Gwaine and the Black Knight Pt. 02

Gwaine and the Black Knight Pt.2

A story from the Round Table.

Having bathed and refreshed himself and his clothing, Gwaine had a brief opportunity to reflect on his situation and the requirements of the challenge he had accepted. It completely filled his mind, excluding all of his duties and the many responsibilities he held.

He had impulsively taken up this cause without considering anything beyond his own self-respect, like a teenager in a brawl and now he was honour bound. He must put everything aside to discharge this commitment. If he failed, he would betray the reputation of the court as upholders of the chivalric code of honour, truth and justice and irrevocably diminish his own special renown as a warrior and as a man.

Who was to know? His man-servant was the only person besides the challenger and himself who knew of the commitment but it was morally irrevocable and that was enough.

During the spring feasting that night Gwaine fulfilled his obligations to his friends, his allies, his fellow courtiers and his majesty, the king. However, he ate and drank thoughtfully, most modestly as those around him revelled and gorged themselves, the way the powerful usually would at such an event.

There were plenty of surprised expressions at witnessing this uncharacteristic prudence and Gwaine was required to reassure each in turn that he was in his full health and strength. Only his page fully understood the consequences of what had occurred. The servant attended his master with great care and when his lord saw an opportunity to slip away, the night wore on and the merriment could be relied upon to sustain itself without missing his company, Gwaine returned to his private chamber.

A fire was crackling and candles lit the simply furnished room with a reassuring glow as the chill spring night insinuated it's icy fingers into the castle precincts. Even the mightiest of men sometimes needed the sanctuary and reassurance of home.

He would seek counsel. He needed the help of someone who could fully comprehend his predicament with whom he could discuss the possible courses of action he might take but he knew, in the privacy of his thoughts it could only be himself. This matter was so far beyond the range of experience of his contemporaries. Even the elders, retired knights who had fought great battles, overcome magical creatures, made dangerous quests to foreign lands, could not advise in this most delicate of situations.

There was, however, one other person to whom he could turn.

"Will you be in need of anything more, my lord?" Asked the page, half guessing that his master had much on his mind and anticipating that there was no one else with whom he could speak of the encounter with the Black Knight.

"Indeed, Arthur." Responded the Knight with a haste and energy that belied the lateness of the hour. "I am much in need of reflection on the day, of learning as much as I can about those things I do not currently understand." This statement alone was placing a great strain on the conventions of relationships between knight and vassal but he knew that this was by no means a conventional courtly situation and he must go on. Summoning all his courage, he said "I would like to question you about what I may have missed and how I might build a response to these things, and what I must learn." He continued "For in battle we must know our enemy as well as we may, in order to arm ourselves appropriately, to formulate tactics and to train with those arms."

Then he said "You serve me well, Arthur, often in ways other knights do not require and I trust you to execute your duties and keep what passes between us beyond the hearing of others for the sake of my stature in this court." Although the young man was a servant, Gwaine knew that Arthur held his reputation proudly and with great care. For all his lack of physical strength and stature he was Gwaine's loyal protector and far more stealthy than any armed guard.

The young man glowed slightly at the knight's open expression of esteem for him but as was customary, kept silent and waited for his lord's command.

"By my impetuosity, I have exceeded the boundaries of my experience." Continued Gwaine, with unaccustomed humility. "I was drawn into this situation by a hasty response to provocation, which a wiser knight would have simply laughed away or treated with disdain." Gwaine allowed his thoughts to escape as words. "A diplomat would have honoured the Black Knight for his prowess, flattered his virility."

"There must have been other opportunities to placate the passions and I should not have accepted the Black Knight's challenge so hastily." Hypothesised Gwaine, as much to himself as to his page, who watched and listened intently while his master expressed his feelings with a new freedom.

"Perhaps," Proposed the knight "This is a test of some kind." Said Gwaine, pensively. "A test I am in danger of failing if I cannot control my temper."

"Perhaps this Black Knight is not a man at all but a demon or, if a man, a man under an enchantment." Postulated Gwaine. "How am I to know?"

This question to the ether, or to the room, perhaps to the crackling fire, gave Arthur an etiquette opportunity to speak.

"Though I have not your experience of such things, my lord, what I saw was a man. Not just a man, but such a man as yourself. Strong in body, great in stature, respected for his prowess as a warrior and gifted with a great and potent virility. A rarity, my lord."

Wrong footed by this answer to what had been a rhetorical question, Gwaine with unsuspecting and instinctive frankness asked "Is this why the Black Knight felt compelled to challenge me? A rivalry of manhood? A test of virility? Who has the biggest cock? Who the most cum?"

Thinking very carefully for a moment but responding as quickly as he could in order to not forfeit his opportunity to speak, Arthur answered "My lord, if you were school rivals or journeymen knights with something to prove, then perhaps such a simple explanation would fit but you are a knight of great renown and a knight of the round table. There is something more to this challenge."

"This is surely true." Admitted Gwaine, allowing his racing thoughts to accept Arthur's suggestion. "Speak on."

Arthur trod carefully. "As a witness to these events, I see great similarities between yourself and the Black Knight which might suggest a simple rivalry but he came to you expressing himself in the most lewd and sexual way imaginable. So much so that until the moment when he insulted you, you thought his behaviour a comedy."

"Might I suggest, my lord, that a man more given, shall we say, to a playful attitude to the pleasures of the flesh, could have enjoyed the comedy more fully."

"Are you suggesting that I should have just lapped up the braggart's cum snot and then taken his cock up my arse?" Roared Gwaine in indignant fury.

Arthur took a terrified step back, fearing for his life.

Gwaine's head throbbed. His massive chest heaved with cathartic emotion and his bulging eyes filled with resentful tears of frustration as he realised, to his horror, that though this was not exactly what he had done, it was a close approximation of what he had, by his impetuosity, committed himself to do. The flashing memories of his proud head lying in a pool of another man's semen and body hair.

Arthur streamed his own flashback, a slow motion replay of the Black Knight's dripping fingers feeding that very same semen to the semi conscious Gwaine.

There was no undoing what had been done and both men realised this. For Arthur, no unseeing what he had seen and now he was witnessing the anguish written all over his master's handsome, bearded face as if the knight had lost everything in a single moment.

"My lord, your life as a knight constrains you. Your responsibilities are great, your duties to your king and country are endless. You take these burdens up tirelessly. This matter will be resolved." Arthur tried to fill the void.

"The Black Knight has somehow survived my onslaught. How could that be?" Moaned Gwaine "And now I must submit to him. Not merely to be his cunt but to be ripped open like a traitor!"

He knew he was on perilously thin ice but young Arthur had to press on for the sake of his master's sanity. "I propose my lord," said Arthur with as much gravity as he could summon, "That the Black Knight had knowledge of what to expect today. Had confidence that he could survive it." Then almost quoting his own master "As you say my lord, we must know our enemy, we must arm ourselves appropriately and train ourselves in order to endure. This is, I believe, what the Black Knight has done before presenting himself here."

Gwaine heard and understood the logic he himself had used " I know that the right physical and mental training can overcome almost any obstacle." He affirmed "But what is his motive by such an action, if not merely a proof of superiority."

"I believe, my lord, that having heard the stories of how so many enemies have spilled their information and their guts here, he was made curious to see if it might be survived." Proposed Arthur. "Furthermore I believe he was curious about you."

"There are many, brutal ways to extract a confession." Said Gwaine, defensively. "Many horrors I could name and their perpetrators."

"Quite so, my lord. However, the manner in which you serve your king, in this regard, is unique in its exploitation of your......." Arthur paused subtly while his master followed the direction of his thinking.

"My cock!" Blurted Gwaine. "The Black Knight wanted my cock!"

"Yyyyeeesss..." Admitted Arthur "I do believe that he had or has a wild desire for you," hoping to avoid such candour. "However, I believe there's more to it than that. I think the Black Knight may have wondered if you derive sexual pleasure from your interrogations or how else you might derive sexual pleasure given that you use sex as a weapon of torture."

"You think his motive is to answer these questions? Asked Gwaine with a pained expression.

"It may be that simple," Granted Arthur "But we may be missing something."

"So we understand our adversary a little more," Cautioned Gwaine "But there is more to know.

Then, to the page's great surprise, the knight grasped Arthur at each shoulder with his meaty hands, looking down into his gentle, timid face with a grim determination and said " Have no fear, I would understand it all before I face the Black Knight again and anything you know about how I might overcome this ordeal."

"Tomorrow we will begin."

***

"In becoming a knight," Said Gwaine at his breakfast, to himself as much as to his page, "We learn courage and strength in arms, loyalty to and trust in our king, rivalry between our menfolk and tenderness towards our womenfolk." Then, somewhat pensively, he went on,"To submit to another is seen as defeat even death and an indelible blemish on our honour."

There was a prolonged and thoughtful silence, during which the young page willed the thoughts of the great champion of arms to continue down this path to enlightenment.

"The Black Knight came to me with all the pride and confidence one would expect of a challenger." Procrastinated Gwaine aloud once more." There being no animosity between us, no cause for feuding."

Arthur knew where this was leading but kept a servant's silent duty, allowing the knight sufficient room to stumble upon the obstacles to his understanding and in so doing not have to humble himself by taking the advice that Arthur could readily have given.

"He was bold." Admitted Gwaine. "Yet his challenge is all about submission." He puzzled, scratching his wildly touseled head. "In manly ways, he conducted himself with great courage like one bearing his breast for the dagger to strike." Confusion contorted his brow. "He invited the blow, welcomed the blow and when it came he survived it. " Pausing for his words to catch up with his deductions. "No!" He caught himself. "No. He relished it!"

As his thoughts stumbled on, he murmured, "There was no flinching in his submission to me but a revery." Struggling with his limited knowledge of human feelings "Not the elation one feels in victory but pride of sorts."

The page continued to wait his moment which he knew would come, when this dark avenue of thought came to a blind alley.

"If any, it is I who feel defeated, for his part of the bargain is fulfilled and in my arrogance I thought not a thing about my ability to complete my part in it and now somehow I must prepare." At this timorous remark he stopped and stared at the spring sunshine beyond his window.

It was as if the daylight had broken through into Gwaine's dark thoughts with a sudden reason and order to this jumble of ideas and information. He suddenly uttered, "I must learn what it is to revel in this submission." Then, with a smile that puckered the deeply cleft dimple in his bristling chin, he continued, "I must learn what makes a man want another man to break his body in this way and I must learn to enjoy every part of it."

Arthur saw this change in his master's face and understood how seriously the great man regarded this undertaking. Knights at court were the security system of the kingdom. They trained constantly for battle, expected to engage in the defence of the king and the court at any moment when they were not on a mission beyond the castle walls. The life of his master was as austere, at least in an emotional sense, as that of a monk and Arthur knew that Gwaine's only outlet for what must be a considerable sexual appetite were these violent, explosive sessions where his body was used as an instrument of torture in a most brutal way.

As always, Gwaine's page, Arthur, was in attendance at these duties, preparing Gwaine, undressing him, cleaning him up afterwards. He was party to every tiny detail of what went on and in a dark place inside himself he admitted that he loved the sight of his master naked, he loved the power of the massively muscled masculinity of this beast of a fighting man. His raw power, the hormonal rush of his sex, unleashing that monster cock and the shear animal magnetism of the way his magnificent form moved in readiness for his duty. The bald, pale upward curve of that gigantic erection contrasting with the tangled, dense, dark forest of body hair that swirled over almost every inch of Gwaine's herculean body, his bearded face, the tumbling locks framing what little skin was left exposed on his ruggedly handsome face. Arthur could certainly enjoy almost everything about his master's body and the bodies of the other men in the royal guard and now his master wished to learn how to enjoy it too.

Arthur's mind was as full of the events of the previous day as Gwaine's own. Not least because of the much needed relief afforded by the two guards who had also witnessed the scene between Gwaine and the Black knight. Something in the air, something primordial in it's sexual power had driven the three witnesses quite mad with lust tearing down their inhibitions uncontrollably exposing their senses to the torrent of heat and heaving man-flesh. Watching from the shadows, scenting ejaculated bodily fluids and the need to relieve that pent up sexual frustration in themselves, touching each other in ways they could never have dared.

Gwaine saw the faraway look in Arthur's eyes as his servant was lost in running his memories of the previous day. Usually so attentive to his master, Gwaine had not seen the young man so distracted. Then it was gone, Arthur was back in the room, his master staring at him and helplessly Arthur blushed to his boots with embarrassment. What had his master seen?

The Knight pushed himself away from the Oak table and got to his feet.

"Will that be all my lord?" Managed Arthur, sheepishly

"We have important work to do, Arthur." Replied Gwaine, with just the hint of a twinkle in his eye and a subtle, upward curve at the corner of his mouth which looked to Arthur like boyish mischief. "We will repair to my lower chamber in a while so that I might begin my training." Continued the master as his servant nervously awaited a more precise instruction. " Find the two guards who attended me yesterday have them report to me there directly." The knight went on thoughtfully, detecting a look of anxiety in the face of his page. "If my instinct is correct, I believe they will be of use in my investigation." By way of reassurance, Gwaine added "I have in mind an experiment for which we will need a trough of water."

"Right away, my lord." Snapped Arthur, glad of the opportunity to cover his anxious curiosity and a throbbing swelling in his groin. He gathered up the remains of the knight's breakfast provision and slipped out of the chamber.

***

Almost an hour had passed before Arthur reappeared at his master's side with desperate and breathless apologies for his tardiness. It had been too easy to find guards on duty, though many had sore heads from the revels of the previous evening's springtime celebrating. However, locating the individuals in attendance of his master required questioning the duty captain, the duty sergeant, armoury master and the keeper of the tavern, firstly for names, Bardwlff and Pistwl, then their whereabouts, then having them relieved of their duties in order to attend Sir Gwaine. Fortunately, before this protracted runaround, Arthur had arranged the other preparations and all was now ready as his master had requested.

Once more, torches cast pools of flickering light into the dimness of the lower chamber and the brief shaft of daylight from the doorway was cut off momentarily, as Gwaine's great bulk entered the room and then again and finally as Arthur closed the door behind him turned the broad iron key noisily in the lock and slid the wooden shutter closed, completing the isolation of the room from the bustling business of the working life of the castle beyond.

The sinister presence of the torture sling dangled in familiar gloom and the crude table could just be seen alongside it bearing the small bowl of herb infused tallow ointment.

The two guards snapped to attention when master and servant entered. Gwaine noticed immediately a nervous look in their eyes. Arthur too was tense. All were concerned that there was no prisoner to interrogate. Perhaps one of the king's men was to be chosen for the Knight's questioning, perhaps all three of them were to be punished for their indiscretions in the shadows?

"At ease, men!" Barked Gwaine with the familiarity of military command. "Names?"

"Bardwlff, SAH!" Bellowed the taller of the two.

"Pistwl, Sir!" Snapped the other almost at the same time.

"When was the last time either of you had a bath?" Asked the Knight, with a slight smirk crossing his broad face.

The two men looked at one another with the same blank bewilderment.

"As I thought." Tutted Gwaine. "Right! Strip and in the tub. I want the pair of you cleaner than you've ever been."

The pair of soldiers hesitated only seconds before grasping at their uniforms and hauling off thick woollen garments.

Pistwl, broken nose, ginger bearded, shorter and stockier, older than Bardwlff, stepped out into the torchlight first, broad shouldered, pale and peppered with reddish brown chest and belly hair, here and there a darker smudge or strip of scar tissue, he stepped towards the water trough and with a sharp intake of breath at feeling it's chilly contents put first one foot and then stood in the trough to a depth of his stout calves as his companion at arms also emerged from the shadows. Also bluish with the pallor of winter on his northern European skin, Bardwlff's face, neck and forearms were noticeably darker with the weathering of the previous summer. His body tough and sinewy, blood vessels visible through his fatless skin, his hands crossed coyly over his genitals Bardwlff picked his way over the cobbles to stand next to Pistwl at the side of the trough.