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Erec sat at the table of honor in the large banquet hall, filled with hundreds of guests of the Duke He had not expected his arrival here to cause such fanfare, and was a bit overwhelmed by all the attention He kneas an ido, but he had not anticipated the extent to which the Duke would roll out the red carpet for hi in celebration of Erec&039;s arrival and in anticipation of the tournaood food and wine He knew that if he didn&039;t coht not be as sharp

As Erec leaned back on the deep cushions and looked around, he observed knights fro, all dressed in different-colored attire, speaking with different accents, using different mannerisms They all looked like formidable warriors, and while the Duke was confident Erec would beat theranted It was part of his training While the servants re-filled his goblet ine, he only sipped at it The tournaood space After all, he felt that his actions, and his perfor he took very seriously

Whether he would find a bride here was a different ht of it The last two days, it seedom had been introduced to him Indeed, as he looked about the roohout, and could not help but notice that most of them looked his way He seemed to also draw the jealousy of the other men in the room, who competed for their attention But Erec himself did not feel jealous or competitive He had been introduced to all of them, and had been impressed by them all, each more beautiful, more fine mannered, dressed more elaborately, than the next He felt honored to have o to choose his bride based on his gut instinct And for whateverwhenany of them He did not mean to be picky He felt certain that these woreat for soht for hi, may I introduce to you Dessbar, of the Second Province of the Lowlands," the Duke said to Erec, as he turned to meet yet another fair maiden The parade of introductions seemed to never end This one was beautiful, too, dressed in white silk froracious smile

"It is a pleasure,out of courtesy and kissing her fingertips

"Dessbar comes from Emerald Plains, and from a noble family of the East Her mother is third cousin to the Queen She is of noble blood She would raciously, not wanting to offend her, or the Duke

"I can tell that she is of a fine lineage," Erec said with a short bow "It is a great privilege to ain, and seated himself She looked somewhat disappointed, as if she wanted to talk to him more; the Duke did, too

But Erec did not feel whatever it was he was supposed to feel when hehis ith the sale-minded focus and intensity

The feast went on, deep into the night, and Erec was glad to at least be in the coht They&039;d been sharing battle stories for half the night, and as the fires grew long and people filtered fro stories

"Remember that hill?" Brandt asked "When it was just the four of us, on patrol? Up against the entire company of McClouds?"

Erec nodded "Too well"

"I swear, if it wasn&039;t for you, I would be dead"

Erec shook his head "I got lucky"

"You never get lucky," Brandt said "You&039;re the finest knight in the kingdom"

"It is true," the Duke echoed, seated on his other side "I fear for any knight who coainst you tomorrow"

"I&039;m not so sure," Erec said, huathered here"

"That&039;s true, there are," the Duke said "They&039;ve descended on us fro It see in this world: a fine woet rid of her!"

The hed

"Tomorroill certainly be a site," the Duke added "But I have no doubt in you"

"The only problem is," Brandt chi you, you may choose no one - and offend every woman here!"

Erec shook his head

"I mean no offense," he said "I supposeI suppose I just have not found her yet"

"Are you telling le woman here suits you?" the Duke asked, surprised "You have met some of the finest women this court has to offer Any man here would die for soht"

"I mean no offense, my lord," Erec said "I do not consider myself more worthy than any of them On the contrary, surely they are all more worthy than I It is just thatwell, I feel that I will know her when I see her I don&039;t want to be hasty"

"Hasty!" Brandt yelled "You&039;ve had twenty five years! How hed

"Just hed doith a bride and join the rest of our doain, and as Erec looked away, somewhat embarrassed by all the talk, his eyes froze He happened to see, across the roo, blonde hair, and large, alreen eyes She wore a sis, as she went down the tables, person to person, filling vessels ine She kept her head down, nevereye contact, and was more humble than anyone Erec had ever seen She was huddled with the other serving girls, and they worked hard No one paid them any attention They were of the servant class, and here, in court, class distinctions were treated very seriously: servants were treated as if they did not exist Her clothes were soiled, and her hair looked as if it had not been washed in days She looked dejected

And yet the second Erec saw her, it was as if he had been struck by lightning Erec sensed so froal, quality So told him that she was different than the others

As she caood look at her face as she turned, and his breath stopped He had never felt this way before, not uponhe had been hoping to feel his entire life The feeling he did not know if he was ever capable of feeling

She was nificent He could hardly speak He had to knoho she was

"Who is that wo

The Duke and several others turned excitedly to follow his gaze

"Which do you own?"