Read Online King of the Middle March by Kevin Crossley-Holland - Free Book Online Page B

upon story, and pieces of one story. Word-wonders to sharpen our appetites for this Pentecost Feast. Many knights of my Round Table are still away in the wilderness, questing for the Holy Grail, but we have waited long enough. Let the feast begin!”
    Now the golden trumpeter is joined by three pipers and three drummers.
    And now a hammering! A hammering and then a screeching, and the hall doors are forced open.
    Two knights clatter in, and as soon as they enter court, they take off their helmets.
    Everyone in the great hall begins to shout—shout and then laugh. Without breaking their step, Sir Lancelot, wearing Sir Kay’s armor, and Kay, in Lancelot’s armor, pass through the fair field of folk, and up to King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.
    â€œGreetings!” says the king.
    â€œI’ve ridden here from Cornwall,” Sir Kay says, “and not one knight has challenged me.”
    â€œAnd I’ve ridden here through a gauntlet of taunts,” Sir Lancelot says. “Insults and challenges, gibes and jousts.”
    â€œSo we have heard,” says Arthur, smiling.
    â€œMy path was a smooth one,” says Sir Kay.
    â€œAnd mine,” says Sir Lancelot, “was sharp and pointed.”
    â€œWelcome to the feast,” Guinevere says.
    â€œThere is more to tell,” says Sir Lancelot. “Morgan le Fay put me under a spell while I lay asleep under an apple tree, and the daughter of Sir Bagdemagus saved me. I killed two giants and rescued their prisoners, sixty ladies and maidens. And then there’s Sir Turquine!”
    â€œTomorrow and tomorrow we will hear all of your story,” King Arthur says. “And you, Kay. You never need a second invitation.”
    Kay’s scornful lips tighten into a kind of smile, and he bites on his tongue.
    â€œSir Lancelot!” says the king. “Little more than a year ago, you were still a squire. But scarcely a week has passed without our hearing about you.”
    Queen Guinevere gazes at Sir Lancelot, and her eyes are on fire.
    â€œLittle more than a year since you were still a squire,” the king says again, “and you’ve won yourself such honor. Yes, the greatest name of any knight in the world.”

21
WAX AND DIAMOND
    Y OU KNOW MY WALL HANGING?” LORD STEPHEN asked me.
    â€œThe story of your life, sir?”
    â€œSo far.”
    â€œLady Judith showed me, sir—the panel when you were seven and fell out of a tree, and your betrothal, and when you met Queen Eleanor.”
    â€œDo you remember the one with two hearts?”
    â€œSide by side on a shield? One was gules and one argent.”
    â€œExactly. Well, on the day before I was knighted—”
    â€œWho knighted you, sir?”
    â€œWill you let me finish? You’re as bad as an untrained terrier.” Lord Stephen glared at me. “Sir William’s father…he knighted me, if you must know. Now on the day before, my own father told me a knight should have two hearts: one adamantine as a diamond—”
    â€œAdamantine, sir?”
    â€œUnbreakable. And the other heart, he said, should be soft as hot wax. A knight should be hard and cutting when he’s dealing with cruel men. He should give them no quarter. But he should allow himself to be shaped and molded by considerate and gentle people. A knight must be careful not to allow cruel men anywhere near his heart of wax, because any kindness extended to themwould be wasted. But he should never be harsh or unforgiving to women and men who need care or mercy.”
    â€œWhatever we do to others we do also to God Himself,” I said.
    â€œVery good, Arthur. You should have been a priest.”
    â€œSir!”
    â€œJust a joke.”
    â€œYou do think…”
    â€œYes, Arthur, I do. I am proud of you. Proud of you and proud for you. Now, have I said that before?”
    â€œNo, sir.”
    â€œNo, well, once is enough! You’ve served me well as