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Hi,

I am sure you have already guessed who they were, I just found it fun to write the introduction without names : )

And this story is slightly AU, as Arthur is king and married while Lancelot is still alive.

Thanks for reviews from NotNessecarilyInThatOrder, MoparGirl1 and joggerwriting.

Date (of publishing): Deptember 29, 2020. I hope you will enjoy reading!

2. First watch

Two men, well fed, with good drinks and not risking their mothers scolding them for the odd happy burp, were not at all cold high up in the tower.

But it was still snowing heavily, so no sound would even leave the castle perimeter even if they kept themselves company talking through their watch.

-"Oh, this is lovely, especially compared to the gate house," said the tall fair haired man. "Some has been thinking when building this place."

-"So it must be, Percival. And this watchtower seem to be really nice to use."

As Percival, the knight was known for both strength and perseverance, but not really for speaking a lot, the tower was silent for a while.

-"As must the kitchen be, to deliver such a great dinner!"

-"It is almost strange, Lancelot, that such a royal dinner can be served outside Camelot, in such a short notice."

The addressed knight was lost in thoughts for a while, comparing what had been on the table the past evening with the stew cooked over a camp fire other nights.

-"Right you are, man! Very right! This place must be special indeed. And not just that. Did you see how rapidly the windows lit up?"

-"And how we had not heard Arthur's orders through before the smoke came from the chimneys?"

-"Not to speak, Perce, of the comfortable heat inside when we had dinner and change of clothes. In a large stone house as this, some engineering must have been put in to make that possible. No?"

Now it was the bulky knight Sir Percival who thought this through.

-"Yes, you are right, mate, this would be too good to be true, even in Camelot. Can engineering really make all this happen?"

Lancelot bit his lip. Obviously he thought very carefully what to say next.

-"I am no engineer, so I can not be totally sure. But . . . I have never experienced anything like this before."

Percival shook his head slightly.

-"Neither have I. Should we call it mysterious?

-"We have a long night," said Lancelot. So we have time to think this through. "What if we do call it strange? What if we should have arrived to a dimly lit, moist and cold stone house which never really was heated up, in spite of all fires lit, one after another?"

-"There you have a point, Lance. It struck me that when I looked back to the house from the gate tower, all windows were lit and smoke came from all windows – and I had only had time to lower the portcullis."That is not normal, unless there are a lot of servants around."

-"And here there is none. Well, one, but he is not fast, but clumsy, and he must have spent most of the time cooking."

-"Well, at least, Sir El, we do know how the dinner was so tasty, and that is no mystery at all!"

-"Do, we lord Parcifal?"

Even in the dark, the addressed knight perceived Lancelot's smile. It could almost be heard.

-"Sir Graal, please . . . and yes, we must pay our young and only king the right respect for his cooking skills."

And now was the critical point of their watch, when a lucky intruder might have sneaked over a wall, while roaring laughter echoed all over the courtyard.

"Arthur?" eventually Lancelot managed to wipe the tears off his face and calm down enough to gasp. "The most and high lord being able to cook?"

Good it was that enough snow had fallen that no culprits in the area even thought of being out in the night. So even the next roar of laughter came and went without danger to the knights of the Round table.

-"No, Percival, Arthur, it cannot be, he is not able to boil even an egg by himself. We have to suspect some one else. This can be credited to no one else but our friend, the king's manservant himself!"

-"Merlin? But is he really able to cook like this? I am not sure. Lance?"

-"To this I have to agree! Something IS special here. Or someone?"

Now Percival snorted.

-"Merlin is special, certainly. In many ways. But I think not he mysteriously can light, heat and make comfortable a large stone house alone, and on top of that cook one of the most delicious meals I have ever had. That is simply out of the reach of the Merlin I know." Unless . . .

-"Unless?"

-"Unless, dear Lancelot, this is the work of a wizard."

-"A wizard? Magic?"

-"Yes, that would be an explanation. But it is impossible, of course. Magic is banned in Camelot, since Uther's times. And the magic we have seen has been used try to over trough him. Or have you ever seen any other magic? Have you, Lancelot, ever seen any magic used for good, to serve and help people?"

"-Percival, I actually have!"

-"You are joking, are you not?"

-"No, I am serious!"

-"You can't be!"

-"Yes, I am!"

-"No?"

-"Yes, listen to me! Please! When I rode to meet the Griffin, I heard chants of strange words from behind, and suddenly the spear glowed blue. And before that, had not Gaius told us that the Griffin could just be killed by magic, a magic being as it was?"

-"Aha! So, you say that some one enchanted your spear, and thus the Griffin was killed?"

-"Yes!"

-"If you say so."

-"And I want to add something more, sir knight. I left! Arthur wanted me knighted after the Griffin was dead, but I knew I had not done it. Magic did it, not I. So, I had to leave, or else take credit for something I had not done."

"If you say so, Lancelot. But who did it?"

-"Don't we have a suspect?"

-"You can't be serious!"

-"True, I cannot. But we can still ask if there are signs we have seen, but not connected, signs we have not realised were there, signs we not even percieved – as being magic, I mean?"

For Percival this was quite a new thought. But not totally. He could recall things mysteriously happening during the knights' quests and missions.

Both men thought their adventures through thoroughly. In the watchtower there fell a comfortable silence.

But some time later, they began to compare their memories. And when they were greeted by two friendly faces, who had come to take the next watch, Lancelot and Percival went down the stairs to go to bed realising that – they had indeed a suspect!