The Handmaiden & The Stable Boy

[Guinevère]

'Did you manage to find any food?' The lady Morgana asked, Gwen her servant. Gwen held a basket and she uncovered it slightly to show her some bread. "I stole it from the kitchens." She covered it back up quickly. 'Spread it would among the elderly and the children.' "Yes, ma'am." Gwen replied as she turned to walk away from the crowd of men. She knew better then to let them know she had some food.

She found some children sitting along a wall, waiting for their parents to return from the crowd and she gave them bits of bread. She moved from them to an elderly woman who could not stand well. She saved a few bits of bread to take to the lower town's people she knew better; and knew they were unable to get out to ask for food. She had a few bits of bread left, and when she was passing the stables she saw a boy in there.

Putting a smile on her face she entered and walked a little closer. She knew him, but had never spoken to him about anything personal. He was a stable boy named Neav, who had not family. "Hello, Neav." She called out to him, as she approached.

(Neav)

[neav]

Neav stood barefoot in the stables, his forehead pressed against that of one of the horses, eyes closed. He was very tired. The past couple of nights he had been having a dreadful nightmare. It was always the same, starting out as the most beautiful dream. A shining white horse, more lovely than any Neav had ever seen, stood in the forest. His eyes were so gentle, full of love. A horn rose twisting from the centre of his forehead.
But suddenly it all changed. An arrow flew from nowhere, striking hard and true and killing the creature. Neav screamed in pain and fear; it was like the arrow had pierced his own heart.
And then he woke up.

It did not help that now his stomach was tight with hunger; Neav was not exactly over-fed at the best of times, and now with this sudden food shortage... well, a little stable-boy was not the first priority.
At least the horses were not hungry. It was not the grass that had wilted in this strange drought, only the food which people ate. The hay was fine, too. Neav was glad. His own hunger he could deal with. The uncomfort of his precious friends would be torture.
At least he had not shared his dreadful dream with them.

Suddenly he heard light footsteps, a soft voice calling his name. Neav turned, the mare he stood with also turning her head. Both horse and boy gazed at the person in a way that was almost comical. Neav was combing through his mind, trying to remember this girl's name. He had a terrible memory for people. Though he did know he had seen her often... maybe she was a servant at the castle?
"Hello," he replied cautiously, wondering what she wanted. People only ever spoke to him if they wanted something. "Uhm... can I help you, mistress?"
Neav was not sure what he really ought to call her, and so 'mistress' was the safest thing. His face was ashy from hunger and lack of sleep, with dark panda-rings round his eyes.

[Guinevère]

"Actually I have been handing out some bread to some of the children from the castle. I have just enough for one more if you would like some." She walked in a little closer, and stood a few feet away from the horse. She was not afraid of them, but Gwen had to stay clean from her work in the castle. It was why, as a servant, she dressed lightly better then the others. As Lady Morgana's handmaid she had to appear clear and polished with out seeming overly so.

"It's not much, but I will at lest stop any hunger pains for a few hours." She spoken again, wishing she could do more. Gwen hated to see the kingdom suffer, and wished there was some way she could help everyone. Sometimes, as a servant she felt very helpless. It was comforting however to know both the Lady Morgana and the Prince were doing what they could to help the people. Still, nothing ever seemed enough when there were so many going hungry.

[neav]

Neav's eyes flew to the basket when the lady mentioned she had bread. Then at once he felt ashamed of himself. Like most boys he age he did get very hungry, but also like most boys, Neav did not consider himself a child. He bit his lip. Even if the bread was not much, it would be better than nothing... Hunger and pride fought a quick and violent battle. Then Neav silently held out a hand. Pride had lost.

"Thank you, mistress," He murmured, still trying to guess who this lady was. If she was handing out bread to castle children, then she must work somewhere in the castle... Kitchens? But she did not dress like kitchen folk. Neav chewed his lip again. If she had not known his name, he could have asked... now he was afraid it would be rude if he did.
As he was thinking this, deciding that he did not dare to ask her name and status, his mouth betrayed him by asking something completely different and far worse.
"What is a horse called when it has a long horn on his head?"

As soon as he had asked, Neav shrank back against the mare, expecting to be hit for impudence. So stupid thing to say! His nightmare must be getting to him. He never asked questions of strangers! Not when asking such a question even of one of the grooms he worked with would get him slapped.

[Guinevère]

Gwen saw him struggle as if wither debating on if he should take the bread or not, and then he held out his hand. She handled on the bread and gave him a soft smile, hoping it would help ease whatever struggle he was feeling. Perhaps he did not like taking food from another, and felt it should go to someone else rather then him? Surely he would see that he needed it just as much as the next.

After he took the bread, she turned as if to leave but paused at his words; then frowned over his actions. She did not comment on his actions, for she was all to aware of the injustices of the kingdom, and she did not want to embarrass him. She glanced behind her, to make sure they were alone before speaking up, "I believe they are called unicorns. The prince has . . . hunted one." Gwen did not see it as something as dramatic as Merlin had, but she did not agree with them hunting for sport. They had not brought the body back, only the horn. It seemed a bit pointless to her, but she had learned her lesion about speaking up. "You should be careful who you ask these questions to. Some might misunderstand why you would ask them."

She assumed he was only wondering about the prince's prize horn he had brought back. Still, questioning people about magic could get him in trouble. She more then others knew how much trouble magic could get you in, and did not wish it on anyone.

[neav]

Having swallowed his bread in three bites, Neav stayed pressed close to the chestnut mare, wary eyes on the lady. He saw her frown, misreading it as one of annoyance - but she did not hit him. Instead she answered the question, at first glancing around as if to check that they were alone. Neav supposed she did not want to be seen talking so someone like a stable-boy. From her clothes, she was an important kind of castle servant.

"Unicorn..." Neav softly repeated the word. It seemed familiar, though he did not remember anyone speaking of it before. He had dreamed of a creature called Unicorn... but she said that the Prince had hunted it? The nightmare vision of the arrow striking the gleaming white horse was in his eyes again. Neav's chest hurt. He shuddered. He had not known that people could dream things that were true.

But he did not understand why she said he should be careful about asking such questions. Neav supposed it was because she knew that boys should not ask questions at all. It did not occur to him that a unicorn was a magical creature and so should not be talked about. Neav only had the vaguest idea of magic - that it was evil and wicked and if you did it then you were executed. He thought a unicorn must just be another creature that people hunted, like a deer or a wolf. But it did make him sad. It had been so beautiful... how could the Prince want to kill it?
But Neav knew it was not for him to wonder how the Prince could do things. Instead he rubbed his nose, thinking.

"I'm sorry," he said, in case the lady's cautioning had also been a telling-off. "I just wondered... If it was something real or something I dreamed. I didn't know. No one told me about a unicorn before." And he gave her the tiniest of shy smiles.

[Guinevère]

They were real enough for the prince to hunt, and be proud of his catch. Merlin seemed a bit less impressed with it, but she could understand. She would not wish to see something so beautiful die. "Neav, you must be careful who you ask these questions to. I will not judge you for asking them but . . . " She paused trying to decided how to give the boy a kind warning with out sounds harsh or speaking against the king.

"The king is very disapproving of anything magical. I would not wish someone to mistake your questions, into something more should something happen. I know how sometimes, little things can one look guilty, when they are not." She was speaking of her own arrest, a few months back when the king had claimed she was a witch. She would have been burned at the stake if not for Merlin.

[neav]

Neav stared at her in alarm. Magic? A unicorn was a magical creature? No. Surely she must have got that wrong. It could not be true...
Neav knew the King's views on magic. He knew that all magic was evil, practised by witches and wicked sorcerers and that magical creatures were just as evil.
That was all he knew on the subject of magic. So how could something so beautiful as a unicorn be magical? Neav knew the creature in his dream had not been evil. That unicorns were the most precious things in the entire world. He did not know how he knew; he just did.

Slowly he shook his head.
"No..." he whispered, and then remembered that he was contradicting someone much more important than him. "I mean, I'm sorry. I wont ask the questions to anyone else..." He trailed off. He had hoped to one day see a unicorn himself... he had wanted to go into the forest and call out for one, make friends like he did with horses. Now he never could because a unicorn was illegal and hated by the King...

He turned his head to hide his eyes. Neav found that he suddenly felt like crying, and that was disgraceful. Boys did not cry!

[Guinevère]

"I was not scolding you," Gwen spoke up, thinking that was why he had turned from her, "It is only that I out of all people know what happens when a mistake is made. The king once thought I was a witch. I would not wish his wrath on anyone, as I had felt it." She hoped he understood, as her only goal had been to try and save him from the trouble she had gotten.

When the knights screeched her home, they had found something. Something no one could ever explain. She still to this day did not know what it had gotten there. The prince had come to Morgana's chambers and taken her, she was dragged by the knights of Camelot and tossed at the king's feet. She'd been judged then, and there. Was told she would be beheaded, but then later told she'd be burned at the stake.

[neav]

Neav turned back to stare at her, forgetting about him embarrassingly wet eyes. The king had though her a witch? But she seemed so gentle. And then gasped in a sudden rush of remembering.
The blacksmith. The King had killed Tom the blacksmith who made the best fitting horseshoes in the land. Neav had been so sad. Tom was one of the few people who talked to him as though he were a real person. And he had a daughter, and talked about her too. She was a handmaiden for the Lady Morgana. Guinevère. But he had called her Gwen.

Neav stared at Gwen, enlightened. Now he knew who he was talking too! And at the same time he cursed himself because he should had known before. Cursed himself for his bad memory of people. And he had known when Gwen was accused of witchcraft, too.
"I had forgotten. You nearly died..." And then the truth of the matter hit him. He paled. He had been asking questions about a magical creature and if the King could accuse someone as gentle as Gwen for a witch, he could accuse a stable-boy...
"Mistress Guinevère, I - " but Neav broke off, not sure what he wanted to say. "It was just a dream I had, I just thought it was a beautiful horse or a deer maybe and it died and it hurt..." his tongue was racing away with him, and making things worse rather than better. Oh, he was just so tired! And he wanted to be with a unicorn.