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"Merlin, would you say that healing Claudia is a celebratory moment?" she asked, it had been a while since Avalon had thrown a festive banquet and Aurnia was itching to dance under the moon again with the living music. She didn't need to explain this to Merlin because he knew her too well to know that she wanted to throw another banquet again. She kicked her feet back in forth, letting the water run through her toes and creating small ripples in the lake.
It wasn't sunny out on the lake because of the protection spell she put up a long time ago to keep Avalon hidden from unwanted visitors. The fog was a yellow hue from the blazing sun hidden behind the thickness of the fog. The water below them was a deep blue meaning that they were still out pretty deep and still had a couple minutes of gliding across the undisturbed waters. Aurnia moved her eyes back to the sky and the swirls they made in the fog.
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So was their opponent. The knight was anonymous, covered head to foot in armor. His steed was black and shrouded in a caparison. He signaled Lancelot that he was ready to begin and Lancelot returned the signal. They galloped their chargers down the tilt with lances raised and shields up. Lancelot struck true and unhorsed the knight on his first try.
There followed a chorus of clangs like a dozen pots and pans falling at once. A murder of crows cawed loudly and flew out of the trees. The knight had fallen from his horse and landed in pieces. A stable hand, who helped Lancelot practice, took the reins of the black horse and lead it away. Another came to gather the fallen pieces of armor. He looked at Lancelot a little in awe.
Lancelot had long outgrown practicing with quintains and ring targets. His main opponent was an uninhabited suit of armor, which was made animate by the magic of Avalon. The ghost knight was a worthy opponent and could fight without tiring. They could not speak, these empty knights, but Lancelot suspected that they were the spirits of knights past.
It would take some time for the servants to piece the armor back together again. Meanwhile, Lancelot dismounted and removed his helm. His practice field was secluded in the forest that surrounded Avalon. He led Berm to the shore of the Lake and looked out over the mist. Most of the island was shrouded, but he could hear the rushing of the falls and see the light that gleamed at the topmost tower. He did not even know the purpose of that light. He inferred that it was something sacred. And for those things that were sacred, he thought it best not to ask about.
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Leaving her room she wandered down the endless coridoors until she finally made it outside, feeling he stoned path crunch under her foot and the smell of summer air mixed in with the aroma of the near-by ocean brought a small smile to her beautiful face. Stopping at a blooming flower she bent down and gently broke it's stem before bringing it to her nose as the sweet aroma flew through her senses and larger smile grew and she continued walking, idly twirling the flower around with her fingers.
She suddenly became aware of her surroundings when she heard the clashing of metal and the burly laughter of men, looking up Gwen found that she had stumbled upon the knights practicing ground, rolling her eyes slightly she took a seat on a slight hill and lay back feeling the sun on her face made her smirk slightly and close her eyes, this was purely heaven.
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He thrashed the wicker broom this way and that, hoping to get a chance at Sir Lancelot's time. He was a squire, not Lancelot's but of an older man of ill repute. He often beat women, raped wenches but his vast wealth kept many from doing anything accordingly to discipline him. So, line a soured milk, he got worse with age. He bedded many women, spoiled many of them as well--with his illegitimate heirs. Arthur despised him, but he was desperate to learn of knighthood, and his father's kingdom was not well endowed as to hire the services of the likes of Sir Tristam nor Lancelot. Instead, Artorius was stuck with--Duc de Puce--The Pig. A glutton of a man.
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The warm winds blew from the eastern channel, curling about the keep of Bamburgh Castle, caressing stones already bathed in morning sunlight. The scent of the sea, the strong bite of salt and fish, carried with it to make a cat curled on a window sill stretch and begin to purr.
Maleagant, Jarl of Bamburgh, glanced up at the cat and smiled, reaching out to rub the furry white belly with thick scarred fingers until purring filled the room like a rumbling storm. He laughed softly as the feline finally attacked the fingers, claws and teeth sinking into the skin enough to serve as a warning and he withdrew his hand.
“As feisty as her master.” Came a voice from the doorway. He turned his head, brushing a length of brown hair from his eyes as he did. A younger man stood just inside the door, leather armour worn over broad shoulders, a round shield at his back and a spear in hand. “My pardon my Jarl, but you have a visitor.”
“Who is it?” The Jarl asked as he stood, stretching his own shoulders, keenly aware that he was no longer the fighting man he used to be as his back ached with his movement.
“A young man who comes with news from Camelot.”
Maleagant’s aches faded at once and he nodded. The wind that blew through his open windows suddenly seemed warmer still as he saw the face of his visitor. The man was a Dane by all accounts, one of the many merchants who plied the waves and in exchange for a few coins and safe harbor, would tell the Jarl all he needed to know.
“My lord.” The man said in Danish, bowing his head slightly.
“Dagny. Welcome.” Replied Maleagant as he gestured to a chair, calling for food and drink to be brought for them.
“Thank you.” The merchant sat, gazing about the room, marveling as he always did at the simple tastes of so powerful a man. There were no fancy hangings nor golden items, rather the Jarl preferred strong oak furniture and simple comforts that made the room seem imposing without overwhelming a visitor.
The drink arrived almost at once and both men drained a horn before the merchant began to speak. “The old king is ill, or that is the rumours I have heard. His son, Arthur, is a fool of a boy with his head in the clouds. He has been apprenticed to The Pig though he spends much of his time following a young girl about like a moon eyed doe.”
Maleagant nodded slowly. “The old King is sick you say…” He turned and gazed out the window that revealed the long rolling hills of his domain. “We must help him along then…”
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She sighed, closing her eyes, "You're right Merlin," she said, "He will be on adventures soon." She sat up and looked towards the general area she knew her young Lancelot was practicing his jousting. She had noticed him more and more lately looking out the windows of Avalon towards the outside world. She had never forced him to stay, though sometimes she felt that she had made him too soft, so when she looked sad at the mentioning of him possibly leaving that that would suede him into to staying. She had always tried her hardest not to have that look, but she learned that being his mother (even if not his mother by blood) it was impossible not to seem sad.
They hit land with a soft bump, Aurnia got out, her feet stepping in the shallow water and her blue dress lightly floating on top. She walked onto land, her silver cloak trailing behind her. After a few moments of the silence of the forest she turned back to Merlin, her seemingly somber face back to its usual cheerfulness.
"Now shall we find those herbs?" she asked.
___
Morgan walked out from her cave, striding towards the dirt road that passed through her forest. Recently she had heard that the king had grown ill, though she knew it all had to do with her spell she sent him. A merchant had passed by her and using a little womanly power, she convinced him to send to the king a bottle of wine she had specially prepared for him.
Today she was hoping to start her journey to Camelot, so that while the kingdom is weak from having a sick king and no ruler yet, she could easily take over. She carried a leather bag on her back filled with poisonous herbs, potions, cursed trinkets, and other black magic items. None of what was in her bag was essentials for traveling because she knew how often this road was traveled on by merchants, and knew that she could just easily steal anything she needed and find someone's home to stay at for a night.
"The kingdom will be mine soon," she muttered to herself as she got to the road, "And soon all will be controlled by the Black Master." The Black Master was Morgan's name for an evil spirit that she served, the one that all her sacrifices go to, the Druids in Avalon called him the Demon King, and all Christians called him the Devil, though being as insane and far gone into black as she, she "knew" that he liked being called the Black Master best and found other names insulting and peasant like.
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