Who Would Ever Want to be King

Knights of the Roundtable

It was some time ago, but Arthur still remembered the day Lancelot arrived at Camelot. It was the night after his wedding and also the day he found out he was going to die. Once Guinevere and his knights saw him, they instantly argued about bringing him for no reason, with maybe getting evolved to a fight between Arthur and Kay. He didn't exactly remember what happened though, but did remember waking up that morning really hurt. Eventually, they accepted Lancelot's presence and he immediately asked Arthur to be knighted. Arthur rejected him, but that didn't stop Lancelot from beginning again and again. Still, Arthur rejected it. It wasn't that he didn't believe in him, he definitely did, but at the moment he was still unsure about everything. That was a while ago, but now, Arthur's mind was on one thing: His death.

"Are you feeling well, my king?" Bedivere asked him. Arthur noticed himself sitting alone in his office with Bedivere by his side.

"What?" he said.

"You seem to be lost in thought."

Oh right, Arthur thought, his death. "Sir Bedivere," Arthur then asked, "Say

you're afraid of your future, and also happen to be the target of many enemies, and you don't know what will happen...what would you do?" Bedivere blinked, thinking about it for a moment.

"Well...Prepare for everything, I guess." he said, "You never know what will happen so you gotta be ready." Bedivere was right. If he was going to die, he'll have to face it like a man.

"Geez, I need a smoke." Arthur sighed, "I don't care if it's unhealthy, at least one time.

"A smoke, sir?" Bedivere asked in confusion.

"Like a cigar," Arthur explained, getting up from his desk, "Whatever, point is..." he trailed off.

"Remember, my king." Bedivere told him bravely, "No matter what happens, I'll be by your side. As your knight, I shall protect you, even in death." Suddenly, Arthur got an idea.

"A knight." he thought out loud, "That's it! Knights! I need more knights!"

"Yeah," Bedivere replied, "That's what we've been telling you for a while now." Arthur swung his office door open.

"Get your horse, Sir Bedivere!" he said loudly in excitement, "We're getting some new knights in this castle!"

*** *** ***

Almost immediately, Arthur and his two knights began traveling all over Britain, trying to look for new knights. It was only meant to be the three, but Lancelot insisted on going with them. "Well, look at that." Kay growled, "Took you awhile. I bet you're gonna give them a much better knighting than I ever will." He gave Arthur a death stare, who just looked on, ignoring him. "Still want a better one!" Kay pushed, "Are you listening?"

"Not now, Kay." Bedivere shushed him, "The king's not at his best right now."

"And who are you, his dog?" Kay asked. Bedivere didn't answer that, only giving him a look.

The first place that came in Arthur's mind was Orkney, thinking about King Lot and his son, Gawain. He seemed excited to meet Arthur and he would definitely accept knighthood. However, Orkney was quite far. Up in the far north, away from British territory. Arthur just hoped to God they would be nice and let him in. Still, since Orkney was far away, this gave Arthur the perfect opportunity to look for others.

*** *** ***

"So why do you wanna be a knight?" Arthur asked a quiet and aloof man. The man shrugged.