king arthur: legend of royalty
Arthur's Troubled Heart
As of now Merlin has mentored Arthur
through many journeys. Arthur has pulled the sword from the stone
claiming himself as the rightful King, together he and Merlin have
found Excalibur, and Arthur has married his love Queen Guenever.
Through all of his time spent with Arthur, Merlin has foolishly fallen
in love himself. They call her Nimue and she is a lady of the
lake. Merlin did everything in his power to be in her
company. Unfortunately, Nimue laughed in secret for she had no
feeling for Merlin but desperately wanted to know all of his powers. So
she let him tag along every place she went. Now Merlin was so in
love that he told King Arthur that he was leaving his side to be with
Nimue, and he knew what would come of this choice. As he and
Nimue traveled together she grew very tired of him. So one day as
the two were walking back to Cornwall Merlin showed Nimue a large
rock. Under the rock he explained how there were great powers and
fantastic marvels hidden underneath it. Then Nimue had a clever
idea and told Merlin how she would love to see what powers lay beneath
the stone. In spite of his wisdom and predicting the future,
Merlin did as she said and went beneath the rock to bring back to her
the wonders that it held. Sure enough, once Merlin was underneath
the rock she used what powers he had taught her and moved the rock back
to it original position, trapping Merlin underneath it. After
this Nimue walked away happily and Merlin stayed underneath the rock
kicking himself for his foolishness.
While Merlin is trapped underneath a rock he still knows what is going
on above. He has seen the future and has also heard word from
above about what is happening with King Arthur. Here is a an
entry from Merlin's journal about Arthur and his Queen's horrible
situation...
An Entry from Merlin's Diary
Dear Diary,
It has been a while since I have even written in you. I have a lot of time on my hands, considering I am trapped underneath this rock that my lady Nimue so kindly fooled me into going under. It seems that I have been lacking in my predicting the future powers. I have heard some very striking news! The future that I knew to happen is happening much quicker than I expected. Even though I may be underneath a rock I can still see the future, and not to mention I can hear people talking above me. I have become deeply worried about King Arthur. I have heard word that Arthur's Queen Guenever has poisoned Knight Sir Patrise, cousin of Knight Sir Mador de la Porte, with an apple. I know that the Knights had returned from their quest for the Holy Graal and that the Queen was hosting a dinner in honor of them. Believe me, I know the Queen has her flaws, but the poisoned apple is not her doing. This just doesn't add up to me. Oh, what Arthur must be going through. I can already see it. The Knights are rallying against the Queen for the death of a Knight, she is pleading that she meant no such harm, and then they all look to Arthur to see what will be done. As I well know, Arthur will abide by the laws of knighthood. This means bad news. Arthur and Queen Guenever must find a Knight who supports her story and that will fight to defend her honor against Knight Sir Mador. From what I can see of the future, the Knight who is intended to fight for the Queen is Knight Sir Bors, but he will not raise a sword against Sir Mador. Sir Bors will not fight this battle. Yes indeed, Sir Lancelot will be the Queen's Knight. Even though she has driven him away, Lancelot feels that it is his right to do battle for the King and even more so for Queen Guenever, whom he loves. My heart breaks for Arthur. Not only does Arthur have to continue to uphold his vows as King more than ever right now, but he also has to be a husband to Guenever and that might even be more of a challenge for him, considering that he is starting to feel bond between his Queen and Lancelot. But has no sure signs of an affair, yet. What must be so stressful is that his fellow and most trusted Knights are against his wife. I can only imagine what he is dealing with. I truly wish I could be there to give him counsel, but this he must manage on his own. Arthur is a smart King and I have taught him well. As his mentor I know he will be righteous and get pass this horrid event. I do hope to catch word soon of what exactly is to come of that battle. I am one for details and one thing that is certain is that Lancelot will show up like the Knight in shining armour and ask Sir Bors to allow him to fight against Sir Mador in his place. Lancelot will win, for he is a fine Knight. The Queen will be proclaimed her innocence and she and Arthur will have a great feast in their court for Lancelot's victory, a victory that is truly deserved.
Merlin
Author's Notes
I chose this story
because I felt that it showed how honorable Arthur was.
His Queen is in such a horrible situation and yet Arthur was still
able to be a noble King and a respectable husband. I wanted to
tell this story through Merlin because he is the one that knows almost
everything. He does predict the future and I have made him my
'know it all' even when he is
trapped underneath a rock. Some things that I left out include
the identity of the person who actually poisoned the apple that Sir
Patrise ate: it was Sir Pinel le Savage. Never did Sir Pinel le
Savage admit to poisoning the apple. I also left out of the story of
how Sir Bors goes to
tell Lancelot what has happen with the Queen. Also, I left out
parts of the battle scenes between Sir Lancelot and Sir Mador. I
figured
that as powerful as Merlin is, he would have to have some restrictions
on details about the furure considering that he was beneath the ground.
Possibly his 'future telling radar' was a little blocked with being
under ground.
So basically, I left those parts out figuring that Merlin knows what is
going on but the little details such as fight scenes and conversations
between Knights he would have to hear from above or come out from
underneath his rock. I enjoy telling Arthur's stories through
Merlin because I think that it
gives my stories a little more appeal. Your not actually seeing
the story through Arthur but through his mentor that practically
considers him a son. Merlin is so appealing now because he no longer
can counsel Arthur on what to do. Arthur is living life by his
own judgment and Merlin is able to see and tell the choices that Arthur
is making on his own. Using the voice of Merlin
I am able add more detail to certain events, such as to show emotion
with not
just the characters in my story, but Merlin as well. Throughout
this storybook I have made Merlin a witty, wise, tough-soul 'know it
all'. He has guided Arthur through much without showing any true
feelings of emotion. He is definitely not an emotional character, but
so fourth you will be able to notice that while Merlin is trapped under
ground and Arthur is continuing to rule you will see Merlin soften a
bit to the fact that he does care about Arthur, in mentor/father type
manner. Image information:
"Holy Grail on the Water", link.
bibliography:
Lang, Andrew. "The Fight for the Queen", King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table. 1902, link.
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