With that now on my mind I continued following Arthur to the dining hall. It was filled with Knights who were all waiting for Arthur to appear so that they could eat. Many of them looked tired while others seemed quite energetic. A few of them seemed more like monsters than humans but I didn’t question it. As I walked in though I received several stares from a few of the knights. It seemed like I was a target of suspicion, or at least a target of interest.

The room walls were the same stone with banners hung on each wall. A set of fire bowls hung near each end of the long table that illuminated the room. The table had two chairs on each end and a long bench on either side. Food was placed around the table so that everyone was in reach of each item. Servants walked around holding pitchers of wine and beer to fill up the cups of the knights anytime their cups were empty.

“Sorry for the delay.” Arthur said as he walked up to his seat at the end of the table. Not knowing where else to sit I grabbed an empty spot on one of the large benches.

“Don’t worry about it. Most of us were late too.” one of the knights replied. Most of the table chuckled at this.

“Well, I have news. From now on, Micheal here will be a knight of the Round Table and as such you shall refer to him as Sir Micheal.” Arthur said as he picked up his cup and raised it high. The other knights all did the same in unison before digging into the feast before them.

I dug in as well since I had yet to eat a proper meal in the past two days. Even though it was bland, the fact that it was food made me salivate heavily. The mask seemed to know exactly what I wanted to do as it morphed around my mouth into a misshapen mouth without lips that bit into anything that I put near it. Some of the knights around me became slightly uncomfortable with this but I didn’t care. I was far too hungry to care and I was going to have to work with this mask whether I liked it or not.

I ate enough for me to start feeling sick when I realized that the others probably haven’t eaten yet. So as inconspicuous as possible I began tapping food against the pendant so that it would absorb it. I wondered what it was like in the pendant though. For all I know I could be doing the equivalent of dropping food on the floor. Man, I hope that wasn’t the case. If so then I would probably get my ear chewed off for this.

“So you’re the strange Masked Man from that farming village west of here?” one of the knights across the table asked me.

“Yes, you can call me Micheal. I don’t really need the Sir or anything.” I replied to him with a smile.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Micheal. I’m Gwaine.” he said with a smile before taking a large gulp of his beer.

“Okay, Gwaine. What exactly do you do as a knight?” I asked.

“The Knights of the Round Table as a whole usually lead the Briton armies against the Saxons that have been trying to invade us for the past several years. Thankfully, I’ve been pulled from the front lines recently so that I can rest. If you’re new then you’ll probably be sent to defend our borders like the rest of us have.” Gwaine said.

“Does Arthur ever go out there?” I asked as I placed a roast chicken leg against the amulet while covering it with my hand. Gwaine didn’t even notice, or at least I think he didn’t notice.

“He goes out all the time. In fact, he is usually the one in front of every large battle. If it weren’t for him I doubt we would have a chance against the Saxons. “ Gwaine said.

“What about Merlin? He doesn’t seem to do much from what I’ve seen.” I asked.

“He is the child of an Elder God. Specifically he was the prince of the Trojan Emperor. After the fall of Troy he wandered around until he ended up here. He became the husband of the water spirit Nimue who is the Elder Saxon Goddess Freya. Though the Saxons have ignored her for too long so she is currently working with us. As for Merlin, he can summon an army of Trojan warriors to aid us but he can only create so many before he passes out. Between Merlin and Arthur the two could conquer the entire world if they wanted to.” Gwaine said with a soft chuckle.

“Interesting.” I replied as I continued to secretly shove food into the pendant.

“Ha, didn’t you hear that one of Dane sailors called Leif claims he found a land to the west that hasn’t been touched yet. I doubt Arthur would have to conquer the world when he could just go there.” the knight beside Gwaine interrupted.

“Yes, Dagonet. You’ve told us this rumor ten times at least now. If it weren’t for your skill and outlandish tactics then I doubt Arthur would so much as let you see the inside of castle Camelot.” Gwaine said harshly.

“Oh, come now, Gwaine. You know that even if I didn’t have those qualities he would keep me around as a jester.” Dagonet said drunkenly.