فصل دهم

CHAPTER TEN

Back in England, Sir Mordred had plans of his own to take advantage of King Arthur’s long absence from the country. He announced that the king had been killed in France and that he had thus become the new king.

Sir Mordred was also determined to marry Queen Guinevere. She pretended to agree to the marriage, but secretly left the court and went to London. She took over the Tower of London and filled it with knights who were loyal to her. She then told Sir Mordred that she would never marry him. Sir Mordred was furious and began a siege of the Tower of London.

When news of the events in England reached King Arthur, he hurriedly brought his army back from France. He knew that he would have to fight Sir Mordred to free the queen and to regain his kingdom.

Sir Mordred marched his army to Dover, where the king was expected to land. His knights fought a great battle to prevent King Arthur’s army from landing and many people were killed on both sides. In the end, however, Sir Mordred was forced to retreat.

Although Sir Gawain fought bravely alongside King Arthur, he was badly wounded in the fighting.

‘I’m going to die,’ he told King Arthur, ‘but there is something I want to tell you before I do. All of this trouble is my fault, because I would not forgive Sir Lancelot for the deaths of my brothers. Now I see that I was wrong. I should have advised you to make peace with him, for he has always been loyal to you and to the Round Table.’

Sir Gawain then called for ink and paper and wrote a letter to Sir Lancelot.

‘You are the best knight in the world,’ he wrote, ‘and you have always done what you thought was right. I want the world to know that I have been at fault in the war between us. Now I am dying and I beg you to come home to England and help the king in his struggle against Sir Mordred.’

Sir Gawain handed King Arthur the letter he had written. He then turned on his side and died.

King Arthur sent Sir Gawain’s letter to France and then he ordered his army to pursue Sir Mordred’s knights.

The two armies faced each other and everyone knew there would be a terrible battle between them to decide the fate of England.

King Arthur had a dream in which he saw Sir Gawain standing in front of him. In his dream Sir Gawain warned him not to fight the battle the next day.

‘If you fight tomorrow,’ Sir Gawain advised, ‘you will be killed. You must wait until Sir Lancelot arrives from France to help you.’

The next morning King Arthur decided to make a treaty with Sir Mordred, to avoid fighting a battle that day. He suggested that he and Sir Mordred meet in front of the two armies to discuss the details of the treaty. They would each bring a guard of fourteen knights.

‘Watch carefully what happens,’ King Arthur told his knights. ‘If you see any knight raise his sword, you can be sure that there is treachery among Sir Mordred’s knights. If this happens, you must attack his army immediately.’

King Arthur went out with his guard to meet Sir Mordred to discuss the peace treaty. While they were talking, a snake came out of the grass and bit one of the knights on the heel. Without thinking, the knight raised his sword to kill the snake.

Both armies saw the raised sword and each suspected the other of treachery. The commanders gave the word and the two armies moved to the attack.

When King Arthur saw that the two armies were moving towards each other, he rode back quickly to his own army with the fourteen knights who made up his guard.

‘It’s too late to stop the battle now,’ he thought in despair.