The Tale of Sir William of Deira
Sir William of Deira walked with his bundle back to his farm in an outlying village of Albion. His real name was Kevin, but for three days, he had been Sir William of Deira, nobleman and knight. For three days, he was cheered and loved by the people of Camelot.
Several days ago, Prince Arthur had wanted to enter the jousting tournament anonymously so no other knight would compete differently against him because he was the heir to the throne of Camelot. And being the king's heir, Arthur would be instantly recognized, so he needed a body that could parade openly in front of the audience while he, Arthur, would actually compete, hidden behind the visor of his helm.
Kevin was working his farm as he did everyday, when he saw three men coming down the road. Now, normally that would not be unusual, but these three men happened to be a well dressed young man and two guards. Kevin was anxious when they stopped in front of his house. His mother let them in and then called him to the house.
"Kevin, these men are from Prince Arthur Pendragon in Camelot," she said. "What have you been doing, young man? Why is the Prince after you?"
"No, madam, I have not come to arrest him," Merlin explained. "I would like to know if he would care to do a little job for his highness. I can promise you it will not be dangerous."
"Will he get paid for it?" the old woman questioned.
"There may be some compensation," Merlin said.
"Go for it, Kevin," his mother said. "We could use the cash." She wrung her rough hands with glee. "Oh, wait 'til I tell Annie about this," she smirked. "Her with her, 'My son owns two plots of land and seven cows.' Yeah, well my son works for the Crown Prince."
"No, madam, no one can know about this, ever," said Merlin. "That is the single most important requirement of this job. No one can know. If the prince finds out you've been gossiping about this, madam, I can promise you, as surely as the sun rises and sets, that you, not your son, you will be held responsible and will be very, very unhappy afterwards. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, your worship," the now frightened woman said, eyeing the two guards. Annie could brag about her son all she wanted.
Merlin hated to scare the woman, but he had to make certain of her silence. Now he addressed her son. "Kevin, my good man, as I said, the job is not dangerous, just secret. Are you up to it?"
"Well, I don't know, your worship, why me?" he asked.
"No reason," Merlin shot back. "Yours was the first farm we came to on this road. Now, do you want the job? If not, we'll move on and find someone else."
"Take it, Kevin," his mother said. "Annie's son's farm is just down the road. We don't want him to get it, do we?"
"Very well, your worship, I'll take the job," said Kevin. "What do I have to do?"
"You'll be told when we get to Camelot," Merlin replied.
"Will you be alright, Mama?"
"Look, boy, I may be old, but I can still out-plow you, out-milk you and out-weed you anytime you care to challenge me," his mother said proudly. "Besides, if I need help, I'll get your cousins over."
So, Kevin packed his only other shirt and a bit of bread, filled his canteen with water, kissed his mother farewell, and they were off.
The day and a half trip back to Camelot was uneventful. "You see, Prince Arthur wants to participate in the jousting tournament anonymously," Merlin explained. Then seeing the blank stare on Kevin's face, he said, "He doesn't want anyone to know it's him." Kevin smiled and nodded in understanding. "So, when he's not competing, you'll take his place; you'll pretend to be him." Again Kevin nodded and smiled. "If the prince wins the competition, he will then reveal himself to all."
Outside Camelot in the nearby forest, they camped. Merlin left Kevin there with the guards and instructions to watch the main gate. When they saw the prince ride out, they were to come into the town. Then Merlin went to the castle. First, he let Gaius know he was back. The court physician didn't question Merlin's absence since Arthur himself had told Gaius that Merlin would be unavailable for a short while. Merlin then went to the prince. They'd concocted a story to give Arthur a reason to be away during the tournament. Arthur had told his father about a magically created beast terrorizing the northern border that he must deal with, and the king bought it, hook, line, and sinker.
Merlin helped Arthur pack for his mission. Outside in the courtyard, with witnesses about, the prince instructed his servant to help out during the tournament and assist one of the other knights. Then Arthur rode off with his escort.
Kevin was concealed in a large cape and brought into the town. He was deposited at the house of a woman and told to wait out back. Presently, Merlin appeared and brought him inside. The cape was whipped off to reveal Kevin standing before three people of quality: Merlin, a beautiful woman and the heir to the throne himself. Kevin suddenly felt very self-conscious. His hair was a mess, his clothes were old and shabby, and he was dirty. They just stared at him for a few moments, then they got busy.
The beautiful woman left while Merlin washed him from the large bucket of water and the prince supervised. It was the first time most of his body was clean at the same time. And they used soap! Then the beautiful woman returned to help with the dressing. Kevin later discovered that she was the personal maid to the Lady Morgana, the king's ward. This was heady company, indeed. They dressed Kevin in a fine linen shirt and leather trousers, then put a padded gambeson over the shirt. Luckily, he was about the same size as Arthur. "Gorblimey, but that chainmail hauberk is heavy," Kevin thought as he sunk almost to his knees. It took some getting used to. Lastly, a tabard, sword and shield were added, and he was done. Gone was Kevin the farmer and before them stood Sir William of Deira.
Now came lessons in deportment and attitude. "A knight must behave with honor and nobility," the prince instructed. "You must convince everyone that you were born into a noble family."
This went on for about two hours as the prince also gave him tips on greeting other knights, noble ladies and the king. He even practiced kissing a lady's hand with the beautiful woman. Merlin spent the time polishing armor. He escorted Sir William to the tourney field and the tent that had been prepared for him before returning to the castle. William was taken with the sumptuousness of his surroundings. Even though it was only a tent, it was grander than anything he'd ever been in. The round tent had a curtain divider to give him some privacy as he slept and changed. The cot had a real feather mattress, a real feather pillow and a blanket made of fine wool. This was far better than the hard board with straw mattress he had at home. The other area had two tables and chairs. Sir William slept very well that night.
Merlin woke William early the next day with a fine breakfast from the Camelot kitchens and a fresh bowl of water for washing. There was much activity by the time the prince arrived, disguised in a flowing cape with the hood pulled low around his face. Merlin helped William dress in chainmail and tabard. William carried his helm. Then Merlin helped the prince into the jousting armor.
"Act like you belong there and people will believe that you do," the prince told him before he went out to join the opening processional.
William took a deep breath and went outside. His first challenge was mounting and riding the horse. William was lucky in two respects: he'd actually ridden a horse twice before, and Merlin was there to help him mount. Once on the horse, William was able to get the beast started and just followed the line of riders heading to the list. William managed to get the horse facing in the correct direction when they lined up in front of the podium. William's mouth almost dropped open when he looked up, but he caught himself, for standing directly in front of him was Uther Pendragon, King of Albion, his sovereign. Or in this case, since he was pretending to be a nobleman and a knight, his liege lord. Making William even more uneasy, the horse was a bit fractious during the king's speech, but the animal was willing to follow the other horses back to the tent area afterwards. Merlin helped nervous William down. William went into the tent and approached the prince.
"They're ready for you, sire," he said as he handed the prince the helm, then he had to go sit down. William wasn't sure if he was going to throw up, but he was glad the ordeal was over. It wasn't so bad. The horse riding was starting to come back to him and everyone seemed to believe he was who he claimed to be. The next outing would be easier.
The sound of large bits of wood smashing against metal accompanied by the beating of hooves and the roar of the crowd made William thankful he was only pretending. After a while, the prince returned to the tent, the first round being over.
"You go acknowledge the crowd," the prince said as he tossed over the helm.
"How do you do that?" William asked him.
"You wave, they cheer. It's not difficult," the prince replied.
And the prince was right. William walked out to the edge of the list and gave a little shy wave to the crowd. The stands erupted with cheers and waving pennants. Even the king was applauding him. "Next time, I'll do it on horseback," he told himself as he walked back to the tent.
William spent most of his time eating after the day's activities ended. He'd never tasted such flavors or imagined food in such quantities. The kitchens of Camelot kept the buffet tent well stocked. The prince had warned him not to touch the wine or beer, but stick with the new mead and punch. It would not do for Sir William of Deira to be found passed out drunk at midnight, yet appear bright and chipper in the morning. When he wasn't eating, William was sleeping. Occasionally, William was introduced to the female relatives of some of the nobility. He remembered his training and addressed them properly and did not slobber all over their knuckles. Evidently, the ladies were quite taken with Sir William's rather shy ways. "Shy" was unique among knights.
By the middle of the second day, the prince's prowess with the lance put Sir William in the finals. This time, William waved a bit more vigorously to the crowd and from horseback, and the crowd loved him. He spent the remainder of the day eating in the buffet tent and meeting more single noble women. William was certainly enjoying himself at this tournament. He liked being clean. He liked wearing clothes that didn't scratch or make him itch. And he liked the eating.
The final day of the tournament started out fine with Sir William and the other finalist, Sir Alinor, acknowledging the king and the crowd, then returning to their tents to prepare to joust. "They're nearly ready for you, sire," he said to the prince as he handed over the helm.
The prince went out and mounted his horse. William sat inside listening to the now familiar sounds. He heard the crowd cheering as the galloping horses charged towards each other. He heard the clash of wood on metal and the gasp of the crowd followed by cheers. William, of course, assumed the prince had vanquished his opponent until the beautiful woman brought the prince in and helped him to a chair. He'd obviously been injured.
"His lance pierced my armor," the prince said.
"You're losing too much blood," replied the beautiful woman.
"Do what you can, I have to be back on the course in five minutes or I forfeit the match."
"It's impossible to joust, you're too badly injured."
"I've never withdrawn from a match and I don't intend to start now,"
This was when William realized that the nobility could be crazy. Back on the course in five minutes? Is he insane? The prince was bleeding like a stabbed boar and he wanted to go joust some more. No way. If he'd been hurt like that instead of the prince, he'd still be lying in the dirt, crying and calling for his mother. Game over.
Not this prince. With wads of cloth stuffed into the wound to staunch the bleeding, the prince got up, went out and mounted his horse. This time, William took the risk and peeked out a break in the tent wall. The beautiful woman had to hand the prince a lance. When the signal to go was given, Sir Alinor was off immediately. The prince hesitated a moment then raced on. The fact that the prince was still on his horse by the time the two riders crossed paths in the middle of the field was truly a miracle. Then Sir Alinor's saddle strap broke and he slid a bit to one side, giving the prince the perfect target to hit. The force of the impact sent Sir Alinor in a back flip over the horse's rear to land face down in the dirt. Sir Alinor didn't move. Merlin helped the prince down from his horse and into the tent.
"You were jousting against the assassin," Merlin told Arthur. "He killed Sir Alinor and took his place."
"Poor Sir Alinor," William thought. "He had seemed a decent sort of chap when we'd met in camp. He'd even introduced me to his pretty second cousin. Pity. Wait! Assassin? What assassin? There was an assassin after the prince? I was pretending to be the prince; the assassin could have killed me! I could have died!" It was then that William decided that being a noble may be a bit too dangerous. He may be better off as Kevin the farmer.
The crowd in the stands could be heard screaming their heads off. "The people are waiting for their champion," said Merlin. "It's time to reveal yourself."
"You must go and collect the trophy," the prince told William.
"I thought this was going to be your moment of glory," said the beautiful woman.
"Perhaps this is the time for humility," the prince replied.
Sir William of Deira got on his horse and rode out to receive the tournament trophy from the king himself and take a victory lap around the field. Back inside the tent, the prince was out of his armor and into his flowing cape. He thanked William for his role in this deception. He could stay here tonight but he had to leave in the morning. His servant would be back later in the evening with compensation.
True to his word, Merlin did appear later on with compensation for him. The prince gave William 100 gold coins, the shirt, trousers and gambeson he'd worn, and of course, the trophy, which was a purse with 400 gold coins. William was overwhelmed with the prince's generosity. He decided the first two things he'd buy were good soap and a real feather mattress.
Sir William of Deira, nobleman and knight, rounded a bend in the road and saw his farm ahead with his mother sitting outside the house churning butter. Kevin the farmer was home.