In spring, a traveller arrived at Sir Connor's manor. Sir Accolon of Gaul was a handsome if dim-witted knight, and reputedly the lover of King Arthur's sister Morgan. He wished to thank Sir Connor for rescuing him from Hargyll the Giant the previous year. He also invited Sir Connor to accompany him to see a pagan miracle! It is said that once every hundred years, the horse-goddess Epona would rise from the White Horse on the night before May Day, and ride across the sky to Wayland's Smithy to be re-shod. Anyone who sees her running will be granted a wish.
On the night before May Day, Sir Accolon and Sir Connor rode out to Uffington and the hill of the White Horse. They were accompanied by Sir Connor's friends: Lady Elspeth and her children; Lady Margaret, the sister of Sir Balthazar; Sir Athelwulf and Aelfwinn the Saxons. They viewed it as an opportunity for a fun night-time ride. Sir Athelwulf had packed a picnic. When they arrived, there was no one at Uffington save a scrawny looking monk with a hobby horse. He had come here to chastise the pagans, but since he was very young and did not want any trouble, he had chosen to come to Uffington - since all the actual pagans were at the white horse hill in Westbury. Sir Accolon, it appeared, was not a very good pagan.
The group turned their horses and rode with haste to Westbury. On the way, there were numerous distractions to slow them down. Reveling peasants invited them to join their celebrations. A fairy deer crossed their path: Aelfwinn left the path to hunt it. Two knights challenged Sir Accolon, Sir Athelwulf and Sir Connor to joust. Finally, only Elspeth, her children, and Sir Accolon reached Westbury Hill in time. There were many dancers at the foot of the hill, being led by Lady Svenhildr. She asked them if they would rest their horses, or continue up the hill. Sir Accolon galloped up, while Elspeth and her children dismounted and walked up. This was a test: Sir Accolon's horse died of exhaustion, and he was thrown to the ground and unable to continue.
Only Elspeth and her family were able to reach the destination that night. They climbed the hill to find a field with a hill of yellow flowers. On its summit were a trough of water, and a chest of silver coins. Ignoring the chest, the humans and their horses drank deeply from the water and were magically refreshed. As they drank, the image of the white horse rose into the sky and rode off. The next morning, the group were reunited on the hilltop. Aelfwinn had not managed to catch the deer. Everyone listened to Elspeth's story, before they returned home.
A week later, Earl Robert invited everyone to join him in Camelot, the new capital. Enough of the construction was done that King Arthur could hold court there for the first time. It is only a short ride, and everyone is impressed. Although only a little bit of the city is completed so far, it looks like it will be the biggest and most beautiful city in the world! Everyone had a good time. Elspeth and Sir Athelwulf went site-seeing. Aelfwynn got into an argument with Sir Kay. Sir Connor got into a fight with Sir Agravaine and almost killed him. Sir Balthazar was finally inducted into the Knights of the Round Table. King Arthur issued a proclamation at a feast, announcing the formation of the Companions of King Arthur, as well as new laws for warfare (both a response to Duke Hervis' deplorable actions last year). Also at the feast, Sir Athelwulf met Sir Marroc, the first Saxon Knight of the Round Table, who is reputedly a were-wolf, and was very impressed. Meanwhile, Lady Elspeth used her connections to Queen Guinevere to try and find Sir Connor a date.
The next day, everyone went hunting in the forest around Camelot. The serious hunters went off together, leaving Sir Connor, Sir Dagonet, Lady Elspeth and Lady Caryl to go on a double-date in the woods. Before long, a disguised knight burst out of hiding and struck Sir Connor down with his lance before riding off! The group dragged Sir Connor back to Camelot, convinced that this was revenge from the Orkney clan for Sir Connor maiming Sir Agravaine. Meanwhile, Sir Athelwulf, Sir Balthazar and Aelfwinn had a hunting contest, which Sir Athelwulf won when he managed to hunt down a bear. That evening, Camelot was in an uproar. King Arthur had been hunting with Sir Accolon and King Uriens of Gore (Morgan's husband) and the three of them had gone missing! Everyone headed out into the forest to look for them. The knights of Salisbury found tracks indicating that the three had boarded a boat on a lake, but there was no sign of where the boat had gone. Magic! Stranger still, the next morning King Uriens woke up in his bed in Camelot, with no memory of how he had got there. He confirmed that he, Arthur and Accolon had boarded a richly decorated boat, but he did not know what had happened to the others.
While knights set off on quests to find the king, the Salisbury knights decided that they would travel to Glastonbury, to seek the aid of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake. If the King had indeed been abducted by magic, then perhaps she would be able to find him. They rode west with all haste. Shortly out of Camelot, Sir Balthazar was challenged to a duel by Sir Bagdemagus. This knight had been passed over for a Round Table seat, and had sworn not to return to court until he had proven his worth by defeating a Knight of the Round Table. They fought, and Sir Bagdemagus was victorious. He then remained with Sir Balthazar to tend to his wounds, while the others rode on. The next day, the knights encountered a terrified squire whose master had been slain in ambush by the Knight of the Wolf (so called for his canine companion). His master's daughter was now the Knight of the Wolf's prisoner! The knights of Salisbury met the Knight of the Wolf, and learned that he was avenging the death of his father, and that the girl was unharmed. Sir Donna talked him into releasing the girl, and then escorted her home.
Passing through the village of Grovely, where a curious celebration was taking place, the knights next met Ry, a peasant farmer who begged them for help. A giant had begun damming a nearby river: if the dam were to be completed, then Ry's village would be flooded. The knights went to meet with Geest the giant, who was upset that Ry's sheep were grazing in a field of rocks that Geest claimed were his family. The two Saxons were able to make Geest and Ry come to a compromise: Geest would clear more land for Ry so that he would not have to graze his sheep in that field, and in exchange Ry would offer Geest a tribute of food. After leaving Ry and Geest behind, the knights continued into the Selwood where they met a wounded knight. When they rode up to him, he attacked them treacherously! When the tide turned against him, the brigand knight fled - he was much better at escaping than fighting. This was Sir Bruce the Merciless, an infamous villain, and the knights swore to be revenged upon him. Leaving the forest, the knights entered Somerset. There they met a group of knights hunting a white stag, but decided not to join them, pressing on to Glastonbury. As they camped that night, Margaret saw the white stag. She approached it, and it stamped and snorted but did not flee as she stroked it and then warned it about the hunters. It nuzzled her, before bounding off.
The next morning, the travellers climbed the Glastonbury Tor to find the commune of the Ladies of the Lake. There, they met Nimue and Taliesin the Wise, who was visiting with her. Nimue used her magic and confirmed that King Arthur was in fact in grave danger. A conspiracy was afoot, and only they could save him. She asked the knights to accompany her as she traveled upon the Fairy Road to Arthur's side. They agreed, and rode out from Glastonbury. The trees became thicker around them as they rode, until all that was left was a perfectly straight path, with trees forming a solid canopy above them and blocking off the sides of the road, and no sounds of animals. It was impossible to tell when it was day or when night. The group camped on the road when they felt tired, and set a watch.
At night, the White Stag approached. Because of Margaret's kindness, it was travelling with them as their spirit guide. First, it warned, there was a young hunter on the road that they would have to confront. A few days later, the group met him. Sir Cyndyn was a young knight of Somerset who had prayed to God for a quest - and then by chance caught sight of the White Stag. He had sworn never to return home until he had caught it. The others tried to convince him that the White Stag was no enemy of his, but he was adamant and challenged them to a duel for insulting his honour. Sir Donna accepted, intending to prove to him that God prefers mercy to violence. But in a horrible accident, she slew Sir Cyndyn! She felt guilty, but there was nothing to be done but to give him a burial and continue on the road.
The next night, the white stag returned to warn Athelwulf. Further upon the road, they would meet a hag that had stolen a young boy. The stag led Athewulf just off the road and stamped the ground between the tree roots. There, Athelwulf found a bronze sword buried in the ground. On the next day, the knights found a hut built in the shelter of an overhanging rock. Outside it, preparing food, was a youth with a chain around his waist. He ran inside when he saw the knights, and the hag addressed them. She offered to sell the boy to them, but Sir Athelwulf, Sir Donna and Aelfwinn stormed inside and slew her to rescue him. When they emerged, the hut was gone, but the boy remained. His name was... Cyndyn?! But he had no memory of how he came to be here. The group were confused, but took the boy with them. Sir Donna in particular saw this as her opportunity to right the wrong that she had committed, and to teach Cyndyn to be a better man.
The stag's next visit was to tell the knights that they were entering the kingdom of the boorish King Baedd. King Baedd possessed the magical Spear of Twch Mochyn, although he did not know its worth. The knights must claim this spear in order to continue. This time, the stag gave the group a pennant to bear, so that King Baedd would know that they came in peace. Aelfwinn attached it to her spear. It bore the strange symbol of a truffle upon it. Before long, the group was confronted by four of King Baedd's knights. The travellers realised that the stag meant not 'boorish' but 'boarish', for the knights were pigs! Boars walking upon their hind legs, wearing armour in the fashion of knights. The boars received the knights courteously - if highly amused that 'hairless apes' were 'mimicking' them by wearing armour - and invited them back to meet King Baedd. King Baedd had his own castle, which the knights judged must have been constructed by humans, but the boars knew nothing of it. After a relaxing mud-bath and an unusual feast, they challenged King Baedd's champion to a wrestling match for the right to the spear. Aelfwinn defeated him, and the boar-king granted her the spear, as well as a shield bearing the design of a truffle recouchant as a symbol of their respect. Amused, the knights thanked their hosts and continued upon their way.
The white stag returned now for one last time. It told them that there was a tower with a giant in it. To pass by, they would have to set right an ancient wrong, and do the Christian thing. And indeed, ahead in a clearing was a tower with a stone-throwing giant at its parapet. Gwaet the giant accused the knights of being sent by Lord Penyt to retrieve his daughter, Lady Taryan, from the giant. Gwaet insisted that Taryan was his true love, and that she was happy to be with him - she'd stopped crying long ago. The knights asked that Lady Margaret be allowed to speak to Taryan, and Gwaet agreed. Margaret entered the tower nervously, and found that Taryan had been locked inside a room, where she had died of starvation. When Lady Margaret emerged, she told the others. They furiously assaulted the tower, and Sir Athelwulf, Sir Donna and Aelfwinn slew Gwaet with a single simultaneous blow. They then recovered Lady Taryan's remains and put them in a chest, so that they could be returned to her family for Christian burial.
The knights had now reached the end of the fairy road. They emerged with Nimue into a sunny field, but Lady Margaret and Cyndyn were not with them! The knights wanted to return to look for them, but that was impossible. Before the knights, a crowd was gathered, watching a Black Knight and a White Knight fight. Both struck mighty blows with swords that appeared to be Excalibur, but the Black Knight was bleeding heavily, and the White Knight was bleeding not at all. No one could see Nimue or the knights, for they remained in the borders of Fairy - save for one woman. It was Morgan, the King's sister and the traitor who was arranging his death. She sent giant snails to attack the knights, but they defeated the snails handily. Morgan fled rather than confront Nimue.
Meanwhile, the Black Knight's sword shattered in his hands, and the White Knight was about to strike him dead, when Nimue gestured, making him drop his sword. The Black Knight wrestled him to the ground, ripped off his scabbard, and gave him a mighty buffet to the head with his own sword. Then they spoke. The Black Knight was King Arthur, and the White Knight was Sir Accolon. They had been tricked into fighting a duel so that Sir Accolon would kill King Arthur, but because of Nimue's intervention, Sir Accolon instead was now dying. King Arthur resolved the dispute between the brother knights Sir Damas and Sir Ontzlake, whom he and Sir Accolon had been championing, before collapsing. He was weak from loss of blood, and asked to be taken to the nearby abbey at Amesbury.
At Amesbury, Arthur gradually recovered from his wounds, while Sir Accolon died. Sir Donna and Sir Balthazar (who had joined them) took Sir Accolon's body to Camelot and presented it to Morgan. She was contemptuous, but later attempted to murder her husband King Uriens with a broadsword - her stepson Sir Ywain stopped her - and then stole into Amesbury and snatched up Excalibur! King Arthur and the others gave chase, but Morgan threw both sword and scabbard into a lake and then disguised herself as a great boulder. Sir Balthazar dove into the lake and found Excalibur, but the scabbard that makes its wearers' wounds never bleed was lost forever.
When King Arthur was well enough to return to Camelot, a maiden came before him, bearing a gift from his sister Morgan. She begged forgiveness and presented him with the gift of an ornate mantle. Nimue told him to make the maiden wear it and, when she did, she was consumed with fire and died. King Arthur was furious and declared Morgan a traitor and banished her, on pain of death if she were ever seen again. Morgan now dwelt alone in strange castles, protected by her magics. She was said to make pacts with fairies, and became known as Morgan the Fey - the greatest enemy of Camelot.
