The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck Page B

drew away and told him that they only followed the custom of the castle. They explained that the lady of the castle had long suffered a dreadful wasting sickness and the only cure for it was a silver dish of blood from the virgin daughter of a king and so it was their custom to take blood from every damsel who passed that way.
    Balin said, “I am sure she will give you some of her blood, but you need not kill her to get it.” Then he helped to lance her vein and they caught it in a silver dish, but it did not cure the lady, wherefore it was thought that the damsel did not fulfill one or the other or both of the requirements. But because of the offering they were made welcome and given good cheer, and they rested for the night and in the morning took their way again. Four days they continued without adventure, and at last lodged in the house of a gentleman. And as they sat at their supper, they heard moans of pain from a chamber nearby and Balin asked about it.
    â€œI will tell you about it,” the gentleman said. “Recently at a jousting I rode against the brother of King Pelham. Twice I struck him from his horse and he was angry and threatened revenge against someone near to me. Then he made himself invisible and wounded my son, whom you hear crying out in pain. He will not be well until I have killed that evil knight and taken his blood.”
    â€œI know him well, but I have never seen him,” Balin said. “He has killed two of my knights in the same way, and I would rather meet him in combat than have all the gold in the realm.”
    â€œI will tell you how to meet him,” said the host. “His brother, King Pelham, has proclaimed a great feast within twenty days. And no knight may attend unless he brings his wife or his mistress. The king’s brother, Garlon, is sure to be there.”
    â€œThen I will be there also,” Balin said.
    And in the morning the three started their journey and they rode for fifteen days until they came to Pelham’s country, and they came to his castle on the day the feast began, and they stabled their horses and went to the great hall, but Balin’s host was refused because he had brought neither wife nor paramour. But Balin was welcomed and taken to a chamber where he unarmed and bathed himself and servants brought him a rich robe to wear to the feasting. But then they asked him to leave his sword with his armor; Balin refused. He said, “In my country a knight must keep his sword with him always. If I cannot take it, I may not feast.” Reluctantly they let him take his weapon, and he went into the great hall and sat among the knights, with his lady beside him.
    Then Balin asked, “Is there a knight in this court named Garlon, brother of the king?”
    â€œThere he is now,” said a man nearby. “Look, he is the one with the dark skin. He is a strange man and he has killed many knights because he has the secret of invisibility.”
    Balin stared at Garlon and considered what he should do, and he thought, “If I kill him now, I will not be able to escape, but if I do not I may never see him again, because he will not be visible.”
    Garlon had noticed Balin staring at him and it angered him. He arose from his place and came to Balin and slapped him in the face with the back of his hand and said, “I do not like you staring at me. Eat your meat, or do anything else you came to do.”
    â€œI will do what I came to do,” Balin said and he drew his sword and cut off Garlon’s head. Then he said to his lady, “Give me the truncheon that killed your love,” and he took it from her and drove it through Garlon’s body, crying, “You killed a good knight with that. Now it sticks in you,” and he called to his friend outside the hall, “Here is blood enough to cure your son.”
    The assembled knights had sat astonished, but now they leaped to their feet to set on Balin. King Pelham