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61
Excalibur’s
Master
10
‘Well, my name’s Guinevere, but everyone calls me Gwen.’
‘That’s a pretty name.’
Gwen didn’t blush. She was too hardened to care whether a boy
thought her name was nice.
Wart helped Gwen load the wagon again, and since Wart’s party
had left him behind, Gwen felt obligated to give Wart a lift to the
tournament.
As they reached the gates of the town where the tournament was
being held, Mordie’s legs started to shake. The weight of two people
and a pile of wood seemed to be too much for him to bear after his fall.
‘Come on boy, just a little further, we’re almost there,’ Gwen said
soothingly.
‘What’s his name?’ Wart asked.
‘Mordie, short for Mordred.’
Wart gave her a smile.
‘What?’
‘Nothing. I’ve just always liked that name.’
They continued on in silence until they reached the town square,
where a huge crowd had gathered around the front of a little chapel.
They lodgedMordie in a stall and delivered the wood to the irritated
herald in charge.
‘You’re lucky I don’t box your ears!’ he said gruffly.
The two of them returned to the square, but before they could
push their way through the crowd, there was a sharp, ‘Wart!’
Gwen’s head snapped around and Wart flinched as a man in
armour, little older than a boy, strode towards them, metal jostling.
‘Where have you been? I need a sword for the tournament! Mine’s
missing! Honestly, Wart, can’t you do anything...’
Gwen, who was not at all interested in this conversation, and also
thought that Wart didn’t appreciate his knight berating him in front
of her, decided to go ahead and force her way to the front of the
crowd. Being of quite a small frame, this was easy.
An odd sight greeted her. A large, beefy man in armour was
straining with all his might on something that was stuck fast through
a great stone placed below an anvil. The man, panting and bent
almost double, drew away, so that Gwen could see that it was a sword.
Just then, an odd feeling filled her from top to toe. Regarding the
weapon, even from a distance, with its intricate golden handle and
gleaming silver blade, gave her an unusual sense of hope. As her eyes