6.1 Part 2
“Well, the story I’ve heard is that the Archbishop has arranged it for a particular purpose.”
“And what is that?” Inquired Kay.
“Well,” continued Sir Ector, “since king Uther died, the kingdom’s been in complete chaos. There was no successor to the throne so all the lords have been squabbling among themselves. But something strange has happened…”
“What happened?” Asked Kay expectantly.
“They say,” continued Sir Ector, “that a sorcerer told the Archbishop to summon all the nobles to St Paul’s church for Christmas because there would be a miracle, you know how much the archbishop adores miracles, and when everybody was in the church, there was a thunder-like noise in the churchyard and when they got outside they saw a block of stone. Sticking out of the stone was the handle of a very large sword. They all crowded round for a closer look and saw carved into the stone the phrase:
WHOEVER PULLS THIS SWORD OUT OF THIS STONE IS THE TRUEBORN KING OF BRITAIN.
Knight after knight tried in vain to pull the sword out. It was then that the Archbishop declared that the true king was evidently not among them so he invited all the nobles to this tournament.
“Hey!” Exclaimed Kay, super excited. “It means, I ’ll get the chance to pull the sword out?”
“Well,” Interrupted Arthur, “First you will have to participate in the tournament and use your own sword, right?”
“Shut up, you boy!” Gloated Kay. “This sword of mine is a winner… Hey, where is my sword?”
As he was saying this he started looking for his sword frantically, but the weapon was not to be found.
“Oh no!!!” Kay whined dismally. “Oh! It seems I have forgotten my sword at home! Oh Arthur, this is all your fault, you interrupting, wanting to come, wanting to be my quire! Oh, Oh! There’s no time to return home! I won’t be able to participate!
“Wait, what if I come back and fetch it?” Offered Arthur, obviously feeling guilty.
“Ok Arthur.” Said Ector. “You come back and get the sword, and we will ride to London and enroll in the tournament. Hurry boy, hurry!
