Dear fan-fiction friends!
I have read fanfiction on Narnia (and even tried to write a few) and Harry Potter, and it was one of those that had an author writing about Merlin.
During a flu a decade ago I was introduced to the BBC TV series, and finding the fanfix I was more than delighted.
I have enjoyed so many, and now I try to post one of my own.
Sept, 22, A.D. 2020
1. Arrival
The sturdy oak doors to the little castle normally closed quite loudly, but now the snow that had fallen, and the snow still falling, muffled all sounds, so not much could be heard at all. Not even the expected squeaks from pulling the bars in front of the doors to keep the gate closed were heard.
Almost before the gates were closed the travelers were off their horses, and their leader immediately sent his companions off to do different chores.
One sprinted up the stairs of the gatehouse to keep watch from there, and as muffled as the closing of the gate had been, no one really listened to him lowering of the portcullis inside the gate.
Two began to take the luggage which had been loaded off the horses into the castle, and having put it all in orderly lines in the hallway they went out to shovel snow from the courtyard. This would make moving on the courtyard easier, but also faster. If it came to defending the castle, some of the walls were in fact reached from the courtyard and it would maybe be necessary to run if an alarm came late. But it would also help keeping the main stone buildings inside the castle warm, as snow was heaped up outside their walls to help with insulation against the bitter winter cold the blizzard had brought.
The majority of the company led the horses into a stable to rub them dry and feed them, letting the animals rest happily until the travelers had waited for the storm to end and the ride could continue.
All these men wore long, thick capes, chain mails, sturdy boots and had their swords by their sides.
The only one different, wearing no military utensils at all, had rushed into the main stone building of the castle, and within minutes lights began to flow from one window after the other out into the court yard, just like from the stable. After what seemed to be almost no time smoke rose from lit fires in every room, to heat the otherwise cold stone house up.
The civilian and the leading officer met in the kitchen, where a fire for cooking already cracked merrily in a large hearth. The officer opened a door almost hiding in the far off wall, and showed a pantry.
-"Here is dried meat, fruit and nuts, and also some flour and butter," he said. "May I assist in cutting the meat for an evening stew, my excellent cook?"
The addressed civilian bowed low, answering with a smirk:
-"Only if such a lowly deed will amuse my Lord!"
The slap on his arm, was answered with rolling eyes, and a silent:
-"Prat!"
Now it was the leader's time to roll his eyes, calling out:
-"I heard that!" Followed by. "Do you want help cooking or not?"
-"Yes, Sire, in my humble opinion we need all hands on the counter to thaw your brave knights! Just do not mix up my herbs."
The addressed officer obviously did nothing to avoid the sharp jargon between the two, but he made a face like remembering something when the herds were mentioned.
-"We cannot have again a mix up of spices and sleeping willow, can we, my Lord."
It was no answer to that, as the two men in the kitchen worked very well coordinated to pull out the needed ingredients for a stew, cut them, and get them into a large iron cauldron to cook.
As the dinner began boiling one of the men stayed in the kitchen, while the other went upstairs. He felt the bedrooms up there be heated up by the merry fires long ago let, felt the beds and found them to his astonishment both dry and already warm, and saw the curtains drawn.
-"Very well done," the officer said to himself, we will not be cold tonight, and the windows up here will not let out any light to show that we are here, either."
Returning to the staircase he could hear his knights, as they were called, enter from the stable and the courtyard, and he sent each with his own luggage up to be installed in a bedroom. But first he had relieved them of their wet coats, taking them into the kitchen, into a space with many hangers heated by the stove. There the coats would dry during the night.
They all went into the main hall, heated by two fire places, having in the middle a long wooden table, already laid with goblets and spoons, pre-cut cheese and bread, The hall was lit by many candles, on the dining table and in chandeliers. On a sideboard stood pitchers of wine and ale, and bowls for the stew in a tall stack. Only the officer wondered how just one civilian had been able to get all this in order in almost no time.
-"Gentlemen, we are happy to be here, indoors and ready to be fed and sleep tight in warm rooms and nice beds as long as we need until we can continue."
-"For now however, we do not know if we have been followed. Therefore we need to keep watch during the night. . . ."
Here the leader of the travelers was cut short by a voice coming in from the kitchen, a voice belonging to the man bringing in the cauldron with stew.
-"Not sure any would like to try in this very horrible weather!"
-"True, and I could add that even if they wanted, it is not sure they would succeed. The snow would destroy all tracks to follow. But we should nevertheless be careful"
-"Now, the gatehouse would be uncomfortable, unlit and unheated as it is. The main tower, above us, cannot be lit either, as the watch need to have their eyes adapted to the dark outside. But it will be heated by warm air from the fires below, so no one will be cold up there.
-"May I have two volunteers to keep watch while the rest of us eat?`You will eat a first bowl here, I will bring dry coats, and while you change, more food will be brought up to the tower."
All the men quickly sat down to eat, the volunteers going to the stew cauldron first, and devouring their ration swiftly.
Running upstairs with their luggage to change clothes, they were followed almost at once by their leader with black guard's coats, and by the cook with a large tray with food for, it seemed, more than a dozen hungry wolfs.
When the guards were comfortably seated back to back in the main tower's top room, the leader and the cook returned to the dining hall. The cook draw the curtains, as no more light was needed on the courtyard, but the leader excused himself, saying:
-"Please take your second helping, gents, while I rush out to the gatehouse. We cannot let Perce stay alone longer in the cold to keep watch over us!"
And so it came to be that the first became the last. The tall knight having sprinted up the stairs to lower the portcullis, he was the last to come into the heat, get his coat hung to dry, and receive his bowl of stew.
With the worst hunger quenched, the knights went to their bedrooms to change into warm and dry clothes, and then they returned to the main hall.
Wearing tunics, some thought the castle had been heated up surprisingly quick, others found the stew and the rest of the food very nice, and even others grunted happily drinking some ale or wine.
When finally all were happily fed, the watch schedule was decided. Two men should help each other have a look on the environs and make sure they both stayed awake for their designated hours.
The first watch went up, letting the volunteers back down, to the main hall. Normally enjoying the food and drinks (mostly the drinks) could go on into the night. But now they were all tired from the long ride in the blizzard. One by one, the knights yawned and excused themselves, went upstairs to stoke their hearths and crawl under surprisingly warm and comfortable covers.
Only the leader and the man jealously guarding his herbs were left downstairs.
-"Let's put away the left overs, put the bowls to soak in hot water to be washed up later, and go see to the horses!"
Leading the way out of the kitchen, all this done, the leader of the gang turned around to wait for his cook, and frowned a little as he seemed to perceive a quick gush of golden light.
-"I must be tired," he thought to himself, "seeing things that cannot possibly be real!"
When the horses were checked on, wood put into all hearths, candles blown out and the two men going to bed, both was thinking it was good they had reached the castle in such bad weather.
And good that the leader, on his way to the stable earlier, did not hear the cutlery and bowls clean themselves and fly unto the shelves in the kitchen after the cook had left!