In the sixth year of the reign of Arthur the High King of all Britain, a young man stood on the cliffs of Cornwall, looking out to sea. It was summer, and below him the rocks were alive with seabirds.
And just like that, in the very first sentence of the first chapter on the very first page, the author informs the reader of what is going on here. The title is vague enough that it does not directly suggest the story is part of the Arthurian multiverse. It could be any prince and any pilgrim. For that matter, it could just as well take place in Massachusetts during the witch hysteria as in the England of Camelot. Direct and to the point, but presented with suggestive imagery, the opening paragraph here is the equivalent of an unobtrusive establishing shot to open a movie.
But Chlodovald pulled the soft stuff aside to show was packed in it. A goblet, more golden than the gold hair, with gems glittering crimson and green and primrose yellow in the handles. A beautiful thing, certainly very precious, but seemingly more than that.
This descriptive expository prose does not occur until nearly two-hundred pages into the narrative. It will not exactly immediately consume the last half of the story, but the last sixty pages or so will the pretty little goblet take on an aspect of significance that rings with a strong familiarity. What’s another word for goblet? An archaic synonym rarely used in everyday discourse, but that instead tends to be held back to describe one very specific sort of vessel used to contain a beverage? Yes, a little over halfway through its story, the romance between prince and pilgrim also becomes part of the legendary quest for the Holy Grail.
“Who am I to say what to believe and what not to believe? But if I was you I’d go carefully, young master, and if you do stay over at the castle, remember what they say about Queen Morgan! Faery they call her, and the word goes that she’s readier with her spells than ever was her sister Morgause, the witch from Orkney that tangled with Merlin and was hacked to pieces in her bed by her own son.”
You know what they say about blacksmiths: biggest gossips in the village. This particular smithy sure seems to be up on his celebrity scandals, that’s for sure. Although taking place within the Arthurian universe, the events and characters are most tangential to the inner workings of the court of Camelot. But that it is intended for the reader to know these characters are where they are, here is the introduction to an important figure to come, Queen Morgan. And for any readers not quite as on the trolley as the smith, that would be one Morgan Le Fay, the dastardly distaff sorcerer’s apprentice destined to become a thorn in Arthur’s neck.
