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Lion returns to the inn where a gathering of knights await him. Among them is the duke, Raymon de Vauvenisse who asks Lion to fight for him during the tournament. Lion refuses but accepts to take his side. After the celebration and meal given by Lion, the knights offer to pay their part, an offer Lion turns down.

Here we go back in time, where the author recounts the origin of the magic horn kept at the palace of Bourges. During the time of Clovis, the fourteen sons of the reigning Duke were quarreling over their inheritance. Twelve were killed and to avoid the death of the last two, the duke proclaimed that whichever one succeeded to sound the horn would be the legitimate heir. The youngest failed and decided to withdraw to the benefit of his older brother.

That same night, Florantine sends her companion, Marie, to the inn in order to bring Lion back to her. Florantine and Lion speak of love well into the night. Lion pledges his love to her, and Florantine makes him her champion and gives him a ring in return. Lion spends the night in Florantine’s rooms while she hurries Marie to go to the innkeeper to tell him that he must provide Lion with everything he needs. When Lion returns to the inn, he is surprised by the friendly attitude of the innkeeper and decides to take advantage of it by throwing another celebration, which is to be held that very evening.

A little before the opening of the tournament, God sends Lion a loyal companion, who is all dressed in white and mounted on a white steed. The White Knight offers to join Lion during the tournament and to divide all of their gains. Lion accepts but excludes Florantine as part of the deal. Lion and the White Knight, who is no other than the knight to whom Lion had given a Christian burial, distinguish themselves against a group of knights consisting of the duke of Calabria, the seneschal of Florence and the prince of Taranto.

During Lion’s celebration, Florantine sends a messenger to let him know that her father acknowledges that Lion is the bravest and the most worthy of winning the tournament.


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