Chapter 3
To my friend and brother from Terra, I hope this letter reaches you.
Dear Ganymede, or whatever name they gave you after your renunciation of the Mother Goddess, I know it's been years since we saw each other, almost 13 years since the great purge began, and we had to take opposite paths, but, in case you are still alive, and sorry for what he did, I have a very important favor to ask of you. Merlin, yes, our lord, he is still among us, but we can no longer have him around, he was recognized by the king of Cardiff and now every day he spends at our side is a risk to his and our safety, our young master wishes to leave so we can be safe.
Merlin does not yet know the power he has, in fact, even we do not know the extent of what he can or cannot do, I know that you gave up your power many years ago, but, I beg you, if you still have any love for the one who was once your nephew, please, Ganymede, keep our lord protected until he can ascend the throne where he rightfully belongs. If your loyalty to the false king is greater than to your lord, please burn this letter after reading it and move on with your life, do not let Uther Pendragon's cruelty be extended towards our young prince.
May the Gods protect you.
For the love of the Gods, the day hadn't even started, and they were already putting the weight of a life in Gaius's hands, heavens, that was why he hated Mondays.
Gaius had barely awakened that morning when the small familiar of his late sister, Hunith, landed in his window, the creature remaining the same as it had been almost 15 years ago, as small and red as Gaius remembered. In his beak, Fawkes carried an old piece of parchment, and it was enough to see the handwriting for Gaius to know that his peace had come to an end.
"Oh." The old man sighed, he did that a lot, especially on this day of the week, but who could blame him, Gaius was already almost 100 years old and yet it seemed like everyone wanted to dump their problems on him, was it so difficult to see that he was he too old for this shit?
Sir Leon, Gaius's favorite knight in the entire kingdom of Camelot, looked at him worriedly as he passed by his side in a corridor.
"Gaius, good morning, what's wrong?"
"The usual, today is Monday, I've run out of herbs, Mondays have a market and the streets are always crowded, Uther is being an idiot about his old age, Arthur won't shut up about his latest battle against Morgana, and said young lady just sprained your ankle -" Her last complaint appears limping at the end of the corridor, she carries a radiant smile of someone who did something wrong, but who in no way regrets it.
"Oh, allow me to help, my lady." Leon offers her his arm and Gaius sighs again.
"Take Lady Morgana, please sir."
The knight nods and walks alongside the court doctor.
"So, what were the boys talking about?" Morgana asks after sitting at the old doctor's table.
"Ah, Gaius was complaining about how he hates life, just the usual normal."
The old man's eyebrow rises in that way that only he is capable of doing, making Leon feel small again.
"I never said anything about hating life." Complained again. "What I really hate are Mondays, nothing else."
The young men share a laugh, and Gaius ignores them in favor of bandaging the madam's foot.
"What's all this bad mood really about, anyway? I mean, you're usually grumpy, but today you seem worse than usual." Morgana questions with a slight tilt to her peach lips. "Did Mom do something to upset you?"
Again the old man sighs, he hated the queen, he didn't even like thinking about that woman.
"Actually, that's how I am, as I'm taking on an apprentice in a few days and, well, he's going to be a real problem to deal with."
"Oh, an apprentice at last, I was worried that you would die without passing on your knowledge, Camelot would be lost without you -" the old man's look makes the knight hesitate "but... of course that's not a good thing... why?"
Gaius sighs, he's done this a lot since he turned 96.
"Understand, Leon, I'm an old man and very busy, the Gods know I won't be able to keep an eye on the boy for long before I want to choke him in front of our sovereigns."
Morgana lets out a little laugh and gets up from the table, throwing herself completely into Leon's arms for support.
"What's the concern, Gaius? Is he someone with a temper? Maybe a bully? I can ask Arthur to scare him if you want."
"He could have been a bully before, darling, I wish." The old man gets up and takes his basket, he needed to go to the fair now. "But listen to what I say, when my apprentice arrives in the kingdom, you can bet you will all know."
Leon and Morgana stare at each other in astonishment.
"Your new apprentice can't be that bad, right? If so, why would you take him on as a student?" Leon is the one to ask, Morgana already lifted in his arms.
The old man laughs, his expression incredibly tired.
"Oh, honey, I've made a lot of mistakes that I regret, but if I turned that boy down? Gods, I'd be crazy, he'll be my chance at redemption, maybe I can finally feel at peace with myself, knowing that I didn't do it something wrong at least once in your life."
Honestly, anyone who had the courage to speak to Gaius during a Monday needed to be given a title of honor, as even the king wasn't brave enough to do that. Maybe that was why old Mary liked him.
The said old man was in a bad mood due to the arrival of the mysterious apprentice, the boy was supposed to arrive on Wednesday, but Gaius would love for it to take a little longer.
"I'm telling you, Mary, this boy will be a pain in the ass, he'll give me a heart attack before I can even welcome him, I feel it!" He was complaining again, this time to his old student, who hated Mondays as much as Gaius and hated the queen more than anyone. They walked together through the crowded streets of the lower city, this was where most of the merchants set up shop, and it was always crowded on Monday.
"Don't be so worried, you grumpy old man, if you really didn't want the boy, then why did you accept him coming?"
The old doctor rolled his eyes and snorted.
"I owe it to the boy"
Mary waited for more explanation, but it never came, so she just had to make do with this.
"You said Merlin was 19, right? Already of age."
"Yes?"
"Well then relax your nerves, my dear Thomas can be with his boy whenever he needs."
"Ah, I don't know, Merlin is – well, he's special, you know, and your son he's a man at the warmest age of his life, you know?"
Mary turns to her friend, eyebrows raised in silent question.
"Your boy is that age too, what's the problem?"
They pass a herb stall where Gaius buys some medicinal and Mary buys some roots.
"Well there it is, Merlin has what our sovereigns like to call a 'sickness'." insinuates and arches her eyebrows, hoping her friend understands.
Mary thinks and thinks, the realization comes to her when Gaius discreetly points towards young Anthony, who was known as the town's freak thanks to his particular way of dressing in... well, dresses.
"Ah - Oh! I see."
They continue walking and doing their shopping, only returning to the previous topic when Thomas walks past them with his friends.
"You know, I don't believe that my son will see any problems with this 'illness' of your apprentice, I mean, look at those friends of his, I'm sure that young Perry is also 'sick' too" She says discreetly pointing to where the group of friends de Thomas is sitting talking at the fountain.
Gaius arches his eyebrow and widens his eyes.
“Do you think one of them is –”
"Oh yes."
"Gods, looking like that, I would never imagine."
Helen nods wisely, Gaius has always admired the woman's insight, but even he has to admit that he is surprised by the old woman's discovery, after all how did she discover an Achillean so quickly?
"So are you sure it's okay with Thomas taking care of Merlin? My friend warned about changes in the boy's attire, feminine changes."
His former student waves her hands nonchalantly.
"Of course, of course, I assure you there won't be any problems. Don't worry about your boy attracting attention anymore, my son and I will keep an eye on him, who knows, maybe he'll even give me a little help with my work. Is he strong?"
Gaius denies it without hesitation.
"If there was a fight between a broom and Merlin, I'd bet on the broom."
"Gods."
At the end of that afternoon, the two say goodbye and go their separate ways, Mary to her cabin and Gaius to his rooms in the castle. For the rest of that day, Gaius worries about the young prince's future in Camelot.