Balin and Columbine (A Children of the May Novella - Book 1.5b)

Chapter Four: The Quest Refused

There was a hush around the banqueting chamber as the king deliberated on the quality of Columbine’s story. The knights of the round table and their ladies knew better than to speak out before their king voiced his opinion on any matter; finding oneself opposed to Arthur’s taste could lead to expulsion from the round table, or worse. The only person in the room who expressed unaffected emotion was Queen Guinevere, who had started crying as Columbine described the first meeting between Lily and Balan, and had not stopped since. She had sobbed particularly loudly as the girl in the pigeon cloak described the burial mound, which had irritated the king so much that he had forced his own dirty napkin into his wife’s face to shut her up.

A long moment passed in which Sir Dagonet feared for his life. Though the foolish knight thought the girl’s tale a worthy adventure for the Pentecostal feast, the king’s moods were notoriously unpredictable.

Arthur sat back, throwing one thin leg over the arm of his throne. He looked to the painted ceiling and the whole hall held its breath.

‘Oh fair enough, Sir Dagonet,’ he said eventually. ‘Though it’s derivative as an adventure. Things that are stuck in other things... did I not myself draw Excalibur from a stone?’

Well no, you didn’t, thought Sir Dagonet, hoping that the treasonous memory did not show on his face. You broke that first sword fighting King Pellinore. The Lady of the Lake gave you Excalibur afterwards.

‘Far more impressive to draw a sword from a stone than its own scabbard, isn’t it?’ said Arthur. The sycophants in the room laughed over-heartily and applauded the king’s weak jest. ‘And it was a rather sentimental story in the telling… Lovers bound together like molten gold, indeed! But it will do, I suppose. You made an appropriate joke on Garnish of the Mount at least. You may go, girl. Without reward, but you may go.’

Sir Dagonet breathed a sigh of relief. Not only had he escaped the feast with his life and place at the round table intact, but he had pleased the king enough that his brother knights would soon be fed; they could get terribly angry if their meals were delayed.

‘My king!’ shouted Columbine as she was ushered away from the round table.

‘Shut up, girl,’ hissed Sir Dagonet. ‘The king is done with you. Don’t speak out of turn; that makes him very angry indeed.’

‘My king!’ repeated Columbine more loudly. ‘Won’t you test the Dolorous Stroke in Camelot? Surely my companion in the quest is among your great company? He was not with king Rience.’

All eyes turned to the king, curious to see what punishment he would bestow on the impertinent girl. They had witnessed tongues sliced out for an untimely whisper in his presence, never mind a shout directed right at him. 

‘My liege,’ said Sir Kay the Seneschal, who sat on Arthur’s left hand. ‘I would not recommend it. There are too many versions of this tale of Balan and Lily floating around the countryside, each with a different supposed villain. I would not see Sir Garlon put at risk; he is an ally to us, and one of the chief contributors to our treasury.’

Arthur slapped away his foster-brother’s hand. ‘The knight Invisible has nothing to fear from a girl,’ he said. ‘Besides, that man with the ram’s skull staff in her tale... there must be a reason for his involvement. We all know who he is. Oh do not give me that look, Kay. I know your opinion of the man, but everything he does is for the good of my kingdom.’

‘Everything he does is for his own benefit, your highness.’

‘Nonsense. And I would thank you not to disagree with me before my knights, brother.’