The Blood Red Rose

Chapter 6

George was not sulking. Nope. Absolutely not because George King did not sulk. He was simply out drinking some ale because he wanted to. Samuel looked over at his leader in worry. George only sulked when he was very upset.

"George, are you oka-"

"Who does that man think he is?" George suddenly said loudly, slamming his hands down on the table. "I mean, nobody refuses me! Anybody would be ecstatic to be in his position!!"

Seabury laughed nervously. George shook his fist in the air, a determined look on his face.

"He was mine to subdue!" He cried dramatically before flopping back down and dejectedly drinking his ale.

"You mean marry, correct?" Samuel asked nervously and George stared at him blankly, before going back to complaining about his failed marriage.

"Dismissed! Brutally rejected. And not to mention publicly humiliated!" George cried woefully, before taking a big gulp of his ale.

"More ale sir?" A maid asked, but Samuel waved her off. George was quite the handful when he was drunk and Samuel was definitely not in the mood to stay up late listening to George state everything that was wrong in the world and everything that he was great at. He loved George, but even Samuel had some limits.

"I've been disgraced! Oh what can I do? This is more than I can bear!" George wailed, teas comically falling from his eyes.

"Huh...? You want some beer...?" John Jay slurred from his spot on the floor. His friend, John Adams staring at him from their table in slight concern.

"That won't help! I've never been so ashamed!!" George cried, before flopping down to the floor like the big drama queen that he is.

"What about a musical number about how fantastic you are!" Samuel said in a panic. George had never gotten this down before.

"Just some positive comments will do." George said gloomily. At that, Samuel froze and slowly turned to face his leader.

"I-I uh, well u-um..." Samuel shot a desperate look to the people around the bar, who ether ignored him or stared at him blankly.

"L-Listen here George! Y-You've gotta pull yourself together! Not a s-single man in this room isn't in l-love with you!" Seabury stammered. A few men turned to stare at him and a couple opened their mouths to protest, but upon seeing their town's celebrity's dejected look thought the better of it.

"Y-You're the most admired and popular person in this whole town! There's a g-good reason f-for that! You're an unmatched hunter and y-you're the p-perfect man a-around! Y-You need to k-keep your confidence! A-Aaron will f-fall for you. A-After all, n-no human c-can resist your charisma!" Samuel said. There's a murmur of agreement between the villagers.

"He's for sure the best looking man around." Adams murmured. The 'besides Aaron Burr' went unsaid and justifiably so.

"And he's the best hunter ever!!!" John Jay slurred, repeating what Samuel said. Mostly because he hadn't been listening to Seabury.

"He's amazing with a gun! No one can kill cute, small, innocent animals quite like George!" James Reynolds said happily. James was an emotional drunk, so everyone was always happy when he was happy. He could get violent when he wasn't.

Everyone fed George more and more compliments and slowly, his confidence came back. It didn't matter that some (most) weren't true or that many were repeated. All that mattered was that he was being praised.

"You're so handsome and coy! You're charisma is unmatched! Anyone would be insane to reject you! They would be as insane as-"

"Help!" Everyone turned to the entrance to the tavern and stared at a soaked and desperate Sally Burr.