Champion of Camelot

Printer-friendly version

Champion of Camelot

The yelling argument had lasted an hour, and King Arthur was starting to regret allowing it to start in the first place. But one of the founding principals of Camelot was the symbolized by the Round Table - that despite being King, Arthur was only to be considered the first among equals, and so he had let his most trustworthy knight Lancelot make his case.

“It cannot be done, Arthur! You cannot give a knighthood to a woman!”

“Why not? She saved my life, any man who had done the same would be welcomed.”

“I was there too, Arthur. Yes, in yesterday’s battle against the Saxons, she rode out of nowhere to come to our aid, but we didn’t know who she was until she removed her helm.”

“But the deed remains, Lancelot. How can I let her go without honoring her?”

“Give her a dowery so she can have a husband.”

“I offered, it was refused. She claimed she had taken an oath to marry no man until the kingdom was safe.”

“Arthur, I tell you truly. If you try and place her among the knights, there will be trouble. No matter how brave she is, the others will never accept her. In fact, some have hinted that they would first abandon Camelot.”

“You mean, they’d ... go back on the oaths they took to the kingdom? To me?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“All right. Let me consult Merlin.”

****

So the king went to the magician, and outlined his dilemma, and then said, “So, what can I do?”

“I do have an alternative, if the woman is willing, your majesty.”

“Well, what is it?”

“I had recently finished making a very special suit of armor, the wearer would be nearly invulnerable to all known weapons.”

“So why not give it to me?”

“Because there is ... a problem. The wearer could never take it off. They would never sleep, never eat, and never show their face to the world again.”

“I will ask her what her will is.”

****

The woman was summoned, and the choice was given - the dowry, a trip to a nunnery, or the armor and a chance to serve, but to never be known.”

There was a long pause.

Then the woman said, “I’ll take the armor.”

****

So it came to pass that a new legend was born - the legend of the Black Knight, the secret defender of Camelot.

But all legends must come to an end, and so it was with this one - The evil Morgan LeFay found out that the Black knight had one weakness - the armor would not let its wearer fight against the king’s blood. So she took the king’s son Mordred and placed him in command of her army, and forced the Black Knight to watch helplessly as Mordred and Arthur killed each other.

But it was said, that when Merlin took Arthur to a secret island to sleep until England would need him again, the Black Knight went with him.

So perhaps, The Black Knight will be heard from again, and maybe the true name of the wearer of the armor will at last be known again, as I reveal it to you all now.

Talia Pendragon.

Daughter of Arthur, warrior woman, ....

Champion of Camelot.

End

up
159 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

nice story

I enjoyed your spin on the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the round table.

thanks, T.J.

glad you liked it, and thanks for commenting.

DogSig.png

Interesting

A harsh fate though.

a harsh fate?

perhaps, but one she accepted willingly.

thanks for commenting!

DogSig.png

Swish swish swish!

Go's the blade! (Or was that the Tail!). Giggles Talia

Very fun idea!

erica jane's picture

Now can we see some of the Black Knight's tales from her point of view?

~And so it goes...

thanks, Erica

I have no plans, but with my muse, you never know ...

DogSig.png

Thanks

Athena N's picture

A nice Arthurian tale!

If you're interested in another take on a female knight of the Round Table, and one with a clear TG slant, there's a web comic here.

neat comic!

thanks for the link!

DogSig.png

Cally

Good news and bad news Athena. You have me hooked on another web comic.

Styx

There are so many variations...

... of the Arthurian legend. Good to see a new(?) one. I put the ? in because I remember reading, years ago, a story about Arthur's daughter. Alas time and age have dimmed my memory, so I cannot be more specitic.

Kind of off the subject, there also was a variation (in a movie, I think) where Modred is not only the son of Arthur, but of Morgan Le Fay. In this version, Morgan transformed herself into a duplicate of Guinevere. She then has sex with Arthur, and becomes pregnant with Modred. In this version, she is pretty wicked.

Styx

that's the fun thing about Arthur

his stories can be modified to meet the story's need.

Thanks for commenting!

DogSig.png

giggles, that's an oldie!

but a goodie, thanks for the link, and thanks for commenting!

DogSig.png

Nunnery

You do know that a nunnery is not the place nuns live (that is a Convent, but it is a place where "working girls" live?

actually I did NOT know that.

makes that line from Hamlet - "Get thee to a nunnery" a little different in tone ...

thanks for telling me!

DogSig.png

errm...actually not QUITE true

A nunnery has always been the building(s) where nuns live. Street 'jokes' have used, since the 16th century, the use of 'nunnery' as a brothel, but this has only ever been slang usage and has been considered obsolete for a long while.
Sorry and all that, but your statement is not quite 100% accurate.
Julia