{A/N: 60K! Woot woot!! You guys are my lifeblood :)!
~ Higgins}
The court was a madhouse. Rumor had spread like wildfire that Ingo had challenged Little Ko’s Musehood, and now the nobility and proletarians alike were loitering about Verglas, claiming business or duty, awaiting the king’s return. Gossip was their lifeblood.
Wisely enough, the leeches didn’t approach Alfred on the subject. Since the beginning of his courtly duties, he had actively turned his nose to rumors. He had no use for them, especially since most held no credence. And even if they did, Alfred was a strong advocate for relative morality. He knew there were two sides to every story, just as there were two sides to every coin.
Ingo and Little Ko, on the other hand, always had an ear open for the bruit. But Ingo and Little Ko also had the unique ability to convince a king he was a peasant, so collecting pieces of metal they could forge into a weapon seemed not only logical, but practical.