Act 1: Enter the Maiden

Gareth watched, partially hidden behind the forms of Lancelot and her brother, as the damsel told the King of her plea: her name was Lynette, a noble-born lady to heart and she would pretty please need a knight to free her sister Lyonesse from her imprisonment in the Castle Perilous - also, a river flowed to and around the structure, and there are knights guarding it. Four knights and oh, had she mentioned that her sister, whom many great lands belonged to, was of much greater beauty than herself?

The female Orkney sibling blinked and slowly shook her head at the incredulity. Leaning over to Gaheris (who also stood before her as she technically shouldn't be there), she asked silently. "...does this really happen often? Please tell me no."

He shifted slightly. "Well... this one is certainly... spirited."

Gawain grinned, mouthing you don't say, before their attention was back with the lady Lynette.

"...the fourth knight holds her prisoner in her own castle, forcing her to wed him, but my sister refuses - constantly she refuses his advances, oh King, and I do not know when she will break. The knight will only yield once he fought against Lancelot, for he wishes to overthrow your best knight and then wed poor Lyonesse in the glory of such an act."

Gareth was quite sure that she felt Arthur mutter in silent suffering, and otherwise noticed the short-but-prominent glance he sent her way - she felt more than heard Lancelot and Gawain chuckle at his plight, for that was one lady that would not leave until she got what she asked for, hell or high water.

Still, a sudden giddiness overcame her, and she had to hold herself back from grinning like a fool. This - this might be the one.

"I see..." The King nodded. "What knights are these four you speak of, then? If they manage to hold a castle alone they must be of considerable strength."

Lynette blinked, her eyes narrowing slightly. The damsel seemed to consider the question, because her next answer was more down-to-earth than her previous troubadour-worthy speech. Gareth honestly preferred it.

"Well, Your Majesty," she choose her words carefully. "They ride around the countryside, doing what they want, not heeding any rules or laws or regulations - a town near the Castle Perilous was raided by them, a fortnight before I journeyed here, and they took whatever they wanted in a manner similar to mindless beasts." Her speech became less flowery as she went on, and Arthur quirked an eyebrow and hid a smirk behind an armored hand. Even Lancelot snorted, whispering.

"Whatever you might do with your life, be glad that that mother of yours had not thought it to educate you in the ways of the 'Lady of the Court'."

Gareth agreed empathically, shifting closer to the front - the King had had a talk with her before they entered the hall, as the seneschal had already informed him that Lynette would be arriving in the afternoon. She wasn't sure of it; the last two 'Questgivers', as Gaheris liked to call them, had been assigned different knights, but Gareth was a firm believer of third time's the charm.

"I do believe that they might be fey-touched, because there is madness inside them." The woman mumbled, now more to herself. Louder, she continued. "They call themselves Morning-Star, Noonday-Sun and Evening-Star - the fourth is a black knight and believes that he is Death himself; his armor is crested with the likeness of a skeleton. Foolish they might sound, but strong they are nonetheless - as such, only someone with the might of the great Lancelot could subdue them."

King Arthur nodded, slowly. "It does sound as if they are fey-touched, yes. However-" One could see Lynette's hope dwindling. "However, I am afraid Lancelot is currently indispensable. I shall send another."

Gareth could make out the hopeful glance the damsel sent Gawain. Wrong sibling, milady. After waiting another breath - to make sure that the King would not assign, say, Bedivere to this Quest, she stepped forth from her position, carefully keeping her moves under control as she knelt down in front of Arthur. "I have to ask for a boon, my King."

Lynette stared, dread filling her eyes. The kitchen-knave? The one who had given the page something to drink? Frantically she glanced at the King. Surely he will not...?

He did.

Her newly-appointed knight-errant smiled at her, long hair falling out of it's binding, and Lynette felt anger and indignation rise. Minding her tone, but not her words, she glared at the King. "To think... here I came, making the long and ardorous journey from home, and I get not a knight but a knave!"

Lynette left the hall as she had entered it: with thunder and lightning in her wake.

And the Curtain Falls!