The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, rape, and child abuse.

Seventeen-year-old Collum of Mull is on his way to Camelot when a knight appears out of nowhere to challenge him to a duel. Like Collum, the stranger bears the vergescu, the blank white shield that is the sign of an untested knight. The two fight, with Collum gaining on the knight. Collum asks the knight to yield, but he refuses and tries to attack him again. Collum kills the knight.

In shock that he has actually taken a man’s life, Collum examines the dead man. He can see that the knight was much older than him and that his shield is not actually a vergescu: Under its hastily applied coat of white paint, the shield bears the coat of arms of Azure, Three Scepters, and a Chevron, indicating that the mysterious knight was experienced.

Collum buries the knight respectfully, taking only the curious medal around his neck as a token. The medal bears a small wooden stick under the usual circle. Collum resumes his march to Camelot on the broad road built by the Romans. Collum marvels at the magnificent ruins of the Roman empire around him since he is from Mull, a lonely island in the northernmost British lands where the Romans never set foot.