I had exposed the many deep dark secrets of this seemingly utopian castle, the head of all virtue and brotherhood that had been hidden for many years before my birth in little less than a year. The bitter hypocrisy of this place is almost comical. The place that claims to be the heart and soul of Britain is now a twisted and tainted heart and soul, covered by a false sense of camaraderie. How strange it was, to go and confront Arthur and kill him for the sake of Avalon, only to discover I had no need to kill him directly, my greatest weapon was not a sharpened blade nor bow and arrow but nothing but the simple truth. The truth would destroy him more than any weapon, and when Britain could see Camelot without the false covers and cries of loyalty. Arthur would be alone and I would take him easily. The great castle of Camelot bought to shame and its once great high King reduced to disgrace and dishonour. My task would be done and I would become the high King and I vowed to nobody but myself that I would never surround myself with such liars such as those beloved knights, and would never parade around in falsities like Arthur.
For such an event, it took les than the time I expected. When Lancelot entered the room, the Queen began to struggle more, to warn her lover and to escape my grasp. I kept my eyes on him searching for any weaknesses, studying him like a wolf about to strike his prey. That is what I must be if my plan is to work, a wolf-strong, cunning and silent. I watch him slowly, waiting and for a moment I wonder what it is that causes the other knights, especially Gawain, to trust him so well.
I had never been trusted, even Morgause seemed reluctant to see me become one of the knights of Orkney. I could never understand why until was older, until I knew who and what was to be my fate but still I watched as those who had once been my peers become knights and honoured, while I watched alone and unnoticed. I could never be part of the great discussions concerning the welfare of Britain; I was just a soldier to be used and lost but I had my success, I had my victories and even Arthur himself had heard of my deeds. I may not have been a knight but my battle skills were equal to any legendary knight of Camelot .I may not have been given my full due that is worthy of someone of my military successes but no-one not even Lot could deny my skill as a warrior. Tell me, if you had stayed would you have watched me become a warrior, would you have been proud to see me wield a sword like the other mothers would as they watched their sons take the steps towards becoming a man?
I mused to long and while lost in thought my grip over the Queens mouth slackened. She pushed my hand away and called to him before I could stop her, one word "run". He ran towards the door but it was too late, the men who I had positioned in the room stepped forward and blocked his escape. I thought it rather pathetic that he would try to save himself and not attempt to help his beloved Queen, who he so ardently desired. Are not knights meant to rescue fair maidens from danger? I stepped forward, face defiant as I looked at the elder man in front of me.
The look on Gawain' s face was truly priceless, I could just imagine how it crumbled like the worn face of a gargoyle in a storm, when he saw how his idol was no more than a traitor. Equally the look of surprise on Lancelot's face when he realised that his own blood would have to turn against him was pleasing to me.
I will not waste what precious time I have left, brooding over the fight that ensued. You, who knew Lancelot better than most of us, would know that Lancelot would not walk to his king in chains and wait for death. You could probably tell others that he fought bravely, and needless to say he overpowered the guards, even Gawain and he and his disgraced lover fled the castle. That, in the eyes of some, would be considered a defeat, But not to me. If I had wanted to take them alive I would have joined the battle, I restrained from fighting him and the others from chasing after him, not out of fear but out of the knowledge that I needed Lancelot alive and away. If I was to destroy Arthur I needed to prove how treacherous Lancelot was, and I needed Lancelot far away from Arthur so he could not continue to influence him from behind his cell bars. However I didn't need to say much to convince Arthur of Lancelot's treachery, Gawain had taken the blow the hardest, but instead of mourning, and withdrawing to lick his wounds like a wounded animal, he took the only course of action he knew. He swore to defeat Lancelot, his own cousin, in vengeance of the pain inflicted on him. In revenge of the treachery committed against Arthur, the high crown that he had swore to, and the treachery committed against him.
Arthur was most reluctant to let us hunt after him, something I had counted on. I knew how sentimental he could be, especially when it came to his family, except me.
My plan was working, far better than I had already intended it to, thoughts came to me of whether this was worth all the hurt and the lies once, but I didn't care. This was my fate; this was my destiny. to become high King of Britain. This was my only destiny, my only choice. Arthur was to die by my hand. For the sake of Avalon.