"Better she
remembers her obedience at all times," Lady Windermere spoke evenly to the
horse.
The horse looked very
concerned and broke eye contact.
"How will people
believe me and follow me here? We are quite far from the nearest village and
further still from any town." Arthur asked. "They will ask who will
pay them and feed them,"
"Every good Knight
must create a legend. I have just the thing,"
"Aqualisha!"
She called out to the sky. There was a pause. Arthur wondered what was
happening.
Then there was an
almighty call of an Eagle. A beautiful brown and white Eagle descended from the
skies and landed atop the saddle of the horse.
Lady Windermere gestured
at Arthur's sword.
"Aqualisha will
take your sword, Excalibur, to the town of Ambleside, you must be there in two
weeks from now. There it will be embedded in stone. Many will try to withdraw
it, but only you will be able to Arthur. You must not tell anyone; it is an
ensorcelled sword. This will enable your legend to begin."
"Excalibur,"
Arthur repeated as if in a dream.
"For now, you may
have this shorter sword," lady Windermere pointed to the sword beneath the
shield on the saddle pack. The sword looked very familiar to him; it was
uncannily like a newer version of his rusty blade he had lost.
"Fly
Aqualisha!" The lady passed the sword to the Eagle, which grasped the
sword in its talons and with an almighty cry and beating of its wings it flew
off with the sword.
Arthur was stunned. He
couldn't believe all of this could happen, let alone to him. He watched the
Eagle disappear past the tower.
"Now if you
please," sighed Lady Windermere, I must rest.
"Of course, my
lady. I will be on my way. You have given me three tasks to get busy
with," the lady raised her eyebrows invitingly.
"Oh?"
"Bring you loyal
subjects, reclaim Excalibur and prove to you that you haven't made a mistake in
choosing me to be your sole loyal Knight," the lady smiled, although it
was a tired smile.
Her cheeks and face,
whilst still containing her beauty was starting to look haggard.
Arthur bowed and gave
her hand a final kiss, he bid her farewell and mounted Seraphim's saddle.
Seraphim seemed eager to
get some distance from Lady Windermere, Arthur couldn't work out why the horse
had such an aversion to her.
"Now he's a true
Knight, he's got 'is 'orse" the guard at the gate tipped his helmet at
Arthur. "Sir Arthur, we bid you farewell and safe adventures," Arthur
thanked them as he passed through the castle gateway.
"Try not to lose
the horse this time," the other guard shouted out after him.
*
Lady Windermere watched
Arthur disappear through the gatehouse. She waited until the guards at the
tower signalled that he had passed the furthest hillock and was beyond visible
range.
Finally, she could
release her illusion. She collapsed into the arms of her maidens.
The beautiful castle
Windermere suddenly turned decrepit and ruined. The tower had many stones
missing, the walls were cracked and in disrepair. The roof of the grand Hall
was rotten and leaking.
She desperately hoped
that her plan would work. She needed tradesmen to repair the place, but she
also needed people to restore her magical well. She needed to absorb their Life
Force.
"Take me to my
chamber," she instructed her maidens and then passed out.
*
It took some weeks for
Arthur to return, in fact it took him four weeks almost precisely.
He trotted up to the
iron portcullis and was greeted by the guards who waved him through.
"Lady Windermere
needs you sir Knight, she has declined in health and energy since your
departure," the captain of the guard urged Arthur. "Do you bring
others, I see?"
Arthur looked over his
shoulder and gestured for the trail of people behind him to follow through the
gatehouse.
At the head of the trail
were several tradesmen on horses, further back a few wagons, some with
supplies, others loaded full of peasants, further back and trailing over
several hundred metres was a scattering of walking peasants, all were eager to
earn a wage.
Arthur had promised a
fair and generous lady of the castle at Windermere. He had promised riches to
those who would work for her favour and honour and title to those who used
their skills to impress her.
He had gathered quite a
following. The boon to his credibility, of course, was effortlessly extracting
Excalibur out of the stone in front of a hundred witnesses, some of whom were
minstrels, who were already spreading the tale of Sir Arthur Pendragon, the
mighty wielder of Excalibur the magical sword.
This was after many
hundreds of brave knights had attempted to extract the sword from the
stone.
Arthur had noticed the
Eagle trailing his journey throughout the lands. It had watched his every move.
He wondered if it had somehow reported his progress to its mistress.
From what he had seen
nothing was impossible for her.