absent, the queen and Isoud roamed up and down in the chamber, and
beheld his sword there as it lay upon his bed. And then by mishap the
queen drew out the sword and regarded it a long while. Both thought it
a passing fair sword, but within a foot and a half of the point there
was a great piece thereof broken out of the edge. When the queen
espied that gap in the sword, she remembered her of a piece of a sword
that was found in the brain-pan of Sir Marhaus, her brother. "Alas,"
then said she unto her daughter, the Fair Isoud, "this is the traitor
knight that slew thine uncle."

When Isoud heard her say so she was sore abashed, for much she loved
Sir Tramtrist, and full well she knew the cruelness of her mother.
Anon the queen went unto her own chamber and sought her coffer, and
there she took out the piece of the sword that was pulled out of Sir
Marhaus' head. Then she ran with that piece of iron to the sword that
lay upon the bed, and when she put that piece unto the sword, it was as
meet as it could be when new broken. The queen now gripped that sword
in her hand fiercely, and with all her might ran straight to where she
knew Tramtrist was, and there she would have thrust him through, had
not a knight pulled the sword from her.

Then when she was letted of her evil will, she ran to King Anguish and
told him on her knees what traitor he had in his house. The king was
right heavy thereof, but charged the queen to leave him to deal with
the knight. He went straight into the chamber unto Sir Tramtrist, that
he found by now all ready armed to mount upon his horse. King Anguish
saw that it was of no avail to fight, and that it was no honour to slay
Sir Tramtrist while a guest within his court; so he gave him leave to
depart from Ireland in safety, if he would tell who he was, and whether
he slew Sir Marhaus.

"Sir," said Tristram, "now I shall tell you all the truth: My father's
name is Meliodas, king of Lyonesse, and my mother is called Elizabeth,
that was sister unto King Mark of Cornwall. I was christened Tristram,
but, because I would not be known in this country, I turned my name,
and had myself called Tramtrist. For the tribute of Cornwall I fought
for mine uncle's sake, and for the right of Cornwall that ye had
possessed many years. And wit ye well I did the battle for the love of
mine uncle, King Mark, for the love of the country of Cornwall, and to
increase mine honour."

"Truly," said the king, "I