Part One

Reasons to always let the beggar in

Even if the beggar had shown up any time other than when he did, Sir Ector still would have let the man in.

Sure, Ector might have hemmed and hawed a little more had it been summer or autumn; but Ector was an educated man, and knew that when a strange looking beggar carrying a crying sack of rags shows the fuck up on your castle doorstep, you let the beggar in.

Anyway, it was the fifth day of Christmas. It was just after dinner when the beggar showed up, and Ector might have been more than slightly intoxicated. (BTW, this was a time when dinner was between 10:00 am and noon.)

The beggar was shown into the Great Hall and sat at a low table, and given scraps from the day’s feast. It was then that the bundle really start to cry.

It was also then that Ector finally realized that the bundle of rags was actually a baby.

“This is Arthur,” the beggar said.

“Who were his parents?” Ector asked, his sobriety starting to come through.

“Nobility,” the beggar said, “but no one of consequence to you.”

“And where are you taking the boy?”

“To be fostered. I am looking for a man who will raise Arthur as his own, and teach him how to be a good person.”

La Méthode de Chevalier Français

See, back in these days, fostering meant something different. It was really common for kids of a certain rank to be sent away to be fostered.

Girls were sent to live with aunts and other female relatives. They would learn domestic arts, such as accounting and how to run an estate because fucking someone has to pay the fiefs. Boys would be sent to live with uncles, where they would be taught how to hunt and fight and be a knight.

Sir Ector himself was a product of such an education. He was sent to a cousin in Normandy, which was then one of the most civilized parts of Europe. Ector’s foster family taught him how to be a knight, but did so in the French way.

This included:

• Extensive equestrian training
• Reading (in Latin)
• Poetry
• Swordsmanship
• Farming
• How to Respect Others and Be a Generally Honorable Person, Because as a Knight You’re a Pillar of the Community, Gosh Darn It
• Church Type Things
• Court Etiquette
• Hunting
• Castle Management
• Cheesemaking

“OMG, want,” said Sir Ector.

And so, in talking to the beggar, an idea was born in Ector’s head. To be more precise, it was an Athena-like, fully formed and complex concept, replete with hypotheses, backing data, and a five-step plan.

“I will take Arthur,” Ector said. “I will raise him and he will be a brother to my own son, Kay. I’ll train them both in the French method. And when Kay is knighted, Arthur will be his squire.”

The beggar thought this over for a second. “Yeah, that works for me.”