Chapter 5

To his great relief, Arthur found himself sitting on the other side of Bayard to Ivan, and the banquet passed pleasantly enough for him, although whether he admitted it to himself or not, he did still feel slightly nervous every time he thought about the draw that would happen after the meal had been served. The high table had two other long tables set at right-angles to it at each end so that everyone present was sitting around the outside of a large horse-shoe. Arthur glanced over towards his knights who were all sitting on the table to his right. He smiled as he saw them clearly enjoying themselves, and when Gwen looked up, their eyes quickly found each other, and they allowed themselves a small surreptitious smile.

Merlin, who was standing behind the knights of Camelot, leaned over and re-filled Lancelot's goblet.

"You know, Merlin, you could sit down and join us here."

"Nah, I prefer to be able to keep my eyes on things."

And he was telling the truth. As Arthur's secret guardian, he didn't want to be complacent. They were, after all, many miles from Camelot, and this was unknown territory to him. He knew from previous experience, that danger could be lurking in the unlikeliest of places. He did have to admit to himself, however, that he was probably being a little too overcautious. The mood of the banquet was certainly good-humoured and everyone appeared to be in high spirits, even if, as in Gwaine's case, that was partly due to Bayard's generous provision of wine and ale for the banquet.

When Gwaine saw Bayard rise to his feet, he looked over his shoulder to Merlin and grinned, "Well, here's the moment we've been waiting for. I wonder how Arthur's feeling now?" But any comments on this particular question had to be left unsaid, as Bayard began to speak. And as he did so, he looked down to where Arthur was sitting, on his right as their honoured guest.

"Prince Arthur and Knights of Camelot, we welcome you once again to the tournament, and I trust that Mercian hospitality has lived up to its reputation tonight."

There was much enthusiastic banging of goblets and tankards on the table by all present at this point. "We come now to the part of the evening when the draw is made. All sixteen names are written on lots, and in customary fashion, Prince Arthur will draw the first lot, and then the knight whose name has been thus drawn will draw the name of his opponent. That opponent will then draw the first name of the next pair, and so on, until all sixteen names are drawn. So Prince Arthur, would you be so kind to draw the first name!

One of the chief stewards at the banquet, dressed in the blue and yellow of Mercia, approached Arthur with a wooden bowl in which the 16 small pieces of folded parchment lay. Arthur looked over towards his knights as he drew the first lot, opened it and handed it back to the steward, who read it out:

"Sir William of Mercia."

This was a name unknown to Arthur and his knights, so they all looked with interest to see the identity of a possible opponent. Sir William turned out to be a rather young looking knight, who seemed a little over-awed by all the attention that was suddenly focused on him as he picked out the next lot, opened it and handed it to the steward again.

"… who will fight Sir Ulric of Mercia"

When Sir Ulric drew out the first lot for the next pair, the interest of the knights of Camelot suddenly became much more intense.

"Sir Gwaine of Camelot."

Arthur sat forward, his eyes fixed on Gwaine as he drew the next lot. As Gwaine opened it, read the name on it, and handed it to the steward, he deliberately raised his eyebrows to Arthur, making the prince even more on edge.

"... who will fight Sir Raynard of Mercia."

Merlin could see that Arthur was visibly relieved, and as Arthur looked over and his eyes met his servant's, Merlin grinned at him, but Arthur quickly looked away, not wanting to make it too obvious just how relieved he was. The new draw, however, was also one that drew great interest, but this time from everyone in the room.

"Prince Ivan of Mercia." Arthur cast a look in the direction of the other prince. He appeared to be very much at ease and, unlike the first knight drawn, was clearly enjoying all the attention, and made a big show of his draw.

"… who will fight Sir Oswain of Mercia."

Arthur was glad not to be facing Ivan in the first round, but any relief on his part was short lived, when Sir Oswain drew the first of the next pair.

"Prince Arthur of Camelot."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became electric – for good or for ill, his reputation as a swordsman was well-known across the five kingdoms. All those from Camelot exchanged excited looks and then fixed their eyes on Arthur. Arthur drew, opened the lot and stared down at the paper for slightly longer than everyone else had done. He handed it to the steward, shaking his head slightly to himself as he did so, and as the steward prepared to read it out, Arthur looked over at his friends, with a look of resignation on his face.

"….. who will fight Sir Lancelot of Camelot."

Gwaine shook his head at Arthur, as if to say, you've had it, but Gwen, at least, gave him a look of sympathy, as the steward went over to offer Lancelot the next draw.

There were no more surprises in the tournament pairings, and none of Leon, Percival or Elyan found themselves drawn against each other. After the formal part of the banquet had drawn to a close, and people were free to stay or go as they wished, Arthur went round the back of the tables to rejoin the others, but before he could say a word, Gwaine – whose behaviour had thankfully been somewhat moderated by the presence of Gwen – turned to him and asked in a voice loud enough for the rest of the Camelot party to hear him, "So how does it feel to know you're going to be knocked out in the first round, Sire?"

Arthur gave the knight his most withering look, "Shut up Gwaine!"

But Gwaine didn't, of course. "I mean, it's going to be pretty humiliating, especially in front of another royal court!"

Lancelot, however, came to Arthur's defence: "Gwaine, you know just as well as I do that the prince is just as likely to beat me tomorrow, if not more so."

" …though Lancelot has been on particularly good form lately…" added Elyan.

And Percival just grinned up at Arthur, "Do you get nervous, Sire?"

Gwen came once more to his defence, "Why do you all keep giving him such a hard time?"

Gwaine, predictably, was the one to answer her question, "Because it's fun! Well, Sire, at least you'll have one person in the crowd on your side tomorrow!"

Arthur shook his head again, "How on earth did I manage to get myself drawn in the same half as not only Lancelot but Ivan and Gwaine as well? And if that isn't bad enough, our half has drawn the lot to play second."

Gwen asked, "So when will you and Lancelot fight?"

Arthur sighed, "As the last pair of the eight."

Leon added, "Well, at least you and Lancelot are the only two of the Camelot knights to get drawn against each other in the first round. If all goes well with the rest of the fights, only one Camelot knight will be out in the first round."

Arthur looked at him with something approaching a look of incredulity on his face, "Is that meant to make me feel better?" He shook his head again, and then addressed Lancelot: "I'll expect nothing less than your best tomorrow Lancelot. Show me no pity."

"No pity then, my lord."

As Arthur went to leave, however, he spoke to Merlin in a slightly hushed voice, but fully intending Lancelot to hear his comment. "Make sure you keep his goblet filled up!"

Lancelot laughed, "I heard that!" and they all joined in the laughter as Arthur walked away.