Seize

The difficulty of training as a knight was not in the combat conditioning nor the scholarship, but in learning the palace posy known as "court etiquette." When to salute, when to bow, how to eat at a table with a Lord or Lady, terms of address, and much more have made up the majority of what has been shouted into me by my instructor, under Sir Agravain's orders. Life in Camelot is odd at its easiest, and infuriating at its worst. The Knights of the Round Table seem to enter and exit randomly, questing or returning at their- or Arthur's- whims. Some low nobles trying to butter their way into favor, others trying to lecherously have the king or some knight take their daughter in marriage. Such focus on status and standing disgusts me. Despite this, I have learned quite a bit simply by listening.

Caliburn - the sword of destiny, drawn from the stone of the king's court years ago by the now King Arthur, showing that he was the rightful heir to Uther Pendragon's throne. The sword itself represents control of Britain and its vassals, and Arthur closely guards it in his chambers at all times, save for intricate ceremonies such as knighting. Rumors in the court say that this manner of succession was a construction of the sorcerer Merlin, meant to protect the bloodline with his magic. Merlin himself is an enigma to put all others to shame - the son of a witch and an incubus with an ageless body and the ability to see all of time at a single moment, he operates only by offering his prophecy and assistance at unpredictable moments. One such moment was when Arthur was returned to the court so bloodied, they panicked to find a successor. More than one hundred children claiming to be Arthur's son suddenly came to light, from inside and outside Camelot. Merlin constructed what is now called the Blood Arc, a curious device which takes in the blood of two people, combines them, and illuminates if they are closely related enough to imply succession, the brightness showing how direct the connection is. The device quickly showed that no true successors came to the court, so Agravain, acting as Chief Minister, established a regency until the king could heal.

The knowledge of the Arc began first as a curiosity, than quickly exploded into an obsession as it filled my head while I tried to sleep. The memories of the drowning ship, how my father prophesied my future, and my arrival at the court all seemed to further and further coalesce into one conclusion - that I perhaps truly am the son of Arthur, and thus his bane. After years of tormenting dreams, I needed to find evidence. Shortly after evening dinner, I quietly slipped out of the court and found a beggar with an infant son, and paid her to go to the court and claim the son as a successor right then. Arthur was quickly roused, and blood was drawn from each, and the child was shown to be obviously unrelated. As all of the tired, bloated courtesans exited, I remained, and used my dagger to cut my tongue and spat the blood into the arc. The whole room glowed bright red in an instant.

My training was concluded in half the time of the rest of the knight-candidates. I was knighted and named Chief Lieutenant of the Army, due to my obvious prowess in combat tactics and strategy. Shortly after the ceremony, I requested a private audience with the King - a privilege granted only to the Knights of the Round. The moment we were alone, I asked him to follow me to the Blood Arc, and requested to test my own blood. The king agreed with a roll of his eyes, and we cut our hands into the odd construction of brass and marble. Once again, the room began to glow. Arthur was first shocked, then jumped immediately into a look of denial. "This must have been fabricated in some way, perhaps Merlin's mischief once again. Out from here, Mordred!" he shouted, and I quickly made my exit, saying nothing. Neither of us spoke again of that night.

In the next half decade, few unusual events happened, beyond the Knights' obsession with recovering relics and proving their combat ability. Arthur himself left Camelot twice as often as any Knight of the Round, with his questing combined with subduing of petty revolts making for a significant drain of his time in the court. In his absence, Sir Agravain tended to the government, Sir Lancelot to the Knights, and myself to the armies that remained. For most in the court, Sir Lancelot's betrayal and eloping with the Queen came with little surprise, as the bond between the two was obvious, and painfully so when the king was gone. Not a single courtesan was surprised as Sir Lancelot escaped to France to muster an army. The king raised an army twice as large, and brought an expeditionary force to bring the rogue knight to justice. To Agravain, he left control of the government and taxes. To me, he left Caliburn and control of the army. The moment word returned that Arthur had engaged with enemy forces in France, I took my proper seat on the throne.

Image Information: Click the sword.

Bibliography: Like the previous story, much of the exterior details of this story (Lancelot's going to France, Mordred's rise) come from the Vulgate Lancelot-Grail prose. A good secondary source for that story is the Wikipedia page for Guinevere, the queen.