This is just a retelling of the part of The Legend of the King where Arthur is laying siege to Lancelot's castle, the Joyous Garde, rewritten so that Terence gets a more active role. Portions of this are quoted directly from the book.


"Mordred is on his way here. We need to tell Arthur to forget Joyous Garde and Lancelot and start preparing for the real enemy," Terence said to Gawain.

Gawain said nothing.

"Well?" Terence asked. "Don't you agree?"

"I don't care who we fight," Gawain said after a moment, resignedly. "I just want to fight someone. I think Arthur feels the same. He's not the man he was a month ago. Neither of us are."

"Let me talk to him," Terence said calmly. He tried to sound confident, but his heart sank. If Arthur had changed as much in the past few weeks as Gawain had, there was no knowing whether he would listen. "Come on, milord."

To Terence's dismay, Arthur was even more changed than Gawain. His face was haggard, and the spark of humor and compassion that always lurked in his eyes was utterly absent. Terence reported Mordred's plans, but the king barely seemed to notice. After a moment, Terence said, "My liege, tomorrow night is the full moon. If Mordred leaves Abingdon then, he should arrive in a week. We can set a trap."

At last Arthur spoke. "I have no troops to spare."

Terence hesitated, then said, "You could withdraw from Joyous Garde." Arthur's eyes flashed, the first sign of energy that Terence had seen. Terence went on, "I don't know why you are besieging Lancelot, but-"

"Don't you?" Arthur asked grimly. "You haven't heard Lancelot's been betraying me with my wife all these years and now has joined with Mordred to steal my throne?"

"I don't believe it," Terence said calmly.

"You don't want to believe it, and so you don't," Arthur said bitterly. "As king, I don't have that luxury. I have to believe that facts."

"Belief isn't about facts," Terence said. "That's knowledge. Belief is what you know without facts, and I believe in Lancelot. He's a man of honor, and he's loyal to you."

"You don't believe he had an affair with my queen?"

"Yes, sire. He did that, and it stained his honor. But he ended it and gave up his knighthood. Only when he had restored his honor- by rescuing the queen and restoring her to you- did he return. Since then, he has been faithful."

"That's what I thought, too," replied the king dully. "I was even willing to believe Guinevere when she said she had been tricked into meeting Lancelot in her chambers at midnight."

"What?"

"Oh, haven't you heard that bit? They were found together in the queen's chambers. Guinevere claimed they'd both received forged letters asking the other to meet- but of course neither letter was ever found. Lancelot fled, killing Agrivaine and four other knights on his way out. Even then, I tried to excuse those murders as self-defense. But when he rode into Camelot to steal Guinevere away one more time, I had to face the truth. Lancelot's turned against me, and I won't stop until he's crushed."

The king's voice was quiet. Bowing, Terence turned on his heels and left the king's tent. He knew when there was nothing left to say.

"Any luck?" growled a gruff voice. Terence looked up into Kai's black eyes. He shook his head. Kai swore softly and said, "Then it's over. He won't listen to me or Parsifal. Gawain won't even try. Bedivere's gone. There's no one else he might listen to."

"You don't believe Lancelot's a traitor?"

"Do you take me for an ass? Of course not. Lancelot would die before he'd betray the king. And if it didn't involve Gwen, Arthur would know that, too. But when it comes to her, he can't see around that old blasted affair."

Terence's eyes looked old. "And Mordred'll be here in a week."

They stood together in silence, watching the camp. Terence remembered the people he had seen on his journey, the death and destruction. "You know what?" he said suddenly. "That's it. If we can't talk sense into him, then we'll have to try it another way." He strode back into the tent.

"Terence?" Kai said. "What exactly are you-" There was a loud thud from the tent. "Terence! What did you do?" he rushed into the tent to see Terence standing over the limp form of the king, slumped over his table. He glared accusingly at him. "What?" Terence shrugged. "Nothing else was working."

"So you just decided to hit him? What good will that do? Now he'll probably just lump you with Lancelot when he wakes."

"While I was traveling here, I passed through a town just a few hours away. It was attacked, not by Mordred, but by bandits who were taking advantage of all the chaos. I thought I'd take Arthur out there, remind him of where his priorities should be."

"You-" Kai paused. "You know, that might work. Maybe all he needs is something to wake him up, snap him out of this slump of his."

"It's better than doing nothing," Terence shrugged.

"Do you want me to come along?" Kai asked.

Terence shook his head. "You need to stay here and take charge of things. Have you tried talking with Lancelot?"

Kai nodded, "Multiple times. He won't respond."

Just then there was a call from outside the tent. "Sir Kai!"

He stepped out, blocking the entrance with his body. "Yes?"

"You told me to report as soon as anything happened at the wall."

"Yes?"

"A knight hails us."

"Who is it?"

"They say it's Lancelot himself."

Terence suddenly recognized the youth. "Bede?" he asked.

The young man turned and looked at Terence for the first time. "Sir Terence!" he said.

Terence said, "I'm glad you made it to Camelot."

Bede replied, "I didn't actually. The-"

"Catch up later," Kai interrupted. "We've got bigger problems. Bede, go fetch Sir Parsifal."

They watched him run off.

"Well, that was bad timing," Terence said.

Kai just grunted. "It'll work out. Parsifal can watch over him, while you and I speak with Lancelot alone."

"Do you think he'll agree to that?"

Kai shrugged. "That's why I'm including you. Right now, you're probably the person he trusts the most at court."

. . .

A few minutes later, the great doors to the castle were opening while Kai and Terence watched.

"Are you sure it's wise to leave Gawain in charge? He's not the same as he once was."

Kai shrugged. "Who else? Parsifal can't watch the king and command the troops at the same time."

When they were alone with Lancelot and Guinevere, Lancelot spoke. "Why are you here and not Arthur? Is he all right?"

Kai glared pointedly at Terence. "Ask him!"

"Oh, come on, Terence complained. "You said it was a better idea than anything you could come up with."

"What did you do?" Guinevere asked concernedly.

"We're trying to talk some sense into him," Terence responded. "Parsifal's watching him. If you give us a few hours . . . "

Lancelot nodded, then glanced over at Guinevere. "But . . . he's still not going to execute Gwen, is he?"

Kai stared at him in shock. "No! He was never going to! What made you even think that?"

Now it was Lancelot's turn to stare in shock. "But that's what you said! In the letter you sent me!"

Kai shook his head grimly. "I sent no such letter."

Lancelot reached into his pocket and drew out a sheet of parchment, handing it to Kai. he examined it for a moment, then looked up. "This is not my writing. It does, however, match the writing of the letter found on your desk after you left court."

"A letter?" Lancelot asked.

"A half-written letter supposedly from you to Mordred, promising to join his rebellion."

Lancelot's jaw tightened. "I never wrote such a letter."

"Do you mind if we take the letter?" Terence asked Lancelot. "It could help convince Arthur."

He nodded. "I wish you luck."

. . .

"What-" Arthur woke up with a gasp. He sat up, looking around. Had Lancelot snuck out of the castle and captured him?

"So you're awake then." he turned around. "Terence?" he gasped. "What- I trusted you!" Terence just watched him dispassionately.

Arthur's eyes darkened. "Have you betrayed me too, then?."

Terence barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "If you honestly think that, then you are not the man I once knew."

Arthur ignored that statement. "Where are we?" He looked around.

"We're a just a few hours ride from the Joyous Garde. This was a small town before bandits attacked it just last week. You were too occupied with your issue with Lancelot to notice."

Arthur looked around again. They were standing in what looked like it had once been the middle of the town, surrounded by blackened buildings. There were carcasses of livestock lying scattered throughout the area. A few bodies lay to one side, covered with only a few bare blankets.

"Why didn't they bury their dead?"

"They didn't have time," Terence responded. "I've traveled all the way from Camelot to Cornwall, on your orders. I followed the path of the White Horsemen, and Mordred. Nearly every town that I passed looked like this. And since the White Horsemen were dressed like your knights, almost the entire country blames it all on you. And you know what? In a way, they're right."

Arthur made a noise of protest.

"Instead of doing something active to counteract Mordred's actions, you're concentrating on your little spat with Lancelot."

"He attacked us! He betrayed me!" Arthur protested.

Terence reached into a pocket and pulled out a sheet of parchment. He held it out to Arthur.

"What's this?"

"Just read it."

Arthur read it through, then glanced up. "This isn't Kai's writing."

Terence shook his head. "No, it's not."

"Where did you get this?"

"Lancelot called for a parley just after . . . he gestured at Arthur's head. "Right after I decided that I had had enough."

"Right after you attacked me." Arthur's eyes narrowed.

"Right after I decided that someone had to talk some sense into you."

"What did you do to Kai? Why didn't he stop you?"

Terence shrugged. "Because he agreed with me."

"He agr-" Arthur burst out angrily.

"Yes." Terence nodded. "Kai knows where his priorities are."

Arthur's face fell. He leaned forward and rested his face in his hands. "Am I alone then?" he asked quietly. Terence hurried to reassure him. "Arthur, you are not alone. I am here, and I still support you, I just think that you need to readjust your priorities." He watched Arthur carefully.

"It doesn't matter to me what you decide. Continue with this feud with Lancelot that Mordred caused, or go after the army that's destroying your country. Either way, I will stand against Mordred when he arrives, either by myself or with you." Terence turned his back and walked away to his horse, swinging up into the saddle.

"Wait!" Terence twisted around in his saddle. "I'll come with you," Arthur stood. "You- you're right. We need to focus on Mordred right now. I don't know if I believe you that Mordred framed Lancelot, but I'm willing to wait until we deal with Mordred to decide about that." He stood. "Let's get back to the others."