A Feast in Honour of Sir Agron Esa

[King Uther Pendragon]

In honour of the recent Knighthood of Sir Agron Esa, a feast is being held.
As head of the Magicians Guild and Royal Army, Merlin Emrys and Prince Arthur Pendragon are in attendance, alongside King Uther, his ward Morgana Le Fey and her servant Gwen, and, at the request of Sir Agron, Tristan De Braose.Unusually, servants are permitted at the feast because of the nature of Merlin's position in the Guild.

[Sir Agron Esa]

Agron was nervous but excited as he stepped into the great hall for a feast held in his honour. He was desperately glad to have Tristan at his side, an ally and a friend in this foreign court that they had both since accepted as home.

"So then I said to him," he carried on his story, as castle guards held the doors open for them. "I said: why would I only want three? My horse has four feet like any other. And he just looked at me like I was the one who was mad and repeated that the order had been for three horse shoes and that he was just following orders."

Agron paused in his recantation to take a look around the bustling hall and feel once again incredibly humbled and honoured and really rather small in the world, which was oddly ironic as his purpose had just increased. He had duty now, to the people of this kingdom, to their protection and prosperity.

"So my horse is now gallivanting around the pastures shoeless," Agron concluded his tale, "having a whale of a time, no doubt. And I’m likely to be riding one of the temperamental brown mares for hunting at this week's end." He sighed exaggeratedly showing that he was rather more amused by the whole fiasco than particularly vexed.

"I trust you make the most of this pleasure, when you find me thrown into a ditch and walking home. Kill the finest stag and I may forgive you for it," he added, with a smirk and a nudge of his shoulder against his friend's.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur was watching the servants adding the finishing touches to the spread. The feast wasn't as fine as the one held for the bonfire festivities, bu it wasn't far off. There would be far less guests to this feast, just the most respected knights, Head of the Guild, a friend or two of Agron's and Uther and his family. The smaller feasts meant more conversation and a friendlier atmosphere, and Uther usually left early which meant the others could keep the revelries going until dawn.

He took his seat by the head of the table, where Morgana would sit opposite him. Unlike most feasts, Merlin would join Arthur, as he was head of the guild. Gwen would also be invited as she was Morganas trusted servant and it was only fair seeing as Merlin was there. Arthur liked having his friends around him, especially once the king had gone.

Voices broke the silence in the great hall and Arthur stood up, signalling the other to do the same. A knighthood was the most worthy title a man could have and even Arthur liked to show how much respect he had for the man.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin sat awkwardly at the table, used to waiting on people here and not the other way around. He was wearing his finest clothes, including a ridiculous hat with a large green feather that twirled into the air. Although he felt uncomfortable, he was slightly put at ease due to the presence of Arthur, Morgana and Gwen who separated him from the King, a man he was terrified of. Merlin glanced down at the crockery set before him, several lines of gleaming forks and knives lay parallel to one another- and they all seemed to be for him...

Merlin jumped to his feet as Arthur stood, a little too quickly, causing his chair to squeak and the enormous feather to poke Arthur directly in the face. Merlin began clapping automatically, and hoped the rest of the chamber would join in, he didn't want to look like an idiot. It was the first time he had ever met Agron, Sir Agron, and he knew little about him. However to complete Arthur's training and have a knight-hood bestowed upon him, Merlin could conclude he was a man of some worth.

[Sir Tristan de Braose]

Tristan felt incredibly proud and honoured for his friend to have finally achieved the rank of Knight. Much like himself, Agron had a dream to become a Knight and had pushed himself towards this achievement to make it become a reality. Even though Tristan was a bit putdown by the fact that Agron had reached this rank before him, he put his jealousy and friendly rivalry aside to celebrate his friends special day with him. He was glad that Agron had invited him to the feast held in his honour as this was something he was sure not to miss for anything.

Tristan listened intently to Agron's story and tried to put the picture out of his mind of Agron lying in a ditch, dirtied from the dust and mud that stuck to his clothes, his horse galloping half a mile away from him. A small chuckle rose to his mouth at this thought and surveyed the atmosphere as the guards positioned at the door let them in. He was truly astounded by what sight met him. A glouriosly large spread of food decorated the table and the ripe, strong smell of freshly cooked meat met his nostrils making his mouth water.

He navigated himself around the table to sit in the middle, in eye and ear shot of Prince Arthur, King Uther and everyone else who had attended this feast. He took a seat and watched as Prince Arthur and Merlin stood up to show their gratitude towards Sir Agron as he entered. As they began clapping, Tristan also stood up and began to clap following suit of everyone else. There weren't many people here of which he knew well and had only heard of most of them or merely passed them on route to his soliders quarters. He continued to clap for his friend and smiled warmly as the whole room congratulated him on his recent knighthood.

[Lady Morgana le Fey]

Morgana, wearing her purple silk gown with thin blue overcoat, sat in her usual place next to the King and directly across the table from Arthur. What was different with this feast was the presence of Merlin and Gwen at the table with them instead of serving. Merlin as Arthur's man servant and also leader of the Guild sat next to the Prince and Gwen, her trusted confidant sat next to her. She gave a reassuring smile to Merlin, being careful not to laugh at the costume he was forced to wear- that stupid feather! She then turned her attention for a moment to Gwen to make sure that her friend was comfortable. Morgana had been about to enquire whether she was fine when the door opened.

Both Tristan and the Sir Agron- the man of honour tonight entered. Immediately Arthur and Merlin began to applause and it didn't take any encouragement for Morgana to also join in the applause. She came to her feet with a gracious smile in Agron's direction and applauded. Little did she realize that both her and Merlin were thinking the same thing- for someone to make it through Arthur's training schedule meant they truly deserved the honour as she suspected he didn't go to easy on the knights. She could just imagine what their training sessions were like...and was grateful that she didn't have to partake.

[Gaius Martyn Augustinus]

Gaius jerked awake when the applause began, and belatedly came to his feet as fast as old bones and aching joints would allow. He looked around serenely as if no one had caught him napping, and clapped his hands together with the others for the new knight. "Huzzah..... good lad!" the old man murmured with the others.

Another day, another palace ceremony. Uther's court was fairly thick with them, as if the King were trying to surround himself with pomp and circumstance thick enough to keep the troubles of the outside world at bay. And in truth, Gaius could not blame him. As long as outsiders still saw him as a strong and commanding king, Camelot would be at peace.

But it did get very tiresome for an old man who just wanted to spend his evenings with his reading, a nice fire, and some hot tea, not dressed up in his stiff formal robes sitting on an uncomfortably hard court chair. Gaius sighed and wondered what there would be for dessert.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

"Welcome Sir Agron!" Uther boomed before launching into an impossibly long speech that Arthur soon stopped listening to. He was instead enchanted with a plate of delicious looking ham, and staring at it was making him mouth water.
"Huh?" He muttered suddenly as the room erupted into a round of applause and he broke out of his daydream. He quickly began to clap too, wondering if he had missed anything important.

Once the speech was over though, the feast could begin and Artur was soon tucking into a sample of more or less everything on the table. As soon as Uther left the room, Arthur ordered the servants to bring a new batch of wine and mead to the table, and soon the alcohol was flowing. Arthur poured himself a tankard of both and downed them instantly. It was going to be a good night.