I'm alive!
I honestly did not think it had been this long since I had updated! Here I am though since this one of my favorite stories and the reason I had paused was because of writer's block.
As always, I own none of the original masterpieces that inspired this story, but the plot idea was mine, so no copycats!
I do also own afterthought since that seems to be what most of my life is.
It's a story of a king, a queen, a warlock, a witch, and a rowdy bunch of knights.
King Arthur Pendragon. Queen Guinevere Pendragon. Merlin. Morgana La Fay. Sir Leon. Sir Lancelot. Sir Gawain. Sir Elyan. Sir Percival. Sir Mordred.
And Sir Perseus, the one who changed all of their destinies.
A few months pass in much the same way as the first. Percy really settles in, only collapsing once more by the time winter has settled in and has made friends throughout the entirety of the castle. He also regains some of the weight he lost, though he guesses he'll never be in the same shape he was before the pit.
To be honest, he feels relatively good and the putrid smell of city living during the middle ages has become relatively unnoticeable. Thank all the gods.
It's in the middle of a particularly snowy week when things are finally disrupted, breaking a quiet paranoia in both Percy and Merlin.
Percy learns very quickly that it's common for Arthur to know nothing at all is wrong and it's actually Sir Leon who ends up with the short end of the stick. It's a young sorceress that's the problem and she's not particularly malicious, but she is highly adept at causes trouble throughout the castle. Her target is not actually the king either, but Leon, whose father apparently slighted her mother many years ago but refusing to ask her hand in marriage.
Percy notices the girl when on his way back from training early one day. He's not leaving willingly, but he's apparently looking a bit peckish and Sir Leon immediately ordered him back. The man, who's is just barely the oldest of all the round table knights has basically assigned himself the role of a father in Percy's life. He's taken great pains to watch over the pseudo knight and ensure he stays out of Gawain's normal trouble (this part isn't actually upsetting to Percy as Gawain's normal trouble involves alcohol and shameless flirting).
The girl is crouched behind some barrels, staring fixedly back the way he just came. She's wearing clothes of the merchant class and in some part of his mind, he thinks she looks like the witch who sent him back in time. He's forgotten that girl's name but she's still been an infrequent topic of conversation between him, Merlin, and Gaius. The old man speculates that she was a poorly trained empath and that's why she sought him out. ("You can be a bit overbearing when you're brooding." An eyebrow of doom was sent Merlin's way.)
"Can I help you?"
The girl jumps nearly a foot in the air, spinning around with a hand over her heart to look at him. Her eyes are blown wide and her mouth gaping wide like a fish's. Percy wants to laugh at it but manages to keep a neutral expression on his face. All of the court ladies and even serving staff are so mild-mannered and reserved compared to what he's used to. Only Gwen seems to behave otherwise, but even she holds back.
He raises an eyebrow in what he hopes is an imitation of Gaius.
"I-I was ... j-just - Wait! It's none of your business what a lady's doing!" She firms up her features in a defiant pout and he suddenly realizes that while she looks extremely young and childish that she's at least a few years older than he is.
He smiles mockingly (smiles come much more easily to him recently). "These are the private training grounds of the knights. While those from the town are allowed to visit the guards training whenever they have time, the same is not true here. Seeing as I don't know you and we have no guests, you're not from the castle and thus are not allowed to be where you are now."
His speech has changed somewhat as well. No longer can he be easily identified as a foreigner, nor does he feel like one anymore. His sassy nature and playful personality are still present and when put in a corner, he will always dig himself into a hole with words.
The girl across from him is red in the face. She lets out a stuttered insult about him being nosy and rude and takes off towards the lower town. He shakes his head and keeps moving. It's too cold outside and the fact that all of the knights are out practicing in six inches of snow is ridiculous to him. That doesn't mean that he won't complain to the blonde king about Leon sending him in though.
He pulls his heavier jacket closer to his body and continues his shuffle. Some of the courtyard has been cleared by heavy foot traffic, but in return, it's become icy and treacherous. Vaguely Percy wonders if he should tell the knights they have an admirer.
Or not.
His brief lapse of concentration causes him to slip and suddenly he's going down hard. He manages to catch himself and possibly save his bum from days of pain, but his right wrist isn't so fortunate.
A few swear words escape the demigod's mouth. He stays there for a moment and lets the cool snow soothe what is likely broken before he looks around. A few people are giggling at his fall, though one kind guard meanders over to help him up.
Percy assures the gruff old man that he's able to make it to the physician's on his own and slowly makes his way there.
Needless to say that Gaius isn't pleased. Not only is the wrist broken, but he notes that Percy has a fever that he's been neglecting in order to train. He can't even convince the old man that he honestly had no idea.
A short time later, he finds himself settling on top of his thick bed covers as a servant boy coaxes the fire in the grate back to life. He does feel a bit under the weather now that he thinks about it. Today may have been one of the first days in a little while that Leon has sent him home from training but it's not the first day that the men have been out there tromping down snow and swinging their blades around. Winter training is much shorter but has kept going for the most part.
He's not surprised he's the first to fall ill and a small part of him hopes that Gawain gets the sniffles. It'd do him good to not be able to flirt his way through the castle for a few days.
A snort escapes him at the thought.
As the servant boy is leaving, the aforementioned rugged knight and Sir Leon slip in.
"Gaius said you have a fever," Leon notes, walking over as Percy sits up and slides to the edge of the bed.
Percy smiles sheepishly. "Did he also mention that I fell and broke my dominant wrist on the way inside?"
Gawain guffaws and pats him on the back, while their friend's eyes narrow at the offending appendage. "No, he failed to mention that. Are you okay?" Leon says. The demigod can feel the doting fatherly aura beginning to leak out of the blond man, especially as Gawain picks up the wrist and starts to poke at it. "Quit that, Sir Gawain, before I have you cleaning out the stables for the next month."
"I'm fine, Leon," Percy consoles. He jabs Gawain in the side with his elbow and stands up to walk over to the small table set up in his room. Since he's been here the table has been used quite frequently. The fact that there are no gods and godly feuds to make hanging out in each other's spaces taboo is quite a nice change. "It was only a minor break. Gaius said it wouldn't take long to heal."
He's about to pour himself a glass of water from the pitcher on the table, but the knights' captain beats him to it. He glares at him slightly as he holds the cup in one hand and the pitcher in the other as if to scold him for already trying to use his bad arm.
Percy rolls his eyes as he takes the glass and settles down at the table. "Hey, I saw a girl from the lower town watching the knights' training from afar today. She looked like she's from a merchant family. I chased her off but we might want to remind the guards that they have to check people coming through again."
The two knights also settle down beside him.
"Was she cute?"
(One guess on who that was.)
"She was still out of your league, Gawain."
Leon sighs. "I'll mention it to them. Our security has definitely gotten better since you arrived and I would hate to see a relapse, but it could be possible she had a reason for being here and just stopped to watch."
Percy nods. He understands. They don't want to isolate the lower town and the castle itself is now near impossible to get into without good proof that you should be there. He doesn't actually know why the girl was watching from a distance bothers him. It's not the first time they've caught someone doing so.
He must be slouching tiredly in his chair because Leon eventually shuffles him into bed and then pulls Gawain out of the room.
Percy's cold lasts long enough for the current snow to melt on a sunny day and a new chill to settle into the region. He spends a lot of time sleeping or combing very slowly through magic books Merlin brings him in an attempt to figure out more about his situation.
Eventually, though he's given the all-clear by Gaius (despite a lingering cough) to return to light responsibilities. By that, the old man means no training or physical work of any kind. The long recovery is because Percy's throat was made more irritated by the coughing and he went back to being unable to eat much all. He lost probably 10 pounds or so and that's hard to recover.
However, he's more than eager to be free. He even goes out of his way to avoid the worrywart knight.
As he comes around a corner, Percy sees Arthur and nearly calls out. That is until he sees Lord Agravaine standing with the King.
Arthur's uncle is slimy. Merlin and Gwain agree with his assessment, especially as Agravaine has taken a strong dislike to the demigod. From the moment they met, a few weeks into Percy's stay once Arthur had drug the dark-haired man into a meeting for the castle's defenses.
The man's dislike had only grown into hate as Arthur began to seek Percy's counsel over his uncle's more and more when it comes to defense plans and the knights' training. At one point that man had even threatened to have Percy arrested over a claim that he is a spy sent by an enemy kingdom.
All in all, the man is suspicious and clearly has alternative motives though Arthur seems to believe he's harmless and well-intentioned. It's actually the only Percy and Arthur have fought over since becoming friends, so the demigod eventually let the matter drop.
Now, however, he wishes he could get the man out of the castle. Percy shakes himself out of his stupor and does eventually call out, ignoring the oldest man's look of anger. He'll talk to Gwain and Merlin. Maybe even, the other knights. They'll figure it out.
I saw someone mentioned the heights of everyone in the reviews. I believe I based on their heights based on the actor's heights vs doing historically based research. It's been a while and my writing isn't perfect since I don't have someone editing for me at the moment.
I would love to respond to your comments directly when you have comments or remarks where I can clarify some points or mention editing updates, but for that to happen your own settings must be adjusted. I don't want to crowd chapter footings with comment responses (personal preference and I don't judge others for doing it).