The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, and rape.

The first stop in the quest for the Holy Lance turns out to be a high-walled abbey in the middle of a field. Seven knights are arranged in the abbey’s pleasure garden, and the armor of each is in a color of the rainbow. It turns out that the knights must participate in a tournament of a joust and a melee. A joust is combat using lances, though not fatal, while a melee is rough, hand-to-hand battle without rules.

At the tournament’s end, only Collum and the Indigo Knight are left in the game. By the end of the last melee round, the indefatigable Indigo Knight forces him to the ground, as if training a naughty puppy. The rainbow knights win the tournament. The Indigo Knight takes off his helmet. Though Collum has never seen him in person, he instantly recognizes the wavy locks and handsome face of Sir Lancelot du Lac.

Lancelot tells the knights his story. He is the son of the Frankish King Ban. After his parents died, the lady of the nearby lake took in 10-year-old Lancelot, teaching him sword fighting.