Chapter Summaries

After recovering from his fight with Gawain, Sovell learned that Arthur’s forces had won a major victory and that Gawain was safe. Gawain soon collapsed from depleted life force, but food restored him, while Bedivere turned breakfast into a contest of chef and guest.

• Sovell woke beside Artoria, regained movement in his arms, and left her sleeping under the covers.
• Bedivere told Sovell that Arthur had won a great victory, that the Six Kings had escaped, and that Gawain was alive but still unconscious.
• Sovell evaded Bedivere’s questions about his fight with Gawain and recalled how Bedivere had become Chief Court Steward and a skilled cook.
• Gawain staggered into the corridor, collapsed against Sovell, and said he was hungry.
• Sovell found that Gawain’s life force and mana were depleted, so he fed him until food replenished his strength.
• Bedivere declared a contest between chef and guest as Gawain continued eating his meal.

Sovell brought Gawain before Artoria, who dismissed him after he admitted guilt for his family’s rebellion. Sovell then asked Artoria to pardon Gawain and grant him a seat at the Round Table, but his wager with Gawain enraged her, and the chapter ended with Sovell kneeling to admit fault.

• Bedivere collapsed after eating and drinking, so Sovell arranged for him to rest and took Gawain to see Artoria.
• Artoria questioned Gawain about King Mark and the sword, and Gawain knelt to admit guilt over his family’s role in the rebellion.
• Sovell pleaded for Gawain’s pardon, but Artoria cut him off, dismissed Gawain, and ordered the attendants to leave.
• Sovell asked Artoria to pardon Gawain and grant him the fourth seat at the Round Table, explaining the wager that had led Gawain to swear allegiance to her.
• Artoria grew furious at Sovell for making the wager, threw objects at him, and ordered him to kneel; Sovell obeyed and admitted his fault.

Artoria reprimanded Sovell for risking Gawain’s life in a wager, then celebrated her victory by welcoming Gawain into the royal family and the Round Table. As Merlin began a ritual to strengthen Gawain’s sunlight-bound blessing, the banquet’s ceremony gave way to magic.

• Artoria scolded Sovell for gambling with Gawain’s life, and Sovell apologized before narrowly avoiding her punch.
• At the victory banquet, Artoria named Gawain Pendragon, granted him the royal surname, and appointed him to the fourth seat of the Round Table.
• Gawain swore loyalty to Arthur Pendragon, and Artoria bestowed a ceremonial sword and the rank of Sir Gawain.
• Merlin drew a magic circle around Gawain and began a ritual to help him break free of his blessing’s limitations.

Sovell and Artoria learned that eleven rebel lords had assembled fifty thousand cavalry, so Artoria sought help from King Ban and King Bors. After they arrived in Caerleon, Sovell deflected King Ban’s suspicions about Artoria and Lily by inventing a story that Lily was a fairy who had returned to Avalon.

• A messenger reported that five more lords had joined the Six Kings, forming eleven rebel armies with fifty thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry.
• Artoria wrote to King Ban for support, and Sovell added his name to the letter.
• Ten days later, King Ban and King Bors arrived in Caerleon, where Sovell and Kay welcomed them.
• After meeting with Artoria about the rebel armies, King Ban privately asked Sovell whether Artoria was Lily.
• Sovell claimed Lily was a fairy born from the island’s power, had returned to Avalon with Merlin, and was Artoria’s biological sister.
• Bedivere invited King Ban to dine with Artoria.

Artoria lured the Eleven Rebel Lords into a valley and crushed their army with a night raid and an ambush, forcing the rebel kings to flee north. After news of the victory reached Caerleon, a messenger warned Sovell that King Liens was preparing to attack Camlird.

• Sovell concealed Artoria’s secret from King Ban, then helped settle the drunken King Ban and Kay after the victory feast.
• Artoria gathered an army and marched to Bedegraine Forest while Sovell, Gawain, and the others guarded Caerleon and Gareth Castle.
• After Kay captured rebel scouts and learned the Eleven Rebel Lords’ plans, Artoria raided their camp at night and inflicted ten thousand casualties.
• Artoria used light cavalry as bait while King Ban and King Bors ambushed the pursuing rebel army in a valley, killing over twenty thousand and taking nearly twenty thousand prisoners.
• A messenger told Sovell that King Liens was gathering troops to attack Camlird.

Sovell learned that King Liens had attacked King Rodgrens, then Artoria’s court considered using the conflict to arrange her marriage to Rodgrens’s daughter, Guinevere. Artoria called a temporary Round Table Resolution, which ended with Sovell voting in favor of the proposal.

• Sovell heard the scouts’ reports about Liens’s reasons for attacking Rodgrens and focused on Liens’s claim of descent from Heracles.
• Sovell concluded that Liens was using a fabricated myth about Albion to bolster his claim to kingship.
• Artoria returned from a successful campaign with Ban and Bors, having captured more than ten cities and taken wagonloads of treasure.
• Sovell told Artoria that Liens had attacked Rodgrens, and Merlin proposed marrying Artoria to Guinevere while helping Rodgrens repel Liens.
• Artoria initiated a temporary Round Table Resolution on the marriage proposal, and Sovell cast the final vote in favor.

After the Round Table approved Merlin’s marriage proposal by a tie-breaking pattern of support and abstentions, Sovell questioned whether marrying Artoria to Guinevere would preserve Britain at the cost of Guinevere’s happiness. He sat alone in the palace, wondering whether Artoria and he were already sacrifices to the kingdom’s survival.

• Sovell reviewed the Round Table vote: Sir Percival, Sir Bedie, and Sir Gawain supported the proposal, while Artoria, Kay, and Pellinore abstained.
• Sovell considered why Artoria’s marriage could not serve its usual political purpose or provide an heir, and concluded that Guinevere was being considered mainly as a beautiful royal ornament.
• Sovell imagined Guinevere discovering that Artoria was a woman and spending her life in loneliness, and he questioned whether Britain’s stability justified that sacrifice.
• Sovell sat in the corridor and drew the mithril sword Artoria had given him, noticing its ruby pommel among the other knights’ sapphire ones.
• Sovell wondered whether Artoria and he were also sacrifices for Britain’s continuation, and recognized that his pity for Guinevere came from not wanting another person to face tragedy.

Artoria led Sovell, Percival, Bedivere, and ten thousand troops to Cameliard to support King Rodgerens against King Liens. As they prepared to face Liens’s army, Merlin reflected on his prophecy and his plans to influence the future indirectly through Sovell.

• Artoria chose Sovell, Percival, and Bedivere to join her as she rode to Cameliard with five thousand cavalry and five thousand archers.
• Merlin recalled his prophecy that Britain’s most beautiful girl would bring ruin to the monarch and realm, and how a disturbance in his divination had pointed to Sovell.
• After a day and a night, Artoria’s forces reached Cameliard, where King Rodgerens greeted them and they presented their aid as a show of respect for his character.
• Sovell told Artoria on Cameliard’s northern wall that King Liens’s army was ahead, while Merlin whispered to Rodgerens and changed his expression to amazement.

Artoria and Sovell attended a welcoming banquet in Kerimud City's army camp, where they met Guinevere, the daughter whose beauty had drawn a powerful army to King Rodgerens's borders. Guinevere teased Sovell about staring at her, then noticed his lingering guilt and asked what was troubling him.

• Artoria joked with King Rodgerens about his daughter's beauty as they watched the army outside the borders, and Rodgerens admitted he wished Guinevere could live in peace.
• King Rodgerens led Artoria, Sovell, and their companions to a banquet in Kerimud City's army camp, where Sovell recognized Guinevere among the knights.
• Sovell stared at Guinevere during the banquet, and she raised her cup to him; he drank in apology and began coughing from the alcohol.
• King Rodgerens introduced Guinevere to Artoria, who exchanged polite greetings with her before returning to her conversation with Rodgerens.
• Guinevere approached Sovell with a cup and teased him about his earlier boldness, then asked why he seemed troubled and offered to help.

Sovell struggled with his duty to keep Guinevere ignorant of her role in the King of Knights’ plan to obtain a queen. After Merlin explained that Lia and Guinevere had no choice, Sovell insisted that he could still choose whether to deceive Guinevere.

• At the banquet, Sovell refused to tell Guinevere what troubled him, drank heavily, and left early.
• Back at the embassy, Sovell attacked an intruder who turned out to be Merlin’s illusion.
• Merlin explained that Sovell’s mystic eyes could not dispel the illusion without moonlight, then discussed the plan to make Guinevere queen.
• Merlin said Lia and Guinevere had no choice in the matter, but Sovell argued that he could choose whether to deceive Guinevere.

King Liens prepared to attack Kerimud City with Marmiadoysse, the divine sword of Heracles, and trusted in its destructive power against the King of Knights. The chapter revealed how a silver-haired woman had infiltrated Liens’s palace a year earlier and stopped him from using the sword.

• Merlin left Sovell after concluding that no one present had a choice.
• King Liens kept his siege plans and prepared to assault Kerimud City despite learning that the King of Knights had arrived.
• Liens relied on Marmiadoysse, a fire-infused divine sword forged by Hephaestus and wielded by Heracles.
• A silver-haired woman had infiltrated Liens’s palace a year earlier, drugged his guards, and mocked the weakness of his defenses.
• Liens drew the damaged Marmiadoysse and began invoking its true name, but the woman’s spell froze him in midair and extinguished the sword’s flames.

Morgan Pendragon offered Liens an alliance: she would help him seize Wales and Scotland if he helped her overthrow Arthur's Court and claim Britain's throne. Later, Liens's assault on Kerimud suffered heavy losses, forcing him to withdraw while he reconsidered his plans.

• Morgan released Liens from her magical restraint, and he recognized her as the Pendragon princess and queen of Lothian and Orkney.
• Morgan proposed a personal alliance, offering to help Liens seize Wales and Scotland in return for his aid in overthrowing Arthur's Court.
• Morgan claimed she had a greater right than Arthur to rule Britain and offered to repair Liens's divine weapon, Marmiadoysse.
• Liens's forces lost two assault units and centurions Sara and Merck while attacking Kerimud.
• Liens ordered his army to withdraw as Kerimud's defenders cheered.

After Artoria’s forces repelled Liens’s attack on Kerimud City, the defenders celebrated their victory at a royal banquet. Sovell worried that Liens had unusual weapons, armor, and a hidden trump card, then sought an audience with Artoria after the meal.

• Artoria confirmed that Kerimud City had won, and the soldiers cheered for her and King Rodgerens.
• At the banquet, Sovell shared fresh mead with Percival and Bedivere while considering how Liens’s army had neutralized many of his magic circles.
• Sovell suspected Liens’s armor and poisoned arrows were unusual and worried that the enemy commander had a powerful trump card.
• Sovell noticed Guinevere’s tender attention toward Artoria and decided that speaking with his sovereign mattered more.
• Sovell requested an audience with Artoria at her temporary bedchamber while she prepared for an afternoon nap.

Sovell warned Artoria that Liens's army had unusually powerful equipment and that its casualties suggested a hidden advantage, so they planned to defend Kerimud and draw Liens into a future battle. After several days of probing attacks, Liens dramatically removed his glove and threw it before the city gates.

• Sovell reported Liens's exceptional armor-piercing arrows, deciphered magic circles, and abnormal casualty ratios to Artoria.
• Artoria and Sovell agreed that Liens could pose their hardest challenge before the White Dragon, and Sovell proposed securing Kerimud for three years or bringing it under Caerleon's rule.
• Sovell advised Artoria to avoid attacking Liens's fortifications and instead prepare for his next assault, when he might commit his main forces and reveal a hidden trump card.
• Artoria approved Sovell's request to secretly summon Gawain to Kerimud without troops, bringing Carnwennan as a safeguard.
• A secret letter left Kerimud, and Liens continued attacking the city for several days with relatively low casualties.
• On the sixth day, Liens removed his left glove and threw it down before Kerimud City's gates.

Liens challenged Artoria and Caerleon's commanders to a small-group fight, wagering that the losing side would withdraw or return to Caerleon. Artoria accepted and chose three fighters per side, while Sovell summoned Gawain Pendragon from the shadows.

• Liens publicly challenged Artoria and her commanders to fight his side on foot, with the losing army required to retreat.
• Percival angrily denounced Liens at a meeting, and King Rodgerens gave Caerleon's forces to Artoria's command.
• Sovell and the Caerleon leaders used the discussion to secure control over Kerimud City's decisions without further consultation.
• Artoria accepted Liens's challenge, deciding that three fighters would represent each side.
• At Sovell's request and Artoria's approval, Gawain Pendragon was summoned from a shadowy corner.

Liens and Arthur prepared for a three-on-three duel, with both sides choosing their fighters and gathering at the appointed field. As the duel began, Liens was shocked to find Gawain among Arthur’s party, while Sovell focused on Liens’s renowned swordsmanship teacher, Joras.

• Liens learned that Arthur had accepted his challenge and would fight three against three, then chose Llywelyn and Joras to stand with him.
• At Kerimud City's palace, Percival realized that Gawain had been traveling with the merchant caravan, and Guinevere placed Artoria’s helmet on her before the party departed.
• Rodgrens opened Kerimud City’s North Gate, and Guinevere beat a drum as Artoria, Sovell, Gawain, and Bedivere set out for the duel.
• At the barren plain, Liens recognized Gawain and struggled to regain his composure before the two sides introduced themselves.
• The witnesses ordered both groups to withdraw fifty meters, then struck their ritual swords together and began the duel.

Sovell’s group fought Liens’s trio, and Gawain struggled against Joras until he revealed a powerful new form called Numeral of the Saint • Corona. The chapter ended with Joras switching to two golden swords and winning a gamble that Gawain could not sustain his new mode.

• Sovell charged Llywelyn and began fighting him with his sword and spear, while Artoria and Gawain engaged Liens and Joras.
• Joras pressured Gawain with his twin swords, and Gawain’s Excalibur Galatine failed to defeat him because Joras used magic-breaking blades to escape the blast.
• Gawain realized how Joras had survived and activated Numeral of the Saint • Corona, knocking Joras’s twin swords from his hands with a powerful slash.
• Joras recalled his damaged swords, then replaced them with golden swords named Mountain-Sinking and Bone-Piercing.
• Joras gambled that Gawain could not maintain Corona or use solar flare again, and their next clash showed that his gamble had paid off.

Sovell defeated Llywelyn after the potion briefly awakened Llywelyn’s demigod strength, then chose to support his king. Gwylym carried the unconscious Llywelyn back to Liens’s camp as Sovell charged toward the battle between Artoria and Liens.

• Llywelyn drank a secret potion that awakened his divine blood and transformed him into a giant demigod for ten minutes.
• Llywelyn’s first blow drove Sovell’s legs into the ground, but Sovell awakened his dragon blood and attacked with two wind-forged spears.
• Sovell held off Llywelyn until the potion’s effect ended, then pointed his spear at Llywelyn’s back and declared him defeated.
• Gwylym carried the unconscious Llywelyn back to Liens’s camp after Bedivere reminded him to act.
• Sovell chose to support his king and charged past Gawain toward Artoria and Liens.

Sovell joined the battle and faced Liens, whose divine sword Marmiadoysse threatened to overwhelm him. Artoria and Gawain defeated Joras with Caliburn, then prepared to return to Sovell’s aid.

• Sovell told Artoria to help Gawain against Joras while he tested Liens, and Artoria withdrew from their duel.
• Liens drew Marmiadoysse and attacked Sovell, whose Wind King's Short Spear began to unravel from the sword’s heat.
• Artoria asked Gawain to hold Joras for five seconds while she charged Caliburn, and Gawain blocked Joras’s spear attack with Excalibur Galatine.
• Joras struck Gawain and sent him flying, but Artoria unleashed Caliburn and knocked Joras unconscious.
• Artoria checked that Gawain could still fight, and he confirmed that he could.

Sovell struggled against Liens, whose enchanted armor nullified his spells, and adapted by using explosive air currents to knock him back. As sunset approached, Liens drank a secret potion to gain an advantage and gambled on turning the duel around.

• Sovell realized Liens's robes and armor nullified his spells, so he used Storm Pellets to create atmospheric shockwaves that hurled Liens away.
• Liens buried Marmiadoysse in the ground and raised a wall of flame to detonate Sovell's incoming pellets, then protected himself with a Golden Barrier.
• Liens charged at Sovell with Marmiadoysse, forcing him onto the defensive as the duel neared its sunset deadline.
• Liens decided to risk releasing Marmiadoysse, but Sovell's fast attacks kept interrupting his attempt to charge the sword.
• Liens drank a secret potion while fending off Sovell, prompting Sovell to fear he would not be able to hold out much longer.