They stayed in the town for three weeks to wait for their message to be returned. Percival tried to douse his worries for his parents and Rowan and little Meghan by working like mad. Now he had money for a riding horse as well as a good sword, but that was not what was on his mind at the moment. He also trained with Gwaine a little, but he couldn't concentrate well enough to benefit from it.
Finally the messenger came back. He brought a letter for Percival written by Gareth.
Dear Percival
It was good that you heard of our tragedy, because I don't know how I would have been able to find you by myself.
I am sorry from the bottom of my heart to have to tell you this, but your mother and father, Rowan and Meghan are all gone. Your father fell fighting. Rowan and your mother ran to help him. Rowan attacked the man who killed your father with a knife. Then the man killed him too. Your mother tried to run away, but he cut her down. She was carrying the baby in a sling on her chest, and when she fell, little Meghan must have broken her neck. They're all gone, Percival. My father too, and my cousin. They burned your farm and crops. I am so sorry.
When will you come back and see us?
Gareth.
Percival almost heard the world crack and collapse around him. He couldn't believe they were really gone. If only he could have seen them before they were buried. He felt so alone. And if he had never left Longstead, he could have defended his family. Maybe it was all his fault. Little Meghan. Rowan. It was too cruel.
He let out a long cry of helplessness and anguish.
Without knowing the exact content of the letter, Gwaine guessed what had happened.
"Cenred is a tyrant," he said darkly.
"I want to … kill him," Percival said in a strange voice, that didn't sound like him at all.
Just then a young boy came up and asked for Gwaine.
"That's me," Gwaine said, stepping forward.
The young boy handed him another letter. Puzzled and confused, Gwaine opened it, leaving Percival to his mourning. "Merlin?" he muttered under his breath. It was a short letter but to the point. A friend of his was asking for help. He did not take long to make his decision.
"Do you still want to go to Camelot?" Gwaine asked in the evening, when Percival was somewhat less marked by shock.
"I thought you were banned from there," Percival said dully, without lifting his eyes from his tankard of mead.
"I am. But a friend of mine needs my help. King Uther is waning and Prince Arthur is in trouble."
"You're not making sense. First you regret sparing Prince Arthur's life, and now suddenly he's your friend?"
"Not Prince Arthur. His servant, Merlin."
"Oh. Let's go there, then, if you want. Camelot is an enemy of Cenred, right? I'll help them if I can," Percival said.
Gwaine explained to Percival the few particulars stated in Merlin's letter while they finished their tankards of mead. They had planned to stay in the tavern one more night, but the situation in Camelot was so urgent that Gwaine wanted to leave right away, so he went to cancel their rooms.
So they made their way to Camelot to help Prince Arthur battle his evil half-sister Morgana. With Cenred's help, whose army she had enchanted, she had overrun Camelot and claimed the throne for herself, setting up a regime of terror and suppression within days.
Meeting Prince Arthur, fighting with and for him, changed Percival forever. The young Prince was nothing like he had expected. He was modest, exceptionally brave, and handled the responsibility that had been placed upon him in this distressed time with a wisdom far greater than his age. Every one of his actions were imbued with love for his people and for the noble idea that was Camelot. Percival had never met anyone so truly inspiring. At even the darkest hour, Arthur did not falter.
Percival had never felt more deeply honoured when Arthur made him a knight alongside Gwaine, Percival, Lancelot and Elyan. Gwaine seemed changed too, even though Percival for some time had suspected his friend of having a noble heart despite of his claimed resentment of the nobility. Quite early on he had noticed that Gwaine had a very strong sense of right and wrong and always protected the weak. Merlin and Guinevere, the clever serving girl who held Arthur's affections, were also good new acquaintances.
So it happened that Percival became a knight of Camelot. He knew that he would serve Camelot and Arthur for the rest of his life. This was his place in the world. If only his mother and father could see him now. They would have been very proud, and Rowan's adoration for his big brother would have reached soaring new heights.
Morgana was defeated and the work to set right all the damage she had done began. It would take a long time. Many people had lost some of their family members and their livelihoods. Houses needed to be rebuilt, as well as big parts of the Castle. Ruined buildings and debris needed to be cleared and new crops sown. Outside of his knightly duties of guarding, patrolling and fighting bandits who were taking advantage of the chaotic situation, Percival took part in the manual labour of clearing and rebuilding in the nearby villages.
He got a room in the castle just like all the other knights and he fell asleep at night in the soft bed, feeling almost half dead from his efforts, just like he had done in the hay loft in the old days. He missed them very much, his family and his friends from Longstead. Some day, when his duties permitted it, he would go back and see Gareth.
