"I am afraid.", Richard de Stark said to his friends.
"Worry not.", Sir Paul said. "All will be fine."
"I told you, I am not a knight, I am a man of words. I will
never return to my house."
"You will, you are with us.", George said.
"And since when this is a life guarantee?", Richard
moaned.
John, that spent all that time silent, looked to the sides and sighed, scared.
"She was here."
"Who?"
"Morgana."
"And how do you know that?", Sir Paul asked.
"Ask me not, I do not know. But I know she was here. And
she had Lady Guinevere with her."
"So we are on the right way.", George said.
"We are."
They took a whole day to come close to where Morgana's castle laid by, in the land of Tintagel. They all stopped and looked around, but there wasn't a soul in the place.
"Let's settle around here, friends.", John said.
"I think there is no one that can give us shelter."
"Shelter? You laugh!", Richard smiled. Soon they were
all asleep, but Sir Paul. He never would fall asleep. He didn't
dare to. He was afraid that the woman that carried his life
the belle dame that would kill him would arrive when he
wasn't looking. He wanted to know who was the woman that would
take his life away.
Suddenly, he heard a horse arriving. He stood up and kicked the nearest leg John's, for instance.
"Hell below! Paul, why are you..."
"Shhh...silence. There's someone coming."
"Oh my, action at last."
"Come on, help me, please! Get up and come here!"
"Where did the noise came from?"
"There.", Paul pointed.
A shadow came to the sight of the men, and they drew out their swords. But the shadow got cleared and it showed that a lady was behind it. Dressed in white and red and with a golden tiara in her head, she was fair and with beautiful eyes of a strong shade of blue. Paul looked and his blood froze in his veins. He knew it. The woman that would kill him had arrived.
"You!", John yelled. "Who are you and what are
you doing here?"
"Who calls me?", the lady retorted.
"Here's a knight of his majesty, King Arthur of England."
"A knight!", she cried, and walked straight to them.
By this hour, George and Richard were already awoken and staring
at the strange situation.
"Who are you and what are you doing here, lady?",
Sir Paul asked, noticing that the lady was carrying a sword with
her.
"Who am I? That doesn't matter. I never had a name. People
often call me 'widow'. What am I doing? I am going up to the castle
of Morgana, the witch."
"Why?", John asked.
"You make a lot of questions, knights.", she answered.
"I heard that she stole the bride of your king. Be sure she
will kill her, and all the men that try to rescue her."
"Just answer my question and I let you go, I swear on God.",
John said.
"I am going to kill the witch that murdered my husband."
"She killed your husband?", George asked.
"Yes, she did, on cold blood. My husband was a loyal and
faithful man, and one day, Morgana appeared to him and said, 'lay
with me, love, and you will be the richest man on all land.' But
he refused to betray me, and his marriage vows, and she killed
him. Since then, I walk upon this land, and I made a vow to the
Virgin Mary, mother of Christ, that I would live only to get her
head and bring it to the place where my husband died."
"We will follow you.", Sir Paul said. "You will
need protection."
"I don't need the protection of no man in this world.",
she answered, and started to walk away when Richard spoke up at
last.
"Morgana, you said it well, is a witch. She knows every
trick in the book. Alone, you have no chance. Together with us,
you might win."
"Are you also a knight?"
"No, I am not. But I promised to the king that I would bring
his bride back."
"I seem to agree with you, stranger. You have a name?"
"I'm Richard de Stark."
The woman stared at all of them.
"I will stay. You seem to be men of good will.", she said, and sat by the side of Sir Paul. Richard, George and John fell asleep, and Paul stood awoke. The lady talked to him:
"You don't sleep?"
"I forgot how to."
"You are a knight too?"
"I am."
"And what's your name?"
"Sir Paul."
"Paul...that is a nice name."
"You must have a name."
"If I do, I forgot. People often call me widow."
"Mind if I name you?"
"No."
"You are so beautiful, that you should be named Belle."
"No man in the world has ever said I was beautiful."
"Not even your husband?"
"No man in the world, not even him."
"What kind of man he was?", Paul smiled.
"A rough man, a man of the land. But still, I loved him.
And Morgana didn't have the right of taking him away from me."
"And you are right."
Belle closed her eyes and slept. Sir Paul kept guard by her side, thinking that if she was his death, then that would be a sweet death after all.