Chapter 6

A Fairly Useless Tournament

All Arthur's knights seemed excited about the single combat the next day. It was just like a tournament, but with an actual purpose and a real prize. A buzz of eager anticipation swept through the camp, but Sir Gawain wanted none of it. He still felt that fighting Sir Gologras was a mistake, but no one else shared his misgivings. He looked for Spinagras, hoping that the dwarf—not being a knight—would understand his doubts, but Spinagras was nowhere to be found.

At the council that night, King Arthur explained to his knights what everyone had already heard by rumor: that at dawn the next day one champion from the king's camp would face one knight from Sir Gologras. If King Arthur's champion won, then Sir Gologras would swear allegiance to the throne. If Sir Gologras's champion won, then the king would leave him in peace.

Sir Gandefere the Nearly Undefeated leaped to his feet. "Sire, I request the honor of this battle for myself!"

King Arthur hesitated, glancing at Sir Gawain. "Er, I had thought—"

"I shall overcome him!" Sir Gandefere promised. "I am nearly undefeated, after all!"

"Well, see, that's the thing," King Arthur began. "Perhaps it would be best if—"

"I think Sir Gandefere would be an excellent choice, sire," Sir Gawain said quietly.

The king blinked. "You don't think it would be better for you to—"

"I find that I do not wish to fight Sir Gologras's knight, Your Highness."

There was a long silence as all King Arthur's companions stared at Sir Gawain. They had never heard him say such a thing before. Then the king closed his eyes and nodded. "Of course. Forgive me, Gawain. In my preoccupation with Sir Gologras's rebellion, I had forgotten that you have other things on your mind."

Sir Gawain realized that the king was talking about his upcoming meeting with the Green Knight. Oddly enough, Sir Gawain had almost forgotten about that, but he didn't correct the king's mistake. The king could think whatever he wanted, so long as Sir Gawain didn't have to fight the next day.

So it was decided that Sir Gandefere would represent King Arthur the next morning, and the knights dispersed to their tents to rest before the big day. They were all awake and dressed before dawn, and at the exact moment that the sun showed at the horizon, the great drawbridge lowered from the castle, and a knight on horseback trotted across to the field.

"I am Sir Goliot the Practically Unconquered, champion of Sir Gologras. Who challenges me?"

Sir Gandefere was mounted and waiting. "I am Sir Gandefere the Nearly Undefeated, champion of King Arthur, and I challenge you!"

Without another word, the two knights spurred their horses, lowered their lances, and charged at each other. All the onlookers held their breath, watching. The two mighty warriors came together with a tremendous crash. Both lances splintered into thousands of pieces; both knights were thrown abruptly from their horses; both landed with solid thuds on the turf. Neither moved.

For several seconds, the watchers remained still. Sir Gawain shook his head slowly, then heard a soft chuckle at his side. Glancing over he saw Spinagras, who had appeared suddenly. "Well, wasn't that useful?" commented the dwarf.

A knight appeared at the castle gate and began approaching the prone forms of the champions. King Arthur called for Sir Reynold. "Go check on Gandefere, will you?"

A minute later, Sir Reynold and the knight from the castle had determined that both knights were alive, just knocked out. "What happens now, I wonder?" Sir Gawain muttered to Spinagras. He didn't have to wonder long. Sir Reynold drew his sword and called out in a ringing voice, "I, Sir Reynold the Brave, will take the place of my fallen companion, Sir Gandefere!"

At once, the knight from the castle drew his own sword and replied, "And I, Sir Regal the Dauntless, will fight for Sir Goliot!" Then the two knights charged each other on foot, swinging their swords. They hacked and slashed and parried for a moment, backed away, then charged again.

"Shouldn't someone drag Goliot and Gandefere out of the way?" mused Spinagras. "They're rather underfoot."

For several minutes, Sir Reynold and Sir Regal fought, dancing nimbly around their unconscious companions. Then Sir Regal directed a mighty overhand blow at Sir Reynold. Sir Reynold parried the blow with his own blade, and neither was hurt, but both swords broke at the impact. For a moment, the two knights stared at their blade-less sword hilts; then both drew daggers from their belts and began slashing and stabbing and fighting with the small blades. But daggers aren't designed for cutting through armor. Ten minutes later, both knives were broken.

Sir Reynold and Sir Regal looked lost for a moment. Then Sir Reynold grasped the edge of his shield and swung it at Sir Regal. Taken by surprise, Sir Regal stumbled backward, tripping over either Goliot or Gandefere. He was up again in a trice, though, bellowing with rage and wielding his own shield as a weapon. For quite a little while, then, they bashed each other with their shields. At last, Sir Regal managed to knock Sir Reynold's shield from his grasp and, stooping quickly, Sir Regal picked it up and threw it like a discus into the castle's moat. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to put down his own shield before throwing, with the result that both shields splashed and sank into the murky water. The two knights watched until the last bubbles had disappeared, then turned to look at each other.

"Take that!" shouted Sir Reynold, throwing a

heavy punch at Sir Regal's head. "Owww!" he screamed as his fist bounced harmlessly from Sir Regal's helmet.

Sensing an advantage, Sir Regal replied at once with his own punch. "Ouch!" Sir Regal shouted, holding his hand. Fists aren't designed for penetrating armor, either.

The two knights circled each other for a moment, rubbing their bruised hands. Sir Gawain leaned close to Spinagras. "Tell me the truth, friend," he said. "Is all this, um, a little bit stupid?"

Then Sir Regal seemed to have an idea. Dashing down to the moat, he took up a stone from the water's edge and threw it at Sir Reynold. It bounced harmlessly off Sir Reynold's shoulder. "Hey!" shouted Sir Reynold. Running to the moat he found his own stone and flung it at Sir Regal, but it missed because Sir Regal had already stooped to find another rock. Sir Reynold ran close and kicked water into Sir Regal's face, blinding him. Sir Regal lost the rock he had been about to take up, but he scooped up a handful of sand and gravel and threw it at Sir Reynold. It made a tinkling noise on the iron armor.

"Stupid?" replied Spinagras. "Maybe a little bit."

Now both knights were on their knees throwing gravel at each other with both hands as fast as they could. Sir Gawain closed his eyes. "Someone please make it stop," he moaned.

King Arthur must have been thinking the same thing, because at that moment he strode onto the tournament field and called out firmly, "Enough! Both of you!" The two knights stopped splashing and throwing dirt. "This is no way to settle a dispute!" snapped the king.

Spinagras snorted softly and muttered, almost too quietly to hear, "But hitting someone with a sword is?"

Sir Regal spoke, his voice sulky. "All right, then. We'll have another go at it tomorrow, but this time my master, Sir Gologras, will come himself to fight, and Sir Gologras has never been defeated!"

"Wait!" said Sir Reynold. "We may end this today, after all! Look!" He pointed at Sir Gandefere and Sir Goliot. Both had wakened and were slowly picking themselves up. They shook their heads groggily and looked around. Then they saw each other, let out a bellow of rage in unison, drew their swords as one, and bashed each other on the helmets. Both dropped to the ground like stones and lay there unmoving.

"Never mind," said Sir Reynold.

"Until tomorrow, then!" snapped Sir Regal. "You shall see what true knightly power is when you face Sir Gologras the Unconquered!"