The king sat on a throne made of gold and ivory and ebony. On its arms and back were carved great dragons. Arthur wore a gold crown which was not brighter than his own beautiful hair and beard. His blue eyes were as calm and clear as the sky in summer time. His trusty knights stood about him on each side of the throne. The tallest of these, who had a worn, browned face, and piercing dark eyes, under frowning brows, must be, Gareth knew, the famous knight, Sir Lancelot. As Gareth entered, a widow came forward and cried to Arthur: "Hear me, oh, King! Your father, King Uther, took away a field from my husband, who is now dead. The king promised us gold, but he gave us no gold, nor would he return our field." Then Arthur said: "Which would you rather have, the gold or the field?" The woman wept, saying: "Oh, King, my dead husband loved the field. Give it back to me." "You shall have your field again," said Arthur, "and besides I will give you three times the amount of gold it is worth to pay you for the years King Uther had it." Gareth thought that Arthur was indeed a just king. And while this was passing through his mind, another widow came forward and cried: "Hear me, oh, King! Heretofore you have been my enemy. You killed my husband with your own hands. It is hard for me to ask justice or favor of you. Yet I must. My husband's brother took my son and had him slain, and has now stolen his land. So I ask you for a knight who will do battle and get my son's land for me, and revenge me for his death." Then a good knight stepped forward and said: "Sir King, I am her kinsman. Let me do battle for her and right her wrongs." But Sir Kay, Arthur's foster brother, said: "Lord Arthur, do not help a woman who has called you her enemy in your own hall." "Sir Kay," replied Arthur, "I am here to help all those who need help in my land. This woman loved her lord, and I killed him because he rebelled against me. Let her kinsman go and do battle against the man who has wronged her. Bring him here, and I shall judge him. If he is guilty he shall suffer." While Gareth was still listening to the king's words, a messenger entered from Mark, the king of Cornwall. He carried a wonderful gold cloth which he laid at Arthur's feet, saying: "My lord, King Mark sends you this as a sign that he is your true friend." But Arthur said: "Take back the cloth. When I fight with kings who are worthy men, after I have conquered them I give them back their lands, and make them my subject-kings and Knights of the Round Table. But Mark is not fit to be a king. He is cruel and false. I will not call him friend." The messenger stepped back in alarm. Arthur said to him kindly: "It is not your fault that Mark is unworthy. Stay in this city until you are refreshed and then go back home in safety."