Arthur's Favorite

"Your Majesty, whether to Gawain or Mordred, the king is a loving father. The same is true for the people. His love runs so deep that it shines over all the land of Britain."

A monk with a tonsure stepped forward, holding a black Bible in his hands. The moment he finished speaking, a great many people voiced their agreement. The slight unpleasantness between Gawain and Mordred was then drowned beneath the praise for the king.

"Gawain, I must correct you with stern words!" Queen Guinevere smiled knowingly, but a moment later her face turned frosty as she spoke in an icy tone. With the queen's words, the hall seemed to grow cold, as though the temperature had dropped several degrees.

The queen was angry. What he had just said had upset her.

Gawain could not help thinking so. Then he saw the queen rise from her throne and declare in a solemn, weighty voice, "The person Arthur loves most should be his queen—that is, me. That has always been my belief."

The queen's statement completely put an end to the disturbance. Once the queen herself claimed the king's "greatest love," Mordred and Gawain's dispute no longer mattered. Gawain was left stunned; he had misunderstood her earlier.

"Your Majesty, I must correct you. The person His Majesty loves most is God," the archbishop stepped forward and said.

"It is me, his elder brother. As the younger brother, Arthur loves and respects me, his elder brother, most." Sir Kay stepped forward as well.

For a time, the hall of the queen's castle descended into chaos. If Arthur heard of this little episode at Camelot Court, he probably would not smile knowingly. He would first rub his head in confusion, then say with a laugh, "You are all my favorites."

"Yes, Your Majesty. As his beloved, His Majesty should love you most. As his nephew, I believe he loves me most," Gawain replied with a smile.

"What if Arthur truly does not love you, and loves Mordred most instead?"

Queen Guinevere asked the question as if possessed, only to regret it the instant the words left her mouth.

She should not have asked that. As Arthur's wife, she understood the subtle thoughts in her husband's heart better than anyone, yet for some reason, she had suddenly asked it.

Faced with the queen's question, Gawain hesitated for a moment before replying in a solemn, earnest voice, "There are two kinds of people who are especially important to a person in this world. One is the person they love most in the world; the other is the person who loves them most in the world.

"Perhaps, as you say, I am not the person Arthur loves most in this world. But I will strive to become the person who loves Arthur and you most in this world. I will become the most loyal knight of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere."

"Gawain, in my heart, you are already Arthur's most loyal knight."

Queen Guinevere came down from the dais and looked at the youth before her. He was exceptionally handsome, brimming with vitality compared to her aged husband, like the rising sun at dawn. "Gawain, because of the courage you have displayed, the determination and will you have expressed, and your achievement in dueling the Green Knight at the palace, by Arthur's royal command, I grant you the title of lord and bestow upon you land and people. Are you willing to accept?"

"I am willing to serve the king and queen!" Gawain dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

"I... pledge myself to my lord Arthur, loving what he loves and hating what he hates. So long as my lord fulfills his covenant and, because I have devoted myself to him, treats me fairly and grants me what I am due, then in every word and deed, every action and movement, I shall take his will as my standard and never betray it."

Gawain recited the oath of fealty. It was a ninth-century oath recorded in Western Civilization History, and Queen Guinevere found it especially novel when she heard it.

The nobles the king had previously invested were actually Knights of the Round Table, new nobles, while the old nobles had inherited their titles. The king merely bore witness to those inheritances and did not require them to be invested again. An investiture like Gawain's—where he did not inherit his forebears' title and was not a Knight of the Round Table—was unprecedented.

"This oath is excellent. From now on, use it not only for the investiture of Knights of the Round Table as lords, but also for the investiture of old nobles."

Sir Kay instructed a court steward. Before Gawain, the investiture of a Knight of the Round Table merely required reciting the oath of the Knights of the Round Table. Even after becoming a noble, they would at most recite it once more.

The oath of the Knights of the Round Table only emphasized knightly spirit and virtue. Unlike Gawain's oath, it did not stress loyalty to the king—one's liege lord—or the mutual rights and obligations between them.

There were still many great nobles throughout Britain who, in their hearts, refused to submit to Camelot Court and the king's commands. When the next generation inherited their titles, they would certainly have to recite this oath publicly.

Gawain's words were excellent, but from now on, this would be my political achievement.

There would not be the slightest difficulty in implementing it. With a precedent like Gawain, perhaps the court nobles would even rush to follow the fashion and make up for it themselves.

"Gawain, do you wish to become a knight and protect your king?" Queen Guinevere asked.

Gawain froze. Hadn't Mordred, after returning from London, rallied the Knights of the Round Table to reject his knighthood at the Round Table Council?

"Didn't the Round Table Council say that I had to complete my duel with the Green Knight before I could..."

Gawain was somewhat dazed. Of course he wanted to become a knight—he dreamed of it. It was his mother's hope and expectation, and it was his own as well.

He had trained under Sir Ector, endured all kinds of torment, and even slept with the dogs in their kennel. If he could not become a knight, would not all his effort and hardship have been in vain?

"The Round Table Council merely postponed the time when you would take your place at the Round Table; it did not deny your qualification to become a knight. Even if Arthur did not knight you himself, another knight could still make you a knight."

Queen Guinevere explained. Only then did Gawain remember that not only the king, but other knights as well could knight someone.

However, as Camelot was a kingdom of knights, with knights serving as the nation's pillars, it attached exceptional importance to knightly qualifications. In theory, every knight could knight another, but a new knight's identity and qualifications had to be reviewed. If there was too much fraud involved, their knighthood would be stripped away, and the knight who had invested them would also be held accountable.

Thus, knights generally cherished their reputation and would not casually knight someone. Only Knights of the Round Table or retired Knights of the Round Table could freely knight new knights, and Camelot Court would not conduct overly strict reviews. For example, relying on his status as a foster father, Sir Ector had opened a knight-training class and sold knightly qualifications.

But a less strict review did not mean there was no review at all.

For someone like Gawain, whom even Sir Ector found outrageous, he had simply been passed straight on to King Arthur.

The only exception was perhaps on the battlefield, at the most difficult and urgent point in a battle, when fodder was needed to charge and break through. Only then would they disregard background and ability and knight people in large numbers.