SOON DENOALEN, Andret, and Gondoin considered themselves safe: without

doubt, they thought, Tristan drags his life overseas, in a country too
remote so that he can reach them. And then one day on the hunt, when
the king, listening to the barking of his pack, held his horse in the clearing,
all three of them drove up to him:
- King, listen to our speech. You used to sentence the queen without a trial -
it was against the law; now you acquitted her without trial - again, this is
against
law. After all, she never justified herself; and the barons of your country condemn
you
both. Advise her better that she herself demand God's judgment: what should she
it is worth, innocent, to swear on the relics of the saints that she has never
sinned.
What does it cost her, innocent, to hold a red-hot iron in her hands? So demanding
custom; by this slight trick the old suspicions would be dispelled forever.
Outraged, Mark replied:
- May the Lord punish you, Cornish lords, because you
constantly covet my disgrace! Because of you, I banished my nephew.
What else do you require? For me to banish the queen to Ireland? What are yours
complaints? Didn't Tristan offer to protect her from the old slanders? To
justify it, he made a call and you heard him all. You require me
gentlemen, more than they should. Fear, then, lest I call a man here again,
exiled because of you.
Then the cowards trembled: they already imagined that Tristan had returned and
will now release all the blood from their bodies.
- We, sovereign, have given you advice for your own honor, as befits your
lenniks; but from now on we will be silent. Forget your anger, grant us again
your mercy.
Mark sat up in his saddle.
Get out of my land, traitors! You will have no more mercy! For you I
exiled Tristan, and now it's your turn: get out of my land!
- All right, sir. Our castles are strong, with a reliable palisade, on
inaccessible rocks. And without saying goodbye to him, they turned their horses.

Without waiting for any bloodhounds or hunters, Mark drove his horse to
Tintagel, ascended the steps into the hall, and the queen heard
his hurried steps on the slabs.
She got up, went to meet him, took his sword from him, as usual, and
bowed to the ground. Mark held her by the arms and wanted to lift her up; In this
minute
Iseult, fixing her eyes on him, saw that his noble features
distorted with anger: this is how she saw him, mad, in front of the fire.
"Oh, my friend has been found," she thought. "The king has him!" her heart
cold in her chest, she silently fell at the feet of the king. He hugged her and
gently
kissed.
Gradually she came to her senses.
- Honey, what's bothering you?
- I'm scared, sir: you are in such anger!
- Yes, I returned angry from the hunt.
- If your hunters annoyed you, should you take it to heart
hunting failures?
Mark smiled at these words.
- No, dear, it was not the hunters that annoyed me, but these three traitors,
who have long hated us. You know them: Andret, Denoalen and Gondoin. I
drove them out of their land.
“What evil have they dared to say against me , sir?”
- What do you care? I drove them out.
- Everyone has the right to express his opinion, sovereign: and I have the
right to find out, in
what I'm accused of. And from whom, besides you, can I find out about this? I'm
alone in
this foreign country; I have no protector but you, my lord.
- As you wish. They think you should justify yourself to
judgment by temptation on hot iron. "It would be fitting for the queen herself to
demand
such a court, they said. - This skill is easy for someone who is confident in his
innocence. What does she have to go through with this? The Lord is a just judge
He will dispel forever the old slanders. "That's what they offered. But let's leave
everything
this is; I drove them out, I tell you.
Isolde shuddered; she looked at the king.
- Sovereign, order them to return to your court. I justify myself
oath.
- When?
- On the tenth day.
- The deadline is very close, dear.
On the contrary, he is too far away. But I ask you before it comes
invite King Arthur with Gauwen, Fatty, Seneschal Kay and a hundred
knights; let them come to the border of your land, to Belaya Polyana, to the shore
the river that separates your realm. There, in front of them, I want to say
an oath, and not before some of your barons, because otherwise I won’t have time
swear that they will demand that you put another temptation on me, and
our suffering will never end. But they will not dare to do this if the guarantors
for judgment will be Arthur and his knights.

While the heralds sent by Mark hurried to King Arthur,

Iseult secretly sent her faithful servant Perinis to Tristan
Blond.
Perinis ran through the forest, avoiding the paths until he reached the hut.
forester Orry, where Tristan had been waiting for him for a long time. Perinis
informed him of
what happened, about a new deceit, about the appointed date, hour and place of the
judgment.
- My mistress asks you to be on the appointed day at Belaya
Glades, dressed up so skillfully as a pilgrim so that no one could recognize you,
and
without weapons. To get to the place of judgment, she must cross the river.
in the shuttle; wait for her on the opposite bank, where the knights of the king
will be
Arthur. Then, no doubt, you will be able to help her. My lady
fears the day of judgment, but relies on the mercy of the Lord, who managed to
snatch her
from the hands of lepers.
“Go back to the queen, my dear, dear friend Perinis, and tell her,
that I will do her will.
So, good people, when Perinis was returning to Tintagel, it happened
him to notice in the thicket the same forester who found the sleeping lovers
and delivered them to the king. One day, drunk, he boasted of his betrayal.
He dug a deep hole in the ground, he skillfully covered it with branches in order
to catch
wolves and boars. When he saw the queen's servant rushing towards him, he
wanted to run, but Perinis pressed him to the edge of the trap:
- Why do you run, informer, traitor to the queen? Stay here at
graves he had taken the trouble to dig for himself.
His stick swirled through the air with a whistle. Stick and skull shattered
at the same time, and Perinis the Blonde, the Faithful, kicked the body of the
forester into
pit covered with branches...

On the appointed day for judgment, King Mark, Iseult, and the Cornish barons,
having reached Belaya Polyana, they appeared by the river in excellent formation,
and the assembled
along the other shore, Arthur's knights greeted them with their brilliant
banners.
In front of them, sitting on a slope, held out a wooden bowl for alms
pitiful pilgrim. Wrapped up in a cloak hung with shells {Returning from
Holy Land, pilgrims decorated their hats or cloaks with shells as a sign
of those who were crossing the sea.}, he begged for alms with a noisy and
sad voice.
The Cornish people were approaching by oars. As they prepared to land,
Iseult asked the knights:
- How can I, gentlemen, set foot on solid ground without getting dirty in my
mud
long clothes? I need some carrier to help me.
One of the knights called out to the pilgrim.
- Friend, pick up your cloak, go into the water and transfer the queen, if not
afraid to fall halfway: I see you are very weak.
He took the queen in his arms. She said to him quietly: "Honey!", and then so
quietly: "Fall on the sand."
When he reached the shore, he stumbled and fell, hugging the queen tightly.
The equestrians and sailors, seizing oars and hooks, wanted to pounce on the poor
man.
“Leave him,” said the queen, “he seems to have weakened from a long
pilgrimages.
In front of Arthur's tent, on the green grass, a rich silk
fabric from Nicaea, and the relics of the saints, taken from the arks, were placed
on it
and cancer. They were guarded by Gauwen, Zhirflet and Seneschal Kay. Praying to
God, the queen
removed the jewels from her hands and neck and distributed them to the poor
beggars, threw off her
a purple robe and a thin veil, and gave them away; also gave a shirt, blio
and shoes studded with precious stones. She left on the body only
tunic without sleeves and with bare arms and legs appeared before both
kings. All around the barons looked at her silently and wept. Burned near the
relics
bonfire. Trembling, she extended her right hand to the relics of the saints and
said:
- Kings of Logria and Cornwall, lords Gauvin, Kay, Zhirflet and all of you,
be my guarantors: I swear by these holy relics and all the saints
relics in the world that no man born of a woman held me in
in my arms, except for Mark, my master, and even this poor
a pilgrim who just fell before your very eyes. Is such an oath appropriate?
King Mark?
- Yes, queen. May the Lord show His righteous judgment!
- Amen! Isolde said.
She approached the fire, pale and staggering. They were silent. iron was
hot. She plunged her bare hands into the coals, seized the iron strip,
walked ten paces, carrying it, then, throwing it away, stretched it out crosswise
hands, outstretched palms, and everyone saw that her body was healthy, like a plum
on
tree. Then from all the breasts rose a thankful cry to the Lord.