Traitorous Knight (an Arthurian/SW crossover) Author's Note: Aug 4, 2004 ... post to follow...

Hehehe... look what I started.

 

This thread is looking a little dead...

*Sniff* I think we the readers have been forgotten.

 

Derisa was sick for a while, though she is better now. I do know that she has been busy wrapping up the USJS thread for us. It was a bit... random. Gotta love round-robins.

 

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

 

Up for the noon crowd!

 

boost this up!!!!

 

Si! Mas porfavor!

 

Well, at long last, I've found the time to get moving on all my other stories, and so... It's been five months and a day, but believe it or not, here's a post.

The patience of folks like Miana and Jedi Girl has been phenomenal. I will never keep you waiting that long for a post again!

Enjoy!


*Derisa*

---

-the Isle of Orkneis-

?You want to take my sons [i]where[/i]?? Lot, King of Orkneis barked derisively. ?I?ll have none of that nonsense, woman!?

Morgause drew herself up imperiously. ?I will not be detained against my will, Lot,? she declared, her voice dangerously quiet. ?And I will have your sons join me.?

?You can go where you like, but I will not allow them to go with you,? Lot barked back.

?Father-? Agravaine began, but a slash of his father?s hand stopped him short.

Since Gawain?s departure for Camelot, Lot had been remiss in swearing his fealty to the High King. It was only the presence of the King?s older sister, and the small size of Lot?s realm that kept Arthur?s Companions from riding to ?remind? Lot of his feudal duties. The choice of his elder son and heir was not one he wished to see his younger sons make, jealous as he was of Arthur?s status. ?Have a care for your heritage! The Boy King will have no more of my sons!?

He faced the russet-haired woamn he?d married, and met her deep hazel eyes with all the ice of the northern sea-wastes. ?Besides, even with your powers, my Queen, the Dark Tide stalks the Land. You ought not travel in dangerous times such as this.?

Moraguse smiled slowly, and Lot felt the toothed arms of a trap close about him. ?You would keep me here against my wishes,? she stated. ?Your own fears keep you laired here, but the Beltaine fires burn in the highlands this sennight, and with your sons to guard me, what harm could I come to??

[i]Not nearly enough, you harpy![/i] Lot smiled at the sharp thought, but caught sight of her upraised eyebrow, as though she?d heard the insult. [i]Well, that?s what you get for snooping into people?s private affairs![/i]

?You will not risk my sons as pawns before the Dark,? he growled at her, ?You have no escort, so I have said no, and no it remains.? He stalked from the hall, leaving angry faces on his sons, and an icy silence from his wife.

As he stepped out into the courtyard of his small keep, Lot was brought up short by the sight of of Uriens of Gore?s party just returned from an unsuccesful hunt. The slender-bodied visiting King wore a flush of good health and well-being that even the disappointment on his face could not dim.

?We?d thought to catch one of your fine smalldeer, but the gods did not smile upon us,? he called up to his brother-in-law. He swung a leg free of the stirrup and slid down his mount?s rounded flank. Lot joined him at the bottom of the stair, noting that none of his small party of warriors were dismounting. ?I wanted to present you the hart, to thank you for your hospitality, my brother, before we take to the road today.?

?Leaving so soon?? Lot asked, his booming voice quieter than normal as he realised how he?d been outflanked. Uriens? party contained five well-armed Knight?s and the King of Rheged?s own, not-insignificant skills of sword and lance.

?It is a goodly journey to Camelot, and I wish my horse to be well-rested before the bouts,? the younger King replied. ?I understand your Queen and Princes are going to be joining us??

Lot forebore to answer, seeing how clearly he?d been outmanouevered by the cunning of the woman he had married. Instead he gave a gruff nod. There was no way he?d let Uriens see how fractured his domain had become, how little control the great King of Orkeis had over his own family.

?So it would appear,? Lot said at length. His Queen chose that moment to brush past him, followed by his sons, none of whom would meet his eye.

Not so his witch of a wife. She gave him a challenging smile, pulling up the edge of her fur-trimmed cloak as her fine-blooded palfry was brought to the foot of the stair. Uriens performed an equerry?s se

 

Hmmm... Lot is never up to any good, especially where Arthur is concerned. Nice post, Derisa. It's good to see you back.

Say, have you ever read the Camulod Chronicles penned by Jack Whyte? I think you would enjoy them immensely. Much background on how Arthur's kingdom came to his power, as far back as his great-grandfather.

 

Yes, Musicalla, I have read the Dream of Eagles: great books. I've even met the man on a couple of occasions: he lives here in my home town of Victoria. If you ever get the chance to hear him read an excerpt, do: he's a very entertaining reader. (Is that enough colons for you? )

Glad you liked the post, there's more to come, as I've hammered out the next chapters, and am editing back as I go: putting in the html coding post by post and all that. Whee. Gotta love this unlimited edit feature we have here.

Hope you are well: I'll be catching up on your stories soon!


*Derisa*

 

*HEART ATTACK*

A post!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!

I've got a bad feeling about this...

(I'm so.. original, huh?)

 

*And a great cheer was heard throughout the land, for Derisa had gaced the boards with a post!*

Yay! I'm so happy I can dance Hehe.. I wonder what is going to happen next...

 

Oh happy day! You've posted to this wonderful thread again.

This tale grows more ominous with every post. I have not been this wound up in a story since reading Bernard Cornwell's Novels of Arthur. Ansiously waiting the nexr post.

 

It is, as ever, a pleasure to plunge into the Arcturian world you create with your lovely prose; the wealth of detail you provide just shrieks authenticity - and my only complaint is that the plunge is so short-lived. As a long-time afficianado of all things Camelot, I was delighted to see that you finally got back into this narrative.

Dare we hope this is the harbinger of a new beginning - and a new commitment to carry us onward to a natural conclusion?

In other (very non-Arcturian words), don't leave us dangling in cyberspace, hungry for more. OK?

Roses and champagne to the author - with cheesecake at Lindy's to follow - if you ever finish it.

Ciao now.

CYN

 

Up!

 

UP! Please

 

Slan, all! Thanks for sticking by the story even through the long-butted waits. I'm working on that, just to reassure you.

Hope you like the post. I wish I had Obi-Wan's skill with the Force: I've been riding a lot in the last little while, and my legs are *sore*! Still, one of the 'boys' makes for a good stand-in for Llyr, and there's a set of ring standards set up in the pasture, so I am getting lots and lots of inspiration for this story, not to mention honing my lancework and mounted swordwork.

Kudos and leis to Rani Veko, my betagoddess, who is doing the actual posting of the next several story posts for me as I am working with a chancy connection where I am right now.

Hope you are all enjoying the summer: I know I am!


*Derisa*

---

"The sooner we get back to Camelot, Cador, the sooner I can send those troops on to you." Arthur's voice was not loud but it carried clearly back to where Obi-Wan rode. "We will retrieve my lady from the Glass Isle and be on our way with all speed. Your men should arrive within a sennight."

Cador's nod of acceptance seemed to signify something more, an unspoken communication between the two leaders, and Obi-Wan filed the observation away for later consideration. Later, at Tintagel, as the King made ready to depart, Cador approached and spoke a few words of farewell, then lifted his clasped hands towards the mounted King.

Arthur drew himself up almost imperceptibly, and placed his own hands around the upraised hands of his cousin, and Obi-Wan felt a flux in the Force, as when a bond was affirmed. Arthur met and held Cador's gaze and some deep, unspoken communication passed between them.

Suddenly, his vision tunnelled down, and it was as though nothing else existed but these two men before him, hands linked in this odd fashion. He heard again the quiet clarion of something sliding into place deep within him. He [i]recognised[/i] this moment, this event, as something essential to his own being, but no specific memory was triggered.

Then the moment passed, and Obi-Wan looked around, somewhat surprised to see that he was not the only one so affected. A respectful hush had fallen over the courtyard, even the horses standing still for those timeless seconds. Then it was over, and the stone walls once again resounded with the scrape of steel-shod hooves on cobblestone, and the farewells of the riders in the King's small party.

In the flurry of activity that surrounded their departure, the russet-haired Jedi did not find the right moment or person to ask about the scene, so he held his questions within him. It was not until several green leagues had flashed past under their mounts' hooves that he found the chance to ask after that unique event in the courtyard.

"It was a re-affirmation of his fealty," the Lady Elen explained, as she rode at his side. "Codor rules here in the King's name, and in exchange for acknowledging Arthur's sacred sovereignty, he is given military support."

Obi-Wan signalled his understanding of the concept with a nod. He understood the feudal system, indeed it was not that uncommon a system of governance in a large galaxy, but something had resonated within him when he had seen Arthur take his cousin's hands in that archaic gesture. "Their hands... why did the King hold them like that?" he asked.

In answer, the lady slid her white hands free of the green leather that encased them, and spoke softly, "The Liege takes your hands into his own, encompassing yet supporting his vassal, and sealing his own oath with the bond of royal flesh."

Obi-Wan's eyes sought the form of the King, a tall shape riding a few strides ahead. As if feeling the Jedi's gaze upon him, Arthur turned and met Obi-Wan?s eyes, as smile as bright as sunlight on water flashing over his face, before he turned back to his conversation with Owain. Obi-Wan felt haunted by that look, that smile.

He could recall clearly an early lesson in the conceptual roots of kingship as a system of governance, brought back by the lady's words: 'sealing his oath wit

 

Beautifully done, Derisa. You paint your images so vividly that your readers can simply close their eyes - and see what you portray. And your attention to detail (and the obvious knowledge and research that go into it) boggle the mind.

Undoubtedly, you're as busy with the necessities of real life as the rest of us - but more frequent posting would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the wonderful trip into our own past as seen from the perspective of our lovely SW hero.

CYN

 

Thanks for the support CYN, and I am working on that updating regularly issue. Ideally this will see another post on Sunday. Keeping things focussed and moving are key issues with me, now that I've gotten over the completion challenges.

I am really glad you like the descriptions: I've always enjoyed authors I could do that with, so that is an aspiration of mine, for sure.

BTW, I really enjoyed your interview in the WR forum. Fascinating stuff!

Everyone else: if you like my writing and haven't yet checked out CYN's stuff... do so! she's amazing. Her new story just started: Like Tears In Rain OMG: good deep sad stuff.

*Derisa*

 

I second that, Derisa! Thanks for sending me over there! Now, as for here...

What? What's this doing on page 6 already? Get up there, you!

*boot to the top*

There, that's better.

- Rani

 

The only thing about this story that I dislike is when each post ends. Your writing is so amazing that I forget this is just a fanfic. Thank you for such a wonderful story. Such a hauntingly beautiful tale especially in Obi-Wan's understanding of the oath of fealty. I enjoyed how Lady Elen did not to chastise his ignorance, but repaired it.

 

Waiting with ill-concealed impatience here, Derisa. I have to fly out on a business trip shortly - and I really didn't want to leave before you posted.

Is that a clue that I have NO life - or what?

And thanks for the kudos. I am seriously honored.

CYN

 

:::claps her hands:::

Yea! You're back!! The wait was worth it. I'm not as good with praise as Cyn or Red, but your story is wonderful. By combining two of my favorite storylines together, you've gotten yourself a full time reader!

Can't wait for more!

~*Nikita*~

 

...her eyes were bluer than Avalon's sky, her hair the golden sheen of ripening wheat in the fields, and her smile was brighter than the sun. Too often clouds of disapproval darkened her visage... but only when she looked at him... Why is she always angry at me? he wondered as he looked upon her again. Her smiles are always for someone else...

Then something turned, changed, and the eyes darkened to a perfect indigo, crinkled at the corners and capped by expressive black brows, with a mischievous glint from a boyhood since outgrown still visible in the centre of his eyes. Arthur...

But the merry expression vanished to be replaced by a look of such utter loss, pain and betrayal, an implacable accusation that the sleeping Knight was jarred awake, the last dream words echoing in his head:

"I trusted you, Lance... How could you?"

Obi-Wan sucked in a breath of chill, misty morning air, his heart beating faster than it had a right to. He lay wrapped in his warm woollen cloak, his tunic pillowing his head, and his armour and saddle only a short distance away. Other huddled forms indicated that his companions slept still, even as the sky paled to the east.

Obi-Wan sat up and drew his knees up, resting his head in his hands as he drew on the Force to aid in regaining his composure. The early morning sang with life, from the quiet rustle of the willows at the water's edge to the quick whistle of the wrens in the underbrush. Obi-Wan rose and shucked off his cloak, baring his upper body to the cool air and following the Force's guidance to the water's edge.

He felt a sense of life there, of a few silvery fish feeding on insects near the surface of the water. Obi-Wan knelt and lowered his arm slowly into the water, allowing his skin's temperature to adjust. He let his fingers trail with the surprisingly swift current, and waited.

At length, a soft, scaled skin slid under his fingers, and brushed against them. He stroked very slowly along the length of the fish, and when it came back around for more, he sent a tiny pulse through the Force to stun the fish's elementary nervous system, and then slowly pulled it from the water. The fish lay quiescent in his hands, and Obi-Wan considered catching a few more for breakfast, but then recalled that Arthur had said they would break camp and eat along the way, which didn't leave much time for cooking the trout.

He gently lowered it back into the water, and sent another signal, a tiny pulse to awaken it. The fish brushed against his hand, as if to thank him for his gift of mercy, before it swam away.

"Can you teach me that?"

Obi-Wan startled. He'd been so caught up in the fish, he'd failed to sense the approach of the King. He made as if to rise, but Arthur gestured him back and smiled. "This is hardly a formal occasion, Lance."

Obi-Wan gave a small shrug. "I am still learning what is appropriate when, Your Grace."

"Well, for starters," Arthur sighed, "When we're alone, and it's just ourselves, you and me? or you, me and Gwenna, say? Arthur is my name, and I vastly prefer it to any titles or other fancies."

"The Lady Elen has instructed me differently," Obi-Wan began, but Arthur interrupted before he could finish.

"I heard. But she is wrong. A King is to be treated with respect, absolutely, but he must also never forget he is a man. Men have friends. I would like to call you a friend, Lance, and that means you call me by my name."

Obi-Wan nodded his understanding, and the last lingering shreds of his dream dissipated in the light of Arthur's conspiratorial smile, like the mist that was even now burning away under the sun's attention.

"What the Lady Elen does not know,? Arthur continued, ?Is that the rules of comportment are somewhat different as far as Kings are concerned. We are called whatever we wish to be called. Otherwise, what is the point of being a King?"

Obi-Wan's answering smile faded as the Force once again gave him the vision of royal blood spilled to keep a a royal oath. He banished it wit

 

And so it begins...

Very nice as always, Derisa. I love your descriptions, bringing out your obvious knowledge of the time period. The little details, like the word for the tunnel of berry-bearing vines, and the reality of the horses and their equipment, it's all stunning. Incredible realistic. You don't think you excel in the descriptions? I respectfully disagree.