Friday the 13th;
The King Arthur Version
Authors Note: This is a
short tale to do it within 500 words on a tale.
Contests rules:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Welcome, my
dearest friend Lancelot. Your companion, Mordred held the seat warm for your arrival."
The sight that greet me was the thirteen knights who sat at the round table
while the Queen of the land, Guinevere who sat at the far corner away from the
men. I walked towards my King and bowed before him.
"Lancelot,
none may need to show ranks or obedience at this table as we are all equal as
Man here. Get yourself a seat from the walls and be seated. Today is Friday the
13<sup>th</sup>, and folks fear of its dreaded curse that things
would be black and death may arise. But to me, it's a day to rejoice. What held
you up to this late coming?" Arthur, my King was true to his words as within
this table, we are all equal and none may need to bow to anyone at all, even
though he may be King. I can see the spread of food and drinks on the table as
well as my companion who still holds a goblet cup filled with wine. Mordred saw
me looking at him and he sheepishly took his leave of the table to allow me
back my seat.
"Pardon me,
Arthur. The ride was long and the sweet wine of Camelot is truly an elixir of
life. With a drop of it, I am swept to the clouds of heaven and I forget all my
woes of the day. Please tell me of what I was to miss this evening." I
joined in the celebration with the other twelve knights who are my friends and
allies. Soon as the flow of food and drinks slowed down by the equally drunken
participants, Arthur stood up to make an announcement.
"My fellow
knights and members of this round table, I call on you today as I had a vision
of pain last night. I dreamed of betrayal by one of us and the removal of my
Queen."The drunken stupor of ours was soon to cleared to sober looks as we
looked to the man we named King, who now stands to accused one of us as his
betrayer. "But I shook off the dream as I told Merlin. It's not a prophecy
but an illusion probably set on by Morgana to doubt my loyal knights. I
dismissed it so and that is why I am telling you this today. So heed my words,
if you hear of these rumors that one of you betray me, then rest it as a prank
of the mind and not be true. Come now, let us continue our drinking and rejoice
for nothing shall stand before us thirteen knights and nothing would break us
in faith for each other."
It was near dawn
when I woke up to ease myself in the yard. When I have completed the task, I
turned to go back but I was stopped by a familiar sight.
"My lady
Guinevere, pardon me as I did not know you were there." The lady who is my
Queen was also my illicit lover during a period of turmoil when she was upset with
Arthur. But that period has surpassed and we have been keeping our distance.
"Lancelot,
please stay. I need to talk to you." I held my ground by standing a
distance from her. I feared my lust may overcome my conscience and may carry
out the so-called fake prophecy of the King. "Arthur's dream was not of
his alone but also mine. We both had the dream last night, and I feared the
worse. Should it be true, I asked of you to kill me as my dignity could have
been tarnished by the betrayer during his capture. I cannot bear to faced Arthur
if that were to happen." I wanted to say something, but she held me back
with her hands on my lips.
"What happened
between us was not the same as my willingness to accept you. But the dream
showed me to resent and deny the person although he forced on me his body. That
is the difference between dignity and ... comfort of one's feelings." My
Queen left me that hour with a heavy burden to my mind. I rushed to Merlin in his
chamber.
"Tell me,
Merlin the truth. Would what the King spoke on today be happening?" The
bearded older man waked from his sleep now looked at me with his dark eyes.
"So he told
you all of his dreams on this Friday the 13th. It's possible the
event he dreamed of could be true. I checked the charts and symbols. They are
all in sync we are on the fifth day of the week with a meeting of thirteen knights
having a late supper at the table. It's similar to that when the Son of God took
his with his thirteen disciples."
"But you were
the last to arrive and you did betray his trust with your tryst with his wife.
So it's too much of a coincidence on your part." I left Merlin with a
heavier heart.
But my fate was
sealed when the next morning, Mordred my companion had abducted my Queen to his
stronghold. We laid siege on the stronghold for three days before we could
storm it. Arthur fought the errant knight and suffered a mortal wound on
himself. It was myself who slain the knight who was once my companion and even
took my place at the round table when I am not to attend. But my worse action
was to take the life of my Queen. She pleaded with me on her request made the
night on the ninth day of the new Moon as she had been ravished by the demon named
Mordred.
"Slay me so
that I would not see him with my body uncleaned." I did as I was told. And
never again would I ever rejoice on the day when it's Friday the 13th.
No comments:
Post a Comment