It was late afternoon when Freda came in with an effeminate little mustached tailor and another man carrying a box. She didn't even bother to introduce them, and instead pulled out the strangest outfit id ever laid eyes on. There were knee high leather boots with furry rings around the tops, a short leather skirt and with leather strips fastened to it, and a leather harness/breast plate, again with bizarre little pieces of fur sewn onto it.
I laughed, and even Freda smiled, telling me she'd stuck her neck out and vetoed a helmet with both wings and antlers. She explained the design as they put it on me. Apparently, there was a musical play, something called an opera about the Northland which had been quite popular, and the Governor, a southerner himself had loved it. The furry boots had even become something of a fashion trend for awhile, although she assured me that Aarghs, as they were called, had finally fallen out of fashion even with the youngest of Alcatian noblewomen.
Fitting the thing and lacing it up took awhile, but they managed it, and even strapped on a little toy like bronze short sword and bulls horn before announcing the outfit complete.
I supposed the silly thing had its desired effect on the Alcatian Court, though. As I was led into the Great Chamber, heads turned and I'm guessing a few tongues even wagged as I strode in. But there were only a few snickers, and no laughs at all, which surprised me a bit. I'd expected to be led up to the front, but instead, I was taken to the side, where, in addition to a number of men in togas waiting for their moment in front of the king, stood a costumed man who seemed even more bizarre than I was.
From a distance, he appeared to be a large brown bear or something, but as I got closer, it became clear he was a nearly naked man, only with skin the color of a dark brown bear. He wasn't entirely naked, either; he wore a loincloth, in addition to a necklace with a skull and other bones on it. But beyond his shaved head and his clothes, what struck me and likely every one else in the place was his body. The man was huge, closer to my height than anyone else in the hall, and I dare say, overall he was larger and had far less in the way of fat than I did. His legs were like tree trunks, his arms like huge brown limbs, and his chest was composed of two massive slabs of muscle. He had his back to me as I approached, but he turned, revealing that this loin cloth clung far too tightly, outlining the most enormous manhood I'd ever seen.
He gave me a once over then, and seemed to like what he saw, since he smiled. But when I smiled back and tried to introduce myself, he shook his head and the extent of our whispered conversation ended up being our names. Pongo was the only part I could really catch, which seemed like a strange name, but then again, he was a very strange man.
After a few minutes, the King, a tall, thin man dark hair turning grey in a purple toga and cape, walked into the hall and a hush grew over the crowd, followed by some sort of music with horns made out of brass. Then a herald started calling out names, and one by one, they pulled people like me standing one the sides of the rooms to go in front of the king. It took forever and I couldn't hear what went on, but I was happy to note that no one lost his head right then and there, even if a few people seemed a little unhappy about the way they were escorted out of the hall.
Finally, Pongo and I were the only ones left, and soldiers came up and led us both up together, even as the Herald announced us:
"From the farthest reaches of the realm, your Majesty, come your distant, yet loyal subjects, Pongo Megoja of Numia, the fiercest of his people's warriors, and Fionna of Fail in the Northern Province. Each of these young people have pledged their talents to the defense of the realm."
Really? I wanted to say, not quite sure I had actually pledged myself to anything, but I kept my mouth shut, because the King spoke just then.
"Welcome to Alcatia, Pongo and Fionna" he said, waiving his hand, even as he smiled at us. Then, before either of us could say or do a thing, including bowing which I'd thought might be a good thing to do, soldiers grabbed our arms and led us out of the hall.
Talk about an anticlimax.
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