Chapter 6 - A Missing Knight

“Olwen, come back!” Safir called as she burst through the forest, following Olwen in her tracks. She caught the young hedgehog with her head in her palms sitting by a tree root. Safir trailed over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Olwen, Galahad didn’t mean what he said, he’s just confused as are you! Please don’t be mad, I promise not to tell Lancelot about Galahad and Percival or you and Dinidan!” Safir said in comfort. Olwen stayed silent for a minute and then looked up at Safir before nodding.

“Thanks Safir, you’re a great friend!”



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“Swing Galahad, hurry and swing!” Galehaut shouted to the young silver hedgehog. Galahad clumsily swung his sword towards the grey hedgehog and missed him by a mile. Galehaut then jumped behind Galahad and kicked him back causing Galahad to sprawl into the dirt. “Hurry Galahad, if I was a real enemy you’d have to recover faster than that!” Galehaut called to Galahad getting slightly angry at his lack of concentration. Galahad quickly shot up and scanned the area for Galehaut who was no where to be seen. Suddenly, Galehaut shot out from behind a tree and struck Galahad to the floor who dropped his sword next to him. Galehaut pressed his blade against Galahad’s protected chest and veered over him with one eyebrow raised. “Is there a problem Galahad? You don’t seem to be functioning well today!” Galehaut asked the silver knight.

“Sorry Galehaut, there’s just something on my mind.” Galahad explained. Galehaut leant off the younger knight and stretched his hand towards Galahad’s. Galahad daintily took it and Galehaut pulled him up, dusting dirt off his helmet.

“Are you sure? You’ve never been this bad before!” Galehaut joked with a grin on his face but Galahad growled at him.

“Bad? What’s that supposed to mean? Look, I said I was fine, can’t you see that for yourself?” Galahad sneered. Galehaut’s grin faded and he pressed his ears back against his head.

“Sorry Galahad, you just didn’t look too good.”

“Oh gee thanks! Just leave me alone.” Galahad replied sarcastically before throwing his sword to the ground and trekking off into the forest. Galehaut slowly picked the sword up off the floor and pressed it close to him before fitting it in his scabbard along with his on sword which was a tight squeeze but it still worked and then looked towards Camelot castle.

“Something is wrong with Galahad, I’d better investigate this! Lancelot relied on me to look after his son for today and I can’t go back and tell him that he’s grumpy because of what I said to him!” Galehaut then made up his mind to go and ask King Sonic for advice. He nodded proudly to himself and started walking back towards the castle. On his way, he met Cador leading a horse out onto the plains.
“Greetings Cador!” Galehaut bowed to his fellow knight who did the same in return.

“Greeting Galehaut, where are you off to?” Cador questioned, stroking the horse he was leading gently across the muzzle.

“To see the King, I need to talk to him.” Galehaut replied. Cador nodded.

“Wait for me and I’ll tag along, just let me tie Rusty up first.” Cador suggested as he pointed to the ginger horse.

After tying it up, Cador and Galehaut made their way to Camelot Castle. They crossed the drawbridge and went into the main room but stopped in their tracks. In front of them was a brown hedgehog, coated in shining armor. A dazzling sword placed in his scabbard caught the two knight’s eyes. The newcomer was bowing to the king. Sonic flapped his hand to indicate for the knight to rise before allowing him to speak.

“Greeting King Sonic, I am Prince Claudin from the Kingdom of Wessex, I have come seeking refuge here from my father.” The blue knight started. Sonic flicked his ear.

“Refuge?” He echoed.

“Yes, my father wants me to become king but I don’t feel that I can take on that role, he told me to either take his place or leave the kingdom so I chose to leave. I only want to be a knight and I’ve heard great things about Camelot, may I stay here? At least for a while anyway?” Claudin asked politely. Sonic thought for a moment and then nodded.

“You may stay until you have proved your worth but any false moves and your straight out of Camelot!” Sonic decided. He then clicked his fingers over to a blue female hedgehog wearing a green dress.

“Lady Morgan, show this knight the town, he can stay with you for the next week or so.” Sonic directed to the female hedgehog who slightly nodded and walked over to Warwick bowing.

“Greetings Prince Claudin.” She said.

“Just call me Sir Claudin please, I’m no longer fit to be a prince.” Claudin sighed whilst following Morgan out of the castle. Sonic then spotted sight of Cador and Galehaut and beckoned for them to come closer. They obeyed and paced towards the king.

“So what brings you two here?” Sonic asked whilst leaning to the side of his throne and placing his hands to the back of his head and put one knee over another, closing his eyes.

“Not too much trouble but have you noticed anything odd about Galahad lately?” Galehaut asked. Sonic popped one eye open and stared at the knights.

“No, why?” He said in a more serious tone.

“Oh it’s no big deal, he just snapped at me today, that’s all.” Galehaut replied.

“That doesn’t sound like Galahad.” Sonic commented, now sitting up straight to look clearly at Cador and Galehaut.

“I’m sure it’s nothing serious, thanks King Sonic.” Galehaut bowed before he started to back out of the door.

“If there’s any problems with him, just let me know, okay?” Sonic called back. Galehaut nodded gratefully before rushing out of the door with Cador following him. The two knights silently walked on towards the market. They spotted Morgan showing the new knight around and a couple of other knights including a blue and pink cat known as Dame Elyan with a green hedgehog. Galehaut identified the green hedgehog as Sonic’s brother, Sir Gaheris. He waved towards the two knights before walking on, Cador still following him.

“Is there a problem with Galahad then?” Cador asked after a while.

“Not really, I guess he’s just tired. He wasn’t concentrating and it’s not like him to snap like that so I’m guessing something must be on his mind.” Galehaut pointed out. Cador nodded in sympathy for Galehaut, he knew how much the grey knight loved Galahad, he was like the son he never had and he didn’t want to lose him.

“Hey, don’t worry Galehaut, he’ll perk up in no time!” Cador smiled. Galehaut smiled back to his friend.

“Yeah, your right, thanks Cador.” He replied.




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The next day, Galehaut woke up bright and early in order to start fresh training with Galahad. He hopped out of bed and quickly threw his armor on and rushed to the castle door. He stopped in his tracks when he realised that Galahad wasn’t there. He scratched his head in confusion, Galahad had never been late for training before, perhaps the poor knight was sick again! The very thought made Galehaut quiver. He spotted Lancelot trekking down the steep stairs and went over to greet him and ask about Galahad.

“Good morning Lancelot, do you know where Galahad is?” Galehaut asked cheerily. Lancelot blinked before replying.

“He went off early to train.” He replied. Galehaut felt slightly hurt by this, Galahad and him had always gone and trained together early in the morning but he was happy to see the young knights enthusiasm. Galehaut nodded and said goodbye to his friend before busting out of the castle doors. He stopped off at the stable and chose a horse to take out, he’d catch up with Galahad faster if he was on a horse. He chose a sturdy cream one which was very muscular with hair that tufted it’s hooves steadily. He quickly jumped on and threw the reins back. The horse reared up slightly and then galloped off. Galehaut lead it into the forest, towards the lake where he always trained with Galahad, a surge of excitement shooting through him as the wind buffeted his face but as he reached the lake, Galahad was no where to be seen. He pulled back the reins to stop the horse from running and quickly jumped off. He looked around for a while before calling out Galahad’s name numerous times.

“Galahad! Galahad, where are you?” Galehaut shouted but there was no reply. Galehaut started to slightly panic. Where was the young knight? Lancelot had said he’d gone out to train, the knight wouldn’t lie to his own father would he? Galehaut shook his head in frustration, of course he wouldn’t! Galahad’s always told the truth! But there was a hint of doubt clouding his mind. He pounded his fist to the nearest tree, wondering what to do. “The Blacksmith’s! Galahad must have just gone to get his sword sharpened!” Galehaut thought, relief flooding over him when he realised that was what must have happened. He quickly jumped onto his horse and rode off towards the market.

He reached a stable and quickly tied the horse up, there was no point in bringing the horse all the way to the smithy, there would be no where to put it. He’d have to run the rest of the way so he set off keeping up his pace as he strode towards the smithy. It wasn’t that far away and there wasn’t any real need to run but Galehaut did anyway, he wanted to reassure himself and the only way of doing that would be to actually see Galahad. He turned a corner and bent down to catch his breath, panting at the hard effort but soon reared up and stared forward. The smithy! He was almost there, it was just up the road. He started to walk towards it at a quick pace when he suddenly bumped into something. It was one of the new travelers, Bel Inconnu. “Sorry.” Galehaut quickly mumbled before walking off but he was pulled back by a firm hand to his shoulder.

“Hey, watch where you’re going! Are all you knights heartless?” Bel Inconnu growled to Galehaut with a sneer on her face.

“I said I was sorry, what else do you want?” Galehaut snapped back. He realised too late that this was a bad idea and before long, the two were locked in a huge argument.

“Gosh, your as bad as that red hedgehog! What is wrong with this place?” Bel Inconnu shouted at Galehaut.

“First of all, Gawain is not a hedgehog and second, Camelot is a wonderful place! Maybe your just cranky because you’ve never been welcomed in one place for too long!” Galehaut snapped back. Bel Inconnu looked hurt but she continued anyway.

“Who are you to question my personality and where I come from? You don’t even know me!”

“And you don’t belong here!” Galehaut retorted before turning to leave, there was no point in arguing with a traveler in his opinion. He shot his head back to glance at Bel Inconnu who was just standing there snarling at him when he tripped over a plant root growing from a crack in the path. He fell face first and mumbled under his breath, blaming Bel Inconnu for it. He was surprised when he felt a warm hand take his and pull him up. He stared around in shock to see Bel Inconnu. He blinked hard with his mouth agape and was about to speak when she turned to leave. Galehaut stood watching her until she turned the corner out of sight and then smiled weakly, a small blush taking over his face. He shook his head and pushed the cat out of his mind before turning back towards the smithy.

He was greeted by the familiar blast as he walked in. Gareth and Lyonesse were working hard as usual with Breunor looming over them. Ywain was sitting on the sofa with a mug in his hand, a green Seedrian in a beautiful dress sat beside him. As Ywain saw Galehaut walk in, he immediately got up to greet him followed closely by the Seedrian.

“Good morning Galehaut!” Ywain greeted cheerfully. The Seedrian nodded towards him as well.

“Hello Ywain, Laudine.” Galehaut nodded in turn to Ywain and then the Seedrian. The two apprentices stopped their work for a mere second to wave at Galehaut and Breunor daintily nodded before turning back to Gareth and Lyonesse.

“What brings you here?” Ywain asked. Galehaut began to panic again when he realised that Galahad wasn’t in the room. He had given his sword to Lancelot yesterday so Galahad must have got it back!

“Galahad isn’t here is he?” Galehaut asked desperately. Ywain nodded his head slowly, his hair tuft swaying from side to side.

“I’m sorry Galehaut but Galahad hasn’t been here for a while.” Ywain replied, sympathy flooding his eyes. Galehaut almost fell over at that point. Galahad wasn’t here? Where was he? Where could he have gone?

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