Married Life

Chapter 2

Galahad and Tristan slipped into chairs around a large table near an un-shuttered window at the front of the tavern. They put on a relaxed air but their eyes followed each person who moved and the King felt more like a King than ever but he forced himself to relax into one of the chairs and settled to watch the people outside in the square. None of the locals were coming into the tavern, it was still early for the evening crowd, but the square was busy. A group of young women dressed in bright colours were sat in the doorway of a nearby building chatting happily. He thought they looked over at the tavern a little too often for coincidence. Maybe they recognised Gwaine, he was supposed to have a way with women although no one ever saw him do more than flirt. If they were still there later, perhaps they would walk past and see if Gwaine still lived up to his reputation.
Gwaine had gone up to the bar and was having a surprisingly furious chat with a rather large lady behind it. The King sighed, she had probably recognised him and Gwaine was trying to convince her otherwise or to pretend she didn't recognise her King. He was starting to get a headache and rubbed his forehead with a gloved hand.
When he looked up again, Gwaine was swaggering back, with a huge grin, and four pints which he put down on the table hard, spilling ale from each cup. "The landlady says they've been having trouble with a gang of mercenaries who've been camping out locally. They'll probably be in within the hour."
The King stared at his sullen knight who was grinning mischievously around his pint and surreptitiously moving his chair to get a better view of the door. Galahad and Tristan seemed to have caught the infectious grins and were now almost exclusively eyeing the door too. He felt the smile infect him and slowly push away his headache. Maybe they would get a small adventure after all.
Halfway through their pints, however, it wasn't a group of mercenaries who came through the door loudly, laughing and shouting over one another; it was a beautiful woman dressed up to match the two knights with her, all of whom were enveloped in blue cloaks. The woman wore boots, trousers and a close fitting tunic like the men with her. Her dirty blonde hair was tied up with a blue ribbon almost the same colour as her large eyes. Arthur had seen plenty of women dressed up like men but it was still always a surprise especially for a woman who was so obviously highborn.
Gwaine's grin disappeared as quickly as the rest of his pint. The woman's eyes glanced over them all but without apparent interest, she gestured to a table at the back and went up to the bar herself. As odd a sight as she was to the Camelot knights, the landlady seemed to know her well and they chatted happily whilst the pints were poured. Again, Arthur had the feeling that the women were surreptitiously looking at him. If she was as highborn as she looked, there would be no chance the oddly dressed woman hadn't recognised him.
Galahad lunged to grab Gwaine's arm as he suddenly stood, scrapping his chair legs on the floor, and turned to the bar. He thought he heard Galahad whisper something about "the King!" But Gwaine shook off the other knight's grip and strode over to the bar and right up to the woman. Her knights started to rise before settling back down, the King hadn't seen the woman giving a signal but maybe they decided another knight wouldn't be a threat to their lady, even with her dressed so oddly.
At first the conversation at the bar seemed very amicable and Tristan and Galahad started a small bet on whether the lady would follow Gwaine back to their table. Tristan betted for and Galahad against. Both postures started to stiffen as with the effort to not turn around and instead they brought their heads together to talk more quietly but more agitated. The King decided to keep one eye on the other knights in case they decided their lady needed a rescue but they seemed completely unconcerned and carried on their own conversation.
A misplaced hand from Gwaine on the lady's wrist looked ready to erupt their dispute into all out war when the front door slammed open again and twenty well-armed men flowed in. Despite the distraction, Arthur couldn't help chuckling to himself that perhaps Gwaine had lost his touch with the ladies after all.