Meanwhile, Sir Avain had received an invitation to visit the King of the Circle of Gold, to the north. He and Lady Elspeth also took Lady Taryan's body back to her family. They were perplexed, for Lady Taryan had vanished without trace nearly a hundred years earlier! Nevertheless, they were glad to finally know what had happened to her, and gave her body a Christian burial. Then they headed west, over the Pennine Mountains, to the Kingdom of the Circle of Gold. On the road, they met Sir Victor, Sir Taedi's old friend, who asked to ride with them. It turned out that he was now the King of the Circle of Gold! King Victor explained that he had stumbled into the valley and claimed the Circle by accident, although some members of his small court indicated that the King was being modest.
After a pleasant stay with King Victor, Sir Avain and Lady Elspeth returned south through Malahaut. On the way, they sheltered for the night at Marshfield Hall, a small and gloomy manor. Its penny-pinching lord, Sir Barrius, grudgingly offered hospitality. They were seated at the low table, far away from Sir Barrius and his two lovely daughters. Over dinner, Sir Avain and Lady Elspeth chatted to Sir Romek, a cheerful fat knight who told them that Sir Barrius was shortly to be hosting a tournament, mostly to make his neighbours stop accusing him of parsimony. Sir Avain also made friends with a pretty older serving woman, Agatha, and that night he snuck off to the pantry to pay her a visit. The next morning, though, there was a great hubbub. Agatha's body had been found in the pantry. She had been murdered!
Sir Avain was soon implicated. Sir Endion had seen him get up at night and go to the pantry. Sir Barrius had him imprisoned, despite the laws of hospitality. Lady Elspeth went and berated Sir Barrius, but to no avail. However, he later recanted, due to the entreaties of his daughters. Sir Avain would have until noon on the morrow to prove his innocence; otherwise, he would have to face Sir Barrius' champion, Sir Baldor, in a duel. Much time had already been wasted securing Sir Avain's release: there were only twenty-four hours remaining!
Sir Avain and Lady Elspeth spent the afternoon interviewing the household knights. Sir Romek, Sir Baldor, Sir Efflin, Sir Joffrey and Sir Ortel did not know much, although Sir Efflin admitted that he had previously had a relationship with Agatha, but broke it off a year ago. After talking to the knights, they went to view the body. Agatha had been slain by two stab wounds to the front, with no defensive wounds. Clearly, she had been attacked by someone familiar to her, by surprise. Finally, they spoke to Madge, another one of the servants. She said that Sir Barrius avoided Agatha, but would not dismiss her. Madge also told them about Agatha's family down at the village: a widowed sister, Florry, and a nephew, Tarquin.
The two investigators now decided to travel to the village to talk to Agatha's family. Florry confirmed a lot of the details that they knew already, but grew evasive when they asked if she knew why Agatha didn't serve at the high table. Tarquin was not at the village, and so Sir Avain and Lady Elspeth had to return to the manor to find him; he was helping with the horses. Young Tarquin did not look anything at all like his mother. In fact, with his red hair and cleft chin, he looked more like Sir Barrius's daughter Glorel. Young Tarquin was a forthright lad, who did not have any useful information, but exclaimed how he wanted to help find his aunt's killer.
It was now time to go inside for dinner. The fare was quite ordinary, except for a strangely good pudding for dessert. After dinner, the group talked to the knights once more. Sir Efflin said that he had been taking Tarquin under his wing for Agatha's sake. Perhaps she was seeking to socially advance him? It was becoming increasingly obvious to Sir Avain and Lady Elspeth that Sir Barrius must have had an affair with Agatha after the death of his wife, and that Tarquin was in fact his son. Had Barrius killed her to stop the truth from coming out? The investigators settled down for an uneasy sleep.
The next day was Sunday, and Lady Elspeth skipped church to continue her investigations. She headed into the village, and met Florry as she left church. Confronted with the truth, Florry admitted that Tarquin was Sir Barrius and Agatha's son. Elspeth continued to interview Peter Carpenter, a migrant worker employed in the construction of the tournament ground, but this turned out to be a dead end. With midday closing in, she made her way back to the manor and went to talk to the stablehands. She found that the servants were starting to gossip amongst themselves that Sir Barrius had killed Agatha, and spent some time trying to track down where the rumour had started from. Eventually, she found that the rumours had begun with the new cook, Bart, who was nowhere to be seen. Lady Elspeth smelled a rat. She called for her horse and gave chase.
Meanwhile, Sir Avain left church left church that morning feeling like he was running out of time and options. He decided to talk to Sir Barrius' daughters to see if they would intercede on his behalf. The beautiful younger daughter, Glorel, was an airhead who was looking forward to the tragedy of a handsome knight dying in a pointless duel. Lucilla was older and more sensible, having acted as chatelaine since the death of her mother at a young age. Sir Avain decided to flirt with her, but overplayed his hand. It was now midday, and it was time to fight.
At that very moment, Lady Elspeth was galloping after Bart the fugitive cook. She finally caught him on the road, and he drew a knife on her - but she fired an arrow and brought him down with a single shot. There was no time to waste. She bundled the unconscious cook on to her horse, grabbed his bag, and returned. But it was already midday...
In the tournament ground, Sir Avain gave a speech to play for time, but there was no sign of reprieve. Finally, he had to draw his sword and fight the hulking Sir Ortel. The two duelled brutally, knocking each other prone and then drawing daggers to finish the fight. Much to his surprise, Sir Avain managed to overcome his opponent. With his dagger to Sir Ortel's fight, Sir Avain denounced the duel and the household, and refused to kill Sir Ortel. Sir Barrius was furious! But at that moment, Lady Elspeth arrived, and flung Bert's body to the ground, along with his bag. In it, there was a letter from Sir Turquine, the notorious bandit knight, ordering Bert to kill Agatha and implicate Sir Barrius to foment discord in the area.
With Sir Avain's innocence proved through evidence and through combat, Sir Barrius conferred privily with him and Lady Elspeth, and agreed to recognise Tarquin as his son. The pair stayed for the tournament. Sir Avain did honourably, although Sir Efflin was pronounced the champion of the melee. An unknown knight (secretly Sir Kay of Camelot) arrived on the second day and won the jousts. Before leaving, Sir Avain began paying court to Lucilla, who now regarded him more favourably after his honourable behaviour in the duel. They were to be married later that year.
When the pair returned home, they heard strange news. A French merchant presented a group of youths to King Arthur in Camelot. He had found them in an abandoned shipwreck at sea, and looked after them since. King Arthur was troubled: the May Babies had returned. He was especially troubled by the leader of the young men, a handsome and strangely familiar youth called Mordred...
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