The routine remained the same for the knights of Camelot: wake up early, train until noon, have lunch, train until evening, have dinner. For the Round Table, it then concluded with a small meeting with the King and then, more often than not, a trip to the Rising Sun at the end of the night.

Gwaine and Leon sat in on council meetings a couple times, Gwaine’s least favorite part of being recognized as the cousin of the King. He complained that Gareth and Gaheris only went to a few council meetings each month while he went to many more. Arthur liked to remind Gwaine that he was, in fact, next in line for the throne if he and Gwen died. It was practice for that. Gwaine felt convinced that the truth was Arthur liked to torture him.

Two and a half weeks of daily training meant everyone involved felt exhausted. Mark and Michael turned out to be exceptional fighters for their age and upbringing. Gwaine enjoyed training them. Mikhail’s skills were evident too, though the Knights of the Round Table were busier keeping an eye on him out of suspicion. It wasn't exactly fair to him; he had been nothing but a model soldier, keeping Fira’s secret hidden.

For her part, Fira had been kept busy gathering herbs and mixing medicines for the war effort. It seemed half of all patrols came back injured if they traveled towards the Perilous Lands or the Northern Borders. Even inside the borders of Camelot, reports of attacks on outlying villages had increased exponentially over the course of a few months. So she kept herself busy.

So it was one morning several weeks after the start of the twins’ training. Fira bustled about the physician chambers inventorying the supplies yet again. She noticed mint was running low when the door opened behind her.

“Percival!” She smiled widely. The knights had been rather elusive the past few weeks. “What brings you here?”

“The King needs us in a meeting. You included.” He held the door open for her as she dropped what she was doing and made to leave. As they walked together towards the King’s chambers, he spoke up again. “You should join us in the tavern sometime.” With a smirk he added, “Galahad misses you.”

Fira chuckled. “Maybe I will. I miss my knights… occasionally.”

“We'll be there tonight.”

They climbed some stairs and reached the royal chambers several minutes later. Percival knocked and Arthur’s voice sounded inside. He called for them to enter.

“Ah, good.” The king nodded at them. “I have a small mission for you.”

Assembled inside were Gwaine, Leon, Elyan, Percival, and Galahad. Gwen was on the other side of the room talking with the servant Kara. Kara had quickly moved up in the serving world and now took over as Gwen’s maidservant. Gwen’s other maidservant, Eva, had left for home to care for her ailing mother.

Fira cocked her head in question. “What's the mission?”

“Patrol,” Arthur told her. “But mostly I want to use it as a training mission for Gwaine’s recruits.”

Elyan nodded. “Where are we going?”

“Border with the Perilous Lands.” Arthur paused before sighing. “I'm going to regret this. But Gwaine you're in charge.”

Gwaine grinned. “Over Leon?”

Leon looked positively put out. Even so, he didn't complain.

“Yes,” the king replied. “I want you in charge because of your recruits.”

“So, I now outrank Leon in the field as well as the council meeting.” Gwaine smirked and winked at Leon.

Arthur shook his head and raised his hand. “You do not outrank Sir Leon in the field. This is temporary, Gwaine.”

Gwaine just snickered as Arthur turned the conversation around. He explained that their destination should be safe, but he wanted to send a large group just in case.

“When do we leave?” Fira asked her king.

“Day after tomorrow.” He looked around. He saw the tired faces of his knights and nodded to them. “You're all dismissed. It’s been a long day, go rest.”

They bid the king and queen good night. Galahad quickly caught up with Fira as she left the room. He grabbed her hand.

“Come with us to the tavern tonight,” he begged, going doe-eyed. “Please!”

Fira laughed as he pulled her closer. With a dramatic roll of her eyes, she put her hand on his chest. “You want me to come?”

He nodded. “At least Gwaine behaves a little more when you're around.”

“Oh please.” She laughed so hard for a few moments her chest hurt. “Gwaine hardly behaves when I'm there.”

She agreed to spend some time in the Rising Sun that night. Together she and Galahad walked through the Citadel, down into the upper city and lower town. The others had gone straight to the tavern, and they were late to the party.

It was particularly crowded that night. As the couple opened the door, a loud crash and yelling was heard. Some poor sod had angered the management. Fira and Galahad stood aside as the man was physically thrown out the door and into the dirt.

Galahad and Fira stepped around him. When they entered, Percival waved them over to the large table around back. It was Gwaine’s favorite. The man in question stood at the bar, grabbing several large pints of mead. Galahad headed over to help him carry. Fira went straight to the table. As a young woman, she often attracted unsavory attention from the drunkards, as any lady in a tavern did.

“Fira!” Gareth grinned as he saw her.

Everyone turned to look in surprise. At the table sat many knights: Tristan, Gaheris, Gareth, Elyan, Leon, Percival, Tor, Morholt, and Mordred. Gwaine and Galahad soon joined them. Fira grabbed a seat as far in the corner as she could. This put her between Mordred and Galahad.

“What brings you in here tonight,” Tor asked her. “I thought you hated these fine establishments.”

“The lovely Sir Galahad,” Fira winked at her beloved knight. “I couldn't say no.”

“Is Merlin coming?” Gwaine asked her. “I invited him earlier.”

As she was about to respond, the raven-haired man ran over to them. He grinned and pulled up a chair. Gwaine slapped him on the back.

“Good to see yah here, mate.” The knight raised a tankard high and the others joined him. “To the war, that it ends soon with a Camelot victory!”

“Hear hear!” Tristan echoed as they all clinked drinks.

The group broke off into smaller conversations. Gwaine and Merlin were talking up a storm with Elyan and Gaheris. Gareth and Percival spoke much more quietly, while Tor and Leon traded stories of the day with Morholt and Tristan.

Fira turned to Mordred. “How’s Kara?”

“She's well. She enjoys her position as interim maidservant for the Queen.” Mordred almost seemed to blush at the question. “She’s very interested in hearing about all of us. I think she finds our lives interesting.”

Fira chuckled. “Well, you are a knight.”

“Have you taken her to the Hill yet?” Galahad chipped in quickly.

Mordred shook his head. He hadn't time to, he told them. He wanted to. Everyone loved the Hill. Located right outside Camelot’s city to the left, it was a hill decorated in wild flowers during summer. It became a very popular spot for couples.

Mordred turned to Morholt on his right. He was eager to turn the conversation. “Hey, how’s your arm doing?”

He didn't even have time to answer before Fira jumped on it. “What'd you do to your arm?”

“Pulled a muscle during recruit training is all,” Morholt assured her. He moved it around to prove it to her. “It’s feeling a little better, thank you.”

Fira looked at him in annoyance. “You still should've come to me or Gaius.”

Galahad gave a laugh beside her. “Morholt’s too quiet for that.”

“I am not quiet!”

“Yes you are,” Mordred smirked.

“I’m just used to Tor here talking over everything I try to say.” Morholt gestured to the man at his right.

Tor heard his name and turned around. “What?”

“I was just saying you talk too much.”

Tor rolled his eyes. “Not this again.” He looked at the other three. “He just doesn't talk very much so I fill in the gaps!”

“That's what I said,” Galahad laughed.

Fira stopped paying attention to the infighting of the knights. Instead she looked around and found herself watching Gwaine and Merlin in amusement. Despite the fact that the original Round Table all knew of Merlin’s magic now, he still really only felt comfortable drinking around Gwaine, of losing some amount of his control. Fira found it incredibly heartwarming to watch the two of them having fun amidst such a dark time as was war.

Fira stood from the table, assuring her friends she’d be right back. Squeezing around the others proved a small challenge, but once she reached the main area of the Rising Sun it became easier. She walked with purpose to the bar and handed over several gold pieces.

“Wine, please.”

The barkeep gave her a funny look but poured a tankard of wine for Fira. The warlock took it gratefully and turned back to her friends.

“Expensive tastes, my dear.” Gwaine laughed as he saw her drink.

Fira made a face. “I can't stand the swill you all drink.”

Gwaine and Gaheris both laughed long at that. The brothers clinked their tankards and went back to their conversations. Fira returned to her seat. It was going to be a long few hours.