Work Text:
The Castle of Camelot is quite a sight; standing tall and proud. A promise of strength and protection. Mordred had come from…somewhere and wanted to visit this place. He heard much about the Knights of the Round Table and wants to try his hand at the test, maybe he could be a member too.
“Surprise to you see you here, Mordred.” Gawain steps out of the crowd and stands before him; looking very different from the person that Mordred had met. “Figured you would still be stuck with your siblings.”
“They all found something to do, Gawain.” Mordred shrugs, wincing a bit at the sudden pain in his shoulder. “I’m just doing the same thing.” He has been struggling with finding something to do. He tried music, acting, exploring, and even writing. Nothing that can hold his attention for very long. “Actually, I wanted to try out the Knights’ Test, is that still going on?”
Gawain looks surprised for a moment but he quickly disappeared. The two have grown up together before Gawain’s village was burned down and he was taken in by King Arthur. (Mordred always looked up to Arthur and tried his hardest to get the King’s attention, clearly, he can’t do that anymore). Mordred was left alone with his only friend leaving him behind for a place that he couldn’t follow.
“I’m not the one to talk to about that but I’m sure Lancelot would allow you to try out.”
Gawain motioned for Mordred to follow and lead him to the training grounds.
…
The training grounds are just as impressive as the rest of the place. Knaves and knights are hanging around the place with Lancelot in the center as he fought with a knave. At the sidelines are the rest of the Round Table; either watching or completely ignoring what’s happening.
Gawain lead Mordred to the Round Table; “everyone, this is my friend, Mordred.” He slings an arm around Mordred’s shoulders and knocks him forward a bit. Though instead of getting looks of boredom or indifference, they look confused. “We knew one another since we were kids. Mordred wants to try his hand at fighting Lancelot.”
Mordred’s eyes widen and snap toward the knight in the ring. The one is known as the Ultimate Lifeform. The son of the Lady of the Lake. Sir Lancelot du Lac. Someone that Mordred was told to never cause trouble for or even bother in general. His mom made that pretty clear about that.
He laughs awkwardly and pulls away from Gawain.
“I never said I wanted to fight Sir Lancelot,” Mordred ducks down a bit. “I just wanted to do the knights’ test.”
“That would mean fighting Lancelot,” Sir Percival said. “No one just joins any rank without going through him first.”
“Even his own son had to fight him!” Sir Lamorak laughs as he pulls Sir Galahad into a headlock. “So, you better be ready. Lancelot isn’t an easy one to fight against.”
“You’ll be fine.” Gawain push Mordred away from the others and blocks his view of Sir Lancelot. “Plus you were the top swordsman of your class, right? Then you’ll be just fine, only a fool wouldn’t be.”
“You heard about that?” Mordred didn’t want to believe that Gawain kept taps on him. He tried knowing what his friend had been up to but it’s been difficult. “Thanks, Gawain.”
His friend’s smile is infectious and Mordred couldn’t help copying.
“Now get out there!”
…
Sir Lancelot looks him over and Mordred felt like snakes are crawling over his body. It almost seems like the knight is looking for something but Mordred doesn’t know what that is nor does he wants to. Mordred just pretend to focus on his blade; a simple one that he’s been using since leaving home, and one of the only things that he carried on him. The other is a medallion that he refuses to take off.
Something always stops him from doing so.
“You ready, Mordred?”
Mordred stood straight and can feel a bit of lightning running through him. His mom said that whenever he gets ready to fight something, he always looks cocky while doing so. Mordred figures that it is okay this one time; his mom should understand.
“Born ready.”