Chapter 13
Even in this first year of its existence, the company of the Round Table accomplished things of great valor, and too many to count. Hardly could a book hold all the adventures of Sir Ulfius, or of Sir Ector, or of the brothers, Sir Breunor the Knight Without Fear and Sir Branor the Brown, or of Sir Segurant the Knight of the Dragon, the son of Sir Branor, or of Sir Abiron, or of Sir Caradoc Short-Arm, or of Sir Caradoc the Thirteenth, the Knight of Great Size, or of Sir Meliodas, Sir Guiron the Knight Courteous, and Sir Danyn the Red, in keeping the peace and fighting the enemies of King Uther Pendragon. Their fame spread to all the lands thereabout, and as their feats grew more renowned, the kings of neighboring nations began to imitate them, creating their own companies of knighthood.
Within the court of King Uther were more than a few who had no love for Merlin, however, and, conspiring together, some of the barons came to the king and asked about the vacant seat at the Round Table. "Surely," they said, "it should be given to some worthy knight, so that the Table might be completed."
The king explained that according to Merlin it would not be filled in his own time. "No name appears on the table for this seat," said the king. But the barons laughed.
"Cannot anyone sit at a table? Can it really be the case that no one in the kingdom is worthy?" they asked. "Surely there could not be better men than exist now. We cannot know until it has been tried."
Then King Uther Pendragon said, "I will not try it, lest it anger Merlin."
"At least let us try it," they said.
"I would be interested to see it," the king admitted, "if it did not seem against the spirit of Merlin's instructions."
The barons, however, replied, "They say he knows everything that happens in the kingdom. If we try it, and he knows about it, and there is some problem with doing it, he would no doubt come and stop us. Let us try this next Pentecost feast."
This seemed a reasonable argument to the king, so he granted his permission, although he still had some doubt in his heart about how Merlin might see it.
At Pentecost the king, the knights, and the people came together. Rumors had already spread about the trial of the seat, as well as many rumors about Merlin himself -- that he was dead, that he had gone mad in the wilderness, that he had been exorcised and sent to hell.
The fifty sat at their seats. Then the king asked who there would volunteer to try the seat, saying that such a man should be a stouthearted knight of good service. And one of the barons who had originally proposed the trial spoke up immediately and volunteered. Coming to the fifty, he said, "Good brothers, I will join you at your Table."
Then he sat at the place at the Table that had no name. All of those there watched to see what would happen, and in the next moment they arose to a man with a distressed cry. Like lead into a lake, the baron who sat at the vacant seat sank into the ground and disappeared before their eyes. Everyone was in a great confusion about what to do, and so they remained until the quinzieme of Pentecost. On the fifteenth day, Merlin came.
King Uther went out with joy to meet him in person, but when Merlin saw him, the child put his hands upon his hips and said to him, "Must I give instructions on every little thing? You did badly in letting anyone sit at the vacant seat."
"I was misled through bad advice," said the king.
Merlin replied, "When men are misled, they have usually first misled themselves." And the king conceded that this was perhaps true.
Then the king asked, "What has become of the man who sat in the seat?"
But Merlin replied, "It is pointless to inquire. Spend your attention on those who sit licitly and gather them together for the great feasts."
"Can I be forgiven for this failing?" asked the king.
"When cherry trees give fruit in winter, we can believe no harm was done except to the fool who sat in the empty seat," said Merlin. And the king, taking this to be the same as saying nay, was saddened.
Then King Uther Pendragon ordered built a great hall to hold the Round Table, and decreed formally and by law that once it was completed, the knights of the Table should meet every Pascha, Pentecost, Hallowmas, and Christmas, and that to the next Christmas feast the knights and barons should bring their their wives and sons and daughters.
Chapter 14
In the meantime, however, word had come that many Saxons had united under captains who were dissatisfied with the peace, and had invaded the lands from the Humber to Alba. They then sought to seize Eboracum, also known as York, as well, but as the city defenses held against them, they attempted to besiege it. King Uther Pendragon marched with all haste to the succor of the city, and, not waiting even a moment, assaulted the besiegers. The fighting was heated and difficult; many a man on both sides was run through by steel before the day had finished. Back and forth the battle went, but in the end it began to tip in favor of the Saxons, and the Britons were forced to withdraw northwestward to a hill-fortress, which had once been an outpost-fort of the Roman legion that had been stationed farther north at Isurium Brigantum. There they were besieged by the Saxon host and the king was afraid for his men.
One of the lords who was with the king at that time was Gorlois, Duke of Trevena, which is also called Tintagel, in Kernow, who had aided Uther and his brother in the fight against Hengist, and the king asked of him what counsel he could give.
"My counsel," said Duke Gorlois, "is that we are better served by taking up our arms and descending in wrath upon the Saxons than by sitting on this hilltop. They believe us to be well-bottled, and no doubt are complacent at what they assume to be victory near at hand. Let us then take our fate into our hands like men and fall upon them suddenly and as quietly as we may. If all goes well, they will be bewildered and confused."
"This seems our best choice," said King Uther, "although it also seems full of risk."
"Then let the men prepare their souls properly," said the duke, "and have a righteous penitence, asking God's pardon for anything they have done amiss. If God is with us, how can we fail? And if he does not choose to take our side, the men will fight more fiercely and do more harm to the foe if they are clamed in spirit."
The king and his captains agreed with what Gorlois had proposed, and in prayer the men humbled themselves before God. When the prayer was finished, they took their arms and descended in stealth down the hill. So quietly did they go that they soon found themselves in the midst of sleeping Saxons, and they had a merry swordplay, and many a sword cut flesh in the slaughter that ensued, as the Britons thrust their glaives into the chests of their Saxon foes, sparing neither spearman nor captain. The captains of the Saxons were taken prisoners to Londinium, later to be ransomed.
At that time, King Uther reestablished peace in the north and confirmed many lords in their lands, from the Humber even into Alba. He then returned south to Cardoel, and Duke Gorlois, covered in honors, to Tintagel.
Chapter 15
The next Christmas was a great gathering, for, receiving the king's invitation and command, the knights and barons brought their wives and children to Cardoel. Among them was Gorlois, Duke of Treven, who came with his son, Cador, and his wife, Igraine, who was sister of Gerrens, the King of Dumnonia in the westernmost parts of Kernow. When the king saw Igraine, he was astounded, and fell in love with her at once, but kept his countenance. Over the course of the feasts, however, she became aware that he often was looking at her, and she blushed. She was, however, a good woman, and therefore she avoided his presence as much as she could.
King Uther, however, was a man who was not without a sense of strategy, and, taking thought of what he might do to win her, he sent jewels to every woman at the feast. Great was the cheering of the king's name afterward among the ladies of the court, and, knowing that he had sent jewels to every lady, she did not dare refuse the gift. But she could not help but think, and she knew rightly, that the jewels that were sent to all the ladies were sent precisely so that she could not refuse hers.
At the end of the feast, the king begged all of the knights and barons to return with their wives and children at the Paschal feast, and so great had been their enjoyment at the Christmas feast that they were happy to give their assent. When Duke Gorlois left the feast, the king accompanied him a short way, showering honors upon him. He was greatly flattered by the king's attention.
When Easter came, they knights and barons gathered again with their families, and this time King Uther Pendragon gave Duke Gorlois and his family pride of place at the feast. He also gave them gifts, and Igraine dared not refuse the gifts in front of her husband. Her husband did not see it, but Igraine knew Uther's love for her, and she did not know what to do, for she was tempted, but loyal to her husband, and she could think of no one to put off the King of Logres and Duke of Britain.
Afterward, however, King Uther Pendragon was miserable from his love for Igraine, and in private consulted Sir Ector and Sir Ulfius, asking them what he should do.
Then Sir Ector said, "If you keep bringing her to court and showering her with attention, people will notice, to her dishonor and to yours."
"What then shall I do instead?" asked King Uther. "I can neither eat, nor sleep, nor ride, nor hunt, nor in any way divert myself when she is not near. I think I will die for love of her."
"If you will listen to my counsel," said Sir Ulfius, "it would be a strange thing to die for a woman, particularly when there is no need to stand waiting for death. At the next great feast, summon a court, letting everyone know that it will last for fifteen days, and this will give you time finally to speak to her and let your love be known. And, for my part, I have never known a woman who could easily defend herself against gifts of splendid jewelry, given both to herself and to those around her, and you are able more than others to give such gifts."
"You are right," said the king, "and I beg your help in this. Take from the coffers of my Wardrobe whatever you deem appropriate, and speak on my behalf to her."
So the king summoned the court at the next great feast for a fortnight and a day, and every day of the session gave to his supporters, including the Duke of Trevena, some fine jewel. Sir Ulfius for his part made occasion to speak with Igraine, bringing additional presents and sugaring them with fine words, but she would accept none of them, until finally she said, "Why do you keep giving me these things when I will not accept them?"
Then Sir Ulfius said, "How can I give you anything when you own all of Logres?"
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"Do you not have the heart of the King of Logres, whom all obey?"
Then Igraine said, "Lord have mercy! Can any true king have such treachery in him as to shower my husband with favor while shamefully trying to defile me? Sir Ulfius, never speak to me again of these things, or I will tell my husband of it, and he would surely kill you for it."
But Sir Ulfius replied, "It would be an honor to die for my king, but I know you joke in this matter because never was there a lady who could refuse a king's love, against which there is no defense."
"I will defend myself, nonetheless," said Igraine. "I will never again go to a place where I know the king will be." And to back her claim, she left at once.
Sir Ulfius returned to the king and told all that had happened. Then King Uther replied, "A good woman indeed would answer this way, for a true lady is not lightly overcome."
On the feast at the eleventh day, Sir Ulfius brought the king a golden cup decorated with many jewels in a beautiful pattern, saying, "My lord, send this cup to Igraine, asking the Duke of Trevena to bid her to take it and drink it for love of you."
So the king called Gorlois near, giving him the cup, and asked him to send the cup to his wife Igraine so that she could drink for the love him. And Gorlois, recognizing no bad intention, and thinking this another example of the king's favor to them both, called a trusted knight, whose name was Sir Brastias, directing him to give the cup to his wife so that she could drink for the king's love.
Sir Brastias obeyed. On hearing the message, Igraine flushed alternately white and red for shame, but she did not dare disobey her husband in front of the knight, so she took it and drank of it, then attempted to return the cup to Sir Brastias.
"I believe you were intended to keep it," said Sir Brastias. Then Igraine sighed and set it aside, and Sir Brastias returned to the duke and the king, thanking the king on Igraine's behalf, although she had in fact said no word at all. Later Sir Ulfius went to her and found her angry of countenance.
"How is it that I am besieged on every side by everyone?" she said furiously. Then she said, "Your lord may be treacherous enough to send me a cup, but he will get little good of it, for I will tomorrow tell my lord of the treachery that you and your lord have perpetrated on him and on me."
"I cannot prevent you," said Sir Ulfius, "but you have fire in your hands. Such a deed may not have consequences as benign as you hope." But he left her and returned to the king.
Then King Uther Pendragon grew merry and took the duke by the hand, saying, "Let us go see the ladies."
Igraine could do nothing but endure the rest of the day. But later the duke found her in her room weeping. He took her in his arms and asked her of her sorrow.
Igraine replied to him, "The king that is my lord and yours has said that he loves me, and all of his recent favors have been to the end of growing closer to me. I have tried to have nothing to do with him and his gifts, but you have made me to take his cup and drink his love. I will have any rest from him and from Sir Ulfius, his counselor, and therefore I can neither eat, nor sleep, and I beg you to take me back to Tintagel, for I fear that I will die from shame of this."
The duke was at this as wrathful as a man may be, and he sent secretly for his men throughout the town, telling them to prepare to ride and ask him no questions why. Thus Duke Gorlois and his wife Igraine and all their men, not heeding the command of the king, which had been to stay until the quinzieme of the feast, and without petitioning for any permission to leave, rode home to their own lands.
Chapter 16
When the morning came and King Uther Pendragon learned that the Duke of Trevena had fled, he was sad and ashamed, but held himself wronged. He called his counselors, asking them if they knew why he had left despite the king's command, but they had no answer.
The king said, "You can all bear witness that I showered him with favors more than any other." They all assented to this and wondered aloud why the duke had acted so dishonorably. Then King Uther said, "Unless you deem some other way better, I will send after him to return, both him and his wife, and make amends, and if he does so, we will have done with it." They agreed on this plan, and King Uther sent two reliable men to Trevena with his message.
When the messengers came to the duke, however, Sir Gorlois refused utterly to return, saying, "I will not return to one who has done to me and to mine in such a discourteous and dishonorable manner." Then he sent them back to Cardoel with his refusal.
The duke, however, was pensive a long while after, and then called his own counselors together. He told them everything that had happened, and the reason for his flight from Cardoel. "I beg you, and charge you by the fealty you owe me, to aid me in defending my lands. For as Uther is a man used to having his will, he will come against me; and as he is neither fool nor coward nor weakling, I do not know how he shall be held off. Then they all swore to defend him and his, even if it put all their lives and goods in jeopardy.
When the messengers returned to Cardoel and gave Duke Gorlois's answer, everyone was astonished, for they knew nothing more than what had been said out loud, and could not imagine what could cause such a lack of courtesy. Then King Uther Pendragon said to all his counselors and barons, "This impudence cannot stand. I beg you, and charge you by the fealty you have worn to me, to aid me in redressing this dishonor that the duke has done."
They swore to support him, but some of the cooler heads begged him first to send formal warning to the duke and give him forty days to make some sort of reparation. To this the king, who perhaps did not wholly wish to go war over this, agreed. The messengers were sent back with this message.
Duke Gorlois in the meantime had been considering the options available to him. He only had two castles that were sufficiently fortified and prepared against the kind of force that the king could muster, the castle of Dimilioc and the castle of Tintagel at Trevena. Of the two, Castle Tintagel was the greater and had the more defensible location, and therefore he put his wife and his daughters there, with a special bodyguard of ten knights, while he prepared to defend his lands from the forward castle of Dimilioc; lands that neither Dimilioc nor Tintagel could adequately defend, he regarded as if they were already in Uther's hands, for he could not stretch his forces so thinly as to defend them all.
At the end of the forty days, having received no answer, the Pendragon gathered his forces in the Duke's territory and began to lay it waste. The key question of strategy, however, was whether Dimilioc or Tintagel should receive the brunt of the invading force. Most of the barons agreed that Dimilioc was the better choice, but the king, still unsure, asked Sir Ulfius.
"I do not understand," said Sir Ulfius. "Do you think that we would fare better if we seized Tintagel first, perhaps because the duke will not expect it?"
"I think that I do not know what I will do if I do not see Igraine," said the king, for his scouts had brought him the news that Igraine was at Tintagel.
Sir Ulfius replied, "Men must endure not having what they cannot have. Our concern in this present matter is the Duke of Trevena, and you must let nothing distract you from the aim of defeating him."
With a sigh, the king agreed to this, and his forces assaulted the fortress of Dimilioc.
Chapter 17
While Dimilioc was not so advantageous a position as Tintagel, it had been built well and was well stocked. The king assaulted it many times with sappers and siege towers, but each time the defenders were able to repulse the assault. The king grew furious, and distressed from the fact that it seemed that meeting Igraine again was farther and farther away. At times, when alone in his pavilion, he would weep. He attempted to hide it from his men, but such a thing cannot be wholly hid in a camp, and the people around him were greatly puzzled. Finally Sir Ulfius came to him and demanded to know his sorrow.
"You already know it, my friend," said the king; "I am so full of love for Igraine that I am now dying. I cannot eat, I cannot drink, I cannot do anything."
"You would have to have an extraordinarily weak heart to die from love for only one woman," said Sir Ulfius. "Nonetheless, I will tell you what you must do, if you are so serious about it. Send for Merlin and if you promise to give him whatever he wishes, he will no doubt give you the solution to your problem."
Then King Uther said, "It is true that there is nothing that the child cannot do. But he surely knows my distress already, and I am afraid his angry at me for having given permission to try the perilous seat at the Round Table. Nor do I know where he is. And will he not be angry at me for loving the wife of a liegeman? I cannot send for him."
To which Sir Ulfius replied, "I do not know whether Merlin is angry or not, but I know that he has in the past shown love and favor toward you. I am certain you will soon hear tidings of him."
The knight left the king, wondering whether he might not find Merlin himself. As he was riding on another errand, he came across a man by the side of the road, who shouted, "Sir Ulfius, I would like to speak to you."
Sir Ulfius looked at him closely, but did not know him. But the knight went over beside the man and dismounted, asking him what he wished to say.
"I am an old man," said the man, "a very old man, an ancient man, as you see with your own eyes, but I was considered wise even when I was a child, and I think I am no fool now. Not long ago I was near Tintagel and I met someone who told me that your king loves the duke's wife, and is now destroying the country for her. If you will aid me, I will acquaint you with this person, who I believe can aid you."
Sir Ulfius was surprised, and, wondering somewhat, he asked that the man acquaint him with this person who knew something so secret.
The old man said, "Well and good, but I wish first to hear what gift the king would offer in return."
"I will ask," said Sir Ulfius. "Where shall I find you when I have his answer?"
"In this vicinity," said the old man; "if you return soon, either I or my messenger will be here."
Sir Ulfius returned to the king with what haste he could, and told him everything that had happened.
"Do you know this man?" asked the king.
"No," said Sir Ulfius, "but I suspect that the person of whom he speaks might be Merlin."
Then, after Mass in the morning, the king and Sir Ulfius rode out together, and the king was merrier than he had been in a long time.
They had not ridden long when they passed a man both lame and blind on the road, who shouted after them, "Sir King! I beg you, give me something, so that I may pray in thanks for you, and, God willing, you may accomplish all your heart's desire."
Then King Uther Pendragon laughed and, looking at Sir Ulfius, he said, "They do say that the prayers of those in need go up to God. Will you do me a favor, Sir Ulfius?" Sir Ulfius of course assented, and the king continued. "Then go back to that cripple and sit beside him; tell him I have sent you to him to assist him, if he thinks he can accomplish my desire."
So Sir Ulfius did as he was asked, turning back to go and sit beside the man both blind and lame. When the man heard and felt Sir Ulfius sit near, he asked him what he wanted.
"The king has sent me to assist you," said Sir Ulfius, "so that by your prayer he may accomplish his heart's desire."
The lame man laughed. "The king is swifter of mind than you are," he said. "I was sent by the old man that you met before. Go back to the king and say that he will meet him soon."
When Sir Ulfius returned to the king, the king said, "Have I not sent you to the crippled man, to assist him?"
"And so I do," said Sir Ulfius. "He has sent me to tell you that you will soon meet the old man I had met before."
"I have no doubt of it," said the king, "for it is clear that the lame man and the old man you met before are the same man, and both are Merlin, going and coming as he pleases."
While the knight and the king were out riding, the child Merlin came to the king's tent and asked where he was. So they sent out messengers to let the king know that Merlin awaited him at his tent, and King Uther Pendragon therefore returned to camp. And the king ran to Merlin with great joy, arms open wide, and embraced the child.
Merlin said to Sir Ulfius, "You see that, as I said, he is swifter of mind than you, since he knew so quickly that I was both the old man and the lame one."
Sir Ulfius did not respond, but said to the king, "You should let him know of your problem."
And the king replied, "Do you think he does not already know my heart?" But he said to Merlin, "I beg you, help me to have the love of Igraine, for without it I will die."
"I do not understand this," said the child. "Such a desire is surely not good and should just be cast aside. That way you may avoid the snares of the devil."
"How can I cast aside what is part of my very depths?" asked King Uther. "Tell me how to have the love of Igraine and I will give you whatever you want."
"You should promise no one to give what they want until you know what they want," replied Merlin. "But you are the King David of this age, and I will accept your offer. You shall have Igraine's love, and I shall have in return what I want. You must swear it by a holy oath."
So King Uther Pendragon had the reliquaries and Gospels brought, and the king and the knight swore on relic and book that they should honor the agreement.
Then the child said, "Your lady is true to God and to her lord. But get your armies ready for battle, which they will surely fight tomorrow without you, for we shall ride out, and I shall give you an appearance of the duke, so perfect in resemblance that his own mother would swear that you are he. And Sir Ulfius and I shall take the form of his closest counselors; I shall be Sir Brastias and Sir Ulfius shall be Sir Jordanus. In that guise we will find easy entry; it will lie with you to convince the lady, which is an art I do not have. If you do not succeed at it, we will have to take more tangled paths, but you will have the lady's love in the end."
Chapter 18
In the morning, King Uther, Sir Ulfius, and Merlin rode out. When they were near to Tintagel, Merlin went out to a sea cave nearby and, when he returned, gave to the king and the knight each an herb they had never seen. "Rub this on your face and hands," he said. They both did so, and when they were done, lo! King Uther Pendragon looked exactly like Duke Gorlois and Sir Ulfius looked exactly like Sir Jordanus. Merlin, too, in the twinkling of an eye took on the appearance of Sir Brastias. Then they waited until the night was near to falling and rode to the gates of Tintagel. Merlin shouted to the ostiary, and when the ostiary peeked out, he saw Sir Brastias and Sir Jordanus accompanying the duke, so they opened the gates.
"We are on a mission of secrecy," Merlin in the form of Sir Brastias said to the porters. "Do not let the report of the duke's return be rumored abroad."
The King Uther Pendragon in the form of Duke Gorlois went up to the chambers of Igraine, where they made merry with wine and dinner, and Igraine was greatly delighted, because she thought the king to be her duke.
But late in the night, news spread around that the Duke of Trevena had died in battle, and came soon to the town. When the porters of the castle Tintagel heard about it, they passed it on to the stewards, who ran up to the bedchambers.
"Arise, lord!" they said. "There is a rumor going around that you have died, and you must quickly make clear that it is false."
And King Uther in the form of Duke Gorlois leaped up and took leave of Igraine, and with Merlin in the form of Sir Brastias and Sir Ulfius in the form of Sir Jordanus rode out of the castle.
Then Merlin said to the king, "Do you agree that I have kept my part of the covenant?"
And the king replied, "I do, and I will keep my own part, on my crown."
"You have engendered a son on Igraine by your actions," said the child, for he took his own form again. "You will give him to me at the time I ask him of you."
"So be it," sad the king.
They soon came to a river where Sir Ulfius and the king washed off the semblances of Sir Jordanus and Duke Gorlois,. Then they returned to camp, which was in a state of excitement because Duke Gorlois, having received information from an unknown source that the king was not with his army, had assaulted them, thinking that they would be unprepared, and had died in the battle. He had fought well, but been thrown from his horse into the midst of the infantry. Then he was overwhelmed, for while the mounted knights would have spared him for his noble office and person, the foot soldiers did not know who he was.
And King Uther Pendragon, having thus defeated the Duke Gorlois, was somber and pensive at the news of the duke's death.
to be continued
