Round Table Council

In King Arthur's castle, flames burned in the braziers around the empty hall. Sparse figures sat at a massive table large enough to seat 150 people, clearly holding a debate.

"Gawain stole His Majesty's Excalibur. I propose that Gawain be sentenced to hanging for theft!"

A Knight of the Round Table rose and spoke. Many knights and courtiers erupted in an uproar. Some tried to object, only to be pulled back down by their companions.

This was the grand hall the king specifically used to convene the Round Table Council, the highest administrative, judicial, military, and legislative body of the Arthurian dynasty.

In theory, the king's authority was supreme. In practice, that authority had always been exercised by the Round Table Council. The Arthurian dynasty was an aristocratic parliamentary state in which the king and nobles jointly wielded power. Later generations often traced the history of the English Parliament back to the Round Table Council, forming a clearly discernible lineage.

The Round Table Council, the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot, the regency councils of powerful ministers and nobles, and the later parliament.

It was said that when King Arthur first ascended the throne, he was still immature. He understood neither court etiquette nor rank and status. One of the most notable issues was how to seat the nobles properly during banquets.

Whether a seat was in the center, to the left, to the right, or at the rear determined a noble's status and the honors they enjoyed. Often, a seat just a little closer to the king could spark a bloody duel, sometimes even a war between two sides.

To avoid such unnecessary disputes, the clever King Arthur came up with a solution.

When holding meetings, he did not distinguish between seats of higher or lower rank. Everyone sat around a round table, avoiding disputes over seating arrangements.

The Round Table Council made no distinction between high and low, noble and humble. It carried the meaning that all attendees were "equal" and should "deliberate" together. Even the king was merely one member of the Round Table Council.

"They're demanding Gawain's execution right from the start. Do they really need to go this far?"

Listening to the impassioned speech of that Knight of the Round Table from Cornwall, Sir Kay did not know whether the man had long since pledged himself to Mordred and wanted Gawain dead, or was simply being loyal in reverse.

Knights were not merely soldiers. As a class with one foot already in the circle of nobility, they were local lords on their lands. They possessed their own fiefs, built castles and served as military commanders, acted as local officials, and sat as judges in fief courts.

All were equal before the law. Brawlers and drunkards were to be whipped, blasphemers crucified, and thieves hanged. To these Knights of the Round Table, this was common sense and the natural order of things.

The nations of medieval Europe all followed the same standards of punishment, after all, they had been inherited from the former Roman Republic.

Excalibur—the Sword in the Stone of old—had always been kept within the royal palace. Whether one asked a Knight of the Round Table or simply grabbed someone off the street, everyone would say it was His Majesty's weapon, King Arthur's property.

Therefore, pulling the Sword in the Stone out without permission was unquestionably a capital crime of theft.

"Gawain is King Arthur's nephew. I think that even if—"

Sir Tristan slowly spoke, intending to defend Gawain's actions. After all, if Gawain had not arrived holding Excalibur that day, who knew how things might have turned out.

"Sir Tristan, a son can naturally inherit his father's property. Even if he steals his father's property, only the father has the right to punish him. But can a nephew naturally inherit such property and treat his father's property as his own?"

Mordred spoke in a low voice. "If we are counting those related to the king, then can Sir Kay and Sir Constantine also casually take the king's treasures home to play with, collect, and use? If Gawain taking the Sword in the Stone as the king's nephew does not count as theft, then would my stealing King Arthur's Sword in the Lake and its scabbard also not count as theft?"

Sir Tristan was left speechless by Mordred's question, and the young Sir Constantine beside him was instantly dumbfounded as well.

Fine, target Gawain if they wanted, but why drag him into it? He was such a distant relative of King Arthur that their blood ties were practically nonexistent. How could he dare covet the king's treasures, especially the Sword in the Stone, which symbolized the throne?

"What do you mean by that, Mordred? I've used Arthur's Sword in the Stone, touched the Sword in the Lake, and when the king wasn't around, I even slept in the king's castle. Do you have a problem with that?"

Sir Kay stood up, his armor clattering. He deliberately shouted in a voice as loud as a lion's, but in truth, he was displaying his closeness to the king.

At the same time, he used his own conduct to help cover up Gawain's crime.

Whether Gawain or Mordred, both were in awkward positions at present.

Succession to the throne followed the principle of hereditary rule, passed down within the family. Yet because of monogamy, there was no system of succession by legitimate sons; there was only primogeniture.

King Arthur and Queen Guinevere had no sons, which meant King Arthur had no heir. The only ones now able to contend for the succession were Gawain and Mordred.

In Christian nations, the throne was not inherited by a clan, but by a family based on the king's bloodline. For instance, Sir Constantine, whom Mordred had mentioned, was a distant relative of Pendragon. By the standards of Eastern dynasties sharing the same surname, it should have been his turn to inherit, and both Gawain and Mordred should have been eliminated.

In the Middle Ages, whoever was more closely related to King Arthur had priority in succession. Gawain had such a claim, and of course so did Mordred. Both were the children of the king's sister, Arthur's own nephews, and ranked far ahead of distant relatives in the line of succession.

Yet everyone knew the throne would be chosen from between the two of them, while no one could be certain of the result. Legally, neither Gawain nor Mordred was considered a member of Camelot's royal family.

In Greek history, the famous Trojan War broke out between Troy and Greece over Helen.

Following the orders of his father Anchises, Aeneas led the armies of his city-state to reinforce Troy. Aeneas was granted the title of Prince of Troy by Priam, king of Troy, because they came from the same family; the old king was Prince Aeneas's uncle.

This was also why Rome later claimed to have come from Troy, saying that its destruction of Greece was in truth revenge for its forefathers and a continuation of the old war.

Because Aeneas had been made a Prince of Troy and possessed succession rights to the Trojan throne, he was able to win the loyalty of Troy's surviving people and establish a new city-state.

Gawain and Mordred were both King Arthur's nephews by status, yet neither had received from King Arthur the title of "prince."

If the Knights of the Round Table called Gawain Prince Gawain rather than Sir Gawain, it would inevitably create a sense of distance.

Prince Gawain did not mean Prince of Camelot, but Prince of Denmark.

At this time, neither Gawain nor Mordred was a member of Camelot's royal family.

"If Gawain was authorized when he defeated the Green Knight, because the king lent him the Sword in the Lake, then this time he clearly had no authorization. The judicial procedure was improper, and legal fairness cannot be upheld. Sir Kay, all your transgressions have been authorized by the king. Do you expect every noble and knight to enjoy the same privileges as you?"

Mordred fiercely refuted Sir Kay's response. Sir Kay was immediately at a loss for words. His existence was an exception; if too many people became like him, it would instead harm the kingdom.

After all, Sir Kay had always believed that he was the knight in this kingdom who supported Arthur most fervently and was most loyal to the king.

Lancelot was a foreigner, supposedly even a prince. For all anyone knew, he might be a foreign spy. He could not be trusted.

Tristan was Irish. He had once cuckolded his own sovereign, King Mark, over a woman named Isolde. He could not be trusted either.

As for Sir Lamorak, his father had once been King Pellinore—the knight who had dueled King Arthur and broken Arthur's Sword in the Stone. Even though he now lived quietly in his hometown as an aging baron, Sir Kay remained deeply wary of Lamorak, the son of King Pellinore.

Sir Kay looked around and found that among the highest-ranking Knights of the Round Table, aside from Bedivere, whom he recognized after fighting alongside him for so long, all the rest were "treacherous rebels."

Only families like his, father and son succeeding one another and possessing the merit of having helped a ruler ascend the throne, were ministers truly worthy of the king's trust. Sir Kay had always believed that if Arthur had a son, he himself would certainly be the minister entrusted with the prince's care.

Thus, King Arthur's trust was what he valued most and took the greatest pride in. Yet these treacherous rebels wanted to possess the same profound trust from the king as he did.

"It seems Sir Kay thinks so as well." Mordred chuckled softly when he saw Sir Kay reveal an expression of deep agreement.

"No, I don't. That's not what I mean. I'm only saying, isn't it too hasty to do this before the king has returned? At the very least, we should wait until he comes back!"

Sir Kay grew somewhat flustered. This was a critical meeting—how could he let his thoughts wander like that? If some petty thief had stolen or taken Excalibur, he could have simply ordered the man dragged out and beheaded. But that person was Gawain.

Others might not know whether King Arthur favored Gawain or Mordred more, but Sir Kay understood. From the very beginning, his brother had no choice at all.

English did not distinguish between the terms for sisters and nephews, but in ancient Roman languages, the children of paternal uncles were called Patruelis, while maternal aunt's children were called Amitinus.

Therefore, King Arthur had only ever had one nephew: Gawain. Mordred, if addressed with a more fitting term, was actually his son.

Mordred's blood relationship to King Arthur was closer than Gawain's because he was King Arthur's unacknowledged illegitimate son.

In an era when even a king's marriage required church approval, only children born of lawful marriage possessed a natural right of inheritance.

Illegitimate sons had no right to inherit the throne. In all of England's history, past or future, there had never been an example of an illegitimate son inheriting the throne.

This gave rise to the saying that an illegitimate son could conquer a throne, but could not inherit one. It described the Duke of Normandy, who as an illegitimate son conquered England and thereby obtained the throne.

Historians scoffed at his claim that he inherited the throne from King Saint Edward and bestowed upon him the title of Conqueror.

If Mordred had merely been illegitimate, his situation would have been somewhat better. King Arthur himself had once been suspected of being illegitimate.

What truly eliminated Mordred completely was that he was not only illegitimate, but also the son born of King Arthur and his own sister.

This was dishonorable. Even if he forcibly ascended the throne, not a single archbishop would be willing to crown Mordred.

This was a secret known only to a very small number of people. No matter how carefully Mordred schemed, the moment Gawain came to the Kingdom of Camelot, he had already been eliminated.

Those few people were the kingdom's upper echelon. For the king's honor, they all knew—Mordred alone did not. Sir Kay looked toward the spirited young man, who had argued down one person after another at the Round Table Council. There was no frustration in his eyes from losing an argument, only pity.