After Veronica comes to, she realizes that her sons have ridden off and left her alone in her castle once again.

“Woe!” she says, and summons a squire.  “Manuel, take this purse of money, go and catch up to my sons.  Buy them things, I don’t know, what do they like?  New shields?  Buy them whatever.”

“Yes’m,” says Manuel.  Malory doesn’t name this particular squire, which is unusual for Malory; Manuel is a guy, after all.  He hops on a horse and rides away.  Before too long he catches up to Percivale and Aglavale.

“Mom sent you?” they say, when he’s explained himself.  “Thanks but no thanks; Guenever gave us plenty of spending money.  You should go back home and comfort Mom.”

So Manuel turns around and heads back, but he takes a wrong turn and ends up at the incorrect castle.  He knocks on the door.  “Hello?  Anyone home?  I could use some directions!”

A baron answers the door and lets Manuel in.  “My good fellow!” he says.  “What on earth are you doing, knocking on my door like that?”

“Eugh, I don’t even know,” says Manuel.  “I was tasked with meeting up with Sir Aglavale and Sir Percivale, and then they sent me back to their mother, and she’s not going to be happy to see me, and what am I supposed to do?  I’m actually Aglavale’s squire, you know.  He was supposed to take me into battle with him, and knight me, and so on.”

Sir Goodewin (that is the baron’s name) Sir Goodewin looks surprised.  “Really?  You’re Sir Aglavale’s squire?”

“Indeed I am,” Manuel says.  He might have said more, except that the baron’s men grab him and clap him in irons.

“You look confused,” Goodewin says to Manuel, as his men drag the squire away to be murdered.  “Long story short, Sir Aglavale killed my brother in a tournament.  So boom, here I am with the avenging.  Nothing personal.”

 

The next morning Aglavale and Percivale happen across a funeral, in progress.  A bunch of peasants have gathered in a churchyard, which piques Aglavale’s interest.

“Hold up,” he says to Percivale.  “What’s happening here?”

“Fair knight, we’re having a funeral for the poor squire who was murdered last night,” explains an expository peasant.

“Murdered?  A squire?  Seriously, what happened?”

“It’s true!  He was murdered for being the servant of Sir Aglavale, whom our lord Sir Goodewin despises.”

“Oy,” says Aglavale.  “Percivale, we’re going to have to dismount for this.”

So Aglavale and Percivale dismount and walk to Goodewin’s castle.  Aglavale rings the bell for service.

“Go and tell your boss that Sir Aglavale is here,” he tells a porter.

The porter runs, fetches Goodewin.

“Which one of you is Aglavale?” Goodewin demands.

Aglavale raises his hand.  “Now what’s this about you hating me?”

“You killed my brother, Sir Gawdelin!”

“Oh, that.” Aglavale makes a dismissive gesture.  “That guy.  That guy was a jerk.  A false knight and betrayer of ladies.  I don’t regret killing him at all, and now that you’ve killed Manuel I’m going to have to kill you, too.”

Goodewin, for whatever reason, is enraged by Aglavale’s words, and they come to blows and long story short Percivale holds Goodewin’s men off Aglavale for long enough for Aglavale to beat Goodewin to death.

Then Percivale and Algavale hurry back to the churchyard and catch the tail end of Manuel’s funeral, before moving on.

 

DISCUSSION QUESTION: Man, Manuel did not get a fair deal, am I right?