The tale of Sir Gawain the green knight and the tourney of the Round table
Sand crunched underneath my soles as I walked among several other men into the sandy arena surrounded on all sides by the cheer of spectating commoners. As I fell into line along with the rest of the men summoned to this arena my gaze wandered as I took in the sight of the crowded arena, sweating slightly as the the midday sun heated my armour. As my gaze shifted forward a sight that would imprint itself on me forever more filled my vision. In front of me stood a stage filled with chairs and servants scurrying along and at its center sat a man in armor in the center of several wooden chairs gazing at his people, The man i looked upon was king Arthur himself with a heavy gaze judging if we were stern of not only strength of arm but of heart as well . then my gaze shifted to the kings waist where a sword hung from a finely made leather scabbard, from my distance you could still see the long pommel of the great sword Excalibur,
Behind the king stood a frail old man clad in a blue hooded cloak, a wooden staff in his hand, yet despite the mans old exterior his deep blue eyes observed the world with a sharp stare, eyes which showed a clever and cunning mind with a hint of something otherworldly, Eyes which could only belong to one man, the court sorcerer of Camelot Merlin Emrys.
But as the court sorcerer sat on Arthurs right there was one who sat upon his left, the gentle queen of Camelot, Guinevere Pendragon known across the land of Albion as the kind and gentle Guinevere. The queens beautiful curled brown tresses fell gracefully onto her shoulders clothed in a white silk dress which was covered partly by a red cloak depicting a roaring golden dragon.
Suddenly the bustling of the crowded arena halted and the attention of the eager people shifted towards the wooden stage where the great king sat, The Noble king Arthur put his worn hand on the wooden armrests on his throne and gracefully stood moving to the center of the stage where he with his deep blue eyes glanced from the left to the right of the arena watching the arena in its humble silence while the people awaited the kings speech. The elevated and separated seats where the nobles sat were equally silent as they awaited the kings words In the same silence as the commoners, it appeared that the silence was the only thing they shared with the commoners as the Nobles were finely dressed with breeches of fine cotton and shirts decorated with golden threads while the peasants were clad in worn shirts and dirty breeches.
The silence of the arena was broken when the king spoke
"Welcome men of Albion to my kingdom" his Deep voice boomed trough the arena
"It gives me great pride to hold this tournament today and allow these men to fight for the right for one of them be crowned champion...May the best man win" finished with his speech the king returned to his chair and seated himself next to Queen Guinevere.
Quickly the arena was filled with the cheers and applauds of the commoners and the dignified clapping of the nobles all eager for the tournament to start. In the loud arena I started to reminisce of the first time i came to Camelot.
I looked upwards as we passed the city gates and the sound of shouting and scrabbling was all around me drowning out the sound of my fathers and my horses hooves against the cobblestone road as we cut a swath through the peasants walking around us we were able to quite easily get through the scurrying peasants thanks to our horses and we quickly made it through the market and soon entered the marble courtyard were the sounds of horses walking could easily be heard on the marble footsteps of the courtyard and I gazed towards the castle built In marble and stone making it shine white in the midday sun but I quickly got distracted by the sounds of heavy feet marching through the courtyard, men clad in chain-mail adorning the red cloak of Camelot.
It was at least a dozen plated and red cloaked soldiers marching through the courtyard. At my age I was unable to sense the tenseness of my father's shoulders or the odd silence that filled the courtyard. My father a portly man with brown hair and a large brown beard quickly dismounted and I dismounted as well as he handed the reins to one of the castle servants dressed in a filthy shirts and breeches with orders to take the horses to the stable and feed and water them. When my father finished with his instructions he turned to me and told me to follow him ,he quickly walked through the courtyard and entered the castle, quickly walking through the winding stone corridors and making me take twice the steps he took to to keep up with his hurried pace. He was growing more nervous the closer we got to the throne room, as we reached the large throne rooms wooden gates my father turned to me, quickly bent down and Whispered quietly so only I could hear, "Remain silent son and do nothing improper…
do you understand boy?
I nodded quickly and wrung my hands feeling nervous under my fathers harsh gaze,
my fathers eyes softened when he saw my compliance and gave me a hasty nod, he quickly stood up and walked past the large wooden doors and the Menacing guards into the large stone throne room with me quietly following. The large hall of stone was richly decorated in fine curtains falling from the large stone pillars in the hall, at the far end of the hall there was steps leading to an upraised wooden throne which was finely crafted wood covered in rich golden inlays. Yet the Large hall was not silent for it was filled with the whispers and mumbling of many finely dressed men and women all gazing towards the large straight backed wooden throne and its occupant. A man sitting straight-backed and proud in leather breeches and ring-mail and at his sides stood two armed guards with short spears and dressed in boiled leather and red man had a right to look proud he had just conguered camelot and won the throne and its land.