3 Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 How King Arthur Came Across Four Knights in the Forest and How the Knights Served the Lady Guinevere While waiting for Mordaunt to recover, Arthur decided to take a ride into the forest. There he found a knight singing to three

ladies in a tower. When he got closer, Arthur realized that the performer was none other than Sir Geraint, one of the knights he had brought with him to Cameliard. Geraint, however, didn't recognize Arthur and therefore challenged him to a friendly contest of skill. In fact, he bet Arthur that the ladies watching were more beautiful than Arthur's lady. Telling Geraint that his own lady was the most beautiful woman in the world, Arthur accepted the challenge. The men agreed that whoever won would serve the other's lady (or, in Geraint's case, ladies) for seven days. Geraint was a skilled knight but was, of course, no match for the great King Arthur and was quickly overthrown. Arthur helped the surprised knight to his feet. He told him to make his way to Guinevere. He should tell her that he had been overthrown by the knight to whom she had given her pearl

necklace. Geraint, who was a man of his word, obeyed. As Arthur continued to make his way through the forest, he also encountered the three other knights he had brought with him. Gawaine and Ewaine were together, and Sir Pellias was last. Just like Geraint, all three knights challenged the man, whom they did not recognize as their king, to contests of knightly skill. And just like Geraint, all three knights performed nobly but were overthrown and sent on their way to Guinevere. All were sent with that same message, that they had been defeated in her honor by the knight to whom she had given her pearl necklace. When the four knights arrived at Cameliard and realized that each had suffered the same fate at the hands of the White Knight, they were so embarrassed that they could hardly look at one another. However, when

Guinevere saw the four knights whom her mystery knight had defeated, she beamed with pride and pleasure that she had given a token of affection to such a great man. With his magic cap back on and his borrowed white horse and armor safely hidden in the forest, Arthur returned to Cameliard. There he found himself in trouble. His boss, the head gardener, was angry at Arthur for disappearing when there was work to be done. Grabbing Arthur by the collar, he scolded him and threatened to hit him with the stick he was holding. Arthur's royal spirit surged up within him and he roughly pushed the head gardener away and took the stick away from him. The head gardener went straight to the lady Guinevere to complain. Guinevere seemed less angry than amused. Secretly, she was thinking it very strange that when the White Champion was around, the

gardener-boy was not, and when the gardener-boy returned, the White Champion was missing once more. She wasn't certain, but she thought it too great a coincidence that the gardener-boy and the White Knight had arrived in the kingdom at the same time. She wondered if they might not be the same man. "Let him be," she said, smiling. She would stop smiling soon. The next day, Duke Mordaunt of North Umber returned. Having recovered from his first round with the White Champion, he was back with new demands. It was a mere accident, a stroke of bad luck, he said, that he was defeated before. Tomorrow he would come back with six knights for a new challenge. King Leodegrance could also bring seven knights to compete and, if Leodegrance's knights won, Mordaunt would give up his demands. If Leodegrance's knights lost, however, not only Guinevere but all of Leodegrance's

kingdom would be his. King Leodegrance didn't know what to do. Even if he knew where to reach the White Champion, there were no other knights to help him. Surely he, alone, would be no match against Mordaunt and six other men. Guinevere, who was passing nearby and overheard her father, called her four knights to her and asked them to accept Duke Mordaunt's challenge. To her surprise, Sir Gawaine refused. "We are pledged into your service," he said rudely, "not your father's. We have no argument with Duke Mordaunt. Finally, we serve King Arthur and can only take on such fights upon his order." The Lady Guinevere blushed angrily. "Perhaps you are afraid to fight Duke Mordaunt," she suggested. Now it was Gawaine's turn to blush with anger. "You are lucky you are a woman," he