In the tower which housed the famed Round Table, two figures waited in silence. The first, a man barely into his twenties but who bore the countenance of a king in his prime, sat motionless even as his eyes surveyed the intricate decorations of the chamber with a carefully tempered pride. On the man's right-hand side, a fairly small woman whose eyes betrayed wisdom far beyond her deceptively few years glanced occasionally at her husband with an expression of affection riddled with concern.

"Guinevere," the man spoke finally, his voice calm but hushed, "Speak your mind."

The woman paused, pensively taking her bow and quiver from their place on the back of her chair and running a finger along the bowstring before answering, "I worry that the new division of the land may offend some of your vassals, dear Arthur, as many of those whose territory you reallocated have long considered their estates to be their birthrights."

Arthur frowned and slouched in his chair, a thoughtful expression replacing the measured pride that had previously occupied his features. After a lengthy pause, the king spoke again, "As always, my fair Guinevere, I do not doubt you are correct." Arthur turned in his seat and took Excalibur from its sheath on the back of the chair. He examined the markings below the hilt before continuing, "However, each was made aware of the division method when I took the throne ten years ago. If any should object, he may present his case to me."

Guinevere replaced her bow and quiver to the back of her chair, "If any should object, he shall present his case indeed. I only pray his oath of loyalty and civility will overcome his offense."

Arthur replaced Excalibur to its sheath, "It is time." With that, the king and queen rose from their seats and opened the massive doors which separated the chamber from the rest of the castle.

One by one, the knights filed in, exchanging pleasantries with the king and queen. When the last knight had entered the chamber, King Arthur closed the door and started toward the Round Table, Guinevere at his side.

"United we stand, now and forever," every voice called in unison before each person sat at the same time.

"Let us begin," the king commanded as he unrolled a map large enough to cover the massive Round Table, "Sirs Lancelot, Kay, and-"

"Your highness," Sir Ruber's voice interrupted, "I apologize for the outburst and any inconvenience, but I have yet to see the new borders of my territory."

"I had hoped such questions would remain unspoken until the new borders could be explained," King Arthur sighed, "In order to make the land's resources equal, Sir Ruber, It was necessary to drastically reduce the size of yours, Sir Lionel's, and Sir Galahad's lands so the neighboring areas would have access to necessary food and water. Rest assured, your lands will still support you and your people with some surplus."

Sir Ruber's eyes widened, "Your highness, have we not served you loyally? I would have expected the true king to reward those who best serve him."

King Arthur's eyes flashed, "Did I not make each of you aware that when I divided the land, it would be so each could support his people and not according to those who most endeared themselves to me?" A chorus of agreement filled the room before Arthur continued, "With regards to your protest, Sir Ruber, my decision has not changed. I expect you'll abide by your king's decision."

Sir Ruber's fists clenched as he reclined in his chair, "Perhaps a man who would fail to reward his most loyal vassals ought not to be king…"

Before the king could respond, Sir Lionel sprang from his seat, "Would you make yourself a traitor, Sir Ruber?"

"It would not be treason were Arthur not king," Sir Ruber growled his retort, "And I believe I would make a suitable replacement…"

At Sir Ruber's retort, Sir Lionel's hands gripped his shield as he leaned over the edge of the table. "I will not serve a false king," the blue knight growled, now reaching instinctively for his sword.

Sir Ruber frowned, "Then serve..." the red knight's hands clasped around his mace under the table. Ruber gave one last look of what might have been regret before he leapt onto the Round Table, "A DEAD ONE!"

Before any other knights could move, Sir Lionel dashed across the table, tearing the map as he raised his shield to counter the red knight's charge. As if in slow motion, Ruber grabbed Sir Lionel's shield mid-charge and swung the mace into the blue knight's throat, tearing a wide gash as he tossed Sir Lionel backwards, droplets of blood staining the map. As the other knights drew their weapons and charged, the queen fitted her bow and took aim, letting an arrow fly as Ruber batted aside the other knights and charged toward Arthur.

Ruber screamed and continued as Guinevere's arrow embedded itself into his left arm. Arthur, now wielding Excalibur, countered Ruber's mace strike and swung again. This time, a blast of magic from the sword caused the red knight to fly across the room.

The red knight landed and rolled with the impact. He struggled to his feet and fled the chamber, shouting, "One day, that sword will be in my hand, and every one of you will regret it!" The remaining knights rushed to apprehend him, only to be stopped as he slammed and locked the doors to the great chamber.

As the knights regrouped, Guinevere knelt beside a limp form on the Round table. "He does not draw breath," the queen said quietly as Arthur and the others gathered to inspect the body, "I feared some horror like this, dear husband…"

"Lionel," Arthur murmured as the heavy air of realization seized the room. The king stood, becoming the personification of authority, and commanded, "As of this moment, Ruber is no longer a knight of the Round Table but a murderer and a traitor. His lands are mine until such time as they can be divided among the rest of the knights. The departed Sir Lionel's remaining family shall rule his land. Nobody is to dispute regarding what I have just said."

In the stables of Camelot, a blind squire in green tended the horses, occasionally speaking to the creatures to calm them as he attended to their care. From the direction of the castle, Ruber ran into the stables, still clutching his arm above the arrow, "My horse, page," the traitor knight shouted, "Now!"

"Sir Ruber," The shocked boy responded as he brought out a large, black warhorse, "What's happened? Who's bleeding?"

"There's been an attack!" Ruber shouted as he mounted his horse, "Sir Lionel's dead. I'm going for help."

"What? Who attacked?" The squire questioned as he handed Ruber the horse's reins, "Shouldn't you be fighting to the last?"

Ruber rolled his eyes as he lifted his mace, "Oh, by the way, boy…" Ruber's warhorse reared as he spurred it into a charge, knocking the squire over before dealing a final blow with the mace, "You're a traitor now!"

The traitor knight left Camelot as fast as his horse would carry him.


For those of you wondering why I haven't updated in so long, I'll explain.

1. I have been debating a change in perspective. The change in question would add intensity to the story but completely defeat my original purpose in writing it. Additionally, I feel the sudden shift into third-person limited (focusing on Kayleigh) would be confusing. What do you think? I'm fine with throwing away my original intent for a better story, but only if the audience is fine with the changes.

2. I am debating the execution of a plot twist. It will not be relevant for several chapters at least, but I would like to know what I'm doing with it and write it with an attempt at subtlety when I finally get around to it. I will not spoil it here, but if you would like to help me out with it, send me a private message and I will let you in on it.

3. I have been doing loads of research on medieval culture and Arthurian legend. I do not wish the setting to be irrelevant to the story, so I have been researching cultural values, feudalism, chivalry, heraldry, and technology that would appear in the time period, which I believe to be the 6th century (Although the legends we know are 15th-century rewrites of the 6th-century folktales. As such, ideas such as chivalry and heraldry wouldn't really exist yet, but I am using them anyway because they exist in the legends we know now.)

4. A lot of great things have been happening. Unfortunately, they are the kind of great things which require a great deal of time. I have had little free time in which to continue writing. I have made a habit of carrying my trusty sketchbook around to sketch ideas as they come, so when I finally have free time, it should only be a matter of putting the story in Microsoft Word, proofreading, and uploading.

Thank you for bearing with me.
Yours truly,
Flautist4ever