It was nothing but a trick. The Dwarf had not come on the Queen's business at all. Rather, he was a servant of Meleagant, who meant to make sure that Lancelot would not be able to fight him next year at Camelot.
'If Lancelot does not appear,' thought Meleagant, ' he has broken his side
of the agreement and I am the winner, 
who
by law can take the Queen again as his prize.'
So he had a tower built of stone on an island off the coast of Gorre, and there the Dwarf led Lancelot with promises and lies. As soon as he was inside and the door banged shut, Lancelot knew he had been deceived. Yet the tower was high and the walls were thick. There was only one small window, and through this each day a basket of stale barley bread and a flask of dirty water were pulled up on a rope. Lancelot soon grew thin and pale from such poor food, while his mind and his heart were always with the Queen. Where was she and what was she doing? Had she reached home safely?
He knew the months were passing. What would happen to the Queen if he could not get back to Camelot in time to fight Meleagant?
