*Sophia cautiously peeps around a rock* Sorry, friends...I absolutely meant to stick to my once-a-day posting schedule till the "If" series was finished, but life got hectic (nothin' unusual, just more of the usual stuff) and now it's been almost a week. As a peace offering, here's King Arthur? *ducks back behind the rock to avoid flying tomatoes*
If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue…
The man walked into the inn hooded and cloaked. This was no surprise: the snow from yesterday may have stopped, but the air was still bitterly cold. That the man did not throw his hood back from his head as he entered was slightly more unusual; but enough people chose to go anonymous for one reason or another that it garnered little more than a passing glance from the innkeeper and the common room's other patrons.
The unknown man settled at the bar and called for a pint. For a few moments he did nothing but nurse it gingerly, stretching warmth back into frozen fingers and resting safely beneath the concealing drape of his cloak.
After a bit, one of the inn's regular patrons pulled up a stool at his side, garrulous from the warmth and ale and bustle of conversation.
"Well, friend?" he asked, jostling the other with his elbow. "You new in Camelot? Don't believe I've seen you before—though unless you lose the," he made an expansive gesture like throwing back a hood, "I can't tell for sure, ha ha!"
The man, rather than growing annoyed with the unsolicited attention, grinned like a flash of sunshine under the shadow of his hood and the golden beard beneath it.
"Not precisely new in Camelot, no," he replied, "though I am returning after a bit of an absence."
"Ah." The regular nodded sagely. "Fightin' man, are you? Out with the King's Men quashing that rebellion? Nasty business, that was, from all I heard." He pulled a face, then gulped down a swallow of ale.
"Indeed I was. And you heard aright—it was a nasty business. Very nasty." He lowered his voice, almost speaking to himself. "One almost wonders if the King handled it rightly."
"Hey, now!" The man leaned closer, catching his shoulder to give it a bit of a shake. "Keepin' you face covered—that's your own business. But you can't come in here and badmouth the King while we can't see who you are to refute you! Ain't that right, landlord?" he called across the bar.
"As you say, sir. This here's a reputable establishment—loyal to good King Arthur!" The innkeeper said this quite loudly, and most of the other patrons turned at his words, raising their glasses with various calls of approbation.
"So no funny talk, sir," he directed at the hooded man.
"Peace, friends, peace!" he laughed, raising his hands conciliatorily. "I meant no harm. I am merely weary from fierce fighting and fiercer cold. None stands quicker than I at Arthur's wish."
"Good for you, then!" The boisterous customer gave him another friendly jostle. "And I bet it's good for you, too, ain't it? Plenty o' lasses just waitin' for a good King's Man, eh?" He winked suggestively, then guffawed loudly at his own humor and took another deep drink of ale.
"Perhaps, sir; but I would not know."
"Ah…you've got it bad for one already, to whom you're loyal-and-true, like a knight for his lady?" He leaned closer. "It's not the Queen, is it, like every other poor devil in Camelot?"
Under his hood, the man's smile, which had been gentle and warm, suddenly grew sharp and bright.
"As a matter of fact, it's my wife—and she as beautiful as the Queen herself!"
The other man grimaced. "Close to treason again you are, sir! And I can't sympathize, myself…the missus is fine enough in her way, and marvelous in the kitchen—no offence to your cook, landlord!" he called over his shoulder, "but she ain't a lady. No, it's what you can't have, that's the allure, man!"
The stranger his head, slowly. "I disagree, but let's not argue." The regular snorted but acquiesced.
The golden-bearded man smiled again, and deftly turned the conversation toward less controversial subjects. And if his words provided his wife a bit of a laugh later that night when he went home to her—well, the other man would have been nothing but pleased at the thought of making Queen Guinevere smile.