The Poison Rose: A King Arthur Tale

by Matthew Argyle

  Arthur looked into the woman’s eyes, again seeing the same face he had seen previously—it was the face of eternal sadness, a lack of hope in someone’s eyes that he had learned to spot ever since he was a child. And it was this look that he hated and despised most all. He needed to glance away from the woman because he could not bear to see such destitution and misery in his kingdom. Instead his eyes focused on the two children beside her. The two children moved slowly, cleaving to their mother for help—but Arthur could see that their mother couldn’t help them.

  Lancelot moved away from his spot at the table near Arthur and pointed down at the woman and her children.

  “Look and behold the workings of a witch,” said Lancelot, standing right next to them. “This witch has, for months now, been sapping our land of all that is good—the virtue and joy of its people. Now, Arthur, I would have you look upon your people and say that nothing is wrong, that people come to this earth to live like this—for I do not believe that God has it in himself to let good people suffer while evil prospers and hides away on a mountain. This is a scene, my dear king, a scene where men become dreamers and women workers, where children become abandoned and are forced to wander the streets alone because their very own mother can no longer take care of them. All this is occurring because of this witch, a witch who is stealing away the hearts of the men of this kingdom. This is just a representation of what this kingdom has become. You see what your kingdom has become your majesty. Look what so called ‘love’ has done to your kingdom!”

  “Please,” replied Arthur, motioning for the guard, “take her and her children to my dining hall and prepare a nice meal for them. We will be fine here. I don’t want to see these people like this…” The guard obeyed and lifted up the woman and two children off their feet and carried them out the door. Arthur then shifted his gaze back over the table of knights. “It is clear that something must be done. This woman is taking over the land and from what Lancelot has just said we cannot sit here and wait. The longer we wait the more men we lose and the more impoverished out kingdom becomes.”

  There was silence for several moments. “But again it is just one person,” said Percival. “This is not a complicated Holy Grail quest. Just send one man to find her and kill her!”

  “She cannot be killed right away,” said Arthur. “I would first have her stand trial. I will not lower myself to killing any individual unjustly just because we accuse her to be witch. I have too little information to dictate otherwise.”

  “Plus you cannot send a man to get her,” said Gawain. “That would be like sending a small bird to kill a whale. It is just not possible. If what we are saying is true, a man would succumb to her enticing charms. We have to send a woman.”

  “A woman cannot make the journey through that dark forest or up the mountain,” said Percival.

  “Especially considering the land around her palace,” added Lancelot.

  “What are you referring to Lancelot?” asked Arthur. It was then Lancelot remembered that Arthur was not with them on their previous journey.

  “I am referring to the forest, a forest now entirely corrupted. The forest in the east of my land used to be bright and filled with peaceful life, but now the forest has grown dark. A dark spirit lingers in that forest, and the animals there, all of them, have grown fierce. They attack each other, even the ones who normally feed on the grass and trees. I am also referring to the wall that surrounds her palace, just beyond the forest. We reached her gate and when we did we tried to find a way around, but couldn’t. The way was blocked. It was blocked by a wall over fifty feet high, made of a material I have never before seen. The wall was so smooth it would be impossible to climb. We found a gate there— a gate that I found had one inscription: ‘The Property of the Poison Rose.’ It was inscribed with nothing from this world, a type of bright evil red that seemed to glow. The words seemed to mock us and entice us to come in, knowing that we couldn’t. I felt an evil there that I had not felt in a long time. It was there, as we were departing, I heard a voice in my head—it was the voice of a woman, no doubt the witch herself. She said one thing, in as clear a voice as I had ever before heard, ‘Come alone and win my heart. That is the only way.’”

  The room had once again suddenly gotten silent. It seemed like none of the other knights heard the witch’s voice because it seemed as new to them as it was to Arthur. “Come alone and win my heart?” said Arthur, standing slightly surprised. “That is what she said?”

  “She wasn’t there, at least physically,” explained Lancelot. “But I heard her like she were only two feet away. The voice was crisp, clear, and powerful. I will never forget that voice, nor will I forget what she said. This is what makes me believe we are dealing with something or someone unlike anything we have ever faced.”

  “Then why don’t you go?” asked Gawain. “If you heard the voice she must want you.”

  Lancelot shook his head. “No, if she wanted me she would have opened that gate. But I would never return to that place unless I had no other choice and I think she knows that. I do not sense that this woman is ignorant. I think she is smart and knows what she wants. She has been taking men from this kingdom like crazy, but that isn’t enough. I think that now she wants Arthur.”

  “That is preposterous!” exclaimed Percival. “You assume too much Lancelot! If this witch really wanted Arthur then why not come get him herself?”

  “You do not understand this woman,” said Lancelot. “She will have all men come to her and that is how they fall. No, Percival, I assure you I am not wrong about this. I am not making up the voice I heard, nor am I making up the fact that I believe she wants Arthur.”

  The entire table was once again silent. They didn’t know how to react to this. They never thought that their king should be sent anywhere alone. As far as they always knew the king’s responsibility was to remain in the castle and direct the affairs of the kingdom, unless of course, it became necessary to go out and fight. But even then, when he did fight, he would always be fighting with an army and not by himself.

  “That is suicide,” said Gawain. “Sending Arthur to the witch would be like playing chess by sending the king out into the middle of the board with nobody to back him up. It is just plain bad strategy.”

  “Then it appears we have reached an impasse,” said Percival. “None of us knights are willing to go back through that forest, nor do we believe that this woman will actually open the gate for us. We are also not willing to forfeit our king. Instead we are to just sit here while our men go off after this woman and our lands and once great kingdom eats itself up from the inside.”

  Arthur suddenly spoke up: “I assure you men, I don’t know exactly what is happening, nor do I know what is to be done with this woman, but I do know that, as long as I am your king, I will not let this kingdom come to ruin. But now it is getting late. You are all tired after your long journey. So stay here. Stay one night in my castle. Eat a bounteous meal and I will soon make my decision. Until then this council is adjourned.”

  Arthur spoke with authority and with the craftiness of a great leader, so much so that all the knights, despite not getting any definitive answer, were quite satisfied and found it easy to stand, draw their swords, raise them in the air, and sing their customary good-bye chant:

  “We come and now draw swords,

  For we are Knights of Arthur’s Round Table,

  We now part, but not in spirit,

  For in spirit we are all one—

  All Knights of the great King Arthur!”

  They then gave one loud “Hurrah!” and then were dismissed. Although the knights had been relieved and could sleep well knowing that their job was complete, Arthur could not sleep. For him the troubles of this witch lingered too near to his heart.

  Chapter 4: The King’s Retreat

  After the knights left the council room Mordred assisted Arthur in finding places for them to sleep. Some of the knights, like Percival and Lancelot, preferred to spen
d the night with their families that stayed in Camelot. Although Lancelot ruled the kingdom far away from Camelot, his wife Elaine much preferred to stay in Camelot, finding the events and social atmosphere much more suitable to her lifestyle. Indeed, her lifestyle was an adventurous one, always performing in exciting medieval games such as archery and sword-fighting. Even though Lancelot considered her to be excessively wild and adventurous and would prefer her to live with him in his province of the kingdom, his love for her was too much for him to ever even consider being with another woman.

  In addition, her good looks made it easier for Lancelot to appease her wishes. Along with her fair complexion and her long golden-brown hair that ran past her shoulders she had as fit a body as any knight did. However, surprisingly her strong will and body did not make her appear any less feminine (as opposed to what may be thought), but it only made her feminine moments more accentuated. She loved Lancelot more than anyone in the world and, when she had the opportunity to be with him, she took advantage of this opportunity by taking herself away from anything that would divert her away from his attention. Thus when Lancelot was in Camelot he found any excuse to be with her—she being, to him, the most fair and lovely woman in all of Camelot.

  The couple fell in love more than twenty years ago and, at that time, had the opportunity to love each other without separation (because Lancelot was not knighted until after they fell in love and got married, the time when Arthur became king of the land). It was at that time that Lancelot met the fair young maiden while in battle. She was originally an Anglo-Saxon woman who, although not technically permitted to fight in the army because she was a woman, snuck into the army and fought against Lancelot and his armies (because Lancelot was captain at the time sent by the king to repel an enemy invasion).

  It was there, on the battlefield, that Lancelot engaged in a one-on-one swordfight with a powerfully aggressive and ferocious Saxon fighter, a fighter whose identity was secretly encased behind a helmet and armor. Lancelot and his men had driven all the enemy armies out of their land, past the river bordering their land to the north—that is, all but this one fighter who continued aggressively pursuing him.

  For a long period of time the two fighters fought right in the middle of this river, neither one willing to give up any ground. Crowds of Lancelot’s men lingered there merely looking on at the battle, baffled by the fact that any warrior could challenge Lancelot in battle (because Arthur at this time was not yet known abroad as a fighter). And they would not interfere because they felt that Lancelot would only be shamed by needing help to fight any warrior. Lancelot, although not known for his skills with the sword, had been trained and was a very difficult fighter with it nonetheless. This mysterious Saxon warrior, however, had skills that he had not seen before in any man from his kingdom and he was baffled at the speed and agility at which this warrior swung the sword.

  Eventually the battle between them ceased when, at last, Lancelot slapped away his opponent’s sword, leaving the warrior without a weapon. Lancelot demanded that the warrior reveal himself. He would not kill such a good warrior unless he was in absolute need of doing so. With his feet still firmly planted in the rushing water of the river the warrior took off his helmet and, to Lancelot’s surprise, he beheld a woman with long golden hair.

  For several minutes after that Lancelot dare not speak because of her great beauty. In short, the two fell in love right there on the battlefield. Lancelot then convinced the woman to come and live in Camelot, the free land, where her skills in battle could truly be appreciated. Eventually the two got married and gave birth to a boy named Galahad, who, besides inheriting the fighting ability of his parents, possessed the good looks of his mother (as much as a man can) but also all of the manliness and leadership capabilities of his father. In Camelot Arthur would often duel, and when he dueled with Lancelot’s son Galahad he found him such a good fighter and valiant representation of his kingdom that he made him a knight of the Round Table on the spot, without any hesitation.

  And so, to return to the story, it was clear that Lancelot waited eagerly for the moment that he could be with his son Galahad and his wife Elaine in Camelot. That evening Arthur went to meet Lancelot before he left for the night. There, in the great hall, Arthur exchanged embraces with Lancelot, Elaine, and Galahad and sent them home with much praise and admiration.

  And, as for Percival, Percival enjoyed spending time in the local pub simply drinking and talking the night away. He always said that his province didn’t have the best drinks, and he was probably right. Camelot was known for its ability to get men drunk in a hurry. And, of course, after the jovial fellow got drunk, he would eventually wander home to be with his wife and children. This, although unorthodox for a knight, was usual for Percival. All the knights knew him as a man with much love and respect for Arthur. As was stated previously, Arthur found Percival in jail after he had stolen a valuable ring from a traveling merchant who had journeyed to Camelot. There Arthur looked on Percival with compassion and the light of hope in his eyes. Arthur did not see Percival as a grungy, dirty, worthless thief, but as a man with great potential even though he had strayed. Arthur ordered the prison guards there in Camelot to release him with the promise that he would watch over him and find a way to bring him back into the light.

  So Arthur took Percival into his castle, taught him how to fight, gave him responsibilities in the castle, and prayed that he would abandon his old life of thievery and debauchery. And, after several years of service, Arthur found Percival so changed and so easy to trust that he appointed him to be a knight of his Round Table. It was then, when Arthur bestowed upon Percival the sword and status of knight, that Percival gave to Arthur the ring that he stole.

  Time passed and Percival eventually married and had children. This was a bounteous blessing for the both of them—a blessing that Percival attributed to Arthur, his savior from the pit of death and destruction that was the prison he had lived in.

  It is not needful to describe the rest of the stories of the knights of Arthur’s Round Table. It would take far too long and would not truly aid in the telling of the main story. However, it should be known that each and every knight of the Round Table had their own unique tale, their own unique pathway to Arthur’s Table. This diversity made every knight especially unique and valuable to Arthur’s kingdom.

  That night the rest of the knights, besides the Lancelot, Galahad, and Percival decided it best to stay in Arthur’s castle. Meanwhile Arthur prepared to leave the castle on an emergency journey.

  Arthur knew where he would go—it was where he always went to whenever he was in need of answers. Far away from Camelot to the south-west was an old hermit, a hermit named Merlin, who Arthur had known since before he could remember. Merlin was a jovial fellow with a long grey beard and an old walking stick who never left his groggy home except to perhaps get food or water or other supplies. His life was a solitary one, and indeed an obscure one as far as Arthur could tell. But besides the quirkiness of this man’s living style and the feebleness of his joints, Arthur knew that if anyone could help him with this problem it would be him.

  Arthur hurriedly packed some water, food, and other supplies for his journey and placed them in his pack, which he then flung over his shoulder. He had his sword firmly in its sheath and was prepared to leave. He then turned around to hear footsteps enter his room and was happy to see Mordred standing behind him. “Mordred, have you sent everyone to bed and assured that they have enough to eat and drink?”

  Mordred nodded. “The guests are taken of sir. Are you going somewhere?”

  “Yes, I am leaving, but hopefully only for a few days,” said Arthur.

  “Going to see the witch I suppose,” said Mordred.

  “No, to a friend, a friend I trust. I need answers and I trust his judgment.”

  “And not mine.”

  “No I didn’t mean that,” replied Arthur.

  “I am just kidding of course,” said Mordred, in the only
tone he had that could be seen as lighthearted. “You must do what you feel is right.”

  Arthur turned, wrapped the bag over his shoulder, placed his hand on Mordred’s shoulder, and looked him in the eye. “Know Mordred that I appreciate all that you have done for the kingdom. You have watched over me these long months, months that I felt I had no friends. And for that I am placing you in charge of Camelot while I am gone. I may or may not return. Keep the knights here for three days and, if I do not return by then, you may release them to resume governing their kingdoms, knowing full well that I have gone after this witch.”

  “It will be done of course,” said Mordred. “I will take care of Camelot and your knights for you while you are gone. You have no need to worry.”

  “Thanks,” said Arthur, as he tore off down the stairway. “Oh, and will you tell Alice that I have gone, but will be back soon?” Arthur suddenly paused. “And please tell her that I love her…”

  Mordred smiled. “It will be done Arthur.”

  Arthur smiled and moved down the stairway into the lowest level of the castle where he opened a secret stone door. Mordred followed. “The secret passageway again,” said Mordred. Arthur nodded. Besides Arthur himself Mordred was the only one in Camelot that knew about the long and dark secret passageway that went from the castle to the land just outside of Camelot. Arthur assumed that this passageway was constructed long ago by the first king who built this castle as a way that he could, if needed, escape the city without being seen so that his subjects would believe that he was there in the castle, thus maintaining order in the city. In the same way Arthur didn’t want to be seen leaving this castle at so dire a time. If someone did see him leave, the entire city would believe that Arthur, their own king, had abandoned them and this was something that he knew his people didn’t need right now—a sense of despair and lack of hope. So instead Arthur preferred to leave Camelot through the secret passageway.