`Arthur! I'm so proud of you! I was worrying about you the whole time! I'm so glad you're here all safe!'
`Thanks... it wasn't actually that hard in the end.' he answered.
`Oh Arthur!' she said. `Even if you did mess up I'll still be here for you!'
Arthur hugged her gently, and then moved on to see Richard, who was waiting for him in the throne room.
`You see Arthur, I knew I made the right judgement! You had done what I in my prime would have done in my sleep! One day you'll be as much of a military genius and great fighter that I am! Now go to the dining hall, where I have prepared a most splendid dinner party for you!' Arthur didn’t appear to be too flattered with his speech, and Norman certainly didn’t look impressed, either. They both left the throne room.
`Military genius?! What a joke. He was an idiot on the battlefield, don't even get me started on the number of times I had to save his fat arse when we were losing' Arthur just gazed at him and said nothing in return They kept on walking down to the dining hall where an elaborate dinner party awaited them.
In the dining hall there was a table that was long enough to go across the whole room though only wide enough to have two people on either side. At the end of the table was a large, throne-like chair, which was usually where the king sat. Arthur sat down somewhere in the middle of the table. Norman decided to sit next to him to his right. On arrival a servant placed red wine and a bread roll on every table.
After about a minute or so Lydia and a bearded, stocky man came into the dining hall. Lydia was wearing a bright red dress rather than her usual pink dress. Lydia sat down facing Arthur while the bearded man sat facing Norman. The man was Lydia's father, Walter. He was the castle's blacksmith. Arthur was very happy to see Lydia, though not so much her father. He greeted them both.
`Hello Arthur, do ye still have that sword I forged years ago?'
`Yes, why do you ask?'
`I... just want to see it again'
Arthur pulled his sword out of it's sheath, it was a steel sword with gold plating and red decorations around it, it was a very fancy sword, though strangely enough, it had a plate covering where the name is usually engraved. The plate had the name “Arthur Rosethorne.” Walter gazed at the sword and stared at where the plate was.
`You know that I originally made the sword for Edward, right?” Arthur and Lydia groaned as soon as he mentioned the name “Edward.”
`Oh Dad! Did you really have to bring him up?'
`Edward's a murderer, and he's probably dead now, so what's the deal?' Arthur groaned, Walter was silent for a while'
`Edward was a fine lad, one of the brightest, most astute and talented people I have ever known, and as a magician he was just... amazing. It's a darn shame he turned out to be a good-for-nothing murderer'
`You're damn right he's a good-for-nothing murderer! Not only that, he always looked at down me and everyone else' said Arthur
`He seemed to respect you Arthur, he probably thought you should read more spellbooks like he did.' Arthur appeared to be uncomfortable with what Walter told him. Norman was silent the whole time. As they were talking many more people had entered the room and there was more or less a full dining table. A tall, young man in a heavily decorated suit came over to him He sat on the other seat next to Arthur.
`Prince Arthur, do you mind if I join you?'
`Depends, who are you?'
`I'm Robert, Captain of the Royal Knights!' Arthur was a bit shocked by what Robert said.
`Really? I never saw you on the battlefield'
`I was only appointed recently, they thought it was too risky to send me with you to Ashford'
`Fair enough'
`Anyway, you lot look pretty miserable, what's going on?' Arthur then pointed at Walter.
`He's been talking about a how wonderful Edward is, even though he's a murderer!' Robert then shook his head
`I guess murderers are all scum then.' said Walter.
`You can say that again!' said Lydia Walter then sighed `This is getting awkward... can we talk about something else?'
“What? You started this Walter! You started all this!' Arthur then took a moment to calm down.
`Oh anyway, how about my big day?'
“Oh yes Arthur, that's a good idea.' answered Walter.
Comments (1)
See all