“I am the Little King. I heard you were in trouble, and was coming to your assistance.—And if thou, Geraint, had followed my advice, none of these hardships would have befallen thee.”
“Nothing can happen,” said Geraint, “without the will of Heaven, though much good results from counsel.”
So he and Enid went with the Little King to the house of a baron that was the son of his sister, and there Geraint abode till he was perfectly well. After that, the Little King said to Geraint, “Now will we go to my court, to rest and amuse ourselves.”
“No,” said Geraint; “I will journey first for one day more and return again.”
So they set forth together, and presently came to a place where the road divided into two. There they met a man walking on foot, and the Little King asked him which was the best road to follow. “This,” said he, pointing to the one by which he had come, “is the best to follow; for if you go by the other you will never return. It leads to a hedge of mist, within which are enchanted games, and no one who has gone thither has ever come back. The court of the Earl Owain is there, and he permits no one to lodge in the town except he will go to his court.”
But Geraint said they would go by that road; and they travelled till they came to the town, whence the Earl Owain sent for them to his court, whither they went willingly; and when Geraint said he wished to go to the games, the earl assented. After they had eaten, Geraint took his arms and his horse and rode forth, the earl and all the company going with him. When they came to the hedge of mist, it was so high that no one could see the top. “Which way may I enter?” asked Geraint.
“I know not,” answered Owain, “but enter by the way that seems easiest.”
Then fearlessly Geraint dashed through the mist; and beyond it he found a fair orchard, within which was a pavilion of red satin. In front of it was a great apple tree, to one branch of which hung a hunting-horn. Geraint dismounted, and entered the tent. Within there was only a maiden, sitting in a golden chair; and opposite to her was another like chair that was empty. Geraint went and sat down in it.
“Ah, knight,” said the maiden, “I would not counsel thee to sit in that chair.”
“Wherefore?” said Geraint.