Where Have All The Horses Gone?!

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur had been so lost in thought that he thought the approaching sound of hooves was just a nearby knight with his own horse. It took a few moments for Arthur to realize that he was not alone. So eventually, he casually looked to the side of him to see . . . Neav! He had to admit that he was relieved to see the boy alive and well . . . sort of well. The boy had no shoes, and he looked a bit worn. Arthur was not one to express overcome joy or relief upon seeing him -- or anyone -- as he tended to suppress his emotions more than that, so he just looked at him, and took a few steps towards him. Was the boy still scared of him? Possibly . . . probably.

"Neav, are you alright?" He asked him. There was genuine concern in his voice. Even if the boy was just a servant, he was still that . . . a boy. An orphan. And as a citizen of Camelot, Neav was Arthur's responsibility. "You did not get hurt during the attacks, did you?" He asked, still expressing concern over the boy. He did not look too badly injured, and if he was . . . then perhaps he could take him to Gaius to get looked at. For the moment, Arthur would not question where Neav had been, or what he was doing. The fact that he came with the horses, only led Arthur to assume that he had fled with them. But right now, the primary concern was Neav's well being.

[[WOO! PAGE 3! About the location . . . I don't think it should matter too much. We can always PM the admin as ask them to move the thread if we like?]]

[neav]

Neav chewed his lips, staring down at his feet. Now there horses were home and safe, it was like he had lost himself again. He was afraid of what the Prince would think of him. Afraid of what he would do to a boy who ran away when the city was under attack.
And so Neav kept staring at his bare feet, even when the Prince asked if he was alright. Neav did not pick up the concern in his voice - it was difficult for him to read emotions except for the most obvious. His cheeks grew crimson as he realised he would have to admit to his cowardice because Prince Arthur did not seem to know how he had run.
"I... I am not hurt, Sire," he said. "I wasn't here. I... we..." He looked up at last to meet the Princes eyes. "We ran away. Into the forest. All of us." And he glanced at the herd of horses. They stood sleepily or moved slowly about the courtyard, keeping close together. Neav was not worried that any of them would run. He was a little nervous that they might stand on some sharp, broken thing and so spread this worry out to every horse. Be careful of you feet, the feeling said. Be careful of your legs.


((Yes, page three!! This is the longest thread I have made!
And I do not mind if we stay here, so long if it is alright. I suppose if it were problem the admin could move us.))

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur looked at Neav carefully, and when he spoke of how they had left, briefly averted his gaze to the horses. All of them seemed to be there, safe and sound. And then he looked back at Neav. "You saved all of them?" Good. Arthur was glad that Neav had managed to escape while the vicious attacks had been taking place. He was -- as Arthur was constantly recognizing -- a child and should therefore, not have been exposed to such dangers. He didn't deserve it, just as no one else did and unfortunately, others had not been so lucky to escape. There were probably children among the body count, or parents who's children were now orphans. Arthur felt guilty, but all he could do now was focus on repairing the damages done.

"You really do have a strong devotion to these animals." It was more of an observation than anything else. He had previously experienced Neav's understanding of the horses first hand, but for his first thought to be of them and the danger they would be put in . . . that truly showed the boy's loyalty to the animals, and re-enforced Arthur's confidence that appointing him to the stables to care for them was indeed the right decision.

[neav]

"You saved all of them?"

Neav gave a small nod, stared back down at his feet, still waiting for the anger to come.
But it did not. Neav felt Chance, a lovely chestnut mare, come to stand behind him. Her nose was a few inches from his back, but Neav did not move. She wanted for nothing but his company.

It was only that the Prince gave his light observation of how devoted Neav must be, did the boy actually begin to believe he was not in trouble. Still, he supposed he had better make sure. He knew he was bad at understanding how people really felt.
But his ice blue eyes were full of undisguised hope as he asked,
"You're not angry?"
Neav was always teased by the grooms for being so mouse-like. The Prince himself had said only yesterday that he had to be "toughened up". And now Neav had proved his weakness by running away with all his friends and only coming back when he knew the fight was over. If Camelot had been taken over by the creatures, the boy knew they would never have come back at all.
It was difficult not to believe that the Prince would not be angry about that.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur was not angry. But he could understand why Neav would think he was. Not long ago he had made the child cry and so it was a fair assumption to think that the Prince would be mad at him for suddenly fleeing with his horses. But the fact was, Neav had come back, with all of the animals. He had not appeared to steal anything, but rather, saved them. "No, I am not angry," he told him in a low voice.

"Its good that you were safe during the vicious attacks." He casually went to one of the horses and gently patted him on the neck a few times, while talking to Neav but not directly looking at him. "And thank you, for saving the horses. Judging from the state of the stables, I doubt they would have survived the night." That was something else that Arthur did not often do: thank a servant. But in this case, Neav had gone out of his way to protect him, and as they were the king's -- and Arthur's -- property, he was grateful. "You're sure your alright then?" He asked another time, just making sure and this time, looking at Neav while he spoke.

[neav]

A smile danced on Neav's lips, showing his missing tooth and making him look no more than nine years old. Prince Arthur was not angry at all! He was even pleased, he had even said thank you. Neav knew that a Prince never said thank you to a stable-boy.
It was not often that Neav could be so sure he had done the right thing. He spun and caught the mare who stood behind him, pressing his head happily to hers. Then he looked at Prince Arthur, and answered his question.
"Yes," he said, so obviously happy to have pleased someone. "I really am fine, my lord."

As he looked at the smashed stables, the thought of what might had happened did not sober Neav. He did not dwell on might-have-beens any more than a horse did. The boy was trying to calculate the mess, wondering would be best to fix first, how long it would take to get the stables working again. A few grooms had arrived while Neav and the Prince was talking and had started to pick through the mess. Neav was glad. He supposed the men would decide what ought to be done.
Really, the most practical thing would be to find halters and something to tie all the horses too. If something spooked them, Neav did not want them being skittish with so much broken mess everywhere.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur would have to start thinking of how to repair this place. A lot needed to be done, but considering the Prince had been on his way to get some sleep . . . well, his time would be put to better use fixing this. "Did you get some rest last night Neav?" He asked him, wondering where the boy had been while he disappeared with the animals. "You should go get yourself cleaned up." -- and get some shoes -- "We are going to have to start fixing the stables." While the Prince did not have to technically do this, many of the other knights had received their duties and Arthur was supposed to be resting.

But how could he when the city was in such destruction. "Consider today your first day on the job." What better way to start off his duties as personal stable boy to the Prince, than to start working on the construction of the stable itself.

[neav]

Neav considered. He realised that he had not had any rest in the forest at all. He had been all night on Kingfisher's back, watching over the herd as though he were part of that leading stallion. But it had not seemed tiring. It had seemed right.
So he gave a nod and a light grin, not wanting to explain what he had done. Not unless the Prince asked. Neav was sure it would be another one of those times when people thought his relationship with horses was strange.

But when suggested he should go and get cleaned up, Neav was surprised. He did not have any other clothes... and his shoes had been in the hayloft, where he slept. Which was a bit smashed up. But he trotted off obediently, salvaged his shoes, splashed some water over his face and neck and returned looking not much better then he had when he went off.
On his way he had also collected a pile of rope halters.
"I... I think," he said, a little nervously of suggesting something to the Prince. "Maybe we should secure the herd first. So they don't hurt themselves on the mess."

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur kept a close eye on the animals while Neav went off to freshen up. While watching the horses, Arthur also, once again, looked around the city. The aftermath of the attack was brutal, and people were now either rested, injured, or mourning for their dead. It was a devastating night and today would prove to be a devastating day. Arthur dreaded to find out just how many more were dead. In fact, he himself would have been dead had Guinevère not been there to save it. It was a strange rescue, but never the less, he was grateful to her. He had been fortunate to have someone there for him; others were not so lucky.

He pulled himself out of these thoughts when Neav returned. Right. The stables. This boy was clearly loyal to the horses, Arthur would at least try to give him the peace of mind that the animals were properly protected, even though last night before Neav released them, they were not. "Yes, let us start with that." Arthur had no energy to act like a bully today. In fact, it seemed that with all the chaos the kingdom constantly found itself in, his bullying episodes were becoming less and less of a frequency.

He took a few of the rope halters and began to carefully approach the horses so that they would not over react. They seemed relatively calm though; a good sign. "How did you manage to control so many at once? They must have been rather upset and difficult to control last night, when the city was being attacked." Yet again, Neav proved to have a strong understanding for the animals, and Arthur was again curious to hear how he did it.

[neav]

Neav gave a sigh of relief when the Prince simply agreed and took some of the halters from him. He was glad that he had not made him upset with the suggestion. It was always so hard to know the right and wrong things to say, espically to someone as important as a prince.

Neav watched a moment as Prince Arthur approached a small cluster of mares. They eyed him warily but they did not run. Though the Prince still moved like a hunter - Neav did not think there was any way that the man could not - but four tired mares we not nearly as high-strung as the stallions yesterday. They would let him catch and halter them, Neav thought.
He called Kingfisher to him, knowing that if he caught the leading stallion then the herd would be even calmer. The big black horse lowered his head so that Neav could reach it, and then waited patiently while the boy collected a few more. As he worked, Neav considered the question. His hands and mind full of his creature-friends, he did not find it so difficult to answer.

"Horses need a leader," he explained. "When there is trouble they look to their leader. This herd has Kingfisher. So I let them all out, I ride Kingfisher and tell him where to go and they all follow us even though they are so afraid. They know we will lead them to safety."
It was simple, really. Much easier than understanding the complicated ways of people.

[Arthur Pendragon]

"I see," Arthur said a bit pensively. It was an interesting concept indeed, and the boy always seemed to have a well thought out answer which demonstrated his understanding of horses, whenever Arthur asked him a question related to it. It still surprised him that such a young individual could have so much vast knowledge about the animals. They did not seem like complicated creatures but from the way Neav analyzed them or understood them rather, they seemed to be a subject of studying well on their own.

"It is lucky that you got them, and especially yourself out of the city last night," Arthur said in a bit of a solemn voice, though he tried to conceal as much of the saddened emotion as he could. He once again, began to recall last nights incident and just kept wondering how foolish he had been to trust that man. It had been a massive mistaken on the Prince's part, and cost the lives of so many innocent citizens. He tried to snap out of these thoughts, knowing that all he could do right now was focus on helping those who were still alive.

[neav]

Neav tied his string of horses to a rail that still stood, careful to see that the ones that did not like each other were separated. He glanced about the few left over and called skittish Gillyflower to him, and tied her to the calmer Fair Chance.

Neav noticed the solemness of the Prince's voice and felt another flash of guilt. He could see from the mess of the city that the attacks must have been terrible. Many people must have died. And he only cared that his lovely horses were safe!
But the Prince really did not seem to hate him for it... and Neav was not sure what to say to him. He supposed the Prince must feel some responsibility for the whole city, and many people had died.
"It was lucky..." he agreed softly. What more could he say? "It was good that you managed to chase all the monsters away." At least, that was what he assumed had happened.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur watched Neav tie up the horses as they seemed to be calmer with him around. Arthur casually went up to one of the tied up ones and gently placed his hand on its neck, stroking it. It was indeed very lucky that they had managed to defeat the creatures, Arthur could not argue with Neav about that. But it was the timing that was rather bad . . . if only he could have done it sooner. He should have done it sooner. So many people died, so many people's lives had been at risk, and now the city was suffering massive damages.

"Yes, but not soon enough." He said it casually though the reality of the situation was anything but casual. His voice was formal, as he suppressed his emotions, a frequent occurrence of his. He was a Prince. He could not afford to show his emotions so openly, and thus demonstrate weakness and vulnerability. Or so this was the mindset that he had been raised with. A true leader was strong, confident . . . how could anyone believe these things of him when he allowed his emotional state, no matter how strong it was, to be so apparent.

[neav]

Neav grinned as the Prince went to stroke Azrael. The dapple stallion stretched his lower lip in a horse-smile, loving the attention. Using his last halter on Embers, Neav then realised that he did not have enough for Fair Chance or Redberry.
Well. That was alright. Fair Chance would do anything he asked and it was the same for old Redberry... so he knew they would stand where he told them.

Neav beckoned both mares and they followed him at once, their heads at his shoulders. When he placed them either side of Sheer Folly, they stood just as if they were tied. Neav grinned and scratched Chance at the base of her mane in the way that she loved.
Then the Prince spoke and Neav was surprised. He had almost forgotten that he was there. And because Neav was not a people-reader, he did not guess the feelings behind the casual words. Perhaps he might have if he knew the death-count, but he did not.
So he only said,
"It is enough that you defeated them at all. They were horrible monsters! I think you are very courageous." Neav did not mean it for flattery. It was simply what he thought to be true. He decided then that Prince Arthur was the bravest person he knew. Already he was forgetting how afraid he had been of him yesterday. And while he was still afraid of him - Neav was scared of almost everyone - he no longer thought him the scariest person he knew.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur gave a bit of a smile, though it was lacking the usual joviality a smile was meant to express. Arthur would take the compliment and be silently grateful for it, though he knew that merely being brave was not enough. It was not enough to just be courageous when he ruled this kingdom. He had to be more quick to react; more analytical in his defense and building them so that next time, the creatures would not even be able to step through the gates of the city. They had even gone as far as to breach the castle, another risk Arthur could not afford to let happen again.

"The same can be said about you, for having led the horses out of the city. Putting them before you. I can honestly say I have never encountered a stable boy with that much loyalty to the horses." Arthur really could not say that enough, or cease to express that much surprise that the boy had been so diligent. "Makes me wonder how I did not assign to you this job sooner," he said, half jokingly, though it was in fact true.

[neav]

Neav stared at the Prince in surprise. Never once in his short life had someone called him brave. He was teased endless for being weak, being small, being afraid of everyone. He could not know that his ways with horses impressed the grooms when they never said. Could not know that they admired him for the way he calmed a wild and angry horse. For most grown men were too proud to be out-done by a boy. Telling Neav how weak he was, hitting him for the smallest of mistakes, it was their way of keeping themselves powerful.

After a moment Neav noticed that he was staring, and dropped his gaze. Never getting compliments, he was not sure how to take this one.
"I was not so brave, my lord..." he mumbled and perhaps the words could not even be heard. But the next comment was even more of a surprise. Not hire him sooner? Neav did not notice the joke and he answered.
"Because you had not noticed me. No one notices me because I am not supposed to be noticed."
It was said with so much surprise as to mean that Prince Arthur should have realised that. Neav had worked in the stables for nine years already, after all. And yesterday was the first time the Prince had actually noticed him! Though Neav had taken horses from him many times, the Prince had never noticed or remembered.

[Thank you, my lord. It is nice of you to say. ]

[Arthur Pendragon]

It did not surprise Arthur that Neav displayed insecurities about admitting that he was brave. Arthur may not have known him long, but he knew him long enough to see that Neav was not the most . . . confident person out there. Many servants were not, or if they were, they could not show such boldness in front of those who held higher authority than them. Such occurrences were rare and Neav was certainly no exception to the basic expectations of servants. This was only reaffirmed when he continued to say that no one noticed him. It was not something Arthur would apologize over for he knew that he did not notice all the servants. He recognized as many as he could in case a stranger made their way into the castle under the alias of a servant.

"You were brave enough to save the horses, which was obviously your intended goal," he reassured him. The boy had strong ties with the horses and had managed to lead the herd out of the city. "If you were truly a coward, you would have just saved yourself." Arthur was grateful to anyone who had aided anyone during the attacks. It was why he felt an odd sense of debt towards Guinevère, since she had been the one to save his own life . . . twice.

"You're right about that," he said jokingly, with a bit of a smile. "But noticing you and therefore recognizing your understanding of horses, was definitely something that proved to be very beneficial." He had proved that the day he helped round up the horses again, and yesterday when he led them to safety and then led them back to the city.

[neav]

Neav gave the smallest of smiles, but a person cannot change their view of themselves all in a moment. As for saving the horses and not just himself, well! They were his herd! Without his herd, he was nothing. There was no point in himself surviving if the rest of them would die.
But Neav knew enough not to expect the Prince to understand that. The Prince was a hunter animal, and thought in a very different way. So all it said was,
"I did not think at the time. I just saw that monster come alive from the castle... and then we all went. I was not thinking."

And again was another compliment! So many compliments it would last Neav for weeks! The boy grinned.
"I am happy you could use me," he said and it was true.

[Argl, not so good a post, I am sorry! My imagination fails me....]

[Arthur Pendragon]

"Well either way, you did well Neav." It was a statement of encouragement, and Arthur did not give these often. But the boy had indeed done well and there was only truth in the Prince's words. "Being a quick thinker like that, and instinctively protecting others are good traits to possess." They were the traits expected of a knight to have. That instantaneous concern for others when put in a dangerous situation was what deemed a knight honorable.

If they did not have this, then it was impossible for them to fight for a kingdom for they would not be able to think of anyone else other than themselves. Of course, this was not a skill reserved just for knights. Oddly enough, there were many people who had risked their lives for Arthur when they were not obligated to, or at least had not technically sworn any allegiance to. Merlin being the most surprising one having done so. "So am I. Seems I appointed you in the right position just in time."

[No worries! Its an awesome post! It was at least enough for me to reply to! Mine is a bit on the shorter side too ]