Love and Death

Lancelot

Lancelot was one of Arthur’s most trusted friends and he was often the one that Arthur went to when he had to have secret missions completed. What will surprise most people is that Lancelot and Arthur were good friends from a young age. They happened to meet when Arthur was living with his adopted family. Lancelot and his family actually lived right next door to him. Often, they would pretend sword fight, pretend to go on missions, and eventually, they became best friends. Often Arthur had told him, “One day I will be a big king, and you will be my second in command, Lancelot.” Lancelot would always agree but he never thought that would actually happen. Growing up together was challenging for Lancelot because he was always protecting Arthur from the bullies that tried to hurt his best friend. While nothing went right for Arthur, Lancelot had an easier time. This was because Lancelot had long blond hair, a muscular physique, and deep blue eyes. It is said that if you stare long enough into his eyes you could get lost in them. Eventually, Arthur went away, and Lancelot was on his own. While Arthur was gone, Lancelot became well known for his swordsmanship. It was told that he was able to cut a tree in half with his blade. Lancelot became the protector of his town whenever bad guys tried to cause a ruckus.

One day, though, he heard the news that Arthur had come back to Camelot and claimed the throne. He thought to himself, “Good for you, Arthur. You finally did it.” Then a messenger came to his house one day and told him that the new king wanted to see him. When Lancelot got to the castle, Arthur greeted him warmly and said, “Brother, now that my dreams are a reality, you are going to be my second in command.”

Lancelot and Guinevere

Being Arthur’s second in command was no easy task to say the least. Often, if Arthur were to go away on a quest or a mission, he would entrust care of the castle and his betrothed, Guinevere, to Lancelot. As fate would have it Arthur went away often on these long drawn out expeditions and that led to Lancelot and Guinevere spending significant time together. One day, when they were walking through the courtyard of the castle, they stopped to admire a cherry blossom tree.

Guinevere remarked, “This is the only tree of its kind here in Camelot. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Lancelot replied, “Yes, it is, but its beauty is nothing compared to you.”

Guinevere was shocked at this response but immediately discarded the feeling. She had fallen deeply for Lancelot, but never wanted to act on her impulses because she had no idea how he felt about her. As Guinevere started to say something, Lancelot leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back and they locked in a long loving embrace. After they had separated, they were able to finally tell each other how they felt, but they knew they had to keep it a secret. They both feared that Arthur would kill them if he found out. So, whenever Arthur came back from a quest, they would both act cordial around each other so that they would not give off the vibe that something was going on between them. One day, Lancelot and Guinevere were in his room lying next to each other talking when all of a sudden, the door burst open, and Arthur entered.

Shocks and Death

Arthur stood in shock. He could not believe that his betrothed and his best friend had been fooling around together. He stormed out of the room in rage after he had heard the news. About thirty minutes later, he returned back to the room and stood before them.

He said, “While I do not approve of this union because of how it happened I will let it be. I guess I am mostly to blame for being away for so long.” He then turned to Lancelot and said, “Lancelot, you are like my brother. Please take care of Guinevere and treat her right.”

Lancelot instantly agreed and then turned to Guinevere and asked her to be his wife. She looked at Arthur, who slowly smiled at her. So, the following day, Arthur watched as his best friend and his ex-girlfriend were married. They all became close that they had considered each other family.

Eventually, old age hit all three of them hard and they soon found themselves in their seventies. One day Arthur was not feeling well, so Lancelot and Guinevere visited him. The doctor that met them at door let them know that Arthur was not going to last past the day, so this was their time to say their final goodbyes. As Lancelot and Guinevere sat by his bedside, they recalled all the adventures and exciting times they had shared. Arthur said weakly, “You two are the best things that have ever happened to me. I love you both dearly and will miss you.” After saying this everyone broke down with Lancelot and Guinevere saying they wish they could all die together. Hiding in the shadows was Morgan as she had come to watch her cousin take his final breaths. She approached all three and asked if they really all wanted to die together. They all said in unison, “Yes!” Morgan acknowledged their answer and told them she would make it so. Arthur turned to her and told her that she had been forgiven ever since they killed Ursher. Morgan thanked him and then pointed her staff at them, and a blinding blue light emitted out the windows. Eventually, soldiers discovered all three lying next to each other dead, holding hands, and looking peaceful.

Author’s Note:

For this story I changed some aspects of it. First, I wanted there to be a backstory to how Arthur met Lancelot and I thought that it would be a fun tidbit to say they have known each other since they were kids. The second thing that I changed was that I made Guinevere just a girlfriend and not a wife. In the original stories she was Arthur's wife and she fooled around with Lancelot. It gave a bad look to both Lancelot and Guinevere, so I wanted to show them in a different light. I wanted to portray that they really loved each other because they had spent so much time together when Arthur was away. Third, I wanted to keep portraying Arthur as a compassionate king. In the original stories he is very angry and threatens to kill them both for betraying him. From the previous stories I have had Arthur show that he was a different ruler than what we have known in most stories, so to change that would be absurd. In the old stories they told of Arthur being slain on the battlefield. He was also not OK with Lancelot being with Guinevere. The fourth thing I changed was that I wanted to incorporate Morgan.I thought it would be nice to have her in the final story. Having her grant them all a peaceful death seemed to be a sort of redemption that I think she would have been seeking. I thought adding the little bit of them all holding hands would be unique. This would show that they all still cared about each other no matter what obstacle came into their path.

Bibliography

Clay, Beatrice. Stories From Le Morte D’Arthur and the Mabinogion.

The Death of Sir Lancelot and the Queen