Camelot
August, 505 AD
Not having anything better to do, I decided to visit Gaius after bathing following my work with the horses. I paused when I entered his home and found Gwen sitting on a cot, looking troubled as she watched the physician gather some supplies.
"Hi," I made my presence known, frowning as my eyes darted between the pair.
Gwen gave me a little smile, "Hello, Astra."
I moved a bit closer and realised that she had a bruise on her cheek. My eyes widened, "Are you okay?! What happened!?"
"It was rather a ridiculous slip-up," she mumbled shyly while averting her gaze.
I snorted and raised up my left hand (which was bandaged because I'd somehow cut the side of it while climbing over a paddock fence) as I said in an attempt to reassure her, "Gwennie, have you met me? I'm the queen of ridiculous slip-ups."
Gwen sighed, "I was filling up Morgana's tub and tripped and fell while carrying a bucket up the stairs."
"There's nothing ridiculous about that!" I pointed out. "In fact, I'm shocked it doesn't happen more often."
"It is not a rare occurrence," Gaius commented as he moved towards the girl, carrying an ointment and a bandage.
"You people really need some indoor plumbing," I noted while hopping to sit on the work table.
I often complain about the tedious task of filling up my own tub, but I've never stopped to think about what it must be like for the servants who have to do it for the courtiers. It's crazy that no one has thought to create something that might make the task easier! Then again, I don't think Uther or the lords and ladies care much for the servants' struggles. I doubt they even notice.
"Gaius – d'ya think Utah might be willing to get some sort of system built?" I asked.
"An indoor plumbing system?" he questioned. I nodded. "Even if he were, I do not know anyone who could create it."
I tilted my head. I've played 'Where's My Water?'. How much harder than that could sketching a blueprint be?
A smirk formed on my lips as I stated, "Challenge accepted."
"Astraea–"
I didn't stick around to listen to Gaius's concerns as I dashed out of the apartment and took off sprinting towards the royal library so that I could get a blueprint of the castle. And perhaps I could also find documents about ancient Greece, or Rome, or Egypt; which might contain some clues on how I could create a plumbing system in the middle ages.
Arming the castle with copper pipes that connect to each of the bathrooms can't be too difficult and it should be fairly easy to assemble. The main issue lies on how we can get water from the underground reservoir onto hypothetical tanks placed on the second and third storeys. No pump invented in this era is powerful enough to be able to rise thirty-or-so metres.
I rifled through endless documents and books for about a week – skipping out on some hours of sleep and becoming an expert on Roman aqueducts in the process – in search of any kind of mechanism that might be able to solve my problem. If only I had Google!
It was until I got fed-up with Rome and decided to try Greece that I found it: the Archimedean screw. A simple spinning device that can raise up water with the minimal human effort of winding a crank. With a big enough tank, this action could be performed once a day and give the second and third storeys of the castle enough water for everyone to bathe!
Startling Geoffrey of Monmouth in the process, I ran out of the library at… some point, I'm not entirely certain about the time or date, and I didn't stop until I reached the lower town. I sought out a metalworker and asked him to make a miniature version of the Archimedean screw so that I could test it out and make sure that it really works before getting too excited.
Five days later, I was able to test the mechanism and it worked beautifully! And it was then that I really started to plan out everything and create a blueprint that I could present to Uther.
Finally, after almost three weeks of working on my project in secret (I only told Gaius and Merlin about it… and Geoffrey, 'cause he's been listening to my ramblings), I called for a court meeting. Uther wasn't pleased when I did that without asking for permission first, considering that I technically can't order a court meeting given my station as not-the-King; but he still kindly humoured me.
"And you came up with this," some courtier dude asked in a condescending tone once I was done explaining my idea, an amused look on his face.
"Yup!" I chirped with a proud grin.
"But you are just a girl!"
"The Lady Astraea has a brilliant mind," Arthur snapped as he moved to stand beside me, glaring daggers at the man. "You would do yourself a favour by remembering that." I gave him a gentle nudge in silent thanks and he responded with a little smile that caused my heart to skip a beat.
"This is, indeed, a revolutionary idea, Astraea," Uther praised, making me smile widely. "But I worry it may be too expensive."
"And unnecessary," the man from earlier grumbled.
"Really? Ask the people who actually have to fill up the tubs. I'm sure they'll disagree," I responded, raising a challenging eyebrow.
"It is their job," he responded through gritted teeth.
"But it would not hurt to make things easier for them," Arthur countered sharply, making me grin again. Then he turned to his father, "Perhaps we could find out an approximate cost and decide then."
Uther regarded him for a second, a stoic look on his face. Then he glanced down at me and I gave him the best puppy dog look I could muster. "Please?" I said softly.
"Very well," the King relented with a sigh. "I will put Geoffrey in charge of it."
I was rudely pulled out of a peaceful dream in which Spider-Man and I were eating burritos while sitting atop the Statue of Liberty by the sound of footsteps rushing past my room. I frowned and checked my phone for the time, finding that it was 2:00. Could there be another fire somewhere? Or, even worse, another enchanted princess trying to seduce Arthur?!
With a frustrated sigh, I untangled myself from my sea of blankets and pillows and threw on a hoodie to make up for the loss of warmth before venturing outside my room, silently going in the direction I'd heard the footsteps run in.
I breath hitched when the warning bells began to ring.
As I rounded a corner, I spotted two cloaked figures – what appeared to be a man, followed by what appeared to be a child. I bit down on my bottom lip, acknowledging that following them could turn out to be a terrible idea, and I continued to trail them.
My eyes widened when they went into Morgana's room and I took off sprinting, all thoughts of discretion forgotten as my heart raced in fear that they might harm her. I should've grabbed my bow!
"Astraea!" the Lady exclaimed in apparent surprise as I entered her room.
I halted and let my eyes dart around, soon finding a man with shoulder-length hair and a big nose standing by the window. I tilted my head when my eyes then landed on the druid boy that we saved over a year ago. "Hey, lil' buddy…" I greeted him and sent Morgana a confused look.
"They are running from Uther's guards," she informed me. "Mordred led him here for protection."
"What're ya' doin' in the castle in the first place?" I questioned the man while narrowing my eyes at him. He's the one who should know better than to put himself in a situation where they have to run from guards; Mordred's just a kid. "D'ya know what they'll do to both of ya' if they catch you?! They won't care that he's a child!"
"I know that," the man responded. "And we are not just here for protection."
"Oh?" Morgana said.
The man sent me a wary look and I tilted my head again.
"She can be trusted," the Lady affirmed.
He sighed and nodded before speaking, "When I was a child, my parents told me of a crystal. It was taken from the sorcerers in the last days of the Great Purge…"
"Taken by Uther?" Morgana inquired.
"It is here in Camelot," the man confirmed while eyeing her carefully, "locked within the vaults beneath us."
"What d'ya want with it?" I asked.
"It would give the druids enough power to be able to defend ourselves against Uther," he responded.
"So you're gonna steal it," I deduced.
"The vaults are impregnable," Morgana noted. "You could never get it out."
"No, I could not," the man acknowledged while giving her a pointed look.
The nerve of some people.
"So you want her to do it," I concluded while gesturing towards Morgana with my head. The man nodded in response. "That's not a stupid plan at all…" I mumbled under my breath.
Morgana was left gaping at the man, "Me?"
"You are the King's ward. No one will suspect you," he assured her.
"What if they catch 'er?" I questioned.
"Morgana, you are our only hope," the man pressed, seemingly ignoring my comment. I glared at him again.
A second later, I heard more footsteps outside the room and I saw Mordred tense up.
"Someone's comin'," I pointed out the obvious and addressed the two druids, "you two should hide."
Mordred promptly led the man to hide behind the screen behind which he'd been hidden the first time he was here, and Morgana and I moved to sit on her bed, trying to appear as if we'd just been chatting casually.
Even if I knew it was coming, I still started when Arthur bursted into the room with his sword in hand; followed by Merlin. The Prince looked especially handsome with the royal-blue shirt he was wearing, which made his gorgeous eyes stand out even in the darkness, and my stomach began to buzz.
"What on Earth do you think you are doing?!" Morgana scolded in pretend alarm.
Arthur halted and gazed around the room with a befuddled look on his cute face. "I… had reason to believe that there was an intruder in here," he stated.
"Right now, Arthur, the only intruder is you," she spat back.
"Camelot has been infiltrated! Did you not hear the warning bell?" he reasonably defended.
"Of course I did! I was hoping I would be safe in my chambers!" Morgana responded. The Prince's gaze moved on to me and I gave him an awkward wave. "Astra was just checking in on me," the Lady added quickly.
Arthur sighed and looked around once more, "Well, if you would just permit me to search your room–"
"You will do no such thing!" Morgana cut him off quickly, causing him to recoil slightly. "Arthur, do you think that if there was someone else in my room, I would not know about it?"
He appeared like a scolded puppy for a moment before he gave a pressed grin. "Please accept my apologies," he said before turning around and roughly shoving a puzzled Merlin towards the door.
"Dude!" I protested the rude treatment of my friend, but my complaint fell on deaf ears as the boys rapidly exited the room.
I released a puff and turned to look at Morgana again, who sighed in relief.
The druids came out of hiding once the footsteps outside retreated. "We owe you our lives, ladies," the man stated.
"You are safer now, but Uther will not rest until he has found and killed you both," Morgana responded remorsefully.
"You will help us, then?" he asked while glancing between us.
The Lady sighed and turned to me with a hesitant look. I bit down on my bottom lip and looked away. Helping them would be the ultimate treason; and if this crystal is as powerful as the man states, it could be used as a weapon and not just for defence, if it falls into the wrong hands. As strongly as I disagree with the way in which Uther handles magic people, I can't partake in something that could bring about his death – not to mention Arthur's!
"Please, we need you," Mordred pressed, and he seemed to be Morgana's undoing.
"Yes, I will," she responded while pulling him into a hug. "Of course I will."
I simply gulped and kept my head down. Lucky for me, no one pressed me to voice a response and the man promptly gave Morgana instructions on where to meet him with the crystal, once she has it, and then he and Mordred left.
"You seem uncertain, Astra," the Lady commented.
I sighed and nodded, "You know that I don't agree with Uther, but this is way too risky. We don't know that man, and we don't know what this crystal truly does, and you could get caught–"
"You, Astraea Aphelion, are afraid of the consequences?" she asked incredulously. I simply shrugged in response. "I understand your reasons for not wanting to help. All I ask is that you keep my involvement secret," she pleaded.
"Yeah, of course," I promised.
I didn't sleep a single wink for the rest of the night as my brain kept nauseatingly spinning with an endless thread of hypothetical scenarios. On one hand, if the crystal proves to be dangerous and the druids decide to use it to wage war, thousands of innocent lives could be lost. On the other hand, though, Uther has murdered many of their people, so a war declaration wouldn't be unwarranted. It's a complicated situation, and I'm extremely glad that I'm not the one who's supposed to handle it because I'd have a mental breakdown. I do know this, though – more death won't solve a thing.
I very begrudgingly dragged myself out of bed when 9:00 arrived and I lazily brushed my teeth and changed into a yellow hoodie with a Minion face on it and my navy blue riding leggings. Then I decided to skip breakfast and headed straight for the equestrian facilities; my stomach being too stuffed with concern to fit a meal.
Hanging out with the horses is sure to make the thoughts go away for a moment.
After taking Dallas out for his usual workout, I threw myself into working with the young horses that Uther had brought in recently.
First, I took Tequila out for a hand-walk in the lower town, wanting to continue to desensitise him to environments with loaded stimuli.
Next I worked on introducing a chestnut colt named Mezcal to wearing a saddle, and I was fairly pleased to find that he didn't seem to mind it at all.
Finally, I tacked up a palomino colt named Chilaquil (can you sense a theme for the names?) and led him to the arena, wanting to continue working on getting him to line-up at the mounting block off a single whistle.
Once the colt appeared to have a fairly good grasp of what I was asking of him, I ventured further and actually climbed on his back so that he could understand what lining up brings. His ears turned towards me and I gave his neck a gentle rub before clicking my tongue and rewarding him with a piece of carrot. I slid off and had him follow me around at a walk for a minute before trying again.
I gasped at the sudden sound of the warning bells just as I was mounting again and yelped when Chilaquil swerved to the side in a startle, the unexpected motion causing me to fall to the ground ungracefully.
I guess Morgana must've done her thing.
"Today's not my day," I mumbled and groaned as I sat up. I could feel a throbbing pain on the side of my torso. I'm sure I'll wake up with a pretty bruise tomorrow.
Knowing the likely reason for the bells, and knowing that there was nothing to be scared of, I took my time in calming down Chilaquil and tried mounting one more time, without an issue, before untacking him and returning him to his paddock. Then I slowly began to make my way back to the castle.
I hate that I got myself caught in the middle of this, and I hate that I have no realistic idea of what the consequences could be, and I hate that I'll probably have to lie to Arthur at some point!
Fortunately, I was able to avoid people and I reached my room undetected (I think). I locked the door and let myself fall face first on my bed. My sore torso protested the impact.
Great. Filling up my bathtub with that going on won't be tedious. But at least I'll be distracted from the whole mess with the crystal.
What will I do if Camelot does find itself under attack? The only useful thing I'm good at is shooting arrows – and even then, I'm not Hawkeye by a longshot. I'd probably get killed or something… Or, y'know, I'd just use Merlin as a human shield and he can protect me with his magic… Which side would he be on? Would he turn his back on his own kind due to whatever strange sense of loyalty he has for Arthur; or would he turn his back on Camelot? In any case, I don't wanna fight. This conflict is stupid and Uther and the druid leaders need to meet for tea and discuss things like the grown adults they are.
I started at a knock on my door and groaned against the duvet before calling out, "What?"
"It is Arthur," came a response, which made my lips curve upwards. I just hope he doesn't ask anything regarding the crystal. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," I replied, not moving from my comfortable position. At least not until the door rattling reminded me that I'd locked it and I huffed before standing up and going to open it. I gave the Prince a pressed grin when he entered and promptly returned to lie down, accidentally hissing when I felt the pain on my side again.
"Are you all right?" he instantly questioned, turning concerned as he moved to sit beside me on the bed.
"I'll live."
"What is wrong?!"
"Nothing important," I waved him off. "Why were the bells sounding?"
He averted his gaze and let out a long sigh before reaching for one of my hands. I complied happily and smiled as his warm touch sent tingles up my spine.
"Something was stolen from the vaults," he responded, confirming what I already knew.
"Was it important?" I asked. Maybe he knows more about what it does.
"My father says so," he responded gravely. "He said that many sorcerers died trying to protect it during the Great Purge."
"Could it be dangerous?" I inquired in a lower tone.
"Let us hope not."
Indeed.
"I am supposed to search the lower town," Arthur continued, "and my father told me to bring you along…"
I raised an eyebrow, "Why?" This is worse than having to lie to him! I actually have to get involved in trying to find something that I know the location of, but can't say anything, because I promised Morgana!
"You are good at reading people and spotting clues," Arthur responded with a lopsided grin.
Awesome. Now even my great detective skills are being used against me! What's next? Will someone find a way to torture me with my love for horses as well?! Well, I guess that, technically, the universe has already had its go at that with Galileah and Skylo… If something happens to Dal– No! I don't wanna think about that!
"So?" the Prince pressed and I realised that I'd spaced out.
"Yeah," I sighed. "Sure."
So, after I was allowed to have a quick bath (I was shocked when Arthur helped me to fill up the tub so that it wouldn't take me so long!), we made our way towards the lower town, accompanied by some guards.
My stomach continued to churn with guilt at the fact that I know where the freaking crystal is, but I obviously didn't say anything as I tried my best to play the role I'd been assigned as if I were actually looking for the darn thing.
The townspeople seemed reasonably concerned as guards searched homes, and my heart broke a little at the fearful willingness with which every homeowner allowed them into their living spaces and how cooperative they all were; which made me feel even worse. They shouldn't have to deal with this intrusion!
"I don't think whoever stole the crystal lives in town," I noted as we left a house without any findings.
Arthur sent me a questioning look. Our fingers brushed as we walked and I quickly shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie as a way to rebel against the sudden burning urge to hold his hand.
"Most of these people are poor. I doubt they would risk execution and leave their families to starve," I explained in a whisper, not wanting to offend anyone who might hear.
The Prince tilted his head. "If you had a starving family, would you not do whatever it took to feed them?" he countered.
"Good point," I breathed out and fell silent as I hung my head while nibbling on my bottom lip.
We entered another house and the wards went straight to searching the cupboards in the kitchen while I hung by the door beside Arthur, feeling slightly nauseated when I saw the spooked look on the face of the elderly lady who lives in the little home.
"What about rival kingdoms?" I suggested in a whisper. Arthur hummed in response. "They would have the resources to infiltrate the castle and steal the crystal undetected." Obviously, that's not what happened, but the people would be left alone if he believes it and the worst thing that can happen is that he and Uther will be chasing their tails for a few days.
"I am sure my father will exhaust all possibilities," he assured me, giving my side a gentle nudge. I hope he didn't notice how I flinched thanks to the aftermath of the fall I took earlier.
"Of course," I mumbled.
Times like these make me wish I'd stayed in Texas… But then I glance up at Arthur and the wish goes away.
Predictably, the town search proved to be a dead end and we returned to the castle empty-handed.