Solcar - 7. Camelot 795

Colton’s smile was so broad and bright one almost needed sunglasses to look at him. He sat beside Tony, riding a tractor over a newly planted cornfield on the family farm. An entirely new experience for the man from Brooklyn he was falling in love with. They had traveled to Donnellson to celebrate the Iowan’s twenty-ninth birthday with the farmboy’s relatives. His parents had been pushing to meet the new guy in his life, who he could not stop talking about for the last couple of months. So, when Tony asked what he wanted to do for his special day…

Tonight, there would be dozens of friends and family members to help him celebrate. Uncles, aunts, cousins, and high school friends and teammates. He came out while a starting pitcher for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, but this would be the first time any of these people saw him with a significant other. Appropriately, it was on May tenth, a rebirth of sorts. It was his birthday, and he would be publicly re-born as half of a couple.

The previous evening he had shared with Tony one of his favorite things to do growing up on the farm; they had slept on blankets in the barn loft. There had been one definite improvement over all those other times in his youth; before falling asleep, they had made love against a hay bale.

•••

“This search for the Holy Grail is such bullshit; who really gives a crap about finding a cup some carpenter supposedly used hundreds of years ago?”

“Please, master, lower your voice. The castle walls have ears, and if your comments made it back to the archbishop…”

“Fuck the archbishop! Then again, don’t,” added Sir Gareth as he softly laughed. “The man has been fucked so often, and by so many, a dragon could probably fly through his arse. Most certainly after taking on Lancelot so often. The size of the equipment on that man’s unbelievable. Did I ever tell you he once tried to bugger me? I threatened to slice it off with my sword!”

“Excuse me, my Lord, but you are not exactly small yourself. From the day I became your page, people have noticed I walk a bit differently. I hear their comments each morning after I leave here.”

“Are you complaining, boy?”

“No, my lord! Never! I was scared the first time but having you penetrate me is always the highlight of my day.”

“I still do not understand why I must spend a year on horseback, escorting a maiden, chasing after something which probably does not exist!”

“King Arthur requires it of all his knights, Sir Gareth. You are aware he expects all who sit with him at the Round Table to undertake the quest at least once in their lifetime.”

“Well, I still do not have to like it! At least you are allowed to travel with me; I am quite certain I could not survive without you alongside me for such a long period. I have become very fond of you in the past few years.”

“As have I, my lord. If you will excuse me for now, Merlin expects me in his quarters quick like. He is attempting to teach me a new spell which may at times assist us during our travels.”

“Then run along, my little sorcerer’s apprentice; you should not keep the Wizard waiting. Please do not return to me this evening looking like a scarecrow, with a skinned knee or a blackened eye once again.”

“I shall try my best, My Lord Sir Gareth of Twain,” shouted the smiling young man as he scampered away.

“Was King Arthur pleased with my Lord’s plans for his quest?”

“He appeared so. At least he did not scowl more than usual. His majesty needs to get laid to improve his mood; Lady Guinevere should really put out more than twice a year. The idiot is so bewitched by the conniving wench he refuses to avail himself of any of the court maidens. Oh well, his problem. My bollocks would explode if they were drained only on my birthing day and on day one of each year.”

“Please, sire, the walls, remember the walls.”

“Yes, yes, the listening walls. Was your training with Merlin successful today? Did you master the spell you thought would assist us during our travels?”

“Aye, my lord. I need to practice, but I do have the procedures memorized now.”

“Very well, then you shall perform a demonstration of this magical spell for my amusement right now!”

“As you command, my lord. The spell makes use of these funny yellow seeds, something Merlin called Magic Maize, obtained from a mighty wizard. Someone named Hank Morgan of Connecticut, often referred to as The Boss. By chanting the correct words and then placing a seed under the tongue, one is magically transported to a secret cave where one will rest until the period called for in the incantation expires.”

“This sounds like a dangerous spell, boy; could you not perchance remain in that cave until the end of time?”

“No, my lord. According to this Hank Morgan of Connecticut, the seeds would only allow you to sleep until the year they came from.”

“Best be careful then; I desire you back in my quarters by the time the Cathedral’s bells ring Vespers.”

“As you command, my lord.”

“Merlin, you useless fool. How is it you are unable to reverse an enchantment cast by the son of Harry the Potter, a simple sorcerer’s apprentice?”

“Not a simple apprentice, Sir Gareth, not a simple apprentice at all; an extremely powerful one destined for great things.”

“And when do you expect my page and companion to return to me from this magic cave he is supposedly resting in?”

“Utterly uncertain, my lord; it is a powerful spell he did perform. But I expect he shall return no later than the year the seeds came from, 1889.”

•••

Solcar knew he had a limited amount of time to read the contents of the small leather-bound book detailing his lives as a human over the past five thousand years. His sentence would not be officially over until he completed his task. He had placed the little tome in his backpack in the overhead compartment; as soon as his traveling companion had fallen asleep, he reached for it.

Even through the tears caused by the loss so many centuries ago, a small smile appeared on his face. The exuberant sorcerer’s apprentice had brought much joy to his life in Camelot; he wondered if the boy had ever reappeared?