Wandering after my Flower [Lancelot]

[neav]

Neav ran along one the forest paths, feeling as though he spent his life chasing after horses that other people had lost. And this time he had not even been given a mount and so the runaway faster! If Neav had not been so worried that the loose mare - Gillyflower by name - would put a leg through her trailing rains, he would have been very angry.
He could not believe how stupid some people could be! When that groom had returned to the stables alone, claiming that Gillyflower had thrown him and bolted into the forest, Neav had been almost ready to kill the man. But luckily, finding the horse before she could hurt herself was more important to him than murder and now Neav ran alone, spurred on by the worry that he might find the mare with a broken leg.

Luckily her trail was easy to follow. It had rained the night before, leaving the forest path with a fresh coating of mud and Gillyflower's prints were clear. Even if they had not been, Neav would not have had much trouble with the case.
He found that horses left feelings behind them that he could sense, in the same way that a heavy perfume lingers in a room even after the person wearing it has left. This scent that Gillyflower had left was fading, but Neav could still follow it. Neav began to feel a little less worried. Gilly and stopped running at this turn in the path. That was good. She had grown bored with her escape, he felt. Probably he would find he had followed the trail in a circle and that it lead right back to the stables.

Suddenly he froze. There, on the path in front of him, stood a very large and very angry-looking boar. Neav stared in horror. He could never outrun such a thing and the only weapon he had was his belt-knife. That was in his hand in a moment, but Neav was no warrior and he might as well have had a toothpick for all the good it would do. He stood frozen to the spot as the animal began to charge. Its tusks seemed to gleam with wickedness. Neav stumbled backwards, fell and covered his face. The thing was almost upon him! Neav screamed and felt as though half the horses in Camelot screamed with him. He did not want to be killed in the forest, alone.

[Deleted]

Lancelot had just left the fair city of Camelot, probably never to return , he thought to himself. At least, he considered, not until he had heard news of the marriage of Arthur and Gwen. It was quite an iffy thing, he thought, but if they never married each other, he would wait until he had heard that Arthur had been. He might make some inquiries from peddlers from Wessex who might pass through Camelot from time-to-time, so he might have news about Gwen.

In the meantime, though, he had decided not to head directly back to Wessex. He had even contemplated for a time, heading farther south, instead,to try his luck. He had never been farther south than Camelot, and the prospect of adventure excited him. However, in the end, he decided to meander through the Forest. He knew, that for some, the Forest closed one in too much, but for him it had a relaxing effect ... almost a re-charging one.

It was an old path that he followed through and around the glades in this part of the forest. At least this part he knew well. Those who knew it, were aware that there were many different kinds of creatures her, some ordinary and some quite strange. This, after all, is where he had run into the Griffin, originally with Merlin. luckily there had only been one, and it was now gone. The real danger, now, were the hungry boars that roamed through this section pretty much at will.

He normally just took in the tranquil peace of the forest. He was sooth by the quiet of the forest glades, and babbling of the small brooks that wound their way through it. However, suddenly he heard the rustling of bushes up ahead. it was not coming from close to the ground, so he wasn't worried about it being a boar. In a moment, though, he saw a horse's head stick itself out through the vegetation, where it seemed to be munching on the lush vegetation. It was a mare, he found, and a mare that apparently was not wild from the reins that were attached.

Fortunately, it did not seem to be afraid of him in the least, and in fact his stallion Sherefore, and it, nuzzled quite easily. "And who might you belong to, my girl,and what are you doing way out here?" Suddenly, though, he did hear the unmistakable movement of a boar, and by the sound it was making, he thought it had identified some quarry of its own. Thinking it might be stalking another horse he rode Sher-Fore to the sound of the growls, and saw a boy running towards him, but the boar gaining quickly. The boy stumbled, fell, held up his hands in a vain attempt to protect himself and screamed. The scream startled the boar enough to slow him down slightly, which gave Lancelot time to take out his bow and deliver a lethal shot through the low chest of the boar. Quickly he rode Sher-Fore up to where the boy left, the boar lying next to him in ts final death throes. Are you quite all right young sir ... you gave us all quite a scare there," he said motioning to his horse and the mare that had followed behind.

[neav]

Neav heard the whisst of a flying arrow and the dying scream of the boar without realising what was happening. He was so sure that had was about to die that it took him several seconds to understand that he was not. Then he scrabbled, away from the boar, stared with wide eyes at it twitching with an arrow through it chest. Neav stood, trembling, with mud on his clothes and his hair in his eyes. Where had that arrow come from?

Neav heard the approach of horses behind him, and almost knew that one of them was his missing Gillyflower. He turned - and there she was, in close company with a young stallion and looking very pleased with herself.
"Gilly!" Neav cried, reached up to hold her head in his hands. He placed two fingers lightly on the centre of her forehead. She stayed quiet still as something unseen passed between them. Then Neav stepped back and the moment was gone. Only then did he realise that the man had spoken to him.

Neav looked up at his rescuer and his heart filled with dismay. He was a knight. That meant that he was a noble and Neav, who had such a problem talking with ordinary people, found it twice as hard talking to someone important. Even if he sounded kind, Neav was slow to pick up on such signals from people.
But he knew he must reply, and so he fixed his eyes on the stallion as he spoke, because it was easier.
"Yes... I'm sorry." he said, because apologising was always a safe thing to do. "You... you saved me. And you found Gillyflower." He let his eyes dart up quickly to meet the knight's. "Thank you, sir." And Neav put an arm around Gillyflower's neck, looking for all the world like a child holding onto his mother for comfort.

[Deleted]

Lancelot thought that the scream had caused just enough hesitation in the creature for him to nail it withe arrow, but just barely. However, given the distance between Lance and the boy it wasn't clear to him for several moments that the boy was basically uninjured. Finally, though, the boy crawled away, while still apparently keeping an eye on the boar. Despite the fact that it was dead, it was still twitching involuntarily, and he probably didn't believe he had escaped it. At last he seemed to start looking around for the source of the quite accurate shot.

Lance approached quite slowly, riding on his black Arabian stallion Sher-Fore, and the mare trailing close behind. Lancelot, even from the distance he was at, picked up a look of recognition in the boy's eyes, which he found to be strangely expressive.

He was a bit surprised that he didn't get some immediate thanks from the lad. Instead his first words was the apparent name of the horse that Lancelot had just found minutes before. Or was it, he thought, the other way around, he wondered .... had the mare found them? At any rate as they approached the boy and he began to touch and fondle the horses head. It was almost as if the horse and boy were communicating and Lancelot and his horse weren't even there.

"So, Gilly is her name, eh. Well, I am Sir Lancelot Du Lac, and this is Sher-Fore," he said, patting him on the neck. Lancelot thought he might be appreciative of what he had done, but the look he got was one more of fear than anything else. Lancelot was somewhat puzzled, since he had done nothing threatening. However, he considered that his contacts with other nobles might not have been very pleasant.

This lad seemed to be quite an odd one. Why couldn't he look him directly in the eye when talking to him, instead of Sher-Fore? All Lancelot could do was shake his head. "As far as I know there is nothing for you to apologize for, at least to me. You are quite welcome. And just who might you be?"

[neav]

With his arms still tight around Gillyflower's neck, Neav gave a fleeting smile as the Knight introduced himself and then his horse. Sher-Fore. Neav's mind flew at once to a mare in Camelot's stables with a similar name; Sheer Folly. She was pure Arabian, and though no longer young and silly like Gillyflower, she was still breathtakingly beautiful.
Neav's ice-blue eyes flicked over Sher-Fore, recognising the distinctive Arabian head and fine, arched neck. Neav sensed his mix of pride and sweet temper, and was very glad that there was no hint of scarring at his sides. Too many Knights dug and cut their horses with spurrs.

Neav remembered horses, but his memory for people was slow. That was why he did not know or recognize the name of the knight who had been said to save them from the griffin, though everyone in Camelot knew that story. As for having nothing to apologise for... that did not make sense. Neav had wasted a noble knight's time by having to be rescued.
But he did not argue the point. Instead he obediently answered the question.

"My name is Neav," Neav said, still watching Sher-Fore. He wished he could get to know that proud stallion, but he did not dare to ask. At least with his arms around Gilly he could stop the silly mare from fawning over the stallion in a most embarrassing manner. She wanted too... but Neav softened the wanting and kept her calm.
"I am the stable-boy at Camelot, sir" he added, because that was more important than his name. And then, in a sudden rush, "It wasn't me who lost Gilly," he said earnestly, at last meeting the knight's eyes. He suddenly couldn't bare the thought that his rescurer might think him so careless. "She tossed her rider and he came back without her, so they send me to fetch...." Neav stopped as suddenly as he began, cheeks burning. Why was he saying this? Sir Lancelot Du whatever-it-was could not possible care!
Neav just did not know what to do. What a dreadful situation he had got himself into.

[Deleted]

Lance thought that the lad was almost using the horse's neck as a security blanket. He thought, perhaps, that he simply was a lot more comfortable around horses than he was around strangers. Actually, it was probably a safer attitude to have, he thought. however, it did seem, by his body language,. and his introduction, that he was becoming a little bit more comfortable with Lancelot. At least the knight hoped that was the case.

Lance did notice, quite quickly, that the boy seemed to be taking quite an interest in Sher-Fore. He seemed to be pretty analytical about it all, he thought. he saw him pay special attention to Sher-Fore's flanks, and seemed to nod his head in an approving manner.

"Did something catch your attention .....Neay?," he asked, wondering if he had found something unusual. He did seem to have an unusual aptitude for horseflesh. He knew that Sher-Fore had never been so easily accepting of someone this quickly. It was as if he possessed a special empathy, or ability to communicate it seemed. He searched his memory to ascertain whether he had ever heard stories of a person with these abilities and had not.

Suddenly the boy went from shy silence to an explosive gushing of an explanation of what had happened and why it wasn't his fault.
"Whoa .... whoa ..... stable boy. I am not here to punish you or take you in. I am not even a Knight of Camelot ..... at least not in some time. I have no doubt, though, that your story is true. You have no reason to lie to me, and besides, it makes sense. I've only intervened here to save a life that was in danger, and I'm glad I did," he smiled broadly, hoping to put the lad at ease. "Well you did come very close to re-acquiring her on your own, didn't you. She was only a few yards away when the boar attacked. I'm just glad I responded in time. Now ..... what were you thinking on doing?"

[neav]

Neav may have been able to keep Gillyflower from making herself look silly, but he did not seem to manage the same for himself. Cheeks burning, he listened to all the assurances of Lancelot du Lac and made a huge effort to behave as a normal boy.
Neav looked up, saw that the knight smiled and decided to believe him. This man had saved his life, he was not angry, and Sher-Fore obviously trusted him well.

He let his arms slide from Gilly's neck, and the mare began to nibble his head. Neav gently pushed her nose away, managing a smile that lasted more than a moment.
"I suppose," he said, in answer to Lancelot's last question. "I had better take Gilly back home...." But as he said it he glanced at Sher-Fore, and the longing look in his ice-blue eyes told a different story.
And then, jumping back several points in the conversation to a question he had left unanswered, Neav said,
"You don't use sharp spurrs. It is good. Too many knights scar their horses that way."
Another anxious look crossed his face. Had that been rude? He had just criticized knights.
It was always so hard to tell what might make a person angry.

[Deleted]

Lancelot thought that the mare was acting just a bit strangely, or perhaps it wasn't that strange, he considered. The mare did seem to be quite happy to see Neav. Still, she seemed to be quite nervous and skittish, which might explain why she had run off, he thought to himself. Yet, the mare seemed to be trying to nudge herself closer to his stallion, Sher-Fore. He thought, suddenly, that it might just be a male-female thing.

He also noted that the boy seemed to be almost as skittish as the horse. If Lancelot did not know better he would have said he was blushing. Perhaps that was why he was keeping his head down, he surmised. Lancelot did not know what to make of the look he was giving him, but was determined to make him as comfortable as possible.

The more Lancelot watched the boy and the mare, the more that there seemed to be a natural connection between the boy and the mare. this was further born out by the way the horse nuzzled her nose in his hair. He pushed her away as if she had had quite a bit of experience at it.

Well, at least finally he had smiled. "Where would home be, then. I can take you to the edge of Balor Forest. I'm sure that you won't have any trouble to go the rest of the way, wherever it is that you call home. I assume that if you work as a stable boy in Camelot, it is somewhere close to there."

Lancelot then noticed that, once more, the boy was almost mesmerized by his Arabian stallion, and he made some quite curious comments. "Yes, I know. Many people, not just nobles, think that the best way to get someone or something to do what they want is through physical torment. There are more effective ways to do things that don't cause pain. So, I never found any reason to use spurs. My horse has always been my companion, my friend. We depend on each other .... why would I use things like those?"

[neav]

((You said Neav was a stable boy in Lancelot!!! Oh, I know I should not laugh at mistakes and I am sorry, but it did read out so funny!))

He does talk an aweful lot, Neav could not help thinking. But he was struck by the offer to be acompanied home. It seemed unusually kind. Neav decided that this was an unusual knight all-round.
"Thank you, sir," he said and could not keep the suprise from his face. He quickly checked Gillyflower's saddle incase something had twisted when she had thrown that groom, but nothing had, so he swung himself easily up. He was not as glad of the company of the knight as he was of his stallion.

"Yes, home is Camelot," he agreed and stopped Gillyflower from nibbling at Sher-Fore's coat before she had even moved.
"You, behave yourself," her told her firmly, giving her the strong feeling that she was his and not to go mooning after any stallion. It was the only reason she would understand, he knew.
He was again suprised when Lancelot du Lac said he would not torment any creature, and that he would never cause an animal pain. It was very curious. Neav wondered how Sher-Fore had been broken in. He knew how most people did it. He had first seen the process when he was six years old and had been so angry... Neav shook the memory from his mind. Now he taught all the new foals and horses himself, so he should not worry. That memory would only upset Gillyflower, he knew.
But he was curious to know, if these were Lancelot's views, if he had 'broken' Sher-Fore himself.

"Did you... did you break him in yourself?" He asked, daringly. "Or did you buy him?"

[Deleted]

((I corrected it ....LOL!))

Lancelot suddenly considered that he had been talking an awful lot. However, the boy did seem to be awfully shy any and introspective. It would not do to have total silence, now would it? Perhaps, he thought, that he had gone a bit far to escort him back, but considering his responsibilities as a knight, he thought it was something he should do.

Still, the boy was polite enough to thank him for his offer, and Lancelot could tell, it was not something that the boy was expecting, just from the look on his face. "Relax, young stable-boy, I was not always a knight or anything close to a noble. There was a time that I had nothing more than the shirt on my back, and no family to give me shelter. You are quite welcome, but truly, no thanks are necessary." He watched him to do a quick analysis of the mare's equipment, and apparently satisfied, mounted her. He still, to Lancelot's interest, seem to pay a lot of attention to his stallion.

"As I figured. with the stables there and all. Has it always been such for you?" Neav gave some instructions to the mare he was riding. It seemed that he wasn't all to happy with her behavior so far. Lancelot, though, for all of the boy's previous lack of interest in what he had talked about, did suddenly seem to be interested in what he said about his stallion, as well as how he thought animals should be trained. After several minutes of listening, the boy asked him some basic bit insightful questions.

"Unfortunately, I was not able to acquire him until some training had been given him. They were actually quite willing for me to take him off their hands. However, he has been a high-spirited horse, and his will was not broken. For the most part I trained him. I had no desire to ruin him by breaking him. I wanted a companion, not a slave."

[neav]

Being called 'stable-boy' had an oddly soothing effect on Neav. It made him feel like he was not really a person, like his only reason for existing was to be the boy of the stables. He liked that. But Sir Lancelot du Lac's claim that he had not always been a noble made Neav simply stare in shock. How in the world was that possible? People were born nobles! They didn't just become them! Neav could hardly believe it. It just did not make sense.

But he could not quite bring himself to contradict. He pushed the strange fact to the back of his mind to puzzle over later, and answered the next question.
"For as long as is important," Neav answered. What he meant was that he could not really remember the time before Camelot, and that it was not important to him anyway. Horses were his life, and there he had horses. He did not trouble himself much over his uncertain past.

When Sir Lancelot said he had acquired Sher-Fore as a high-spirited unbroken horse, Neav smiled. He liked that. Liked that the knight wanted a companion, not a slave.
"of course the best thing about that is that when you fall he will not run away!" and his tone was almost friendly.

[Deleted]

Lancelot found the young man ..... the boy ..... rather easy to talk to. It was similar, he found to when he had originally run across Merlin. The difference, though, was with Merlin, they had just been ordinary people, and of course, eventually he had found that Merlin was with Magic. When he had first said it, Lance was afraid that he might be offended with being called just a 'stable-boy'. However, he didn't seem mind it .... in fact .... he almost seemed to like it.

However, when Lancelot ha d made the reference to himself and nobility the boy did seem to suddenly stare at him, as if he was in shock. What was that all about, Lancelot wondered to himself. I a moment, though, he had passed that off, assuming that if the boy had a question that he wanted answered, he would ask, eventually. Neav's answer to his question, though, did throw him a bit. "Are you saying that any of the time before the stables, or other than the stables, was not that important?," he asked.

Neav, he came to a quick conclusion, was quite a bit different than most people Lance ran across. However, he found it to be a welcome change. He had tired of dealing with nobles that you had to watch that you not say the wrong thing, or injure someone's feelings without meaning to. He was tired of having to live up to someone else's views and wanted to set his own course on his own terms, thinking of Gwen.

He listened to Neav's good-natured response about how he had wanted to treat his horse. "Yes, in battle it would not be a good thing to have your horse suddenly abandon you and not return. In fact it could turn out to be quite fatal," he chuckled. He knew it was rather dark humor, but true nonetheless.

[neav]

"Are you saying that any of the time before the stables, or other than the stables, was not that important?,"

Neav considered this question as they rode through the forest. Yes, he supposed that was what he meant.
"Yes," he agreed with the knight. "Because I don't really remember...." his cheeks grew a little hot as he realised he would have to explain. Though he did not trouble himself over his past, that did not mean he enjoyed explaining it to others. "I was found in this forest when I was a small child, maybe only four years old. I've been stable-boy since I was six... And I don't remember where I came from, or if I had any family. So that time is not important to me."
He glanced at Lancelot, hoping the knight would not make a fuss of this story. Neav really did not like to talk about it.

So he hurried on to talk about horses again, because it was much more fun. And Lancelot's comment about needing a trustworthy horse in battle made Neav remember something. It was an old observation of his that he had never had enough courage to point out to anyone. But now he felt bold enough to try. Besides, this knight was not at all like other knights. He was kind.
"If I was leading knights into battle," said Neav, not noticing how silly the statement seemed coming from such a small, nervy boy. "I would have them all riding mares. All you knights ride stallions! It is so silly! All it takes is for your enemy to be riding young mares and your horses will go wild for them! They wouldn't listen to you."
There. He had said it at last. He had been sitting on that observation for so long that it was good to get it into the open.

[Deleted]

“Well …. lead on then,” Lancelot said, Neav mounted his mare, and they began to move slowly through the forest as they continued to converse. Lancelot was a bit amazed that the boy was as willing to speak as he was, especially considering Lancelot’s appearance as a knight. Lancelot knew, especially on his tall stallion that he could appear to be quite intimidating. To those he didn’t know well he didn’t tend to speak much, while he remained to be polite. His brownish-green traveling cloak was not fearsome, bit he knew that the two long-swords, sheathed over his back, with the two hilts sticking up just above his shoulders, were.

As the horses now plodded through the woods, Lancelot listed to the boy’s answer to his latest question. Interesting, he thought. He has no real memory of what came before in his life. Lance knew, often, if something traumatic happened, early in life, the mind simply forced itself to forget the event. Sometimes, though, people were just too young to remember much, or they did remember it, but just didn’t want to talk about it or re-live it. He wondered which of the different possibilities it was in this case.

“So, what then do you remember from those couple of years before you were a stable-boy?,” Lancelot inquired as softly as he could, knowing that it would be a tender subject for the lad. “In my case, for example, I was apprenticing to be a carpenter in a nearby town. I returned one day on a visit home when I was about fourteen, and found that some northern raiders had destroyed it and left no survivors. I tried to forget as much as I could. Today, I find it difficult to talk about ….my family. I’m not saying it’s the same with you, but it would not be unusual to try and forget what happened before. I’m just saying …. Don’t feel obliged to talk about things you don’t want to or are unable to.”

As Neav changed the subject back to horses, Lance understood, and smiled slightly. It was obvious that Neav did not want to talk about this. Probably he wasn’t very comfortable in talking about himself to and with a stranger. He was obviously, being a stable-boy as he was, much more comfortable talking about horses. He could tell that there was something that the boy wanted to say, but he seemed to be hesitating, perhaps unsure about how it would be taken. As a result, Lancelot held his tongue, patiently giving him the space and time to spit it out, whatever it was that he wanted to say. And finally he said it.

”Hmmmm …… that is an interesting observation. I don’t know, however, whether all knights ride them, or that I would necessarily call them silly. In many cases, they are the mounts that they originally trained on. Second, it may not be feasible to get all mares. However, I must say that I have seen the effect that you described. In my case, though, I doubt whether I will ever be in the position to give such battle advice. I am more of a wandering knight, although, technically, I suppose I serve the Earl of Huntingdon in Wessex, when my services are required,” he said quite matter-of-factly.

[neav]

((Argl, sorry! I thought we were alright riding...))


Neav still could not imagine how anyone could go from being a carpenter's apprentice to a knight... though he was sorry to hear that the knight had found all his family killed. Neav could only imagine how he would feel to arrive at Camelot and find all the horses - his only family - dead. The thought made him shiver all over.
But the comment that people would block terrible memories made him a little uneasy. It couldn't be true for him, could it? Neav gave a small shake of his head. He did not want to try and remember. He did not want to know.

"I'm sorry to hear about your family...." Neav said, perhaps a little awkward. He did not know how to give sympathies to a person.

Neav frowned a little. Lancelot du Lac used severel long and strange words which he did not know... what was feasible, for instance? He did not like to show his ignorance by asking. The only point he had really grasped was that Lancelot felt he could not really comment on battle strategy. That made Neav feel a little foolish. If a knight could not comment, how did he suppose that he could?
Neav searched his mind for something to say, and could not find it. Anything his said might be wrong and show that he did not actually know what the knight was talking about.

[Deleted]

Lancelot could see the uneasy and confused look on Neav's face as they traveled through the forest. Lance had to remind himself that he was used to talking with adults and nobles about issues. This was a young lad, from a fairly sheltered existence and a past that he either couldn't or wouldn't remember. Some of the concepts or theories that Lance was bandying about were well beyond him he thought.

Lancelot knew that he had already sprung quite a bit on the lad with the story of the elimination of his family. Anything more would just be too much. He had to remind himself that the boy's main interest was in the horses he cared for in the stables, and probably horses in general and not the life nor the past of a knight he might not even run into again. Besides, even though Neav had re-acquired the mare with his help, he had come pretty close,in a very big forest. that, in itself was pretty amazing.

"That's kind of you to say ..... its long ago now though .... the memories get dimmer .... life goes on. Its much the same for you I expect. You remember the stables, now, and nothing much before, it seems." It occurred to him that the boy was not much interested in him, but he did seem to be spying looks back at his black stallion.

"Anyway, you seem to have an interest in my Arabian, Sher-Fore. Have you seen much of the breed? Do you have much trouble with run-away horses, like this mare? You do seem to have some skill in finding them ..... better than most I would say."

[neav]

Neav did not know that his confusion had been noticed. If he had, he would have been quiet embarrassed. As it was, he merely nodded at Lancelot saying memories grew dimmer with time. He was glad that the knight did not seem to keep wanting to talk about troubles past.
"Yes," he agreed, not even flinching as Gillyflower danced sideways, nervous of some harmless shadow. It was almost as if he had known she would skitter before she did.

Then he grinned, because the next couple of questions were all about horses.
"Sher-Fore is lovely," he said. He has all the marking of a true Arabian, and the polite temperament also. We have some Arabians," Neav continued. "Two stallions and a mare are pure of that breed... Gillyflower is half Arabian." And it was true that the delicate Arabian face and legs showed up well on the young mare. "Most of our horses are a mixture of Barb and Arabian." Neav made himself stop, then. He could have gone for hours on the benefits of horses breeds, giving lists of the blood of almost every horse in Camelot. But he would not; he hardly thought that Sir Lancelot wanted such information. It would not really be fair to bore the knight who had saved his life.

Neav almost laughed when he was asked if he spent much of his time chasing horses. Sometimes it felt as though it were the only thing he did!
"Often enough," he answered. "Whenever anyone looses a horse it is me who is sent to fetch it. Because they know I'm fast," he added, without any hint of pride. It was merely an explanation. Neav was not really a prideful sort of person.

[Deleted]

Outside of horses, Lance did not really know what was safe to talk about with the young Neav. The boy did not seem to be very comfortable with communicating, generally, about anything else. He did get a lot of head-bobbing to what he talked about, but little else. His connection to the horse he was riding was what interested him. He had seen many horse-trainers who were not one with their horse the way this one was. He noticed that Neav's body would lean in the direction that the horse was going to move several moments before the horse even did. It was quite curious he thought.

Well, it was obvious that he appreciated a fine horse, and Sher-Fore was obviously one of those. At least talking of his Arabian stallion brought a smile to the boy's face, and that was a good thing the knight thought. "Well, that he is .... a true Arabian .... although foaled in Britain. So he has no knowledge of the harsh desert clime of his ancestors, only this cool and overcast one," he chuckled. Lancelot then listened to Neav's long discourse of the horses at the stable and their background.

It was obvious that he could go on and on, and Lance just stayed silent, allowing the boy to ramble on to his heart's content. Suddenly, though, he stopped, as if he ha realized that he had been going on for several minutes, and dominating the conversation. Sir Lancelot did not know if Neav could see the broad smile on the knight's face or not.

"Well ..... I think that if you are good at what you do, you should be modest, but not to shy about it. That's especially the case if you want to be known for what you do. I, for instance, would only want you to take care of my horse if I were a Knight of Camelot."

[neav]

Neav ducked his head, missing the smile on the Knight's face. The boy was not used to such compliments and so was unsure of what to do with it. Of course he knew he was skilled at his work. He must be, if he was given jobs such as caring for the Prince's horses. But he did not really think about it much. Certainly he was never given the opportunity to become swollen-headed - none of the stable-hands were exactly free with praise. If something was done right and well, no one said anything. It it was done wrong, there was cursing, a quick beating and the order to redo it correctly.

And it was easy for a Knight to talk about not being shy. Neav supposed no one had ever tried to hurt him for voicing an opinion. He supposed also that Knight's were not afraid of anything. It was different for them.

They were coming close to Camelot now. Glad of a reason not to have to find an answer, Neav looked up.
"We are close to Camelot, sir," he said. "Are you... are you coming into the city? Knights visit often enough." Though Neav had never caught more than a glimpse of those grand visitors, he did take care of their horses. He would not have minded Lancelot du Lac staying in the city. This knight was probably the first who Neav was almost unafraid of!

[Deleted]

They continued to move slowly back towards Camelot on the back of their two horses. Neav had apparently missed the smile on Lancelot's face caused by Neav's sudden ability to ramble on on the on the only subject the young boy really cared to talk on .... horses. Lancelot was of the opinion that people like Neav were just afterthoughts in some people's minds, when they should be given encouragement for the work they did. They were never thanked for what they did right, only punished for what they did wrong, even if it wasn't their actual fault.

He wondered if the way that Neav had always been treated by others farther up the chain of the command was the reason why he didn't freely offer up many opinions of his own, unless they had something to do with the proper care of horses, of course.

They had been traveling towards Camelot for some time now, generally. Now, though, they were about to leave the confines of the Forest of Balor, and were nearly within reach of the shadow of the wall of the city itself. "Yes, we are, Neav, you are quite right about that." Lancelot had been afraid that he would ask a certain question, and he did not disappoint. "No, Neav, I was not planning to. When we ran into each other I was actually moving in the opposite direction. I'm afraid that it would be somewhat likely that I would not be terribly welcome there. However, if you can think of a good reason why I should I will consider it."