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CHAPTER SEVEN

Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot went to his castle, Joyous Gard. Many knights of the Round Table joined them. They admired Sir Lancelot and they felt that he had been right to rescue the queen.

When King Arthur heard that Guinevere had been rescued and that many of his knights had been killed by Sir Lancelot, he did not know what to feel.

Part of him was glad that Guinevere had been saved from the fire and he was proud that Sir Lancelot had saved her. However, he was appalled that Lancelot had killed the two unarmed knights, Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth.

‘I don’t know why Sir Lancelot killed them,’ he told his knights. ‘They refused to wear their armour because they wanted to show the world that they had no quarrel against him.’

‘Sir Lancelot killed them by mistake,’ explained one of the knights who had seen Guinevere’s rescue. ‘There were many people around the queen when Sir Lancelot came to rescue her. Some of them were armed and others were not.

Sir Lancelot just took out his sword and attacked everyone. He didn’t mean to kill Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth.

He didn’t see them in the crowd.’

‘You may be right,’ the king agreed, ‘but we will now have a terrible war. The Round Table will be completely destroyed.’

Meanwhile Sir Gawain had also heard the news that the queen had been rescued.

‘Sir Lancelot has done well,’ he told the knight who brought the news. ‘He was right to rescue the queen from a shameful death at the fire.’

‘There is more news, Sir,’ the knight told him. ‘It is about your two brothers, Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth.’

‘What news?’ Sir Gawain asked eagerly. ‘Why are they not here to tell me themselves?’

‘They are dead, Sir,’ the knight explained. ‘Sir Lancelot killed them both when he rescued the queen.’

‘Impossible!’ cried Sir Gawain. ‘I can’t believe that Sir Lancelot would kill my two brothers. They were friends of his and they were not wearing armour.’

‘It is true, all the same,’ the knight repeated. ‘Sir Lancelot killed them both.’

Sir Gawain went to see King Arthur.

‘I promise you,’ Sir Gawain told the king, ‘that I shall never rest until I have found Sir Lancelot and fought against him. It must be a fight to the death - him or me!’

King Arthur now summoned all the remaining knights of the Round Table and led a great army to Sir Lancelot’s castle.

They besieged the castle and King Arthur challenged Sir Lancelot and his knights to come out and fight.

‘Sir Lancelot,’ shouted the king, ‘you are my enemy and either you or I must die. You have taken my queen and you have killed some of the best knights of the Round Table. You’re a traitor!’

Sir Lancelot leaned over the castle walls to reply to the king.

‘My noble lord and king,’ he cried, ‘you may say what you like to me, but I shall never fight against you. It is true that I have taken the queen, but I saved her from a shameful death.

It is also true that I killed some of the knights of the Round Table, but I did that to save the queen’s life.’

‘You betrayed me for years with the queen,’ Arthur accused him. ‘I gave you friendship and made you the most famous knight in the world, yet you betrayed me. I’ll never forgive you!’

‘The queen is innocent,’ Sir Lancelot replied. ‘I will fight any knight who accuses her, except for you and Sir Gawain.’

‘Enough fine words, traitor!’ cried Sir Gawain. ‘Come out from the castle and fight.’