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“You will never guess who I almost just ran into” Bor’s loud voice cut over the low conversation that was being had by the four men already seated around the small table outside a local bakery.
“We know, we can all see him. He’s why we’re in town, remember? We suspected it was him” Gawain’s voice sounded bored as he nonchalantly gestured to a figure across the street. All members of the group had been taking turns trying to subtly keep an eye on the lone man sketching.
“You found him! Galahad! That’s great. But that’s not who I meant. I just came across someone else” Bors continued, invigorated once again since he truly had knowledge the others did not. “Here he comes now”
All the men’s attention turned toward the direction indicated by Bors who had indicated across the street further to the right. A figure was walking towards the solitary man identified as Galahad by the group. The newcomer moved right into his space causing the young man to look up and grant him a wide smile.
A few words were exchanged between the two ending with the older man leaning down to kiss the artist. It was only when he pulled back and turned with his profile more towards their table did the connection and excitement from Bor’s make sense
“Tristan” Arthur breathed out in disbelief.
“They are both here!?” exclaimed Gawain. “They…found each other. That’s incredible”
“They are…together?” Arthur’s observation came out as more of a question.
“It makes sense doesn’t it. Two lovers' souls are always destined to find each other” Bors speculated out loud. As soon as he voiced the sentence he froze, realizing what he had said in front of their leader.
“Lovers?” Arthur queried. Looking back at the two men across the street then back at Bors. He had of course seen the kiss but the current version of the two men was not what was on his mind.
Arthur looked around to see if anyone else was shocked by Bor's statement but everyone seemed to have developed an aversion to eye contact.
“You all knew” He came to the conclusion. “Why did no one tell me?”
The silence and avoidance continued from all but Lancelot. He could always trust him to say it like it was.
“It wasn’t personal,” Lancelot began. “Roman Christianity was infinitely less accepting of relations between two men. What do you think your roman commanders would have done if they found out you were condoning it?”
He wondered how he missed it for so long. Or if it had only been in the last few months of their mission. Tristan had always been incredibly private and stoic. Never saying 5 words if 2 would do. He was also fiercely protective. Protective, he thought, because Galahad was the youngest. Was the most reluctant to fight. So Tristan pushed him to train more than the others in hopes that muscle memory would take over for when his heart wasn’t in it. Galahad never grew out of the habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve. He wondered if that’s part of what drew them together.
He was broken out of his thoughts when the sound of voices around him started to increase.
“What?” he questions, having not heard any of what was being said.
“I said what do we do now? What’s the best course of action?” Bors voiced.
“Approaching someone one on one is one thing but I don’t think it’ll be as easy if they are together no?” Gawain added
“If he’s anything like Tristan he’ll be incredible defensive” Dagonet added
All their points rang true.
“We’ll take it slowly. Figure out their routine, where they live. We have the comic, it’s evidence may be enough.
He hoped it would be enough. With this new revelation about Tristan and Galahad's relationship Arthur wasn’t sure the youngest of their knights would be as willing to rejoin, especially considering the fate of Tristan in the final battle depicted in the comic..and in their prior life.
*******************************************************************************************
Over the next few days they tried to understand the schedule of the two men.
Galahad seemed to flutter from space to space, going wherever his inspiration to write or draw would take him. It made him increasingly harder to follow without looking suspicious.
Tristan operated more at night. They often didn’t see him until way past noon. It appeared he was involved in, maybe even owned one the local clubs. The only thing that they could count on was the two men meeting up to eat dinner together.
After dinner, some nights they would both return to a large apartment complex. Other nights they would go their separate ways before ending up at the apartment building at varying times.
Tonight looked like a night where they would be splitting up. It had been decided that they should try to speak to both of them separately first. Whether or not that was truly the better strategy was to be seen.
Arthur, Dagonet and Bors would go to the club to catch Tristan, or Nigel as they discovered his name was in this life. Lancelot and Gawain would try to approach Galahad who was going by Aiden in his reincarnation. Armed with the graphic novel that ‘Aiden’ had created they were confident he may be easier to convince.
Gawain also felt he had an advantage as the day prior ‘Aiden’ had spotted him trailing him to a more secluded place he’d gone to draw. Gawain had quickly put on the facade of a lost tourist and made friendly contact and conversation. When Aiden mentioned seeing him and the others around town a lot he had answered that they were just passing through and were traveling across Europe and all the Slavic countries. The last part wasn’t even a lie. Gawain didn’t see any recognition in ‘Aiden’s’ eyes aside from an initial double take he thought he saw in his old friend's face.
Now was the time to put their evening plans into action. Lancelot and Gawain tried to keep their distance. They figured once Aiden got to wherever his inspiration destination was tonight they could slowly approach and start their conversation. Based on his recent patterns he would usually end up at an old church or at a late night cafe. He typically didn’t wander into the more forestry areas when it was dark.
They were about 10 minutes into their trailing of the younger man when he turned a corner into an alleyway. It was a new route and both Lancelot and Gawain shared a concerned look. It was much harder to pretend to have just been walking down an alleyway versus just walking down a street coincidently.
They met eyes and they proceeded down the alley, but the young man was nowhere to be seen. The options were limited to where he could have gone and they hadn’t hesitated that long. Lancelot continued to walk, seeing what may have been a turn at the end of the alley that could have led back to the main street based on the curve. He turned to ask Gawain if they had made a mistake but his words didn’t come out when he saw the man known as Nigel with a gun to Gawain’s throat, effectively silencing both of them.
HIs eyes looked slightly past the two men and caught sight of Aiden who was standing a little further back and to the left of them. HIs nervous shuffling betrayed the strong front face he was trying to put on.
“Why are you following Aiden?” Nigel's voice all but growled out.
“I think we have a misunderstanding” Lancelot began, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender to show he meant no harm.
“No misunderstanding. You and the others in your idiot gang aren’t as subtle as you think you are” Nigel replied. Despite the tense situation it still amused Lancelot to hear ‘Nigel’ talk so much and he had to stop himself from smiling as Nigel continued.
“Now. You have 10 seconds to tell me exactly what the fuck you are doing here or you’re going to see your friend’s brain on the street. Then it’ll be yours”
There’s the Tristan he knows. Before he could try to explain Aiden's voice sounded
“Did my father send you?
“No.” Lancelot answered
“The Russians?” Nigel pushed. “Because I was serious when I said I was done. That life’s behind me now. If they want to continue their shitty low quality drug exchange they can do it with that piss clown Darko.
“No one sent us” Gawain voiced, despite having the weapon still on his throat. “We just wanted to talk to him, to both of you. Well, we wanted to talk to him since we realized he was in town” he gestured as much as he could backwards to Aiden. “But now that you are here…”
“That’s real sweet but we’re not into multiple partner sex parties” Nigel cut him off. Shoving Gawain away from him who stumbled and stood next to Lancelot.
“No that’s not…”
“You say no one sent you but you say you are here because he was in town” The gun was now pointed to be able to shoot either of them and Lancelot could see the patience of not understanding a potential threat about to break,
“His art!” Lancelot said quickly and loudly. As he continued to speak he made sure to look at both Aiden and Nigel as he tried to explain. “We really had just been passing through originally but we saw your art. And your comic at the book shop. The art style and name matches a comic we picked up in London. We’d been trying to find the creator of it”
“Why?” Aiden’s voice trembled a little.
“It’s going to sound crazy”
“We’ve heard crazy before”
“Do you believe in reincarnation?”
The sound of the gun cocking indicated that Nigel clearly thought they were nothing less than crazy deranged people
“We used to be brothers in arms. Proud knights under the command of Arthur. We undertook hundreds of quests but we’ve all been brought back to complete one more, because Arthur needs us now. We’ve been looking for you, and him, for years.”
“I don’t know what kind of drugs you are on…”
“It’s the truth,” Gawain added. “Arthur. He found us. Helped us remember. WE want to help you remember as well than we can finally help Arthur rest”
“Proud knight is not in my blood, I can assure you that” Lancelot was stunned that Nigel was still allowing them to talk and only provided a retort.
“You’ve never had any weird dreams, things that felt like deja vu?” Lancelot turned to look at Aiden who had moved to stand close to Nigel. “ You know it’s true. Because you remembered it. You remembered it all perfectly.
“What? No…no I don’t”
“Gawain, the book” Lancelot urged.
With an exaggerated gesture to ensure they understood he wasn’t reaching for a weapon, Gawain went to retrieve the graphic novel from the side bag he’d been carrying. Once it was out in the open he held it out as an offering.
Aiden glanced at Nigel and then stepped a little closer to retrieve the offering. He examined the cover and then began thumbing through the pages.
“Where did you get this?” he asked in disbelief.
Lancelot waited until he had Aiden’s full attention before speaking “A professor in London. He brought it back with him from America because he thought it was so unique. Thought the story was so refreshing, such a different take on such classic characters”
“A true take, by the way,” Gawain added. “Not that the world today believes it. But I’m glad there’s at least one correct version of us out there.
Aiden was still struggling to understand while Nigel remained vigilant but tense, waiting for any moment to strike if required.
Finally Aiden found his voice seeming to have come to some conclusion “You tracked me down because you believe you are characters…. From a book I wrote when I was still in high school?”
Nigel narrowed his eyes confused, looking quickly to his partner then back to Lancelot and Gawain, trying to see the crazy perhaps but finding none.
“Not believe,” Lancelot tried to emphasize. “We are these people. Look at their faces in the book and look at ours. The resemblance is almost exact. You drew us because you remembered. Look at Tristan. Really look. Who does that look like”
For a minute it looked like Aiden would refuse but he finally flipped through the graphic novel again eye’s widening before looking up to catch Nigel’s eyes.
“That’s a coincidence. I always liked this character the best so I drew him as someone that I would like” he finished blushing.
“You drew yourself into it, Galahad.” Lancelot pointed out
“Yeah that’s what kids do. kIds want to be heroes. Who didn’t want to go on adventures and be a knight as a kid. To get away.”
“You ARE a knight” Arthur's voice rang into the alley. Dagonet and Bor’s followed close behind him. They must have come to find them when they realized Nigel broke the pattern and wasn’t at the club. Nigel sensing the bigger threat, turned his weapon towards the newcomers.
Nigel looked at Aiden, sensing his great unease. “You are all fucking insane”
“We have a potion, left by Merlin. We can help you remember, it’ll help you see” Arthur spoke confidently
Nigel scoffed “Here we go. The first hits free yeah and then once you’re out of your skull it’ll cost you. I’ve been in that game longer than you I guarantee. So this is my final offer” he said looking around to all. “Take your shit drug and your batshit insane stories and leave town before I have to make you. It’s easier to force a dead body than a live one. We are leaving and if I see anyone come near us again with your sell you’ll be getting a bullet for your troubles”
With the gun in one hand Nigel grabbed Aiden with his other, pulling them past the knights and back onto the street, looking back to make sure they were staying put.
The remaining knights all relaxed after a few minutes, thinking over what went wrong and realizing their task was about to get a lot harder than expected.
*****************************************************************************8
It was only 2 days later that the knights found themselves in the apartment of ‘NIgel and Aiden’.
Head on and in private was the determined course of action but the situation was quickly unstable.
“You really have a death wish huh? Aiden look away sweetheart you don’t need to see brain matter”
“Please! Just listen”
“Nah, ah ah ah, we don’t need to hear your cult pitch again”
“I know it’s a lot to take in. It wasn’t this hard with the others, and I feel like I understand why” he said softly looking over at Aiden. “But I just want to give you one final question to think about and plead that you do think about it and truly consider it. Looking at all our faces, do you truly feel nothing?
“Oh, I feel a lot of things” Nigel responded cocking his gun.
“Look at them please. Just look. You were the best scout in the world. You had a hawk, you trained it since it hatched. You had low tolerance for people but you loved that bird. If anyone else aside from Galahad tried to touch it it would peck their fingers off. And you loved Galahad. I know that now.
“And you” he said turning towards Aiden. “The youngest of us all. Saw so many horrors but still believed that the world could be good. You fought with us. Defending us against any enemy even though you hated that you had been forced into duty. Even though killing caused you pain because your heart was so big. It is still too big. But you made us stronger, we were all stronger together . Because we did defy Rome by being equals.
Nigel surprisingly had lowered his weapon during the speech. A glimmer of something passing over his eyes. Aiden on the other hand seemed to grow more distressed, his face in a contemplative anguish before it turned angry.
He picked up the graphic novel before glaring at Arthur.
“If all of this” he started, stabbing his finger at the comic, “Is true, than your mission, this brotherhood” he spat. “Got HIM killed!”
The him he was referring to was obvious in his emotions that were all over his face. He glared through the moisture forming in his eyes looking over to Lancelot and Dagonet “Got YOU killed! And yet you still wish to follow him blindly again!?”
“The warriors who died, died for the honour of, and in support of the greater good and the mission” Bors tried to reason
“That kind of justification sentiment is easy to say for those who got their happily ever after isn’t it” Aiden spat back at Bors.
“I think you should all leave” he said, all emotions except for anger dropped from his tone.
“Gal…Aiden. Please”
“Aiden…” surprisingly nigel’s voice sounded as well at the same moment. Neither call calmed Aiden down, and as no one made to leave he voiced a new grievance.
“You know, I remember writing this story now. I remember what happens in it. When people read it they think that Arthur was the Hero. A nobel man. He isn’t. That’s not what the story is about. Arthur is merely a servant to the oppressions of the times even though he played like he was above it. Just a Christian Roman that thought he was above everyone else. Thinking himself nobel and special that he was in charge of the outcast Pagan savages that were stolen from their homes. Who played at equality and freedom while knowing he was the only free person among them. Who learned a lesson way too late for his redemption to mean ANYTHING!”
Everyone in the room was frozen as he continued and as no one moved to interrupt him Aiden continued “ It’s no wonder the general tales of the legend of King Arthur leave out the parts about the slaughtering of entire races and colonies. About the subrogation of anyone who didn’t agree with Christianity” he threw the novel to the ground . “GET OUT!”
When no one made a move he turned to Nigel.
“Nigel” he pleaded, looking to the older man to do something, to react in some way as he too had a far away look during the speech. To the others, his face resembled more of the pointed contemplative look they recalled seeing on the Tristan they knew.
“Nigel” Aiden tried again, finally shaking Nigel out of his thoughts who looked over at the younger man taking in what he was asking.
“Leave. Now” he said lowly, leaving no room for argument.
Arthur looked to his men, indicated that they should leave before speaking directly to Aiden
“I’m so sorry. For the pain I had caused before. And for not seeing either of you or being supportive.” He reached into his jacket retrieving the final two vials that he had been holding onto for years. “I’ll leave these here. Take them or don’t. I understand. Truly I do”
As Arthur turned to leave he saw the troubled expressions on his current knight's faces. Before anyone could protest he raised his hand to stop them, gesturing to continue to leave the space.
**********************************************************************************************
Once they were outside his men could no longer hold their tongues and a chorus of concerns sounded
“Arthur..”
“Those were the only way…”
“What if they..”
He held his hand up again but Lancelot didn’t care which led the others to verbalize their issues with his choice.
“If they break the vials they’ll be lost forever. They will never remember and you will be stuck”
“Tristan was about to remember, we almost had him, I could see it!” Gawain added.
“Galahad has always been emotional, don't let his high emotions deter....” Bors started
“Enough” Arthur said softly but firmly, “His emotions are not misplaced. He’s right. Who am I to force my beliefs upon others? I’ve already done that too many times before. This shouldn’t be my decision.
“Arthur”, Lancelot implored. “Without them you’ll just linger. You won’t be able to finish the final destined quest, you heard Merlin, you won’t be able to move on”
“Perhaps that is my penance then. My karma for past deeds. Good intentions do not make deeds inherently good”
“They’ll come around” Dagonet tried to convince. “They just need all the context, all the memories to remember what our true bonds were. That dying for each other was worth it. That the loyalty we built over 15 years was real, it wasn’t captive bonding.
Arthur smiled tightly. “I have a theory now, about why it was easier to get through to all of you compared to them. I can swallow my pride and acknowledge it even though it breaks my heart a little. Galahad and Tristian's loyalty to me… to us, was always secondary. At least as time went on. Their loyalty to each other far exceeded it. To think that they must have always thought that I would judge them, or throw them to the Romans because of their love of each other. To have caused them to live in fear when they should have been free. And to know that all of you on some level had the same thoughts about me…. It doesn’t matter now. I’ve taken away all of your lives again and it was selfish. I understand completely if you all wanted to part ways.
The men had all remained silent during Arthur's monologue.
“We’ll continue to help anyway that we can Arthur” Lancelot spoke for the group and the chorus of nods followed.
************************************************************************************
Despite the strangers leaving over an hour prior Aiden had yet to settle. Nigel had been at a loss of what to say as he was feeling incredible off balance himself. A nagging feeling he couldn’t place just wouldn’t leave, but nor could he fully identify what emotion he was feeling.
He was more curious than upset if he were to be honest with himself. After Aiden retreated to their bedroom he felt drawn to the counter where the graphic novel laid along with the two vials the leader of the group had left.
********************************************
“Do you remember the first thing I said to you the day we met?” Nigel questioned, having finally gotten Aiden's attention.
“You mean the day you threatened the bookshop owner into telling you who I was?”
“It was a persuasion at best. I didn't even threaten any maiming. But yes, that day”
Aiden smiled. “ Of course, how could I forget being tracked down by a stranger whose opening line was ‘I don’t recommend pursuing that bitch from the chocolate shop her family is fucked up’ “
Nigel considered Aiden’s amused recollection and laughed lightly when he realized he was right.
“Okay, maybe the second thing I said to you” he tried again
Now it was Aiden's turn to think a little harder.
“You’re twice as beautiful as your art but I’d like to find out if you are just as fearless”
“That’s right” Nigel gave a big smile back.
“It’s a wonder I agreed to dinner after that, what a line” Aiden rolled his eyes in dramatic exaggeration.
“Anyways” Nigel cut in. “You proved me right immediately. You are not afraid of anything. The shit you put up with. My obsessiveness, my line of work”
“Former line of work” Aiden now cut in.
“Look, my point is darling, you helped me…grow” he settled on. “If I hadn’t met you I’d probably be fucking dead by now. You made me feel free. I read the book thing. The knights, they all died free”
“Freedom should never have been in question!” Aiden's anger which had dissipated greatly roared back to life now at the mention of Knights. “The circumstances were abhorrent”
“The circumstances brought together two people into a meaningful relationship” Nigel couldn’t believe how calm he was being and how much he believed it.
“That’s not in the book” Aiden shot back at him.
“No” he agreed. “But it’s what happened” Nigel tried searching in Aiden's eyes for the recognition of acceptance of what he said. The feeling in his own chest was getting harder to ignore, like there were memories trying to break through but for the time being all he was getting were the vague feelings.
“You can’t be serious” Aiden shook his head, moving to stand away from Nigel. “I’m supposed to be the dreamer and you are supposed to be the realist!”
“I don’t think that you don’t believe me. I think you are scared to accept that you do because of what you lost” Aiden’s glare had now turned to complete eye avoidance. “You think it’s a coincidence I fell so hard so fast, that I found you at all?”
“You have an obsessive personality, don’t read into things” Aiden spat back.
“You know that's not all it is. In the story that all gather around Lancelot, even though both he and Tristan were killed. Why is that?”
Aiden looked up at him, confusion finally becoming his prominent motion instead of anger.
“Because they didn’t care” he settled on.
“You are the author. Are you not the decider of how your characters react?”
“It felt like they didn’t care. Not one of them understood. Not one of them tried to help.” Aiden said as if speaking on it as a real event that he didn’t create, just had scribed the story for future generations. Proving more definitely to Nigel that they were clearly feeling the same emotions and perhaps, dare he say, memories. He was about to highlight this when Aiden continued to speak, apparently also realizing how he had answered the question.
“I felt like I couldn’t breathe when I saw him earlier. It was like I was having a panic attack, but also I was just so fucking angry”
“You’ve described that feeling to me before. When you talk about your father”
Aiden sucked in a sharp breath, body tensing and fists clenching
“That kind of emotion comes from family betrayal, Aiden. So what does that make those men”
“I don’t want anything to change”
“It doesn’t have to”
“But it does! You heard him after he left. If it’s real and we don’t help……” Aiden trailed off. Looking first to the novel and then to the vials before softly speaking “ I don’t want to remember losing you. It’s like it’s a fact I read and the actual feelings are locked behind a door so I don’t have to feel them. I don’t want to open it”
“We are here now. The past happened but it’s the past. You aren’t going to lose me. As far as I’m concerned though, we don’t owe anyone anything. Our lives now are just as important. You want to smash those vials, we can smash them”
“You feel it too don’t you? Like it’s under your skin, the almost memories” Aiden asked, keeping eye contact this time around. Nigel considered lying but didn’t.
“Yeah, I feel it”
***************************************************************
Arthur sat by himself in the one diner in town that seemed to be clean and opened before 6 am. It was decided the night before that he and his remaining knights would venture back to find Merlin, to see if there was any way around his prophecy that accounted for missing two members. The others had agreed to meet here shortly but Arthur, who couldn’t sleep, decided to get some space to himself to think.
Enjoying his quiet contemplation he was extremely startled when a voice started talking.
“You know, in my previous line of work I met a lot of fucking crazy people. Narcissists, tweekers, gangsters”
Arthur focused on looking up to the voice speaking to him so nonchalantly. The voice of his former scout standing over him. His expression was hard to read and he wasn’t sure if this was another threat to leave. He was about to speak up and let him know they’d be gone in a few hours but he continued now that he saw he had Arthur's attention.
“It made me paranoid. So I always had my home base covered with the best security I could find. Security like cameras and microphones, all over my immediate area, not just in the flat.
Nigel took a seat across from him in the booth and when Arthur looked at him this time he seemed significantly less hostile than normal
“Is it true that if you don’t have all your soldiers to complete the final quest that your soul will be doomed to walk the Earth unfulfilled?”
“That’s a dramatic interpretation, but accurate I suppose”
“That’s what he thought, empathetic idiot”
Arthur was frozen. He wasn’t sure what prompted this or where it was going
“Dramatic speeches always were your strong suit,” Nigel added. Arthur still felt he couldn’t read the situation, but he was ready to retort that neither Nigel nor Aiden should pay any mind to his personal sorrows considering they barely believe him , but Nigel continued to talk to fill the silence, possible due to his inaction and failing to understand what he was trying to imply.
“It wasn’t you we didn’t trust. Rumours travel fast, plausible deniability could have saved your life. I know you couldn’t have been blind to it, they were always trying to find a way to take away your command and with that, your life, I am sure” He finished by rolling an empty vial on the table that he retrieved from his pocket.
Arthur's head snapped up to fully meet the eyes of the man sitting across from him, taking in his words and the vial.
“Tristan!?” he exclaimed
“Don’t get sappy” Tristan grumbled
Arthur didn’t know what to say, didn’t know where to start
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for Galahad after you died. If I had known… No it didn’t matter your relationship, I should have been there for him regardless after everything that happened that year.
“That sounds like an apology for his ears, not mine”
“Did he take it?” Arthur questioned
“We did it like we do everything. Together or not at all” Tristan stated, re-pocketing the vial.
“Is he…” Arthur wasn’t sure what he wanted to ask. Is he okay, is he still upset, Is he going to run. Thankfully Tristan answer for him
“He’s still processing some things. I imagine he has quite a few more memories than me considering his longer life span. And you know he was never committed to the cause. The pointless killing, never had a taste for it.
Arthur wanted to ask who convinced who to force the full memories. He suspected the day prior that they both had a few memories or emotions seeping in already. Tristan had made the earlier comment about ‘that’s what he thought and empathy’ From what he knew of Tristan, and even Nigel, he wouldn’t have pushed it, he would have left it up to his partner. Meaning he once again felt terrible. Or course Galahad would feel guilty over hearing how much Arthur was depending on them. He was always so selfless. Always put others before himself for better or for worse. He was starting to think that all he ever did was cause mental distress for their youngest member.
Silence had well and truly descended over the two men, both lost in thought. He absently wondered if Tristan ever had the same thoughts about Galahad's nature. Did the attraction start one way and Galahad felt the need to reciprocate? No, what a terrible thought to have. That was simply his roman christian bias again. Movement caught his eye breaking him out of his thoughts.
The rest of his knights had found their way into the diner and were eying Tristan with varying degrees of curiosity as to why he was present. Bor’s broke the silence, apparently coming to the conclusion that ‘Nigel’ was here as a foe
“No need for more threats, this will be our last meal here”
Tristan kept his eyes on Arthur’s even as Bor’s spoke, so Arthur in turn kept his eyes on him.
“Our departure has actually been delayed” Arthus spoke it more like a question, still looking at Tristan and not his men.
When he looked up confusion remained on all his men’s faces. Many were still looking warily at ‘Nigel’ until the stoic man reached into his pocket and placed an empty vial on the table. Everyone but Arthur gasped at that.
All at once they tried to move towards Tristan, hands outstretched until Tristan put a quick end to it
“If anyone tries to hug me they’ll be getting a blade in the gut. That rule has not changed”
Laughter rang out, mumbles of ‘classic Tristan’ were heard.
Gawain was quick to voice the elephant in the room “What of Galahad?” he asked.
“He’ll….adapt” was all Tristan replied. All but confirming for the rest of the men that he remembered but was clearly not at peace with anything yet.
Before any other questions or comments could be made Tristan stood from the booth, making space for the others and ready to take his leave.
“Tomorrow night. Meet us at my club. 7 o’clock, the back door will be open. I know you know which one. You are all terrible at remaining undetected when scouting. We can talk then”
For the first time in years, Arthus felt like he could finally rest easy, knowing his knights had his back.
******************************************************************
The following night they met as planned.
Although it was known that Galahad remembered, there was still an air of tension that prevented conversation to flow easily. No one knowing how to approach him.
They had all shuffled in the back door to the club to see Galahad and Tristan doing odd tasks, getting ready for the club opening later that night. The initial head nods of acknowledgement lead the knights to take a seat and converse amongst themselves until Tristan and Galahad joined them. Although the two didn’t try hard to integrate themselves into conversation.
After ten minutes of semi awkward silence Arthur cleared his throat , ready to take charge of a conversation that needed to be had but Galahad spoke first.
“I can’t believe that not one of you fuckers have offered to give me a hug. It’s like I'm a leper. Am I really so off putting?” his voice held no malice, only quiet teasing amusement.
Three of the knights moved at once towards Galahad, Bor’s pushing his large hands out to keep Gawain at bay while he claimed the first tight hug.
“I missed you Galahad the not so pure” he jested, earning a laugh from the young man.
Stepping back he allowed his fellow soldiers their turn while Tristan looked amused and rolled his eyes. His eyes however became sharp again as Arthur approached. He had been hanging back, observing the reunions respectively.
The tension that had greatly lessened in the room inched up a little again as all the men observed how the interaction would proceed.
“I’m sor…” Arthur stared only to be cut off right away.
“You don’t have to apologize” Galahad said softy. “Nobody can change what happened, I know you did all you could over the years and at the end”
“I could have done so much better” Arthur felt the need to say because he knew it was true. Knew he could have done so much more after the final battle.
“It’s fine. We are all here now. But it needs to stay that way” the threat implicit in the young man's voice, his eyes staying on Arthur's. Arthur gave a small mod, holding his hand out to Galahad. Galahad took it, using it to pull Arthur into a hug and speaking
“We’ll help where we can, but we can’t risk everything again”
“I understand” he said. And he did, truly.
“What exactly is this final quest?” Tristan queried once everyone was once again seated.
“I wish I knew. All I know is that once I had gathered all that went into the final days of our final mission, I was to return to Merlin for the final task.
“When do we leave?”
Arthur looked around at his knights, all reunited and smiled.
“We leave at dawn”