YOU CAN'T ESCAPE DESTINY | Arthur Pendragon [2]

The Treatment

*Annabelle's P.O.V.*

        I, along with everyone else in the stands, stood up in respect as the King made his way up to the royal stands. Once he was seated, we all sat down as well, but only a second later everyone started to clap and cheer as the knights who are competing in the tournament came out into the arena, all on their horses. William amongst them. They then stopped in front of the King and everyone quietened down as they formed a straight horizontal line in front of the royal stands. Uther then stood up, and took a few steps forward.
        "Knight of the realm!" he called, "Welcome to Camelot," I shook my head slightly as I heard William's horse whinny, and him trying to shush it.
        "Is that him?" Gwen, who was sitting on right, leaned over to whisper in my ear, referring to the man Arthur and Merlin recruited to 'compete' int he tournament, her eyes trained on William.
        "What gave it away?" I muttered back sarcastically, and she chuckled quietly before we both turned our attention to the King once again, not wanting him to hear our conversation, since we were the closest to the royal stands, because not only was it disrespectful to talk over a king, but also because he would then find out the truth about his son's actual whereabouts.
        "You've trained for this day for many years," Uther spoke, and I sighed quietly, looking down and briefly covering my face with my hand as I saw William's horse move around a bit, and him trying to calm it down, looking extremely uncomfortable and a bit anxious, as well as nervous. I heard Gwen try to stifle a laugh next to me, and I sighed as I looked up.
        "At least he hasn't fallen off that horse yet," I muttered, and I heard Gwen giggle quietly.
        "We will now put your bravery as warriors, and you skill to the test," the King continued to speak, "Today you will fight for glory and for honor. For this is the ultimate test of courage, and it will be the measure of you as men," I sighed and closed my eyes for a second once again as I saw William's horse neigh again and him trying to take control of it while holding onto the reigns with his hand tightly, "For only the most skillful, the most fearless among you, will emerge as a worthy champion," Uther spoke, and I looked down, stifling a laugh as William's horse continued to move around. Everyone then clapped as the King's speech was over, and all the knights left the arena in order to go to their tents for a moment and prepare for the jousting.
        I clapped along with everyone else as I saw 'William', now Arthur in full armor so that no one could see his face, ride out and hold a lance in his hand, while his opponent did the same. I smiled and bit my lip to stop myself from smiling wider so that no one, especially Gwen, could see how excited I was to see him compete.
        The man, the only one in the arena besides the knights who were competing, who was supposed to announce the start of the match waved the flag did exactly that, and quickly ran out of the way as Arthur and the knight whom he was competing against started galloping at each other in full speed, their lances at ready. I bit my lip anxiously, a bit worried, and watched in relief as Arthur's lance connected with his opponent's shoulder so hard that the man fell off his horse, his back hitting the ground painfully, more than likely knocking the air out of him. Everyone except for Morgana, who only clapped politely since she didn't really like tournaments because she saw it as 'only an opportunity for men to beat each other nearly to death', jumped to their feet and cheered for 'Sir William', and I couldn't help but grin widely as I also got to my feet, clapping with relief that was alright. Even though he is the best warrior in the kingdom, I still couldn't help but worry, because jousting is extremely dangerous, even for the best; if a man falls off his horse, and he hits the ground at the wrong angle, he could die in the most painful way possible, sometimes even lie on his deathbed for days before life finally leaves him.
        I watched the other knights compete: one hit the other with his lance right in the face, and another defeated his opponent by hitting him in the throat. Then, Arthur came out for his next match, and watched excitedly as he charged at his opponent, slamming the lance against his chest so hard that the knight fell off his horse, but his foot got caught in the stirrup and he was dragged across the sanded ground by the horse. Everyone winced and there were many worried yells, but then everyone, with (once again) the exception of Morgana who watched that happen with horror written all over her face, jumped to their feet and clapped as I smiled at Arthur, who held up his lance in victory.