Ten years had passed since the marriage of Arthur and Gwen. There were many new faces in Arthur’s castle. One of which was a man named Charles. He was one of Arthur’s servants who had a strong build and is young. He also has a great talent is sword fighting. Although he was very loyal and respectful to Arthur, he was at the same time very jealous of him. After all, Arthur was a king and was married to a very beautiful woman. Another new face was James. He was one of the guards in the castle. He was also a very big and tough man. He too was one of the best sword fighters in the land.



It was a nice morning in Cadbury. The birds were out singing away and everyone was very cheerful. Arthur was just stirring when Charles came in with Arthur’s usual morning breakfast, warm milk, toast and jam, and to finish it off a cup of fruit.
“How are you this fine morning?” asked Charles.
“Fine, thank you,” answered Arthur after pausing for a quick yawn. “I see you’ve brought me my breakfast. It looks very scrumptious today. I’m starving!” exclaimed Arthur.
“What’s on your agenda for the day?” asked Charles.
“Oh, the usual. I guess I’ll just rule over Cadbury like I do every day,” mumbled Arthur.
Charles left soon after that so Arthur could get dressed in privacy. Gwen was already up strolling through the castle on her usual morning walk. Merlinnus was in a great mood because he had just perfected his potion of defense he had been working on for quite some time now. Arthur met Gwen in the middle of the courtyard where she was admiring the birds.
“Oh, how I love the birds!” exclaimed Gwen with excitement.
“They are quite admirable aren’t they,” said Arthur.
“Yes they are,” answered Gwen.

Arthur was sitting at his throne looking at some documents given to him from a land about four-hundred miles away. There was a knock on the door and Arthur motioned the guard to let them in. It was James who said he had some very urgent news. He knelt before Arthur and proceeded with his message.
“Your majesty, Charles has challenged you to a duel in the courtyard this afternoon for the hand of Gwen. He said he can’t stand watching you be with her every day and every night. If you do not accept he says it will make you look cowardly and foolish and he will hereby leave Cadbury forever,” exclaimed James.
Arthur thought about it for a minute. “I accept his challenge. Tell him to be ready by three o’clock p.m. sharp,” said Arthur.
Arthur paced his room thinking of a way to defeat Charles. After all Charles was probably the best fighter in the castle.
“I must defeat this fool,” Arthur told himself. I can not make myself look foolish in front of everybody. “I will be ready,” Arthur said between gritted teeth.

The time had come. Arthur stood at the far side of the courtyard with Charles glaring back at him. Merlinnus stood by Arthur encouraging him not to do it. Arthur just ignored him. The two men approached each other.
“You don’t stand a chance!” roared Arthur.
“We’ll see about that,” Charles shot back.
No words were spoken after that and the battle was on. Arthur took the first swing and the two swords clashed against each other. Arthur cut Charles arm once causing him to cry out in pain. But being a strong fighter Charles lunged back. The battle raged on for twenty minutes or so. Both men were tired and weary. That’s when it happened. Charles took one last strike while Arthur wasn’t looking. The sword pierced Arthur in the middle of his stomach. Arthur fell to the ground with a croak. Gwen rushed to his side along with Merlinnus. Merlinnus used his healing ability to try and heal him. It wasn’t working. With one last try Arthur’s stomach started moving up and down. He was breathing again. Another miracle by the great mage Merlinnus. Arthur was carried off the battle field. Charles fled the city with embarrassment and was never seen again.
Arthur survived and the city lived happily ever after.