The battle was long and hard-won; though many men are dead or sorely wounded, everyone else is exuberant. In Linden Pool, the duke, whose lands have been saved from pillaging this year, has the victory feast spread through the entire castle, so that the bailey is an expanse of impromptu tables spread with abundant food and beer.
In the duke’s Great Hall, the upper nobility celebrate. There, too, are any notable heroes of the battle. The king orders entertainers in to amuse everyone. Everyone is amused.
At one point a bevy of beautiful, well-dressed noblewomen enters, taking up ranks along one side of the hall. One of them steps forward. Her beauty and stature are particularly breathtaking, like those of a woman in a dream, and her voice is like music. It is the Duchess Ygraine.
Ygraine is reciting a poem of victory to praise the king, and the women behind her provide a chorus to the clear, ringing words. The women finish, there is a smattering of applause
from the drunken, victorious nobles, and the women leave the hall.
This is the first time King Uther lays eyes on Lady Ygraine, the Duchess of Cornwall. He is utterly smitten by her beauty, and can barely conceal his desire. Uther stares boldly, and Duke Gorlois, frowning, watches Uther.