Lancelot Part 20 - The Final Part

The conflict at the Round Table.

Arthur arrived a day later than scheduled to Camelot. He came back with news of his victory but instead he was to see not all his knights but only some at the Hall with grim expression. Sir Gawain was there to tell him of the news and he threw his goblet of wine at the wall.

"Hunt that man down!" Arthur shouted out his command. "Where are all my knights?"

"My King, some of them have decided to stay clear of this conflict. They do not want to step into battle against one of theirs of the Round Table. We have sworn an oath there to protect each other. But today, I stand with some of them who believed that we did not break the oath as Lancelot is no more of the Round Table. For that, he deserves no protection from us but is now viewed as our enemy."

"I am the King, I decided who sits on the Round Table. Lancelot does not have one anymore on this table. He has been removed by me as I was the one who offered him the seat." Arthur spoke out loud to all that was in the Hall. "I also command that he be hunted down and brought to me at this Hall."

Sir Gawain led the patrols to search for Lancelot, while Merlin searches for the Queen. He met Arthur at the chamber.

"She cannot be found, Arthur." Merlin told him. Merlin walked up to the younger man and hold him on his back.

"Let her go. She won't be a trouble to you."

Arthur pulled away from Merlin and walked to his bedding. He removed his tunic and stretched his back. Merlin came forth but he pushed the older man aside. He climbed in and pulled the covers over him. Merlin turned to leave when Morgana came in with her son in tow.

"Arthur.....oh, hello Merlin. Did I come in at a wrong time?" Morgana saw her half brother on the bedding and Merlin near him.

"Oh, please...I knew all along. Do you think that I was blind? I may be but I had other ways of knowing. I did not actually enjoyed the role of a bitch most times." Morgana pulled her son, Modred into the chamber. "Do you know its unnatural and there are nothing there to fill up my womb. And I be honest, my knees hurt besides there. How did you men managed for so long? That I have to admired."

":Morgana!" Merlin shouted out while Arthur sat up on his bedding.

"Close the matter for now, Merlin. I did not come for a hand holding session. I heard of Lancelot and Guinevere. I am here to counsel my half brother." Morgana looked at Merlin. "Which you failed in the recent times."

"Speak your mind, Morgana. I am tired." Arthur spoke out.

"I know where Guinevere is." Morgana replied to him. "You can catch up with her at the shores. Or if they catch a boat, then its across the channel."

"Merlin, prepare my horse. I would leave in a short while." Arthur jumped out of the bedding and reached for his tunic.

"Arthur, you can't leave like that. There is no one to stand in for your place." Morgana told Arthur. "Lancelot used to handle the role...."

"Lancelot is no more with us....I would find another replacement." Arthur replied.

"Look no more. Modred is your nephew and is a Utter Pendragon lineage He can stand in for you. No more outsiders to sit in our family throne." Morgan interject her son into the discussion. "He may one day be a King and he needs some experience that only you can offer."

Arthur looked at her with his disbelieving look and then he nodded.

"But only for the duration I am away." Arthur looked at Modred who just stood there. He shook his head and regretted his action already.

Three months, they pursue Lancelot and Guinevere across the channel and into the foreign lands. The eloping couple did not paused long at any places they took refuge. But this one they actually stayed for a while; its the castle of a Lord named Maurice who had wedded a notable lady by the name of Bernice. Lady Bernice have managed to convince her Lord to offer sanctuary to Lancelot. Lord Maurice was kind to anyone who was related Bernice, his bride of ten years difference and more he hates Arthur who defeated three of his best knight in the joust. He called in some other lords nearby to reinforced his castle and they rejected Arthur's request for the return of Guinevere.

The reply given by Lord Maurice speaks his mind; 'no man should hold back his love for the woman he loved'. He was referring to his own love when he shipped his love across the channel with guards in pursuit. He did tell his bride that it in his blood to live life on the edge.

Arthur laid siege to the castle but he was in a foreign land with limited resources. He soon find himself having to lift the siege when he heard that Modred is making permanent plans on the throne that belongs to Arthur. Arthur sailed back to his land and on landing, he found his knights all waiting for him.

"My King, we have assembled the army for you." Merlin bowed to him. Merlin who was imprisoned by Modred and rescued by some guards who are still loyal to Arthur. "Modred has amassed an army of his own and we may have a war within our land."

"I find that when I am away, some of my enemies plot my downfall and even seduced my Queen to elope. Now my nephew tries to usurp me from my throne. How long was I away? No longer than my previous campaign with the Saxons, and yet he tries it. He worked assisted by his mother, as I was advised. That tells me one thing; never leave your lady at home."

That drew laughter from the men, and he then added in seriously.

"I have enough of their dealings. I intend to end all it this time. I am not letting the ladies interrupt my life anymore. I am delivering them all to the underworld." With that, Arthur rode ahead. His army followed him behind; a column of five thousand of lancers, foot soldiers and supplies wagons.

Modred did not wait for his uncle and called on his own army; a four thousand strong army to march on meeting Arthur. Modred ran to his mother before he marched out.

"Mother, Arthur army is bigger than mine. I cannot fight him in a straight fight. His knights are there with him." Modred asked his mother in a cautious tone.

"I have made arrangement. We are in Camelot; there is a treasure chest which I had shipped out two days ago." Morgana walked up to her son and hugged him. "The coins would buy you a new column that would come to assist you.  Ride with faith, my son. I have yet to failed you."

The army met at a place named Camlann. It a sloping wide valley which may had been a crater or an extinct volcano. Both the army arrived a day apart but they had their staging area set. At the center of the valley is a cluster of low bushes, which some of it was starting to flower. Both the armies were massing up their numbers on their staging area.

The lancers taking the fore, while the foot soldiers followed behind. There was also the archers with their long bows whose Arthur raised the first volley towards Modred' army. The reply came as instantly from the other side. Then the lancers start their trots into a gallop with the knights in the lead. The foot soldiers followed suit with their paces sounding the ground which paled compared to the galloping horses.

The two sides clashed near the bushes with their horses trampling over the new blooms. Lancers crashing their horses into the knights or the other lancers. Then they would get up to locate their horses or draw on their lancers to fight. If they dropped their lances, then they would grab at their short swords but that is no matched for the long swords of the knights. Some may try to duck the swing and sneak in for a close thrust, or evade the swing and hoping some other would jump on the knight from behind. It does happened when the knight finds a sword at his throat from behind.

Then the foot soldiers arrive, and they create human shields to allow the lancers to regroup. They would formed into what was termed as "armored shields" which is actually the foot soldiers group together and placed their shields on the outside as a defense and holding their swords or spears to hold back any attack. They would charge in unison and ram at the lancers or the opposite shields.

Arthur was in the midst of the fight protected by his knights, and clearly out of danger. It was until he saw Modred and he charged out of the protection circle. He ran forth and confronted the nephew of his.

"Fight me, Modred. Be a man like what your mother wants you to be." Arthur called out his nephew. The army cleared a clearing for them to fight. Arthur charged at his nephew with his sword, which Modred blocked the move with his shield. Modred stepped back on the attack and encircled around without striking. He kept on taking Arthur's attack as he noticed Arthur is tired and wounded in some parts. Arthur paused in his attack and stared at Modred.

"So the young one wants to draw the older one to wither before he strikes. I seen them all, Modred." That was when Modred begin his attack on Arthur this time and he is making cuts into Arthur. Arthur fell back on his right knee on the last cut and stared at the young challenger through his visor. He pulled off his head piece and looked at Modred.

"Show me your face, Modred. Let me see your face when I kill you." Arthur shout at Modred. Modred took off his head piece and smiled at Arthur.

"That would be good. Now I can see how you would looked when I kill you. I can tell my mother of this. She would loved it." Modred gloat as he feel he can do this.

"No, your mother only loved her own self." Modred charged at Arthur but this time the older knight was ready for it. He blocked the downward swing from Modred with his shield and thrust his sword out at the left knee. Always bring them down first, then complete the kill. That was when Modred clutched his injured knee when Arthur stood up and swung the sword on Modred' neck.

It was over and Arthur collapsed on the battle field.

Across the sea, Guinevere woke up in a fright from her bedding. Lancelot was sitting across the chamber holding onto his sword laid across his lap. He saw Guinevere woke up and ran over to hold her.

"I had a dream. It was you in my dream. You were turning mad, and and there was a knight killing all those around you." Guinevere told him. "I think I need to get back to Camelot."

"Why Camelot?" Lancelot asked her.

"Because I think the knight is Arthur. And he needs me." Guinevere ran out of the chamber.

Lancelot looked at her departing the door, and he cried out in his eyes. She still loved him. Despite all the things I did and the sacrifice we went through, she still went back to him.

Who am I to her? A lover or a lover that only served her needs when needed.

Oh my Holy Ones, she never love me. She only used me. For her own.

He rushed out to find her but she had ridden off to the shores. He followed close but he lost her near Camelot. He could not go there so he went back to Castle Joyous. He found it empty and Elaine had joined Galahad at Castle Grail as the new King. Gawain had died in the battle with Modred, and some of the others felt that without Arthur, the Round Table has lost its significance.

"I heard that you are back. So I came here to wait for you," Lancelot did return to the ruined cottage where he met Merlin who was there. "I got a pheasant here."

Lancelot sat down at the small fire made by Merlin while watching the pheasant. He does feel hungry having been riding for sometime.

"Did you find Guinevere?" Merlin asked him. Lancelot shook his head. Merlin then laughed out loud and took the pheasant from the fire to passed to Lancelot. "This is one bird which would not fly anymore."

"As for Guinevere, she did come back to see Merlin, but he died before she arrived. She took a look at his body and then left." Merlin looked at Lancelot. "Did you really knew her? The woman who had led you by your nose."

The love that never was to end

"Queen Guinevere was a nobleman' daughter, but she had a strong characteristic which made her a stronger woman among them. She is no real beauty compared to many, but she was seen to be awed by those who laid their eyes on her. It could be her manners or something but each man has his own preference. There was one issue with her; due to her unique characteristic she gets drawn into situation."

"One that occurred more than once was her abduction by those who finds her irresistible. During the early years prior to your arrival, she was abducted not only by Meleagant but also by another named King Melwas. War was averted by the intervention of the Abbot who negotiated a peaceful return of Guinevere. But then Arthur had doubted that his love after having spent such a time with the other King, would remain as pure to him as before. He did not questioned her but on me, he seek the advice. I told him that I know naught of what happened there, but she appear unharmed or in any condition of being forced on."

"Forced on? Arthur questioned my statement. To Arthur, his love could had submitted herself willingly. But why does he think that way. He then told me that he learned from the courts of his Queen's father court, that Guinevere had always harbored glory of being with the best, and more so if he is a King. When she was young, she only talk to the boys who are able to fight for her. There was one named Meleagant, whom she favored then as his father is a King, and he may one day be King. He used to fight for her so called honor and she liked him."

"But when Arthur came to asked her hand, she moved towards Arthur on hearing of his fame. She lusted his power and the strength of the King she can hold onto. She needed to be the Queen of all and seen by all."

Merlin stopped in his talk. Then he continued.

"I advice Arthur to let her go, as she is not suited for his Queen. I warned him that she would be his downfall but he pushed me aside. Me who had searched him out for years and then served him with loyalty, and one that I even considered more than my King; he disregarded my advice. His words still stings in me; Merlin, you are just jealous that she may take your place beside me. Remember this, Merlin; she can bore me my heirs but never you. I cursed at him that day, that he would not be with one as long as he remain as King. He chased me out of his chamber for days. I was even banished from the castle during that period. He only came to see me to bless him on his union to Guinevere. He apologized to me, and asked for my forgiveness. I gave him that and for his sake, and for my love; I went back to Camelot with him."

"I loved Arthur so much that I am willing to be part of him than to be tore apart." Merlin placed his head into his hands. Lancelot reached over to touch him and he pushed the hand away. "Let me complete my tale for you."

"When you arrived, I saw an opportunity to split the two so I encourage Arthur to leave you here with her. I told him that only the other greatest can be entrusted with the task of guarding his Queen. He does not want to see her abducted again, and so he agreed. Once that was set, I got the help of Lady Morgana. She was to conduct the situation where Lancelot would meet with the Queen. She did more than that; she even placed charms on you, which made you desired her."

"No, you never knew. Lady Morgana is adept at that, and her works did well. It was a start but you developed your own that brought to run away with her. Lady Morgana is not someone you can asked from, and not expect to give back. She took her share from me, and she painfully extract what I knew of Arthur to her. She had planned her half brother's downfall when she was set aside for the throne. She could not get to Arthur first, but she used me. She burned my stake with her lust and drove the fire into her heart. She could feel what I did for Arthur. She knew more of him than anyone else. His fears, his preference and above all his love."

"She also knew that I was uncomfortable with the Queen, so she plotted with me to create the diversion with Lancelot. She saw the love growing and then she feared herself that Lancelot may topple her half brother and then become King himself. Guinevere would still be Queen, regardless of which King. It seems to be her destiny to always be Queen. So she enticed Elaine of Corbin to seduced Lancelot, but she did not planned on the seedling to be implanted so fast. Lancelot wedded Elaine, distracted him from Guinevere as what she thought, but she was wrong."

"I saw the secret rides you had with the Queen. I used to spied on both of you, but never near. I know of your love for her, and if you satiate her then Arthur would had no fear of her straying away. She is still Queen, and you are still his knight. It was a good arrangement until Arthur told me he had slept with Morgana. Modred could be his son. That tells me that Lady Morgana had won in this battle. She had created the rift in her half brother and his queen, placed another worthy knight to matched the King in skills, and now sow his son that he does not know. Morgana can claim the throne for herself if Arthur dies now."

“I told Arthur I would seek you out, not for the rumors but to seek you to redress yourself to Arthur's trust. I asked that you be placed on the Grail trail and hoping that you would earned that victory. But your son took the honor, nevertheless it should bring you back to Arthur' side."

"But I was wrong. The other knights was not in my consideration, and the explosive argument between you and Gawain unsealed the reunion. Gawain meant well as he is a fine knight and a gallant one. One who stood up for honor and respect to the King, as he should rightfully do so. Your argument and then subsequent elope, confirmed Arthur' view of his Queen betrayal. He regretted most that he trusted you despite the rumors which he ignore as envy by others, and yet you betrayed him too."

"He sought you not for Guinevere, but to re-take back his honor from you. The honor he has bestowed to you as his most trusted friend. One that he could even leave his love to be taken care of. You betrayed him there. But in him, he still loved Guinevere. That was why he return back to his land immediately."

"It was not because of the pretender to the throne; it was Lady Morgana saying that she would reveal all to the people of the land on Lancelot and Guinevere. He rushed back to protect her honor. He fought at Camlann for her. She knew of this, as I wrote to her on this. I also made her dream of Arthur."

"What did you write to her?"

"I told her that her King needs her. He is dying." Merlin replied to him.

"No matter what, and where, Guinevere is the Queen of Camelot and her rightful place is by Arthur' side. It was my undoing to make her leave him. Its my undoing that she thought she could be Queen with you. But she ended up taking refuge at places which are stranger to her. She was no more the Queen, but a runaway woman from her rightful husband. You could never offered her that she wanted all her life; the role of a Queen."

"Why did she not stay then? Even if Arthur is dead, she could still be Queen." Lancelot told Merlin.

"There would be no Queen unless there is a King. And for her, he is dead. She cannot find another even if she tried. Her name had spread the kingdom and to other lands. She cannot be a Queen anymore. So she left us for another Kingdom; her own where she is still Queen in name. People would come and bowed her in the role not by namesake but by a token of respect."

"Where is she, Merlin?" Lancelot pleaded with the sorcerer.

"She has gone beyond the waters to the land where name is not whispered. She had joined the assemble to serve the faith and in return the people would come to her for respect. She is a nun of the order, and she had taken the vow to forget her desires of a lady. Before she left, she asked me to forgive her and forget her. Guinevere died that day with Arthur as the Queen should be with her King."

"No, I shall find her. Even it would to take me to the Underworld to find her. I loved her and these years have the best for me. Why did she leave me so when have so much now?" Lancelot stood up and looked to the skies. "You are the one who kept us in the wrong cages, so that we can feel and touch and yet not be together. Well, as I have bested the challenges offered to me, I would best you in this challenge. I would reclaimed back my Guinevere."

Lancelot took up his horse and rode off to search for Guinevere, while Merlin slowly got up and looked at figure hidden at the dark corner.

"Come forth, Bran. Your Sire needs your attention once again. You are his squire and so be one once again, for his sake. Shelter him and care for him as you were when you had you as his squire."

"Yes, Master Merlin." Bran took up his horse and mount it. Then Merlin spoke to him again.

"Bran, there is no more Guinevere now. So you can come out of the shadows and be with him. He needs you now."

Bran nodded and galloped off. He had been doing his task as the squire, ever vigilant all these years although his Sire forbids him to come along. He did at a fair distance and slept under the stars to await him most times. He knows what was happening, but he did not speak a word of it to any other. He only kept his eyes open and his mouth shut so that none may know of his Sire and the Queen. When they ran to the foreign lands, it was he who tagged behind to ensure that they are well. He never once left his Sire unlike her.

Over the remaining years of Lancelot, Bran saw how a gallant knight became a weakened wreck of his former self, drunk most times and getting tossed out from the taverns. When he was set on by ruffians or angry villagers, it was Bran who came to the rescue with his sword or to cover the weakened man with his body.

This morning, he is kneeling before his Sire as he laid on the haystack of this abandoned barn; near to death from the ravaging disease that taken its toll on his body. Lancelot struggled to speak but his voice could not carry it out. Then it did for his last words.

"She was my Queen for a period of time, and I am proud to serve her....."

Lancelot died that morning after having failed to search his love. Bran took his body back to Castle Joyous although it may be devoid of life, it was the one place he found joy. On the way to the castle, they passed by the tomb that lies the King. On the wall was written the words, 'his Queen now lies next to him'. Bran smiled knowing the Lady Guinevere has finally found her wishes to come true; she had lived and died as a Queen. He looked back at his Sire' body and smiled.

"Sire, she is back to her rightful place, and you are going to yours. You may not be King but you would serve this Queen for eternity. For honor and love."