The day of the Royal Festival arrived. Arthur dressed in his most regal robes and Gwen had also had a new dress made just for her by the Royal tailor. Arthur stepped into the Royal coach with Gwen climbing in after and taking a seat beside him as the coachman held the door open for them and then closed it and then took his place up front holding the reigns of the royal white horses.

A large crowd of Arthur's subjects had gathered around the front of the castle to see him off. Sir Ector and Kay were among them and as they waved as the coach began driving off Kay wore a broad grin on his face that was uncharacteristically happy for him.

When they reached the neighboring Kingdom at which the Royal festival was being held, the coachman opened the door for Arthur and he stepped out of it and then graciously lent Gwen a hand as she got out next.

They saw before them a huge gathering of people of all ages like none either of them had ever seen before. It was a wonder they both thought at how the courtyard was able to hold them all at once. They also saw many banners and streamers and turrets decorating the surroundings along with long dining tables on either side of them which would be used for the Royal feast.

Arthur then met with the King and Queen of this Kingdom. He bowed courtly before them as they did the same and he recited his much rehearsed speech to them.

"Greetings to you, Your Royal Highness's. I am very delighted to meet you and to be here at your exquisite Royal Festivities today."

"You are entirely welcome, Your Majesty," replied the Queen in a way that let him know she was charmed.

"We wish only for you to enjoy yourself to your fullest content here," the King added in a regal tone.

Then, shortly afterward, the first stage of the Royal festivities began which was the dancing. Arthur watched as all of the people in the wide open space before them found themselves a partner to dance with and then they began to waltz around lightly as the soft and sweet melody of the Royal musicians began playing.

Arthur turned hesitantly toward Gwen and asked with a slight stammer, "Would you care to have this dance with me, milady?"

Gwen smiled sweetly at him with the very slightest blush to her cheeks as she replied, "I'd be most honored, Your Majesty."

So then Arthur took her hands in his own and they began twirling all around on the soft grassy lawn. He felt so relieved as well as elated to be dancing with her as he was sure if it were with anyone else he would be bound to mess up and make a fool of himself in spite of all of the practicing he had done, and he knew even if he did mess up that Gwen wouldn't mind it. He didn't mess up though at all. They both swayed to the music as gracefully as if they were two swans swimming around on a lake.

Back at Arthur's castle, Kay stepped inside of it and entered into the throne room where he gazed upon the royal throne with the scepter and the crown beside it with an intense longing. Then, as he was unable to resist the temptation, he seated himself upon the throne and took the crown and placed it on top of his head and held the scepter in his right hand. He sat back and relaxed contentedly as he enjoyed his new position which he felt was quite justified to him.

How about this? he thought with much self gratification, Me, the King. The King of all England!

It was just then however that a tall man with a long black beard and wearing equally black robes entered into the throne room. When he saw Kay seated on the throne his dark eyes went ablaze with dark fire.

"What in blazes are you doing seated upon the throne?" he demanded very crossly.

"Why this is my throne!" Kay shot back at him. "Or at least it will be soon enough," he added smugly.

The dark haired man then seemed to ease his temperament though he still spoke in a very cold voice to Kay. "Ah! I see! You must be Sir Kay! And we have been expecting you here."

"Now what are you getting at?" Kay demanded irritably.

"I mean to say you think you are going to be King, but you are not for I am going to be King!" the dark clothed man announced loud enough for his voice to echo in the room.

Kay stared at him in shock and anger. "Now just a moment here! Are you a madman or something?"

The dark man laughed sardonically. "Ah, no, no! I am quite sane as I know exactly what is going on now. You, however do not know what is going on. You see, I am Lord Dragmore, also referred to as the High Wizard of Dark Magic, and I along with my partner Madam Mim have deceived you into thinking you could take the throne."

Kay stared at him in confusion and in disbelief with a hint of fear etched in. "Now look here, you can't have deceived me! As I have never seen you or this partner of your in all my life!"

"Ah! But you have!" replied Lord Dragmore cunningly. He then snapped his fingers and Madam Mim appeared beside him. "This is Mim, my partner, or as you much better know her..." He then snapped his fingers again and Mim instantly transformed into the beautiful white clad winged angel that Kay had seen.

"My... My guardian angel?" Kay sputtered in shock and disbelief. "That was you all along?"

Mim nodded deviously and then both she and Dragmore began laughing very evilly at the triumph of their deception.

"And now," Lord Dragmore concluded, "to see that you will not be of any trouble to us now..." He then snapped his fingers on both hands and then instantly they were all transported to the deepest dungeon there was in the castle.

"There," said Lord Dragmore. "This should keep you out of the way. And so that you won't get lonely down here I have invited a friend of mine to play with you."

And just then a huge scaly creature that looked like a mixture of a dragon, an alligator, and a hippopotamus emerged out from the shadows. It bared its teeth as it snarled fiercely at Kay. Then Kay, for the first time since he could remember, was really terrified.

"Now," Mim said, "if you'll excuse us we must be on our way. We have important business to attend to. Ta ta!" And with that Lord Dragmore snapped his fingers again and they both vanished from the dungeon.

At the other Kingdom's Royal Festivities, Gwen was standing over at the refreshments table where she got herself a glass of punch and some cookies. She had enjoyed dancing with Arthur very much. She liked being around him, and yet at the same time she always felt like she had butterflies in her stomach and goosebumps on her arms when he was near her. She couldn't help but wonder why.

Then suddenly she heard someone speak to her. "Hello, deary. Are you enjoying yourself here?" She turned to her side and noticed a tall and slender young woman with ravishing looks and silvery blonde hair standing beside her.

"Yes, I am, thank you," she replied with a smile.

"And have you had a dance yet?" the woman asked further.

"Yes, I have," Gwen said in a rather blissful voice.

"With who?" asked the woman.

"With none other than His Majesty King Arthur of England," replied Gwen.

The woman then looked into the crowd of dancing couples and her eyes seem to catch onto something. "Why, I do believe that is him over there, and he is dancing with them pretty red-haired girl too," she gestured toward the left side of them.

Gwen looked and, sure enough, she saw Arthur as he was dancing with a very strikingly gorgeous young girl who looked a bit older than him. He was also dancing quite closely to her, closer than she had danced with him. At first Gwen felt much confusion at this. Then she felt a shock as if lightning had struck her at full force when she suddenly saw Arthur and the other girl give each other a deep and passionate kiss on their lips.

She gasped and her hand went over her heart as she felt as it were being impaled by a hundred daggers all at once. Her vision was quickly becoming blurred by her burning hot tears in her eyes. It was in that moment that she realized that Kay had been telling the truth in what he had said about Arthur enjoying the company of girls and then tossing them over his shoulder. How could she have been so foolish and so blind as to let herself be misled by him?

The woman next to her seemed to be noticing her reaction as she put a hand on her shoulder and said in a kindly voice, "Would you like to come inside with me for a moment, deary?"

Gwen was at the moment so heartbroken she only nodded her head and then followed the woman to wherever she was to lead her without giving a glance back at Arthur.

Gwen went with the woman into the castle and she was led into a small room with high walls. In it she found someone else there. It was a familiar looking figure with long black hair and a matching beard and robes. Then after a moment of pondering she realized she knew exactly who this dark clad man was. He was none other than the dark wizard she had seen in her nightmare.

"You!" she gasped as she pointed a finger at him. "You're Lord Dragmore. You killed King Uther... and you killed my father!"

Lord Dragmore smirked very wickedly. "Ah! Well, aren't you a knowledgeable girl! Yes, I am he. And may I introduce my partner, Madam Mim."

Gwen heard a snapping sound and looked over to her side and found that the beautiful woman was gone and in her place was an ugly old hag. And then suddenly another memory surfaced in her mind. A most horrible memory.

"No! Please spare my child!" Lady Ellis pleaded in tears.

"Not on your life! Madam Mim shot back at her.

Then Mim pointed one of her long bony fingers at Lady Ellis and the next moment she was clutching at her heart before collapsing onto the floor.

Mim then took the now wailing baby girl into her hands and dashed away with her.

"You killed my mother!" she pointed at Madam Mim accusingly.

"I should hope I did," cackled Mim gleefully. "And now," she added, "we'll see what we can do about you. But first we have a bit of business to attend to. So we must keep you out of the way."

Mim then pointed all of her ugly long white fingers at Gwen and a few purple sparks shot out of them. Then the next moment Gwen found herself looking way up at Mim and Dragmore while the floor seemed much closer and the ceiling much higher. She tried to cry out but all that came out of her was a frightened squeak. It was then that she looked down at herself and saw she had now been turned into a squirrel.

"She really is much prettier as a rodent I must admit!" Mim said with a very menacing laugh.

"Well, now, let us go and prepare the poison for King Arthur before Merlin finds out about all this!" Lord Dragmore said as he hurriedly ushered Mim out of the door and locked it behind them.

Gwen was now left all alone and as scared as anyone could expect her to be at a time like this, though she wasn't just for herself, but also for Arthur.