When the crowd gradually settled and resumed their seats, the king grinned out at the kids below decked out in their purple gowns and mortarboard caps gazing proudly back at him. “I thank you all for your fealty, for your astonishing hard work and dedication, and for sharing your lives with me. You may feel you owe something to me, but you’re wrong. It is I who have been blessed from the moment I awoke here in your city, and I will be forever blessed that you have shared yourselves with me. Stand proud, my young knights, for this is but the beginning. All that we have achieved in this city and state, yea, across the country, is but the beginning. The greatness of New Camelot will continue to grow through you and those youngsters who come after you, and your achievements shall be boundless, your legacy one for the ages. I have such pride in thee I cannot even put it into words. You humble me.”
He stepped back and bowed to the graduates, which led to another deafening standing ovation. Arthur smiled warmly down at them. He glanced over at Lance and Ricky, his heart swelling with love and pride. He gave his sons a thumbs up sign, and they busted up with laughter.
Arthur resumed his seat and Soto returned to the mic. “And now we will hear from one among you who is without question the most extraordinary boy I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Your valedictorian, our very own young Mr. Lincoln, the remarkable Sir Lance.”
Another raucous cheer arose from graduates and onlookers alike as Lance stood and stepped up onto the stage. Soto’s ebullient face and outstretched hand elicited a big smile from the boy. They shook, and then Soto clapped him on the back and resumed his seat.
Lance stepped to the microphone and looked down at his fellow graduates, his fellow knights and their families, and momentarily felt choked with emotion. Less than four years, he realized, had elapsed since Arthur had saved him in that ally. It astonished him and filled him with pride that they had accomplished so much in so short a time. Even this event, one he’d never deemed of much importance growing up, was a huge deal.
He offered that radiant smile everyone loved. “Fellow graduates, fellow knights, brothers and sisters of the Round Table, family and friends, I’m honored to be up here today with all of you. How I managed to get the highest GPA still blows me away, and I told my mom everyone would think she’d fudged the grades. She just laughed and taught me a new word, like she always does. Nepotism. That means you do things for your family or friends at the expense of others. She promised me that wasn’t what happened. Actually, I wanted Ricky up here cuz I love hearing him twist his tongue into knots talking to crowds.”
He laughed and pointed to the boy he loved. Ricky grinned and made a swinging motion with his fist. The graduates all laughed.
Now Lance turned serious. “Growing up like I did, I never even thought about graduating high school. I just wanted to survive each day and make it to the next. I know most of you grew up that way too. We still know most of the schools out there suck. They still try to make everybody the same instead of helping us achieve greatness in the areas we want and are good at. But here things have been different. All of you used to be in gangs or grew up like me or did drugs and didn’t care about stuff like this. But look at you today, sitting out there wearing purple.”
He chuckled and many of the boys joined in. The female graduates nudged the males beside them, obviously not uncomfortable wearing purple.
“You’re all going to graduate high school today,” Lance went on, his voice deep and strong and tinged with sentiment. “But unlike most kids who graduate, thanks to my Dad and all he’s taught us, you’re ready to take on life as adults who’ve learned the most important lesson of all, one that’s sadly absent from the regular school system––to do in life what’s right, not what’s easy.”
There was more boisterous applause from the graduates and the crowd, so Lance paused to let it die down.
“You’ve already done more for your neighborhoods and communities in the last four years than many adults have done their whole lives,” Lance went on, his voice filled with pride. “And you’ll continue to give hope to your friends and neighbors, to your younger brothers and sisters, to all the children of this city. The times they are a changing, thanks to you, changing for the better!”
The graduates cheered and applauded once more and Lance beamed out at them, tossing a special grin to Ricky, whose beauty and love practically screamed at him from the first row.
“As you know, we’re heading out across the country next week to convince the American people our bill of rights is not only needed, but right and proper and long overdue. You all here will be running New Camelot while we’re gone. You’ll be working with Mayor Soto to keep this city on track and to keep encouraging our supporters throughout the country that the Round Table is alive and well. You’ll be reminding people that New Camelot will continue to thrive, and that this graduation today is only a small step in a much larger journey.”
He paused a moment, choked up again with emotion, as he fought for control. “You have all made my life so amazing I couldn’t thank you enough if I lived a thousand years,” he said in a soft, breathy voice, almost gagging. “You are my brothers and sisters, and I love you.”
He lifted his sword from behind the podium and held it aloft. “Long live the Table Round!”
The graduates rose to their feet en masse and raised their fists in solidarity.
“Long live the Table Round!” they shouted as one, causing Lance to grin with a mix of pride and joy and wistful abandon. Would he see any of them ever again? The threats against him and Ricky clung tenaciously to the back of his mind and wouldn’t fully retreat. You’ll never see your eighteenth birthday. He shoved those thoughts aside and replaced his sword as Soto returned to the podium. Lance shook hands with the man and resumed his seat.
At this point came the distribution of the diplomas. The official photographer rose and stood just to the side of the podium. Jenny crossed to the microphone. Grinning with joy, she waited to announce the first name. One row at a time would stand and the graduates would march around the stage and up the side steps. Each would meet Soto, who would hand him or her a diploma in a purple cover. The graduate would then shake hands with Soto and then with Arthur and Jenny, posing for a picture with all three, and then march back to his or her seat. That was how they had practiced and that was how it proceeded.
As the first two in their row, Lance and Ricky stepped forward to receive their diplomas with huge smiles on their faces. As Lance handed Jenny his card, she grinned so broadly he laughed. Then she leaned into the microphone. “Lance Pendragon,” she intoned, her voice loud and clear across the vastness of the gardens. Ricky immediately followed, eliciting another joyful smile from Jenny as she announced, “Ricky Pendragon.”
The boys took individual shots with Arthur and Jenny and Soto, clinging to the three adults with heartfelt strength, and then got a group shot with their arms around each other flanked by the adults. Lance would never forget the look in Arthur’s eyes as they shook hands. It was more than filled with love and pride. It was a look of sheer elation, as though nothing in the world could be more perfect than this moment, as though the king wished this moment could stretch unto eternity.
For Lance, that look was one he would cherish for as long as he lived, even if that time turned out to be shorter than he wanted.
†††
He stood across the street and watched as the multicolored school bus pulled out of the New Camelot parking lot onto Franklin Street, flanked front and back by black, unmarked cars he knew carried Secret Service. He pressed a button on his phone and put the device to his ear.
“Bus is just pulling away now, sir,” he said, as crowds of people, both supporters and naysayers, milled around the sidewalks waving their signs while the bus pulled out into traffic.
“Excellent, Mr. G,” he heard in his ear. The boss sounds pretty happy, he thought.
“I take it you have surprises waiting for them along the way?” he said. He knew the bos
s, but he didn’t know the boss’s plans. This one was slick – didn’t trust anyone.
“Naturally, Mr. G,” came the excited voice in his ear. “The beginning of the end is at hand.”
He squinted against the bright sunlight as uniforms on motorcycles pulled out into traffic to escort the bus to the freeway, and then cleared his throat. “So, anything else you want me to do here?”
“No. Bring it in,” he heard, and he could almost see the boss smiling. “If all goes according to plan, none of them will ever return to Los Angeles.” He heard a chuckle. “Alive, anyway.”
“Yes, sir.”
He ended the call and watched as the bus carrying Arthur and his kids trailed the police escort to the corner of Highland Avenue. The procession waited for the light to turn green, and then the entire line of vehicles turned the corner and passed from his sight.
Once upon a time in the City of Angels, a boy took charge, and an enemy closed in.
The Knight Cycle
Concludes in
* * *
Book V:
Once Upon A Time in America
†††
THE KNIGHT CYCLE
Book I:
Children of the Knight
Book II:
Running Through A Dark Place
Book III:
There Is No Fear
Book IV:
And The Children Shall Lead
Book V:
Once Upon A Time In America (coming 2014)
†††
Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of six novels––A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time (Silver Medalist from Reader’s Favorite), Children of the Knight (Gold Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards), Running Through A Dark Place, There Is No Fear, And The Children Shall Lead––who grew up in San Rafael, California. His horror screenplay, “Healer,” was a Semi-Finalist, and his urban fantasy script, “Like A Hero,” was a Finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.
He majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University and earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.
He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.
He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.
He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to seven different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state.
He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.
He has already written the finale to The Children of the Knight Cycle, which will be released in November 2014
He is currently at work on a horror/suspense novel based on his screenplay, “Healer.”
You can find him at:
www.michaeljbowler.com
FB: michaeljbowlerauthor
Twitter: BradleyWallaceM
Blog: www.sirlancesays.wordpress.com
tumblr: http://michaeljbowler.tumblr.com/
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/michaelbowler/pins/
Instagram: StuntShark
And The Children Shall Lead Page 43
