Catelin sat in a chair facing Ector, with several of the knights circling the room. The air was tense and dark. “My lord is everything all right? I thought you would be joyous to our coming wedding.”
“I wish the wedding was to only thing I had to worry about. But it seems my aunt, Morgan, has decided to throw a curve ball my way…Sorry, bad paraphrasing.”
“Well what is the matter? What’s wrong?”
Ector told the guards to bring in a young monk, who told everyone what had happened at the cathedral of Canterbury. Some of the knights were stunned at the news, others remained still. The king simply listened to the tale he had heard for the fifth time now, and still he could hardly believe it now.
Sir Ector crossed himself, “Mother of God, this is the work of the devil.”
Merlin rose from his chair, “It is more than that my good knight. This is the work of a whore and her incestuous traitor bastard.” He held up the cross Mordred had melted. “And it seems that have found a way to avoid Christian persecution.”
Catelin was aghast, “How could he have done such a thing?”
Merlin replied, “Morgan infiltrated the order on Avalon, which had come to house the Holy Grail and the Spear of Longinus, using a vile of repentance to achieve this deception. She then stole the artifacts, and through the use of Satanic magic and lore, manipulated the artifact’s ability to heal and resurrect in order to bring Mordred back. Then she made sure that he would nearly impossible to kill.”
Sir Bors interjected, “How did she do that? Excalibur was the only thing that could kill him.”
“Actually, it is any weapon not made by man,” said King Ector, “Excalibur was forged by King Oberon’s father during the Wraith Wars. The blade is supposed to have been made from the bone of gods.”
“How did you come about knowledge, my king?” asked Sir Breunor.
“King Oberon gave me some texts about the Fae kingdoms and their history. He knew I am an avid reader of such tales.”
Sir Llewiquin followed. “And I heard the grail and spear were sent to heaven. How did they arrive to Avalon?”
Merlin answered, hoping to regain control of the conversation, “When Sir Bors, Percival, and Galahad were exposed to the divine items, they were under a hallucination of sorts. And sadly a combination of that with a spell from several members of the Avalon order caused the deaths of Galahad and Pervical, and made Sir Bors believe that the two items were sent to heaven. Now, if we can keep the conversation focused here? We have a man who is hell bent on destroying our chance of rebuilding Camelot, a woman who is eager to help him. And the one who has an ever reducing grip on reality can destroy symbols of the Christian faith. Which means that most of your armor has become an incredible liability to your safety.”
All the knights stared at the crosses and other Christian symbols with dread in their eyes. “We are in for a rough storm ahead. And if we are to survive this tempest, we will need to forgo old customs, and remake the world outside of our thoughts and beliefs.”
Sir Launcelot then rose, “What do you propose we do then, Merlin?”
King Ector replied, “We have something in mind, but do it, I need all of you in this room to show support. Because I can imagine that few of you will like what I have to say.”
- - - -
Dinar swept the floor of his cobbler’s shop as he heard the bustling crowds pass on by his shop. A door opens, a symphony of creaks and aches coming from the hinges alerts him. He turns to find an old friend standing in the doorway. “Palomides, it has been too long!”
He embraces the knight, who eagerly returns the embrace. “So, what bring a Duke to my humble shop?”
“Well I was in the area on some official business, and I thought I’d stop by and see if you were still in business.”
Dinar looked at Palomides, knowing the lie that was given. “You were a worse liar than your father ever was.”
Palomides laughed, but he needed to wait for the right moment. He took a seat near Dinar’s counter where some nails and pieces of cut leather laid scattered. It reminded the knight to have the man check his boots where they had started to crack and split. Hopefully they would still be talking after this.
“But seriously, why have you come? Over fifteen years, and now you just arrive to my shop. And after you converted, that was somewhat hurtful.”
“It was a political move. If I could get closer to the King’s court, then I could maybe help our people out more.”
“You could have helped by standing by your principles, Sir Palomedes. Do I not remember correctly, but wasn’t it your great, great grandfather who rode along with the prophet when he marched into Mecca with the grand jihad?”
Palomedes looked away from Dinar, “Aye, it was.”
“And you turned your back to that legacy, away from your heritage. If a man turns his back from where he comes from, how does he know where to go?”
“My friend please, don’t make this harder for me?”
“What do mean?”
Just then two royal guards entered the room. Dinar saw the soldiers and turned to Palomedes, “How could you?”
“Dinar, please, it’s not what it looks like.”
“I think this is exactly what it looks like! Is this how much our friendship is worth?”
“Dinar please, let me explain.”
“Explain what?”
A voice came into the room. “Explaining how I need to speak to you.”
The two men turned to see King Ector standing in the doorway. Ector turned to Palomedes. “I told you we shouldn’t have brought the guards.” Dinar knelt down before Ector.
“I’m not taking any risks, not now,” said Sir Palomedes.
Ector walking to the man and lifting him up to his feet. “No my good sir, if you can do what I’ve told. You’ll be the most famous Briton ever to live.”
“What do you mean, my king?”
“Come, we should all speak in private.”
The three men met in the back of Dinar’s shop. Dinar sat while Sir Palomedes and King Ector stood, due to the little room available to them. “What is you need, my king? I am certain there are finer tenders of shoes and boot than I?”
“Maybe, but Palomedes recommends you for future visits. But I need, England needs you?”
“And what could possess you to say that, my lord?”
“You remember Mordred?”
“Of course, who wouldn’t.”
“Well he’s back.”
“What do you mean back, as in from beyond the grave?”
“Precisely.”
“But how? He was killed by your father?”
“Long story short, my aunt used a Satanic ritual mixed with the Holy Spear and Grail to bring the man back from the dead.”
Dinar was silent for a moment, “Christian relics, in Satanic ritual?”
“Morgan used the entire city of London to provide enough spiritual strength to allow the two opposites to exist in Mordred. But anything outside of his body is immediately affected by simply touching him. Except for the Grail and Spear, since they were implemented in bringing him back, that seems to have given them some immunity to him.”
“But why do you need me?”
Ector turned to Palomedes, then to Dinar. “I’ve been told that you are trained in the ways of the Prophet?”
Dinar started to stammer, “Well I don’t think…”
“Dinar, Palomedes already told me. You’re an Imam, you’re one of the leaders of the Muslim sects here in England. And you have connections with the Jewish sects in the country as well.”
“I may have,” Dinar said suspiciously, “Why would you need to know about that?”
“Because if you help us, we could stand a chance of beating Mordred. He and Morgan found a way around Christian rites and power. Not Islamic or Jewish. And correct me if I’m not mistaken, but are the three deviations of the same religion?”
Dinar nodded lightly, “You do have a point, my king.”
“And if we combined the three, each component working together with the other, then Mordred’s charm won’t have an effect.”
“That is all well and good. But what would the reward be for our services, aside from simply fighting for King and Country.”
“Free worship.”
“What?”
“You can worship your religion, without any molestation from anyone, anywhere. No longer will you have to worship in the shadows.”
Dinar was stunned. Palomedes still looked as if Ector was not being serious. But Ector looked serious to Dinar, “What say you? Will you join our cause?”