The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf

The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf is the third book in The Squire's Tales series written by Gerald Morris. The main characters are no longer Squire Terence and Sir Gawain but are now Lady Lynet and a dwarf named Roger.

Excerpt
"From a small bush where she had not thought a man could be concealed sprang a dark figure, and Lynet glimpsed a long sword. Instinctively raising her club, she felt a solid jolt as the sword buried itself in the wood. Lynet leaped backward and felt the sword, still embedded in her branch, pull free from its owner's grasp. Frantically, Lynet grasped the sword by the handle and jerked it free from the wood. Holding the sword before her, she whirled and faced her assailant.

It was a dwarf, bearded and stocky and dressed in ill-fitting clothes. The dwarf staggered backward to escape the sword in Lynet's hand, tripped over a root, and sat heavily. 'Why, you're a lady!' the dwarf gasped.

'Don't think I won't use this sword, though,' Lynet snapped.

The dwarf ignored her. 'A lady,' he repeated. 'I've just been disarmed and taken prisoner by a lady.' He shook his had slowly. 'I really am pathetic,' he moaned."

Summary
Her castle under siege by an evil knight who keeps beheading all her would-be rescuers, Lady Lynet realizes that the only way to get help is to get it herself. So one night she slips away and strikes out for King Arthur's court, where she hopes to find a gallant knight to vanquish the Knight of the Red Lands and free her castle. She is soon joined on her quest by an odd dwarf named Roger, who helps her find the way to Camelot.

At the court, much to Lynet's disgust, the only person who volunteers to help her is a scruffy kitchen hand named Beaumains. As the three unlikely companions return to Lynet's castle, they face surprising adventures, including encounters with the uncanny Squire Terence, his master, Sir Gawain, and the majestic sorceress Morgan. Lynet discovers that people can be more than they seem, including herself.

Plot
The Prologue summarizes the events of Arthur's early reign, as well as the adventures of Gawain and Terence from the first two books and what happened at court in their absence, while Lancelot increased his reputation further in their absence. It then continues to explain events after Lancelot's defeat by 'Sir Wozzel.' Ashamed by his loss, Lancelot declares he will leave court and spend the rest of his days in a forest hermitage. Sir Gareth, Gawain's youngest brother, a great admirer of Sir Lancelot, vows to restore his idol's honor, and that his own name "will not be heard again in Camelot" until he has done so. Sir Gaheris, the second youngest brother, asks Gawain to accompany him and Gareth on the foolish quest, stating that Gareth will be lost within ten minutes on his own. Gawain refuses, stating Gareth must fulfil 'his stupid vow' alone. Gareth departs the next day, and Gaheris rides after him the day after that. When a month has gone by without any further word of either of his brothers, a worried Gawain rides out in search of them. Then, after a year's absence with still no word, a dwarf arrives at the court with an unidentified, ill-kempt young man with hair hanging over his face. The dwarf brings his companion to Sir Kai and asks that the young man be fed. Sir Kai agrees, and the dwarf leaves. Afterwards, the young man asks to stay in the kitchens and work, but refuses to give his name when Sir Kai asks for it. Kai agrees to give him the job, and mockingly 'christens' the young man with the name of 'Beaumains', or 'pretty hands,' stating that "though your appearance is coarse, your hands are soft and your nails betrimmed like unto a lady's -- or a courtier's." The young man, actually a disguised Sir Gareth, is angry at the treatment, but because of his vow that his name shall not be heard, he keep silent. The Prologue ends with explaining how 'Beaumains' takes his place in the kitchen, with the court growing used to him, and no one realizes his true name. Lady Lynet of Perle, a sixteen-year-old noble lady, is forced to leave her castle, where she, her older (and very beautiful) sister, Lyonesse, her uncle and guardian Sir Gringamore live. Though they are not in mortal danger, a knight named Knight of the Red Lands, who wants to win Lyonesse's hand, has been prowling near the castle for six months, killing and beheading all of the thirty-six knights that challenge him.

Lynet, forced to her wits end, attempts to steal away from the castle and go to Camelot, where King Arthur rules, hoping he could send a knight of his Round Table to fight this Red Knight and save the sisters. Fortunately, she recieves help from a stranger, who knows how to change forms, and is told to follow the Pole Star, though she didn't know which star it was.

She then meets a dwarf, Roger, and they become the most unlikely companions. At last when they arrive at King Arthur's court, they are barred but then Lynet is guided by a kindly guard to Lady Eileen, who offers to listen to her story and help her. Still, Lynet is not willing to disclose her name, for her father had led a rebellion against King Arthur.

She then recieves help from Eileen's friend, Terence, and is able to request for a knight. But very unfortunately, Arthur is unwilling to send a knight with an unidentified woman to an unidentified spot. At the last moment, Lynet ends up with a kitchen knave volunteering, Beaumains, which Lynet refers to "pretending to be a knight". But at her journey with Beaumains and Roger, they meet different recreant knights, good and evil, whom Beaumains fights with and wins against, and Lynet finds herself falling for the handsome young man, believing that he is actually a great knight in disguise. But Roger, for some reason, after Beaumains is hurt, seems to get annoyed with Beaumains.

Finally, after Beaumains kills and defeats the Red Knight, he falls in love with Lyonesse, which hurt Lynet, but because Beaumains refuses to tell his real name, he is sent away, but Lyonesse captures Roger and imprisons Lynet, hoping to get his name, in the process revealing that Beaumains is actually Sir Gareth, the brother of the famous Sir Gawain, who went missing after Sir Lancelot.

She also finds out that she is actually of faery blood, half belonging to the Other World, and she has the potential to become an enchantress, according to the stranger who helped her, Robin, Terence, and her later mentor Morgan Le Fay. She also recieves a vial that contains a healing potion.

Just as Lyonesse and Gareth made an appointment in Gareth's bedroom, they are interrupted by a mysterious knight who battles and taunts Gareth and wounds him, though he is wounded severely too. Lynet brings the strange knight to her room and uses her vial on him, saving his life. He then reveals himself as Sir Gaheris, the brother of Gareth, and the dwarf Roger.

Gaheris recounts his life to Lynet, of growing up as the worst in his family with a sword or any kind of weapon, while his brothers Gawain and Gareth excelled at such matters. When he arrived at Arthur's court and found Gawain had the well-deserved reputation of the best of the king's knights, Gaheris tried to bluff his own skills, but ended up repeatedly beaten by every knight in every tournament and duel, looking very foolish. Gareth arrived soon after, the only brother with any of Gawain's skill, but only admiring and imitating Sir Lancelot. When Lancelot was defeated and Gareth rushed off intending to avenge his idol in some unspecified way, Gaheris pursued his brother, well aware how easily Gareth would get lost.

At some point into his journey, Gaheris met a beautiful enchantress, who told him she was lost and asked him to ride with her to Winchester. Gaheris refused, saying he was busy, but offering to give directions. The enchantress 'fluttered her eyelashes' and said 'she could never remember all those nasty directions.' Exasperated, Gaheris asked if there was something wrong with her eye, claiming he'd once owned a horse with a similar problem. The insulted enchantress promptly cast a spell on him, turning him into a dwarf, saying that 'a knight should always treat fair womanhood with respect' and he would remain a dwarf until he'd learned to do so (though he would return to his own form for two hours beginning at midnight on the nights of the half moon). Shocked at the events, Gaheris nevertheless soon found himself not minding the enchantment so much, as he was no longer held up to knightly standards he could never meet. The dwarf Gaheris continued to track down Gareth, eventually finding him lost in the woods and separated from his own camp, about to starve. Roger-Gaheris then led Gareth back to Camelot, never dreaming Gareth would pull off the 'Beaumains' act. He then retreated into the woods, where he eventually stumbled across Lynet.

He also reveals he had fallen in love with Lynet over the course of their travels, though he knew she loved Gareth, and his own case was hopeless under his enchantment as a dwarf. Lynet then tells him she loves him too, and he asks her to marry him eventually.

The Epilogue recounts Gareth's marriage to Lyonnesse, and Gaheris' to Lynet, as well as Gaheris and Lynet's move to Orkney to act as Gawain's stewards.