'll soon understand why I'm laughing." The knight briefly outlined the incident that led to her son's imprisonment. He concluded his report with the following words: "Well, and your son, as a squire, will have the task of ensuring that the man attacked by your son does not go to the tavern too often and always arrives at his service punctually and soberly. As fate would have it, this knight is quite fond of going to the tavern, which is one of the reasons why he has always refused a squire.
Eluned thought over the knight's words and smiled as well. "Yes, your laughter was absolutely justified. I could not have thought of a better and more sensible punishment for the boy. If I may, I would like to meet the servant and the knight, as both saved my son's life and I would like to thank them."
Sir Percival nodded, "That shouldn't be a problem. Merlin should be with your son right now, and the knight in question can be found in the tavern," he said jokingly.
The mother frowned.
"He is not a drunkard. He has his heart in the right place, is absolutely loyal and also has a knack for getting himself into trouble. The two of them will get along fine," he reassured her.
She smiled gratefully.
Merlin and Gareth had just finished mucking out the stables. With Gareth's help, he had finished a little faster, but with all the questions Gareth had asked, it had taken them over two hours.
Merlin just saw Sir Percvial, accompanied by a strange woman, coming towards them when Gareth cried out joyfully and ran towards the woman: "Mother! What are you doing here?", the boy asked as he ran and gave his mother a stormy hug.
She smiled and turned her son off: "I will be able to see my son if he is so stupid. She repaired her nose. "And he stinks like a big dunghill!"
They all started laughing and Gareth said "But Merlin's stinks just as bad!"
Eluned recognised the name and looked at the man standing next to her son. So this was the servant who had saved her child's life simply because he had refused to let a boy die. She was grateful in any case, but she was also curious. How could it be that a wish of this servant led to a respected knight fulfilling this request? Even though this servant was the king's personal servant, this was highly unusual. She didn't know much about Camelot and the customs of the castle, but knights in general were held in high esteem, and servants were not. "You're the servant who saved my son's life," she said forcefully.
Merlin blushed and stammered, "Well... that was actually...
Gareth said, "Yes, Mother, he did. "Not only did he tend to my head wound, but he suggested to the Knight that I could be his squire!"
Again Eluned wondered about this young man. He gave advice to a knight and the knight followed it. Considering that there was an added irony that the boy who wanted to kill the knight was now responsible for the fact that nothing happened to the knight.
"Where are my manners? In all the hubbub, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Eluned, and as you can imagine, I am the mother of Gareth. I want to thank you. Once for not letting my son die, and once again for...
you've found him meaningful employment with the Knight, which I hope will prevent Gareth from making any further mistakes."
Merlin blushed a little again, but he was pleased with the heartfelt thanks. "I would always make the same decision, milady," Merlin said with a bow.
Eluned began to laugh girlishly and said: "Oh, how long has it been since a young man addressed me like this? I never thought I'd like it here."
Merlin grinned back and said to Gareth: "Maybe we should wash up and put on some new clothes. I can lend you some of mine. Then we can take care of your own clothes for you. Since I assume that you", Merlin looked at Eluned, "do not have a place to stay yet, I could ask if you could sleep in Gwen's old home.
Sir Percival frowned at these words, as it was unusual to invite a 'stranger' into the queen's former home, but nodded from an inexplicable feeling.
"Oh, I really don't want to be any trouble. Perhaps your friend will need the bed herself."
Merlin and Sir Percival could not help but chuckle, and the knight graciously replied, "Rest assured that the queen Guinevere prefers to spend the night in the castle."
"Oh, you don't mean... I couldn't possibly accept that!"
"Why not? If the queen doesn't object? The bed is empty and you need a place to sleep. Problem solved,' said Merlin.
Sir Percival interfered: "I was about to go back to the castle anyway, then I can ask the queen for permission. You can follow Merlin and your son to make sure they're all right." The knight took his leave and Merlin, Gareth and Eluned made their way to Merlin's chambers.