To recap: After many unnecessary and terribly stupid deaths, Sir Balin was unexpectedly reunited with his brother Sir Balan, who promised to help him kill the king of Northern Wales in order to get back into King Arthur's good graces.
However, I was too quick in finishing my last recap with "they ride off together" - actually, they were just about to ride off together when a dwarf from Camelot rides up to them.
The dwarf asks who killed Sir Lancour and his girlfriend. Balin responds that he killed Lancour, but only because the latter insisted on jousting with him (remember, for the extremely stupid reason that Lancour was pissed off at Balin for being the better knight when it comes to magic sword pulling). He also explains that Lancour's girlfriend committed suicide. The dwarf goes on about how sad it is that Lancour is dead, because he was "one of the most valiantest [sic!] men that lived" (more like one of the pettiest), and also, his family will now chase Balin for vengeance.
As the dwarf keeps lamenting Sir Lancour, suddenly King Mark of Cornwall comes along. When he sees the bodies of Lancour and his girlfriend on the ground, he, too, "made great sorrow" (this must feel increasingly awkward for Balin). He then has the bodies taken away for a splendid funeral, and finally we learn that Lancour's girlfriend was named Colombe (a rare example in this book of a female side character actually named, albeit not until her funeral). Balin and Balan comes along.
At the funeral, Merlin appears and immediately starts prophesying, because why not I guess.
"Here shall be in this place the greatest battle betwixt two knights that was or ever shall be, and the truest lovers, and yet none of them shall slay the other."
Merlin then writes their names on... the tomb... where Lancour and Colombe lie? In magic letters and all, so it's not like it's gonna wash off. Couldn't he put his prophecy somewhere else in the vincinity than on top of their tomb? Once again, Merlin is casually being a dick. Anyway, it's Launcelot and Tristram who will fight here. And them being the truest lovers is, of course, meant to refer to how Launcelot loved Guinivere so much and Tristram loved Isoud, but that's not what it sounds like.
King Mark asks who Merlin is (since he barged in on the funeral and started prophesying and vandalizing the tomb without so much as introducing himself), but Merlin is all mysterious and won't tell. He only gives a really vague doom-gloom warning to Mark about the future (being a dick as usual), and then turns to Balin and blames him for not stopping Colombe from committing suicide (ok, that's fair). Merlin then doom-prophecies a bit more over Balin, saying he's gonna hurt a great knight and throw three kingdoms into poverty. After that, Merlin vanishes again.
When the funeral is over and done with, King Mark rides to see King Arthur at Camelot, whereas Balin and Balan finally go to seek out King Rience of Norther Wales.
On their way, Merlin comes up to them again, in disguise, and refuses to tell his name, but when he says he knows where they are going and that they will need his council they figure out who he is anyway. Merlin knows that King Rience is on his way with a bunch of knights to visit a Lady de Vance with whom he intends to have sexy-times. Balin and Balan lie in ambush for them, kill all Rience's bodyguards and bring him to Arthur. And finally, Sir Balin is back in Arthur's good graces!
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