Camelot Bleeds
In the centre of a large sprawling city, there sat Camelot. In this castle, a great king resided, Arthur, King of the Britons. Arthur's Queen, Gwenevere, was the fairest in all the land and she loved her husband dearly. Soon after her marriage to Arthur, a knight came to Camelot, from the great lake and she soon fell in love with the cool, dark and secretive Lancelot. She began an illicit affair, keeping the fact that she loved both men secret. This continued until Lance could no longer bear the lying and deceit, for Arthur was his best friend. He confronted her outside her bedchambers,
'My dearest Gwen, you have said you loved me so many times, therefore you must love Arthur no more, run away with me my princess and we shall be together evermore,' Gwen refused and no matter how sweet Lances words were, Gwen would not be swayed. She told him she loved both Arthur and Lance equally and did not want to live without both of them. Lancelot enraged at the fact that Gwen would not leave and give herself over solely to him, he burst into the throne room and confronted Arthur.
'Arthur Pendragon! Your Gwen cares not for thy KING but for thy self!' Lance screamed at the top of his lungs.
Gwen soon rushed in and tried to explain, 'Do not be angry my loves, I would have revealed by true feelings sooner if I had thought you both could truly understand, but I think when I guessed, I guessed right for right now is exactly what I feared,'
'Gwen my lovely love?' Arthur began, 'Does Lancelot speak true, is this, his terrible revelation, correct?'
'No my love but think not they are true also, I do love you Arthur, but I love Lancelot also. Each of you are parts of me, you must see, my loves. Arthur, you are the light in me, the part of me that is sunshine and sweet roses, lavender and an orange red sunset. Lance, you are the part of me that is darkness, the part of me that wants and needs to hide from the blinding light, the part that dances in cool midnight and laughs when the thunder claps. See my loves, I am both but each of you are one. I must have both or I will be incomplete,'
Gwen's words echoed in the large, almost empty room. Neither man spoke until finally Arthur's strong, coarse voice filled the void Gwen's angelic voice had left. 'Gwen I love you but you must be confused, we have lived as man and wife for many years and I believe that your mind has been corrupted by Lance's devious mind. Lancelot, I challenge thou to a duel,' Arthur ripped off his glove and hurled it down at Lance's feet.
Lance picked it up from the floor and stood his ground as he stared into Arthur's emerald green eyes with his own midnight blue eyes.
'I accept your challenge, my king,' Lance bowed mockingly.
On the morning that the duel was to commence, Lance stopped off at Gwen's bedchambers. Her door was open and he looked in. Gwen was getting ready, putting on a red and white, silk and muslin dress.
'It is rude to spy on a lady,' Gwen commented as she stared into her mirror, 'It shows very poor quality of a man,'
Lance's eyes flickered to her delicate features, 'I am sorry if I disturbed you.'
'Now that you are here, could you help with my dress? My chamber maid is off preparing for the duel.'
Still in the doorway Lance walked into the room, 'Of course, it would be my…pleasure,' Lance replied a bit too willingly as he began to help her with the difficult dress.
'Tis a shame about this duel,' Gwen began, sadness in her voice.
'It must be done; your husband has challenged me. I must duel him,'
'It is not too late, my knight. I fear I might loose one of you,'
'Do not fear for me my princess; I would only worry about your husband.'
'Why can you both not understand such love?'
'I know your heart is too big my love. I have seen it work such magic before, but I know this time your heart can not fix what is now broken.'
'It doesn't have to be broken,' she began to plead.
'Yes, but it is and want you to know that I will love you forever and I know that if your husband did not love you, he would never have challenged the son of the Lake,' and with these words he was gone from the room. Gwen looked in the mirror and began to cry.
The day had begun with a cold wind but now midday, the air was dry and arid. Arthur stood in the centre of the small arena. Almost a thousand people had shown up to watch the King fight his own Knight for the fair Gwen's love. She herself now sat in the seat of honour, usually put aside for the king himself. Her ruby, red silk dress draped delicately over her, the white muslin almost undetectable under it, only showing as it reached the ground. Her brown hair, pulled back, with some of it having been allowed to fall created a very attractive effect. Her face was calm and collected and yet you could not help but feel that she was dying inside. Lancelot entered the arena and stood in front of Arthur.
'Arthur,' and Lance nodded his head
'Lancelot,' and Arthur nodded his head as well
The duel began.
Arthur was the first to strike. He runs at Lance holding his sword, thrusting at him. Lance twists at the last moment and swings back at Arthur, slicing open Arthur's shoulder and drawing blood. It falls to the ground in dark pools.
Arthur withers in pain. In agony, Arthur swings back blindly at Lance's legs.
Lance jumps up and manages to push Arthur to the ground, Lance's blade still moving. The sharp steel flies through the air and plunges into Arthur's still beating heart. Yet, Arthur is still alive and clutching his own weapon tightly. With his last ounce of strength and last his breath, Arthur thrusts his sword up into the waiting chest of Lancelot, piecing his heart also.
Gwen screams from the stands and is soon flying down to the now bloody arena. She clutches at her deceased loves and weeps, her tears falling on their now lifeless faces. Their blood begins to stain her dress, her face bloody also from wiping her tears with bloody hands. Now all she can see is death and the destruction she brought upon the two people she loved most in this entire world.
The years go by and yet even time cannot heal the wounds she herself had inflicted. Never do the images of the lifeless corpse that was Lance, or Arthur, leave her mind. She is soon driven crazy by the even thought of their love, or the times they spent together.
Our fairest Gwen dies alone, in a tower, locked away from the world she had once cherished, never to see the sun or the moon again, for fear she should think of her long dead loves.
Written by A. Writer