The Flower of King and Knights

The Quest for Excalibur

Ector sat at the head of the Round Table, peering out through a window in the hall outside of the room. His thoughts were filled with how to handle Morgan, Mordred, reunite the entire British isles, and still live up to mantle of being the son of King Arthur. And just a day before his only concerns were of good grades and improving his date life at the university. This gave the boy a deep and bitter headache. He rubbed his head to try to rid himself of the pain, but there was no immediate remedy for this.

He looked at the empty seats of the table, imagining the knights who used to reside in them. How he wished to have thsoe knights here to help him. To guide him on the hardships that lay ahead. Noticing the Seige Perilous, he wondered what would happen if he sat in the seat. He picked up a rock and gently threw it onto the seat. The rock plunked onto the seat and after a moment, it broke into several pieces before flying off the seat. Ector was unnerved greatly by what he saw. So much for sitting there, he thought to himself.

"How the hell am I going to start a kingdom when all I have is a wizard, two knights and a Saxon boy? Father had dozens of knights join him immediately when he pulled this bloody thing from the stone. God this sucks."

"Oh don't be such a wet blanket." Ector turned to see Cecilia looking at him.

"I'm not, I'm just...I don't know. I don't know how I'm going to be anything other than a some kid trying to claim that he's a son of a king."

"But you are the son of Arthur."

"Yeah, but the rest of the country won't know that. They'll just think I'm an imposter. How am I going to convince them otherwise?"

Cecilia took a moment to think of Ector's predicament. "...You need to find Excalibur."

"You're kidding me."

"No, you need to find the sword. You do that, legions will join your cause."

"Legions, really?"

Cecilia glared at Ector, "Oh shut up. Just go with me on this will ya?"

Ector played along with Cecilia, "All right then, where am I going to find the sword?"

"Duh, the Lady of the Lake. Who else would you think?"

"Okay Einstein, where the hell is that?"

"I don't know!  Wherever there's a big lake, I'm not an expert on that."

"You think Merlin would know?”

"Hmm, probably should have thought of that before."

"I'll go get him."

"Get who?" Ector saw Merlin in the room near Bors' seat.

"...How long were you standing there?" asked Ector.

"Long enough to know you want to find Excalibur. We'll need to head north if we are to find the Lady of the Lake."

"You think he'll look for the sword?" Morgan asked Mordred. She sat in a long chair where she laid down on her side playfully eating her meal before her with her fingers. Mordred paced the room swing a sword in hand.

"I'm sure of it. That sword is key to his victory, if he truly wishes to win the people behind him."

"But you won their hearts by bringing peace and harmony to the land."

"And when the king returned from protecting his lands from a rebel knight, and an arrogant emperor, and fell in battle to ensure his claim on the throne. The people are going to hold the man who fought for them closer to their hearts, than the one who usurped the former's throne, and raised an army to smote the rightful king. Certainly not one of my better plans, I can tell you that."