The Legend of King Arthur

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"Yes, Merlin, you have said that people sometimes call magic those things they cannot understand. Once something is understood it ceases to be magical and becomes merely part of the natural functioning of things. I remember you said that if we understood how plants heal or harm, we would stop calling them magical plants."

Arthur thinks for a little.

"You said you have seen who the True Born King of All Britons. But who is he? Do I know him?"
 
Merlin smiled warmly. "The King-to-be is someone you have heard of; but it is not God's will for me to tell you his name. You are meant to find out on our own who this new King is. In fact, once you have heard his name being hailed by knights and commoners, you will realize that it is most needful for you to learn more about this King and what God's will is for him."
 
"Will this King trust in God? Father Oliver said that too many Knights and Lords say they trust God but their actions say otherwise. I truly hope the new King behaves in a Christian manner."
 
Merlin seemed as if bursting to tell something further; but all he said was, "My dear boy, I have high hopes for him there! And you, Arthur, may very well be able to help that King conduct himself in a Christian manner. But you must now ready yourself for sleep, my good lad. Oh, Arthur, it has been so good to be your teacher. Tomorrow everything will change; I shall still be with you, but--well, just see how it goes tomorrow. Remember to say your prayers."
 
"I will say my prayers Merlin. I wish you could tell me more, but I already know you. You will say things at the right time, or let me find them out on my own. Good Night Merlin. And of course I'll say my prayers. I feel I will need them."
 
Just once a long one, to help fill in background

Merlin, who seldom needed sleep, strode out into the night. Although his gift of second sight could work for him wherever he was, he _felt_ more sure of it when he was moving about. He was alert for any sign of anything that affected Arthur.

_Arthur_ would be King Of All Britons. Merlin had known this before he ever set up the Sword in the Stone here in London. He prayed that Arthur's God-cultivated virtues would make a mighty difference to the future history of Britain. For Britain, like most of the world, had strayed far from God's truth.

More than a decade past, Merlin had felt himself guided by an example from the Old Testament of what God may do to a corrupted nation. The people of Israel had demanded a king so they could be "like the nations"--and God had _punished_ them for this wish by the very act of _granting_ the wish. King Saul had been selfish and violent, but God _willed_ him to reign for a time, to shove in the people's faces the truth about what they had wished for.

And within Merlin's lifetime, the Britons had been declining morally and spiritually. They had been ready to follow a king whose creed was "Might Makes Right;" so Merlin had assisted the selfish, violent Uther Pendragon in teaching Britain what King Saul had taught Israel.

It was the time he regretted most in his life. But a great good thing had come out of those days: the boy who would soon be King Arthur.
 
(OOC: It's perfect Joseph. Exactly the Merlin I had in mind)

IC:
Arthur said his prayers. He prayed for his brother Kay and for his father, Sir Ector. But he also prayed for Britain and for this new King. He asked God to grant this new King the wisdom to do what is right and to rule with the most noble attitude. When he was finished he lay on his cot and pull the wool blanket over.

"Tomorrow is a big day for Kay and all the other jousting Knights," he said yawning.
 
Meanwhile, Kay was in one of the smaller churches of London, keeping his vigil over the armor he would be wearing when dubbed a knight. His vigil prayers were confused. He wished to be King Of All Britons, and at the same time he wished to be a servant TO that King. He wanted to do great deeds in war, and at the same time he wanted to live a life of peace in which he could use the scholarly knowledge that Merlin had taught him. He imagined riding the lonely road of a heroic knight-errant, and at the same time he imagined having a home with a beautiful, devoted wife.

He was surprised, yet not terribly surprised, when Merlin appeared beside him.

"I know that you are to speak to no one but God tonight," the wizard said. "But * I * can speak to YOU, especially since what I say pertains TO your prayers. I solemnly tell you that before tomorrow ends, you shall be amazed at who the new King is to be; but if you serve him faithfully, you will find that much of what you have been praying for will come true for you."

Then Merlin departed.
 
Copperfox said:
OOC: Hannah is definitely logged off. This is a bad time to leave plot elements dangling in the childhood prologue; soon we will have made the shift to later. So Hannah, I'm gambling that I'm right in my guess, that other girls turned against Melona for being tomboyish, and Gertrude will speak accordingly.


"Listen well, sweetling. You have seen herds of horses, I'll warrant. From a herd of horses, most may be taken for the plow, or maybe most for war. But sometimes just ONE horse out of a whole herd is chosen for a different task from the others. It may be that God has made you the one different horse.

"It is TRUE that we need MOST women to be wives and mothers. Without most women being wives and mothers, the world could not keep going. But not absolutely EVERY woman has to be like all the others. If you are meant to be something else in God's plan, then that is how it should be."
Click to expand...

She just looked at her with a frown.
 
Melona was still awake when her Papa came back indoors and hastened to see her. "How is my little fawn? Gertrude said someone pushed you; did you tell her who did it?"


OOC: Melona has been to Castle Sauvage before; she would know who the children of the staff are. Now we return forward in time to the next day, in London.


There were so many knights in London for the tournament that two separate fields were required for the first rounds of jousting. This also provided the city elders of London with a pretext to keep mortal enemies apart from each other, so that no blood-revenge would be sought in the very first hours of sport.

Sir Grummore was unhorsed on his very first tilt, but he did much better at swordplay on foot--a manner of combat which often occurred in the wooded region he and Ector hailed from. Meanwhile, Kay was among the youths lined up at the same church where he had kept vigil, to receive the order of knighthood.
 
" No, papa didn't," she told him, with a frown " I think is was Emily," she told him, holding her tiny hand up to saw him what happen.
 
(Back on the previous day again)

That made sense. Emily was the daughter of a seamstress who served the castle, and a castle guardsman currently away with Sir Ector. Either parent might feel animosity toward the Twyti family: the father because of resenting William Twyti being made warden pro tempore of the castle, the mother because her fairly prestigious work made her feel superior to country folk. But the father's absence inhibited William Twyti from uttering any rebuke to Emily or her mother; it would seem as if he were too cowardly to speak if the father had been present.

What he could do with no such complications, he did, which was to declare that Emily was no longer allowed to play with Melona...and to have Melona spend more time right alongside him, which suited her and gave him more chances to teach her things.
 
"Sir Ector was getting ready to get to the church of St. Paul (ooc: i read that somewhere so we'll keep it. It's nor really important anyway) where he will be imparting the knighthood on his son Kay. Other Knights were also ready to do the same with their sons. Arthur was in charge of getting all the equipment in time to for Kay to get into the tournament as soon as he was knighted. Everything was packed in crates, and Arthur began to move the crates, with the help of some servants towards their pavillion his brother would use during the tournament.
 
Everyone was aware of the presence of the Sword in the Stone in the yard of St. Paul's; but no one disturbed it at present. One reason why the tournament was being held was to create an order of precedence for who would be allowed to try drawing the fateful sword sooner.

King Lot of Orkney, with his child Gawain beside him, was at the lodgings of a London kinsman, grumbling to as many as would listen: "This is foolishness. A king has to be strong, and _I'm_ strong. I've fought Welsh, Irish, Highland Scots, and Saxons--even Danes, once. I should be King Of All Britons! And I have good seed to follow after me; my boy Gawain here is only four, but he can thrash any six-year-old boy he's ever met!"

"Actually, he can only do that before noon," said a resonant voice behind Lot: the voice of Merlin.

"How did you get in here?" demanded King Lot, springing from his seat and half-raising an axe he had at his side. "What affair is it of yours what I say in my cousin's hall?"

"I follow where the cause of truth leads," replied the unperturbed wizard. "One point of truth is that your son Gawain embodies the morning of mankind; he has the temperament of the Homeric warriors--and his actual bodily strength is far greater in the morning than afterwards. He will need to keep this in mind when he is grown--or when he fights older boys now.

"But that, of course, is not why I let myself in here. Lot of Orkney, it takes more than strength and a hot temper to govern justly. The new ruler must love justice, not only victory."

"Womanish words!" Lot snarled. "Take them and yourself out of here!"

"Since you boast of your strength," said Merlin in a dangerously quiet voice, "try to throw me out the door yourself....if you dare."

Neither Lot, nor anyone with him, dared to raise a hand against Merlin. Before he left of his own accord, the wizard said less belligerently, "Lot, you could be a source of good for all of Britain, respected for goodness. Think about that before you continue your treasonous plans to wage war if you do not get to be King Of All Britons. Oh, yes, burly fool, I know; and I know that your greed and rage will infect your sons. Yes, I said sons, plural."
 
Merlin was wise. Prince Mark knew this, thats why he stood there in awe as he watched him. Mark looked at the sword, and wished it was his, but the likelyhood of him touching it was zero to none.
 
Fresh from his rebuke to Lot, Merlin Ambrosius had next sought out the Cornish prince. "Peace be with you, Mark son of Owain. I know your thoughts; it is not necessarily wicked to wish to be a leader; but your own western realm is enough for you. Yet you will do good to all Britain if you make up your mind to pledge support to the one who WILL draw that sword from the stone and anvil. Do not noise this abroad, but tell your own men that Lot of Orkney intends to dispute the result of the test with armed force if he does not receive the high kingship himself."
 
After leaving all their belongings in the pavilion near the tournament field. Arthur went back to his father. He did not want to miss the knighting ceremony.
 
The new warriors would be dubbed by various men, in many cases their own fathers. But before any individual knighting occurred, the Archbishop of Canterbury had a few words for the whole assembly.

"The Holy Church has long acknowledged the existence in history of meritorious pagans, who followed as much light as was made available to them, and whose example can instruct even faithful Christians. One such man was the ancient Roman warrior Cincinnatus." (The Archbishop correctly pronounced this name with _hard_ C's.) "When Cincinnatus was entreated to lead Rome's armies and save his city from Gaulish invaders, he was given authority like that of a king, except that this authority was meant to be only temporary. He so completely succeeded in saving Rome, that he was invited to stay in power--to be a king in fact, no matter by what title he would be called. But Cincinnatus was a man of honor, and of concern for the well-being of his nation. Therefore, once the danger was past, he declined the offer of kingship, and returned to his own fiefdom.

"Even though only one man can come away from this tournament as King Of All Britons, each and every one of you knights new and old has before him the choice of Cincinnatus. Which will you value more highly: the greater good of Britain and _all_ her people, or your own selfish ambition? God Almighty, Who cannot be deceived, is watching to see how each one of you decides...."

(The Archbishop had spoken with Merlin before this; and like Merlin, he had already begun meeting privately with men of importance, trying to persuade them not to side with the treacherous Lot of Orkney, nor indeed with any troublemaker.)
 
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After Sir Ector and his sons Kay and Arthur listened to Archbishop, they moved towards the area where the new Knights will be dubbed. Arthur was very happy for his big brother, but his big brother was being nasty to Arthur. Whenever Kay spoke to him, Kay seemed rude and snappy. Arthur of course thought that Kay was simply nervous. Arthur himself was nervous, but happy because when Kay became a Knight, Arthur will be well on his way to being the squire he always wanted to be.
 
Meanwhile, Merlin was continuing to prepare against treachery. Actually, the very sword which Arthur was destined to possess at the start of his reign, like the even more famous one which he would carry later, was itself a preparation for Arthur's survival, permeated with invocations against evil.
 
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