The Great Purge

12. The Black Knight

Uther wouldn't speak for a long time after Ygraine's death, and it took a while for him to even allow the wet-nurse to take Arthur from him.
The queen's funeral took place a few days after her death, and it felt like the whole kingdom mourned with Uther, as Ygraine had been a very popular woman.
Nimueh also felt rather guilty for what had happened, for she had been the one to use the Cup of Life at Uther's request, and she felt that once he was over his grief he would turn his anger towards her.
At the end of Ygraine's funeral, a large banquet was held for her in the great hall, but it had a very different atmosphere to the one's that were usually held in that room.
The event was a very low-energy affair, until the end of the evening, when Tristan De Bois turned up, full of rage.

Ygraine's oldest brother Tristan was a great warrier, and one of Camelot's finest knights.
Due to his skill in battle, and his dark armor that he always wore, the people had nicknamed him the Black Knight.
Tristan stormed into the room that evening and threw down a gauntlet at Uther, challanging him to a duel.
"Tristan, what are you doing?" Asked Uther as he rose up out of his chair.
"My sister is dead because of you, Uther Pendragon!" Shouted Tristan.
"That's not true"
"She died giving birth to the son you have wanted for so long, that makes it your fault. She would be alive if it weren't for you, which is why I'm challenging you to fight me in single combat"
"I don't think this is what Ygraine would have wanted-"
"Pick it up Uther, and fight me tomorrow, unless you're a coward".

Uther couldn't risk being called a coward in front of the entire court, so he picked up the gauntlet, and accepted Tristan's challange.
Tristan nodded his head and stormed out of the room.
Uther then headed back to his own chambers with Nimueh at his heels.
"Are you crazy? You're the king, you can't do this, you could get yourself killed" admitted Nimueh as the pair entered the king's room.
"I can do whatever I like. Besides, now that I've picked it up there's no backing out, you know the rules" replied Uther.
"But you're the king, you can change the rules if you want. You can't seriously tell me that you want to fight Tristan to the death"
"Of course I don't. You think that I wanted this? I don't want to have to kill my brother-in-law, but I don't have a choice".

"But Tristan is one of the best fighters in the land. You can't beat him. Please back out of this fight" begged Nimueh.
"You have such little faith in me, and it is displeasing. You have not seen me fight, so you have no idea how good I am. Which means that you'll just have to trust me and my ability" admitted Uther.
"It's not that I don't think you are a good fighter, I'm just worried about you. You haven't been yourself these past few days because of Ygraine's death, so you aren't at your best. You've hardly eaten anything, so you are not in the best physical shape to fight Tristan"
"I'm sure he is not as strong as he normally is, for the same reasons I'm not. Neither of us are in our right minds right now, so the fight should be pretty even"
"Just think about this for a moment, let's say you do win, don't you think that killing Tristan is going to make Agravaine very mad, and want revenge for his brother as well as his sister"
"Agravaine isn't a physical threat to anyone. But if he does challange me then I shall fight him to".

"O.K fine, if you insist on taking part in this fight, then let me help. I can use magic to help you, and hinder him-" suggested Nimueh.
"No! No magic" interupted Uther.
"But I could do it subterly so that no one would know I was helping"
"I said no. This is something I have to do alone, and I will not have you interfering"
"But you are my king, I'm duty bound to protect you"
"You are also to do as your king commands, and obey my orders"
"Alright fine, do it by yourself. But if this all goes pear shaped, and Camelot is left without a king, then don't blame me".

Nimueh didn't sleep that night, and neither did Uther. Both were worried about what the next day would bring.
The stands were packed the following morning, as everyone in Camelot wanted to watch their king fight.
Nimueh spent the entire fight sitting on the edge of her seat, terrified that Uther was going to be killed any second. She was prepared to use magic at any moment, if it looked like Uther was going to die, despite the fact that he had told her not to.
But to her surprise, the one who landed the killing blow was Uther, making the crowd go wild.
Uther had proved to himself and his people that he didn't need to rely on anyone elses help to succeed, especially Nimueh's.