This story was intended to be my entry into the Halloween Contest. Unfortunately, life intervened and it didn't get done in time. It does refer to and use characters from my story "A Dance to Remember" but reading it is not necessary. This is a standalone story. Enjoy! 😊
"Hello?" I said as I opened the door into Alex's house. Alex was short for Alexandra. We had been dating for most of the past year and she had given me permission to just enter as long as her kids weren't home. If they were home, I at least knocked. They were still getting used to the fact that mom was dating, let alone having a steady boyfriend. This was even though I probably spent at least half of every week at her place.
"Hello?" I said again. No answer. There is a feel to a house that is empty. And this house felt empty. I had come through the garage. Alex's blue Mercedes was still parked there. Wherever she was, she hadn't driven there. I walked into the kitchen. There was a note sitting on the counter for me. I sat my overnight bag down and opened it.
Go back to the bedroom,
it read.
I raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what she had planned. Tonight was Halloween on Canton Street. Canton Street was the main strip of bars and restaurants in town. It was the place where we ate, drank and played ever since we started dating. Alex told me that she already had our costumes picked out. When I tried to press for details, she just grinned and told me to trust her. For the next week, she managed to keep mum about whatever she had planned. I thought that was impressive since Alex absolutely sucks at keeping secrets. Her brutal and uninhibited honesty was one of the things that I adored about her. Along with her lack of inhibitions in a lot of other areas...
I grabbed my bag and went to the bedroom. Laid out on the bed was what looked like a set of leather armor, black trousers and calf high leather boots. A plastic costume broadsword was set next to the armor shirt. On top of the armor was a wooden "Thor's Hammer" amulet and another envelope. I dropped my bag again and opened the second envelope.
This is your costume for the evening. Wear this and ONLY this (and I mean it!). If you hurry, Uhtred of Bebbenburg might find his queen holding court in her usual castle. But you must hurry, your queen commands it.
I looked over the costume again. We were both huge fans of the Netflix show,
The Last Kingdom.
The costume was a reasonable facsimile of Uhtred's outfit from the show. The plastic sword was a little cheesy, but I got it. The bars of Canton Street would probably not appreciate me walking around with a real sword.
If I was to be Uhtred, who was to be my queen? Uhtred had a lot of women over the course of that show (even more in the books the show was based on) but the reference to "my queen" made me think that Alex was going as Aethelflaed, the princess of Wessex, the Lady of Mercia and one of the great loves of Uhtred. In the books, Aethelflaed was described as a "Lady of Gold", and I thought that description fitted Alex perfectly. Her blonde hair, blue eyes and athletic body would make her the vision of a warrior queen. Alex might even make a better Aethelflaed than Millie Brady, the actress who played her on the show - whom Alex and I both thought was hot.
I started getting dressed. The first thing I noticed was that there was no underwear laid out for me. That, combined with the admonition in the note, convinced me that Alex intended me to go commando. I shucked my underwear and pulled on the pants. They were some sort of cotton blend that clung to my ass and thighs but still left room for my cock and balls to breathe. There was also a button up fly that I was certain would offer her "easy access" should she want it. Giving "easy access" was almost a running joke between us, given the times we'd fucked in the backs of cars or on a beach, or the blowjob on the balcony...
I got my mind back on the issue at hand. Then pants may not have been costume accurate, but they were certainly comfortable. I appreciated Alex's choice in that. I couldn't say the same about the boots. They were cheap costume leather. The layout didn't include socks, but I put some on anyway. I had been an infantryman in the US Army, and I was very particular about my feet. I was pretty sure that Alex would forgive this one deviation from her instructions.
There was a black T-shirt for me. Again, not very authentic but it was just there to keep the leather of the of armor from scratching me. I put it on and then slipped the armor jerkin over the top. All in all, it wasn't too bad. I went into the bathroom and checked myself out in the mirror. I didn't have the long hair the actor in the show had (nor did I have the hairline for it) but the rest of me looked like the TV version of a medieval warrior. The costume showed off the muscles of my legs and chest while still making me look "battle ready". I went back out and picked up the plastic sword. It came with a belt and a scabbard. Uhtred wore his sword on his back in the show, so I went with that look. I lengthened the belt and slung it over my back, so the hilt poked over my right shoulder.
Then I called for an Uber. Fortunately, the pants had pockets for my phone.
It was just before 8pm when I arrived on Canton Street. I texted Alex that I was on my way, but she hadn't answered. I guess she really did want me to hunt her down. The sidewalks were already full of people moving from bar to restaurant to bar. One of the things that fascinated us about Canton Street was the mix of people. There were college kids, professionals and even a smattering of retirees. There were bored housewives looking for excitement and stressed-out fathers looking to blow off steam. They all came to Canton Street to play - and they often came to play with each other.
Loyal Tavern stood close to the south end of Canton Street. If there was any place that could be said to be Alex's "court", this was it. Loyal Tavern was the home of the cheapest wine pour on Canton Street. Well... it was the same price per glass, it was just that Loyal's pour was a lot heavier than it was anywhere else. At least it was for Alex...
But she wasn't there. Loyal's bar was a horseshoe shape with the bottom of the U to the left of the door and booths to the right. About a third of the people in the bar were in some form of costume. But none were a blonde woman dressed as a queen.
"Can I get you anything... my lord?" The girl behind the bar was dressed as a faerie. Her blonde hair was teased out in an almost 80's style cloud. She was wearing what looked like a green, one-piece swimsuit that clung alluringly to her tight, young frame. It was complimented by green fishnet stockings, green Converse sneakers and glittering faerie wings. She had also painted red, green and blue faerie wings along her eyes.
"Harriet?" I asked. The girl curtsied in response. Harriet was a familiar bartender to us here at Loyal. She had made no secret of her fascination with and attraction for Alex. We were still trying to decide what we wanted to do, if anything, about that. Those discussions had fueled quite a lot of late-night fantasies.
"I'm looking for," I hesitated for a moment and then smiled, "...my queen."
Harriet smiled back at me. One of the questions we had about Harriet was what she thought about me. I read people for a living. Hell, I teach people how to do that, but Harriet seemed to make a game of trying to befuddle me every time we interacted. "Your queen is not here, My Lord," she said and then smirked. "Buuutt... you just might find her next door. If you are quick on your feet."
I nodded. "Well, who am I to refuse the advice of the Faerie Court."
Harriet laughed. "You know if you do, you could be cursed." She tapped the beer taps.
"When I return, I will pay proper homage to the queen of the taps," I said.
"See that you do!" Harriet said pointedly.
I stepped back out onto the sidewalk. The press of people was flowing back and forth. I received a few compliments on my costume though most didn't recognize me as Uhtred. Most called me "Conan" or "King Arthur" or "Aragorn". I was honestly OK with that, especially when the commenter was a scantily clad woman. I really wanted to be sitting at one of the sidewalk tables and enjoying this attention, but I wanted to be doing that with Alex. That meant I needed to get on with my search.
The Salt Factory Pub was bar right next to Loyal. If Alex wasn't holding court at Loyal, then Salt would have been my second choice. The wine pour wasn't quite as heavy as it was at Loyal, but the food was better. Whether we ended up at Loyal or Salt was almost a mood choice for us and that is without considering the nights we ended up at both.
I walked inside. Alex normally preferred the outside tables, but she wasn't sitting at any of them. That left the bar as the next option. The inside was all dark woods. The bar ran alongside the left-hand side of the restaurant while was reserved for tables. There were fewer costumes here because Salt was more restaurant than bar but those that were here were concentrated around the bar. Sure enough, there was a queen holding court.
But it wasn't Alex.
Cassie was Alex's best friend. She was on her way out of a passionless marriage and was now coming back to life. She was a tall, willowy blonde in her late 40's who was just rediscovering how attractive she still was. She was dressed in a flowing yellow dress that cinched just below her breasts and she had a crown in her neck length blonde hair. She was currently "rediscovering" how attractive she was with Carl, a waiter who worked at Salt and easily 15 years younger than she was. With the way Carl had his arm wrapped around her waist, he obviously did not care about the age difference. The play between Carl and Cassie had been going on for the better part of a month. The question Alex and I had was what Carl's girlfriend thought about his antics with Cassie.
Cassie gave me a hug when she saw me walk in. I gave her a very chaste hug back. She was so close to being family she might as well have been a blood relative. "Hi!" she told me. "Very nice Uhtred outfit!"
"Thank you! You're the first to recognize it!" I replied. Cassie had started
The Last Kingdom
on my suggestion and binge watched all 5 seasons. Cassie was the one who got Alex watching it.
Carl came up behind her, wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back into him. His floppy brown hair made him look even younger than his early 30's. Salt wasn't letting their employees dress up for Halloween. He was dressed in the red shirt and blue jeans that served as a uniform. His hand was resting just below the bottom curve of Cassie's breast.
To the best of my knowledge, Cassie and Carl had never even kissed, let alone had sex. She wasn't quite finished with her divorce and wanted to save herself for when it was finished. I found myself wondering just how much longer she was willing to wait. Carl leaned his head into hers. "I've got to get back at it," he told her. To my ears, there was an unspoken "babe" at the end of that statement. I wondered if Cassie heard it. Carl had been getting more and more possessive of Cassie. I had seen him act that way in front of his own girlfriend.
"And I need to find MY queen," I said. "If for no other reason so that I can finally get a beer."
