- Leodogran, King of Cameliard, has one daughter, Guinevere, and she happens to be the most beautiful woman on earth.
- Now for a little context. Before Arthur came along, petty kings waged war, laying waste to the land. Heathens from overseas destroyed what was left, until wilderness and beasts reclaimed it. In other words, England was in a sorry state.
- And both King Aurelius and Uther after him failed to unite the people. Only with Arthur’s Round Table did the land know some measure of unity and peace.
- Before Arthur, Cameliard was a wasteland full of scary beasts, where wolves eat children or nurse them as their own until they grow up into wolf-men.
- Now back to the main story. King Urien attacks Cameliard, and then the heathen hordes descend upon it. So Leodogran calls to Arthur for help, and he comes.
- On his way to battle, Arthur passes by Guinevere looking down from the castle walls. She doesn’t notice him, since he's dressed as a simple knight. But boy does he notice her.
- Arthur drives the heathens out of Cameliard and kills the scary beasts.
- Meanwhile his barons band together in war against him, claiming that he's not the legitimate heir to Uther.
- As Arthur rides into battle with them, he decides he wants to marry Guinevere, reasoning that together they will have the power to bring unity and prosperity to his troubled land. And it doesn't hurt that she's gorgeous.
- After making this decision, Arthur’s vision is crystal clear. With the help of thunder and lightning, he defeats the rebellious faction.
- Arthur praises his most beloved knight for serving him so well in the battle, and the two swear undying love to one another.
- After the battle, he sends Ulfius, Brastias, and Bedivere to Leodogran to ask for Guinevere’s hand in marriage.
- Despite feeling beholden to Arthur, Leodogran is not sure whether he should give his daughter to a man of questionable parentage. He asks for the advice of his old chamberlain (that's the guy that manages his household).
- The chamberlain tells Leodogran that only two men know the secret of Arthur’s birth: Merlin and Merlin’s master, Bleys, who wrote down everything Merlin did in a book.
- Leodogran also asks Ulfius, Brastias, and Bedivere if they believe Arthur is Uther’s son.
- So Bedivere tells the story of Arthur’s birth:
- Uther went to war with Gorlois because he fell in love with his wife, Ygerne. After the battle in which he killed Gorlois, he forced Ygerne to marry him.
- A few months later, Uther died, bemoaning his lack of an heir. Ygerne gave birth to Arthur early because of all the sorrow she had suffered.
- Knowing that the power-hungry barons would kill Arthur if they knew of his existence, Merlin spirited him away into the care of a loyal knight, Sir Anton, whose wife raised Arthur as her own.
- Just this year, Merlin brought Arthur forward, declared him Uther’s heir, and had him crowned king in spite of the dissent of the rebellious barons.
- While Leodogran is still mulling over what he has learned from Bedivere, Bellicent, Ygerne’s daughter and the Queen of Orkney, comes to visit.
- Bellicent recounts how the faces of Arthur’s knights seemed to bear his likeness as they swore their oath of allegiance, and how three rays of light fell upon the faces of three fair queens who will protect him.
- She also tells how Arthur holds the loyalty of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, a powerful sorceress who gave Arthur his sword, Excalibur.
- Leodogran asks Bellicent to speak of Arthur’s parentage, at which point she sends her sons out of the room. Mordred listens at the door, the snoop.
- Bellicent remarks that she, her mother, her father, and Uther are all dark, whereas Arthur is light.
- She recalls how Arthur comforted her as a child, and how they grew close to one another as they grew up.
- She recounts a story she learned from Bleys, the old magician, on his deathbed:
- Bleys and Merlin went outside the castle after Uther died crying for an heir. There, they saw a dragon-shaped ship full of shiny people descend from the sky, then disappear. Um, okay.
- When they walked down to the shore, a baby was cast at their feet by a wave. Merlin declared him to be an heir for Uther.
- When Bellicent asked Merlin if these things were true, he answered her in a riddle about the senility of old men and the impossibility of knowing the truth about anything.
- Bellicent tells Leodogran to marry Guinevere to Arthur, saying he is the one whom folk tales prophesy of. Merlin has said that he will never die but only pass away to another place to return again one day when he is needed.
- Leodogran is still unsure about what to do. That night, he has a dream in which he sees Arthur driving a herd before him, then standing on a high peak as some barons question his legitimacy. Eventually everyone and everything fades away, leaving only Arthur.
- When Leodogran wakes from his dream, he resolves to marry Guinevere to Arthur.
- In May, Arthur sends his most beloved knight, Lancelot, to fetch Guinevere. Lancelot returns with her in April.
- Dubric, head of the British church, marries them in a ceremony witnessed by the lords of Rome and Arthur’s knights.
- The lords of Rome demand a customary tribute from Arthur, which he refuses, citing their weakness and inability to defend their own lands from barbarians.
- For a while, Arthur and his knighthood rule in unity and peace. They drive the heathens from their land in twelve great battles.
- Happily ever after, right? Yeah, not so much. Stay tuned…