The Flower of King and Knights

New Allies

Merlin replied wittingly, “Really, then I guess I need to work harder then.”

“I hate to break up this lovely little banter we have,” said King Ector, “But we still need to see which lords we can look to for help.”

As he finished, there was faint yell that came from the main castle gate. “Everyone else hear the person yelling right?” asked Ector.

“My liege, they are the lords of Powys and Deira, they have come to seek an audience with you,” the mage declared.

“Well I guess it would be rude for me to keep them waiting…should I be armed Merlin?”

“I’d keep the sword for show, but you won’t need it for practical purposes.”

“Oh good, I wasn’t looking forward to gutting someone today.”

Ector and the other knights came the parapet overlooking the main gate of Camelot. There they saw two lords followed by their retinues. The Duke of Powys and his men had the heraldry of a golden eagle for their surcoat, the knights had their own markings on their shield, but Ector noticed the uniformity of the Duke’s men.

The men of Deira appeared to be more a dressing of ancient Roman soldiers. The classic helms retained their shape, but bent plates were added for the face, and the arms were covered with mail and additional armor. They lacked the heraldry as their Powys companions, but they lost none of their prestige and dignity.

“Greetings great lords,” King Ector called out, “What brings you to Camelot?”

The lord of Deira spoke first, “We have come to seek an audience with the lord of this castle, would that be possible?”

“That depends, are you here to ask for submission or other?”

Merlin looked at Ector with scolding look. “You may want to try and speak to these men in manners that they are used to.”

“It’s a little hard to do that when I’ve spent 20 years in the 21st century, and less than a week in the 5th,” replied Ector.

The Duke of Powys spoke next, “Our fathers fought and met their end to the former lord of this castle, before they left, they made us swear that we would honor their fealty with King Arthur by swearing fealty to anyone who claimed to be his heir.”

Ector turned to Merlin, “Wait, what happened to King Constantine? I thought he was made Arthur’s heir as king?”

“He’s having some ruling issues, and only has complete sovereignty of the fiefdoms of Moray, Ross, Sutherland and Caithness.”

“Ouch, tough luck for him,” said Ector who then turned back to the lords, “If you will give us a moment to open the gate, we will be more than happy to allow you entrance into the castle.”

“We would be most honored at your hospitality,” replied he Duke of Powys.

Once all was inside, the men from the dukedoms and Ulrich worked to prepare for the feast for all lords and men as King Ector and the two Dukes began discussing other issues in private.

“So what exactly are you two looking to do with the alliance?” asked Ector.

“Good king, we mean to swear fealty to you,” replied the Duke of Dowys.

Ector turned to Merlin who leaned to say this was good for his cause. Ector turned back to the dukes, “Well, there has to be something I can do to repay the two of you for your show of loyalty.”

“But my lord, it is our duty to give you our loyalty,” said the Duke of Deira.

“My deepest apologies gentlemen, but where I am from, one is not given something from someone without returning that favor. At the very least, let me prove my worth of your loyalty. To do anything less would dishonor myself, as well as the men who came before me.”

The Duke of Deira was silent, but impressed with the young man. But the Duke of Powys took a moment to think before speaking. “There may be something you could do?”

“What is it wish done?” asked Ector.

“There are some bandits who keep harassing the people of a few villages in my dukedom. They won’t stop with their activities, and unfortunately the people can’t live in peace if these foul bandits keep attacking them.”

“So how come you and your men can’t stop them.”

“They seem to have a lay of the land that we do. Like they’re demons or worse.”

Ector took a moment to think, “All right, I’ll get some of my knights and if you will lend me some men to guide in these forests, I’ll take care of this problem for you.”

“My lord, I must warn you, these men know no mercy, and they’ve children women and children without a second thought.”

“Then they just made my job much easier.”