The Evening before the Tournament for the Ninth Diamond

Whenever the Royal Weaving Expo was held in the vicinity of Astolat, Lady Charlotte-Elaine of Shalott stayed in her childhood home; and it was always an occasion for a special banquet with roasted meats and the best vintage served and minstrel entertainment provided.

Bernard of Astolat missed the company of his Lily Maid, Elaine, since she had moved to The Tower on the Island of Shalott. Elaine had found a plot loophole to escape from her recurring tale of nursing Sir Lancelot du Lac for months on end, falling in love with him and then dying herself, when he would not return her love.

Now she had bought The Tower and was the entrepreneur owner of Charlotte’s Web Weaving. She was highly regarded for the quality of the tapestries and weavings which had been commissioned for palaces and manors.

In her new life as the Lady of Shalott, Elaine had expected to admire the figure of Sir Lancelot she saw in her mirror as he rode by her tower singing ‘Tirra Lirra’. She had not expected to actually meet him.

As it turned out she met him shortly after she moved to The Tower. He slept under her apple tree, rescued her from being trapped in a steamy bath, and killed a wyrm dragon in her garden (that is a story for another time). Elaine’s reset plot line had apparently caused a flow-on reset effect to other characters. The Lancelot who came was not the world weary forty-two year old man she had nursed; but a youth in his teens or early twenties, who was unsure of his identity and his possible claim to be the lost heir to the throne of Benoic.

He had requested a sample of her beaded needlework; as he wanted to order a fine gown for the lady he secretly loved. She had given him a scarlet samite sleeve embroidered with great pearls.

Little Plump Jo, the current Artisan in Residence in Malory Tennyson’s Cloudbank Cabin, engaged in writing Elaine’s story, and her five overexcitable helpers, The Dabrowski Dogs, had been alarmed to see Lancelot receive the red sleeve. It was the red sleeve that caused the problems in all the previous retellings of the story of Lancelot and Elaine. They referred to it as the unlucky red sleeve.

But Jo had lost control of her characters and was now just following Elaine and scribing the events as they occurred. Jo did not know whether Elaine would be able to escape her destiny or whether this reset may allow for an alternative future to be written.

So when Charlotte-Elaine decided to exhibit her tapestries for the first time at the Royal Weaving Expo, to be held in Camelot that year, and to make the journey from Shalott to Camelot by barge, Jo had been concerned that Elaine may die ‘singing in her song’ before she reached the first house by the riverside in Camelot.

The cute little Bedlington Terrier, Imaginational Dabrowski had offered to accompany Charlotte-Elaine. The barge journey was very pleasant. Elaine sat up in the barge surrounded by her beautiful rugs, shawls, tapestries, quilts and fabrics, looking for all the world like a John William Waterhouse painting. Imaginational Dabrowski cuddled up on her lap. Elaine was happy and relaxed but Imaginational would not allow himself even one moment of relaxation. He wanted to be sure that Elaine did not start singing.

And she so nearly started to sing several times!

“Folderol, Folderol!” she sang and Imaginational stopped her by showering licky kisses on her face.

“A hey, nonny, nonny!” she sang and Imaginational stopped her by pulling the cushions out from under her.

“Tirra lirra, tirra –“ she sang and suddenly she stopped singing and burst into tears. She cuddled Imaginational closer to her. “That is Lancelot’s song” she said. “I thought I didn’t care about him and I could have a happy life of my own with my weaving. But I do love him.”

Imaginational jumped down from her lap and started performing somersaults and walking on his back legs and then on his front legs. Elaine started to laugh and wiped away her tears. “ I won’t think about Lancelot anymore” she said. “I will just think about going to Camelot and the Weaving Expo.”

After surviving that first barge trip Elaine was confident enough to leave her tower and travel by barge. She attended many Weaving Expos all around the country.

Imaginational Dabrowski used the opportunity to attempt to retrieve the unlucky red sleeve (another story for another time). He was not successful and the sleeve ended up locked away in Sir Lancelot du Lac’s trunk where it remained for several years.

While the sleeve remained in the trunk, Sir Lancelot had many adventures and fought beside King Arthur in his Twelve Glorious Wars and suffered many wounds in the process (lots more stories for another day). Little Plump Jo and the Dabrowski Dogs begged him never to wear the red sleeve on his helmet when competing in a tournament as it was very unlucky. Lancelot inferred, from that piece of information, that it was the unlucky red sleeve locked away in his trunk which had caused him to suffer the wounds and arranged for it to be thrown into the river.

This year the Royal Weaving Expo was to be held in Astolat in conjunction with The Tournament for the Ninth Diamond. So Bernard of Astolat anticipated Elaine’s arrival.

And Sir Lancelot du Lac who was riding towards Astolat, intending to participate,  realised that he was not entirely sure where he was. The sun was getting lower suggesting that it would be wise to find somewhere to spend the night. He decided to keep heading in the direction he thought Astolat to be, and shortly was rewarded by seeing, above the trees, the top of The Tower on the Island of Shalott.

Now he knew where he was. He remembered visiting that tower many years ago and sleeping under the apple tree there. He had also rescued the Lady Charlotte of Charlotte’s Web Weaving from entrapment in a misaligned plughole in a steam filled bathroom and killed a wyrm dragon in her garden. But she had been the one who had given him the unlucky red sleeve. So he decided not to go there.

Now that he had his bearings he knew how to reach the castle in Astolat. But that was where the King’s party would be spending the night. So he did not want to go there either, if he were to follow through with his planned experiment of jousting in disguise.

He opted for seeking accommodation at a large manor on the outskirts of Astolat. Bernard of Astolat and his sons, Torre and Lavaine, greeted him warmly.

“I suppose you have come to participate in the Tournament for the Ninth Diamond?” Bernard said. “I am expecting my daughter to arrive this evening. She will be displaying her weaving and tapestries at the Weaving Expo and she will stay with us while the Expo is on.

It will be so good to see her again. We have missed her company ever since she bought her studio. She spends most of her time in Camelot these days. Of course I am very proud of her. Her weaving is becoming widely recognized and she has been commissioned to create several grand commemorative tapestries for the court at Camelot.”

“You must be proud indeed!” Lancelot said.

“Yes, indeed! I am very proud of all my children. Lavaine is going to compete in the tournament. He is showing excellent development in his tourney skills.

In fact my daughter dreamed that he won the Ninth Diamond and gave it to her but she dropped it into a pool of water – a castle well belike.  I don’t know whether you believe in omens and portents, good sir. I interpret that dream to mean that Lavaine will fare well in the jousts tomorrow.”

“Ah, here she is now – in good time for tea!”

“Come in dear. We have a guest. Bring the little dog in.”

“She has just taken in a very sweet little rescue dog. I hope your dog is good with other dogs, sir.”

There was a flurry of greetings as Elaine stepped into the room.

“Elaine!” from Bernard, Torre and Lavaine.

“Lady Charlotte of Charlotte’s Web Weaving!” in an amazed tone from Lancelot.

“Father, Torre, Lavaine, - and King’s Son/Galahad/Whoever” from Elaine.

“You can call me Lancelot now.”

The dogs also greeted each other. Having both been captives rescued from the Dolorous Tower (another story for another time) they greeted each other cautiously, walking in stiff legged circles around each other.

“Guard on Duty” the little black poodle acknowledged the mastiff.

“Thinks He’s An Alien” rumbled Heureux in return.

“Be calm, Heureux!” cautioned Lancelot.

“You behave, Fitzroy!” added Elaine.

Bernard called for the cook and butler to bring out the finest meats and his best vintage. Lancelot started to reach for the wine but was halted by Heureux grumbling and pushing his head under Lancelot’s elbow He settled for a goblet of spring water instead, saying he wanted a clear head for the following day.

“What have you been doing since we last met, Lady Charlotte?” Lancelot asked.

“ My weaving business Charlotte’s Web Weaving has been very successful. I have spent most of my time in Camelot or travelling to weaving expos around the country.

The first expo I attended was held in Camelot and a cute little white dog jumped into the barge and sat on my lap for the whole journey. Dagonet the jester really liked the little dog and included him in his act.

I had a great idea to generate a bit of extra revenue – pin money you could say - using the scraps left over after I had made clothes and furnishings. Some of the people who visited my stand could not afford to buy anything but could afford the samples. So I made them into favours for the ladies to give their knights to wear as tokens in the jousts.

But for some reason the cute little white dog started to steal all the red sleeves embroidered with pearls and chew them up. I had to replace them with the filmy violet shot through with gold threads. It meant I did not make as large a profit as I hoped; but I guess it was a valuable good-will gesture.

“Actually now that I recall I gave you a scarlet samite sleeve embroidered with great pearls to show as a sample of my work to the lady you were going to give one of the gowns I create. But you have not returned to put in an order. Was it not to the lady’s taste? Or did the little dog steal that sleeve too?”

“No he tried to steal it, but it was locked away in my trunk for safety.”

“So are you ready to put in an order then?”

Lancelot was feeling quite embarrassed. He did not want to tell Elaine that the sleeve had proven so unlucky, or why he had not put in the order.

“I have not shown the sample.”

“So you still have the red sleeve?”

“No, someone was looking at it and they dropped it into the river.”

“Oh dear, I must give you another one to replace it.”

“That is really not necessary!”

“Oh but I insist!”

“But that is enough about me – what have you been doing since we last met?”

“I have been serving King Arthur.” Lancelot was not quite sure what to say that did not sound either boastful or highly improbable.

“I think we will be hearing all about that from the minstrels” said Bernard of Astolat

The minstrels started to sing about Lancelot’s heroic deeds in battle and the beauty of Queen Guinevere. There was much applause from the family and the staff who had come in quietly to listen. Lancelot felt embarrassed and a bit disoriented because he did not recognise many of the deeds credited to him.

And he wondered whether anything more was being implied when the bard seemingly without offence, linked the names together in his lay,

 ‘Lancelot, The flower of bravery, Guinevere, The pearl of beauty’

“You have a fine voice and I am very flattered; but I can assure you that my life is not nearly as exciting and heroic as you tell it” he said.

But Lavaine would not be deterred. “Tell us, for we live apart, you know, of Arthur’s glorious wars!”

“It is a very strange thing,” Lancelot replied “I have not very long ago been talking about that very subject with Little Plump Jo, an author in Malory Tennyson’s Cloudbank Cabin.

Lancelot had the uncomfortable feeling that he had experienced this conversation before. He told himself that it was merely familiar to him because of the discussions in Cloudbank Cabin. But there was a sense that this conversation was only a ripple on the surface of The Lake -that repercussions of countless repetitions of an unpleasant event followed this particular conversation.

He attempted to change the subject and asked whether he could borrow a shield, explaining that he wished to compete in the tournament in disguise, to test a theory about his invincibility, and was offered the loan of Torre’s blank shield.

“I will get that scarlet sleeve for you now” said Lady Charlotte-Elaine. “It will provide excellent disguise for you because everyone thinks that no more of those tokens exist. Everyone will wonder who it could be that still has one.”

Lancelot wondered whether the bad luck he believed to be attached to the red sleeve was peculiar to that sleeve, that he had kept in his trunk all those years and was now mercifully floating away to parts unknown; or whether the bad luck was a common characteristic of all scarlet samite sleeves embroidered with great pearls.

He did not wish to appear rude to his hosts by refusing the sleeve. And Lady Charlotte did make a valid point about the sleeve enhancing his disguise.

But wearing the sleeve would add an extra variable to his experiment.

Rather than talk about the role of luck or fortune or blessing in life events, Lancelot chose to ask, “Do you believe that a person’s path through life is pre-ordained?”

Before anyone else had a chance to reply Elaine answered “I used to believe that. But then I decided to make my own opportunities and choose my own future.”

“Do you ever have a sense of déjà vu?”

“Pardon?”

“Do you ever feel as if you have had a conversation or done something before?”