Britt did as she was told, and when she plucked it out of the anvil for a fourth time the Archbishop, who was watching, spoke. “Has Arthur not performed a great miracle? Each of you has tried your hand at pulling the sword from the stone—yes, even you King Lot. It is known that whoso pulls the sword forth shall be King of Britain. Do you doubt the words of the sword? How then can you naysay Arthur as your ruler?”
“We are not satisfied. We would have a different sort of ruler than a beardless boy who knows nothing, and whose pedigree is attested to by one knight and a petty wizard,” King Lot snarled. “We will not be satisfied until another trial is held that more men of Britain might have a chance to pull the sword,” King Lot snarled before he left the graveyard, King Pellinore, King Urien, and King Ryence at his heels.
Chapter 3
Crowning the King
Britt was stormed by knights and noblemen as Merlin slipped off to the Archbishop’s side. Although many of the knights rallied around Britt, it was decided that there would be another trial to see if anyone else could pull the sword from the stone at Candlemas.
“Don’t scowl so, Arthur. Those who attempt to pull the sword from the stone and fail—and they will fail—then have no rightful claim to the throne. This will make your crowning that much easier,” Merlin insisted.
Britt was unconvinced that another trial would win her more supporters, but mostly she was surprised that she hadn’t woken up from her dream yet. She supposed it probably was because she hadn’t been crowned king yet, so she was relatively amiable to Merlin’s wishes and agreed to another trial.
Candlemas was the second of February. The day was chosen for the sword trial to give men enough time to travel from all parts of Britain to London. Merlin used the time to make more allies and further educate Britt in the ways of medieval society. For hours a day she was forced to study military campaigns, charts of nobility, and religion.
Britt was somewhat surprised, though, that it was Sir Kay and Sir Ector who thought of the more useful sorts of knowledge.
“Tell me, Arthur. Do you know how to ride a horse?” Sir Ector asked one day as he stood with Britt and Sir Kay in the stables. (The father and son were her assigned babysitters for the day as Merlin was meeting with King Leodegrance—one of the kings who was not opposed to Britt.)
“I do,” Britt said as she watched Sir Kay clean his saddle. “I’m not on a knightly level, though. I can keep my seat, and I know the paces, but I can’t even jump. My sister was the real horsewoman of the family. I only learned because of her.”
Sir Kay grunted.
“It will be good enough. Your skills will increase when we leave London and begin riding again. London. No one rides in London, everybody walks everywhere,” Sir Ector said, shaking his head.
“But I don’t even have a horse,” Britt argued.
“Nonsense, Merlin and I picked out a sweet little bay mare for you not two nights ago when I reminded him you would need a mount. That wizard is so absorbed in the future he sometimes forgets the silliest things. Ah, where was I? Oh, yes. Your mare, this is her,” Sir Ector said, stopping in front of a stall that housed a small horse.
Britt slipped into the stall with the mare and set about introducing herself to her horse. The mare was plainly well broke and well trained. A child could have ridden her saddle-less without any trouble. Britt felt a little insulted—she wasn’t that bad of a rider—but reasoned it was probably for the best. Britt had no desire to ride a stallion, like Sir Kay did.
“Sir Ulfius owes me a drink. He thought you wouldn’t know how to ride,” Sir Ector laughed.
“Well, normally he would have been right. People in the future don’t ride horses,” Britt said as she ran her hand down the mare’s neck.
“They don’t know how to ride? How do they get around then?” Sir Ector said, sounding dismayed.
“Ahh, we have horseless carriages,” Britt said.
“Sounds like sorcery to me,” Sir Ector snorted. “Kay, what’s wrong boy?”
The knight had paused in the middle of buffing his saddle. “My Lord,” he said, his voice almost strangled sounding. “Do you know how to handle a sword?”
“I do. I can fight loads better than I can ride,” Britt said, hanging her arms over the stall door.
“How good are you?” Sir Kay asked.
Britt bit her lip. “I don’t really know. I was good compared to the students I practiced with… but swordsmanship is even rarer of a hobby than horseback riding in my time.”
“A hobby?” Sir Ector said, his voice trilling.
“Do you mind if we spar?” Sir Kay asked as he stood, abandoning his tack. He seemed strangely intense. “I would like to observe your skills.”
“Sure,” Britt shrugged, exiting the stall.
Sir Ector tried to talk Britt out of it as she and Sir Kay walked through the cold streets to the meadow outside of the city limits. He fell silent, however, when Britt and Sir Kay started fighting.
“That will do,” Sir Kay declared after three matches. Britt had won all three, but she reasoned that the knight had to be holding back. How else could she beat him?
Sir Ector was speechless.
“Am I no good?” Britt worriedly asked, glancing at her ‘foster father.’