The Knights' Roleplay - Silverkeep Sorcery

[Shadaras]

((Alright, here we go. Yes, this is long. It's the intro post. Deal. Welcome to the Knightly Roleplay. Please keep OoC comments on this thread to a minimum; we have Dungeon for that. I get special license for this first post to explain all that. xD ..now, onto your regularly scheduled roleplay, which (in guild canon) probably takes place before GW3.))

* * *

“It’s not that there’s a problem, exactly.” The elderly man shifted his weight, glancing around at anything except Shade.

The Bronze Knight, Royal Envoy of Dunburrow, leaned over her desk. Talking to Vladimir’s spies was not part of her job description, but since he was out for the night and she knew a lot of them anyway, she let the ones with truly urgent messages report to her. “Please, Derik. Out with it.”

Derik made a face, but he looked at her. “My lady, Fief Silverward has recently had a problem with men disappearing while they travel alone or in small groups. These men often show up days later with little memory of where they were, or indeed that they were gone for more than a night.” Derik’s voice shook slightly, and Shade idly wondered if he’d had this happen to him. He was older than most spies, but his wizened body was strong still, and his ears, eyes, and mind all sharp. “They all recalled pleasure, and some mentioned a lovely lady with hair like fire.”

Shade raised her eyebrows. “Anything else?”

The spy coughed. “Well, see... these men keep disappearing again, even after they’ve come back. Or they suddenly start staring off in the direction of Silverkeep, like in a trance. Something’s going on, and I don’t know what. It’s more magical than the guard can handle, m’lady.” He looked her straight in the eyes, his deep-set brown eyes honest and true. “Can you spare any of the color guard?”

“I’m not the king, Derik,” Shade said. She sighed. “Yes, I think we can. Please make a full report and give a copy each to Vladimir, King Kabe, and me, if you would. The sooner you give us all the information you know, the sooner we can help Silverward.”

Derik bowed and left the room without another word.

As the door closed behind the spy, Shade rested her head in her hands and muttered, “This is not going to go over well with anyone, is it?”

* * *

Jay shifted, bored. Lady Shade had sent around pages with notes to a number of knights, the Harlequin among them, asking them to report to the central courtyard of Castle Kestrel as soon as they’d eaten something. As the notes had been sent not long after dawn, Jay had been woken up by the page, and he was one of the knights who was more likely to enjoy being awake in the early morning. As the tall blond knight paced around the courtyard, he crunched an apple. He wasn’t that hungry, so he’d chosen to just take portable food and eat here, waiting for the rest to arrive.

Slowly, other knights trickled in. He recognized the Verdigris ‘Knight’; the old thief was distinctive, and the guard had dealt with him multiple times before he’d petitioned to join the knights. Jay had been quite surprised when King Kabe had agreed to the request. He still didn’t like the thief. Burns, he was called. Stupid name. Of course, the thief likely thought that Jay was an equally silly name. Jay made a face, glancing around the assembled knights. He didn’t see Lady Shade yet. Of course, few people saw the half-demon unless she wished them to; the Envoy was surprisingly good at blending in, for one who claimed not to have any magical talent for it.

Just as he thought that, Lady Shade entered the courtyard, shadowy wings folding neatly behind her back and withering away. “Glad you could make it,” she said, her voice projecting over the quiet babble of talking knights. “We received some interesting information concerning Fief Silverward from one of our spies about three days ago.” She paused, making sure everyone was listening.

Jay ran through what he knew of Silverward in his head. It was a small fief, with its main industry being silver mining, as the name suggested. The mines were just profitable enough to let the fief survive, and the lords there tended to be quiet and unambitious, for which Jay thanked the gods.

Shade continued. “Men there – very specifically men – are disappearing for a time and reappearing later with no memory of the time lost. A few remember a beautiful red-haired woman. All remember pleasure. Occasionally one of them disappears again. Those don’t come back. Most of them have been found staring at Silverkeep in a trance for no reason that we know of. You are being sent to find out what is happening to these men and put a stop to it.” She glanced around and smiled a little. “Questions?”

“You’re send—”

“Jacob, you joined the knights of your own free will.” Shade’s voice was sharper now than it had been. “Stop complaining about being sent outside Falcorum and its surrounds. King Kabe has been generous enough to have kept you here despite the number of knights needed outside. You’re going, and that is final.” Shade smiled more fully. “Any other questions?”

Jay stared at Shade, crossing his arms over his harlequin-green and sky-blue clothes. He still didn’t like the idea of going outside Falcorum, but this was for a good cause. Getting rid of a mind-controller required skilled knights. Required knights who knew about magic. He wasn’t one of those. But he knew about lords and guards. He would be of some use, he hoped. More than that bloody thief, hopefully. He didn’t care that Sariphe had been chosen to help guide the thief in his reformation; he was going to keep an eye on the Gray Blade.

A minute passed without anyone saying a word. Jay glanced sullenly back at Shade, who was looking around with a cool smile. She nodded, and then said, “The sooner you leave, the better. I suggest leaving by noon; if you have any questions before then, you may come and ask either myself or Vladimir. The stables have been notified of your need for mounts already, so don’t worry about that.” Shade laughed, spreading her wings. “Worry about what you might find.” With that, the Bronze Knight, Royal Envoy of Dunburrow, leapt into the air and flew towards the watchtowers.

Jay watched her go, and as soon as she was out of earshot started swearing and cursing whoever had decided he had to leave his home and family to go chase some god-forsaken mind-meddler. He’d do his duty, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Still cursing under his breath, Jay started heading back into the castle. Let the rest of them muddle around if they must; it all seemed clear to him. Pack, say goodbye to any family or friends, and then leave and hope they got to Silverward and Silverkeep before anything horrendous happened.

[Deleted]

The note had arrived early in the morning in the hand of a furiously blushing page. Sarn took the slip of parchment without a word and shooed the boy away, pulling his shirt back over his head and slipping his wings awkwardly through the back. The small group of young trainees around him had all stopped what they were doing and were gazing at him intently. They were long bored of archery training and were apparently eager to see what a real knight did.

“What have you stopped for? None of you has yet been able to hit a target, I suggest you keep trying because you’re not leaving here until someone does!” snapped the Golden Knight. He was not a morning person.

The young men returned to their half-hearted and, in Sarn’s opinion, pathetic attempts to hit the large painted shields he had hung from the trees earlier that morning. But all of them took any chance they got to steal a glance at their teacher. He ignored them and opened the note.

Immediately recognizing Shade’s handwriting, his eyes scanned the note quickly. He looked up at his useless pupils. “You’re dismissed,” he said sharply and was about to turn away when one of them called out to him.

“You said the class wouldn’t be over until someone hit a target.” His tone was like a sneer, almost mocking the Feberi.

Hours of frustration boiled to the surface as Sarn whipped around and, in one stroke, fitted and loosed a golden-fledged arrow. The group watched its progress as if in slow motion as it struck the very center of the target. A moment after impact, the entire shield fell from the tree with a great crash, but by the time they turned their eyes back to Sarn, the Golden Knight was already in the air far above them, fuming silently about the insolent fools.

He landed in the courtyard and folded his wings, trudging moodily to the group of knights clustered around the half-demon. He listened closely as Lady Shade began to speak.

”Curses,” he thought to himself. His enchantment was the child of music, but this sounded like a subtle type of sorcery, about which he knew very little. Nevertheless, he would do his utmost. He was about to lift back into the air again, ready to head for Silverward right away, but a thought flickered into his mind. He lowered his wings slowly and cursed out loud.

“Burns!” he barked. Normally Sarn would have flown to any location in half the time it took for others to travel on horseback, but now that he had a reformed thief to ward, he would have to travel the slow way in order to keep an eye on him. This did not help Sarn’s mood one bit.

[Deleted]

Ro stood in the middle of the group, arms folded over her chest as she chewed on the remnants of her breakfast. Her characteristic scowl only deepened at hearing the situation. Mentions of mind-control, trances, and periods of blankness brought back unpleasant half-memories.

Even without that, just the mention of the possibility of magic meant the reminder of her cousin. Haizen, her cousin. As if this wasn't bad enough. At least she was busy elsewhere...hopefully.

The Amaranth Knight turned and wound her way back to her room without a word, mulling things over in her head. Annoying as it was, her experience would probably be of use here. Sensing magic would be as well. If it was dark magic or anything of the sort, she'd pick it up immediately.

The knight sighed, fitting a chainmail shirt over her tunic and donning a cloak over that. Her shortsword went at her side, a long sword tucked into a small package of what she wanted to carry. She glanced up at the space over her bed, and reached up to take down the shield. A field of red, with the golden hawk of her family emblazoned upon it. May as well look official.

That done, she stepped out to the stables. The sooner they could leave, the better.

[Tam]

"...And once again, I'll remind you that these animals must be ready by noon," the squat man insisted. "This undertaking is of the utmost importance. Everyone's quite worried, even the King."

The blonde girl poked her head up from the other side of the chestnut mare, smiling benignly. "Utmost importance. Worried king. Got it." She ducked back down and went back to cleaning the mare's hooves.

The portly man fidgetted, obviously not at ease in the stables. Hoping to reestablish eye contact with the girl, he took a tentative step around the horse -- and immediately regretted it. His very best shoes, too.

"I must confess I'm not entirely sure that you were the intended recipient of these instructions," he said, scuffing his foot along the dusty floor as surreptitiously as he could. Horses in the surrounding stalls perked their ears forward and watched him with interest. "Where's the fellow who's usually in charge around here?"

"Breakfast, sir," she called. "I already ate, so I volunteered to keep an eye on things while he's gone."

"Ah." The man glowered at his shoe, which he was now quite positive would bear a stain. "Well, do pass on my message, won't you?"

The girl popped up from behind the horse again. "As sure as eggs is eggs," she said brightly. "Sir."

He looked at her more closely. "One moment..." he narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you that young lass? The Orange Knight?"

She frowned, seeming to give this a great deal of thought. "You know, I might have been. Once." Without another word, she turned away and began rummaging through a box of grooming supplies on the ledge behind her.

"You should be in the courtyard," the man tried. "The Envoy wants the whole colour guard present."

"Nope," she said, her voice losing some of its chipper quality. "I should definitely be here. Much more useful for me to be here, yep."

Unamused, the man frowned. "I'll tell them the horses will be ready by eleven, then, shall I."

"You shall indeed."

As the sounds of his somewhat haughty retreat faded from the stable, the girl allowed herself an indulgent grin.

A black cat glowered at her from the rafters. You disgust me. The thought reached her mind as easily as if it had been spoken by the animal.

"Don't worry," Tamia replied lightly. "I was just playing with him. I hate pompousness."

Oran flicked his tail, unimpressed. Which is, of course, excellent behaviour for a knight -- excuse me, someone who 'might have been, once'.

She scowled. "I'm still the Orange Knight. I officially rejoined, after all. If they really need me, they'll come get me. And they won't send a note, or some stuffed-up servant to do it."

The cat leaped down to land on the stall nearest Tamia. You haven't been much of a knight since you got back, he said.

The girl exhaled in annoyance, then softened. "I don't know if I want to be, anymore," she said quietly.

A pause. What do you remember of the last two weeks?

She shook her head, going back to sorting the box of tools. "Nothing. Nothing from before the hilltop."

Good, the cat said.

She looked up, sharply. "It is not good," she snapped. "And until I figure out what did happen, I'm going to keep feeling lost and confused, and I certainly won't start being much of a knight. So thanks for your help there." She threw a handful of hoof picks into the half-sorted box and stormed away.

Where are you going? the thought came after her.

"I'm going outside to wait for the knights to come pick up their bloody horses," she replied angrily.

I hope you like cleaning hooves, the cat said in a sulky tone, curling up beside the stable door. Because at this rate, you're going to be doing a lot of it.

[Rikku]

Old habits die hard. That morning Burns had woken up precisely an hour before dawn, out of habit, and ran for half an hour, also out of habit. He’d almost swum (out of habit), but he wasn’t entirely certain of the layout of the castle’s grounds quite yet, and besides which, people were not generally pleased when you splashed around in their moats or ornamental duckponds or what have you.

Old habits die hard. If he was still disoriented in Castle Kestrel, it was because he was making every effort to keep himself so. It was too easy to fall into his usual way of thinking, noting escape routes and amounts of stairs. Knights did not note escape routes. Knights were the ones people did the escaping from.

But old habits die hard, and so that morning he’d woken up precisely an hour before dawn, and then he’d leaned against the wall and munched on bread and honey as he watched the sun rise. The day had started off well, and was only getting better. Why he was one of the ones trusted to handle a mission as important as this was entirely beyond his comprehension, but if his King or his King’s underlings thought he could somehow help those people, he certainly wasn’t about to question it.

He smiled widely at the Harlequin Knight, wondering why the man had grimaced at him like that. Then again, he (Jay, wasn’t that it? Stupid name, but he probably thought Burns was an equally silly name) made no secret of his dislike. He should probably talk to him –

“Burns!”

- but he should certainly heed Sarn first. One had to be careful when one was on probation.

He ambled over to the knight and inclined his head. “Here, sir,” he said cheerfully, partly because he was a naturally cheerful person, partly because the idea of ‘sir’ing someone half his age amused him. “Pleasant morning, is it not?”

And after this, to the stables. Stables, he thought automatically, good hiding place if you keep out of sight. He then winced internally. Knights shouldn’t think like thieves.

But old habits die hard.

[Draco]

Dragus was relaxing under a tree just outside the castle. He only just arrived back to the castle the previous evening, and today was his day of rest. He didn't even have a chance to unpack his wagon yet. He only took a change of clothing, and a few items he was to give to the king. The rest was left next to the wagon for some of the workers to take; a few items for the weapon keeper, and a number of things for the kitchen. What remained was his stuff.

He got up that morning from his bed first thing in the morning. Even if it was his day off, he couldn't help but wake up like the rest of the knights. It was just his routine, even if he did want to sleep. He spent the morning doing a few basic exercises, got a few small things to eat, and was now under a tree relaxing.

A small fox was stretched out next to him with it's eyes closed. It's ears perked up when a young man approached the two. When he got close enough the fox took off and hid itself in a bush. Dragus looks up at the man, who handed him a note and took off. Reading the note he sighed to himself, and got up. He tossed what little of his meal he had left to the bush, and picked up his katana sword. He strapped it to his belt and walked off. As he walked he brushed off the dirt on his black coat. His azure tunic showed itself as he walked.

---

The meeting in the courtyard didn't take to long, but with the meeting came a mission. He had been to the areas around Silverward before, but never to Silverward in general. It had been a while since he was on any real mission that didn't involve trades or diplomacy. A smile spread across his face, "Maybe cutting my day off short wouldn't be so bad." He began to walk to the stables to check on his wagon, and the gear inside.

[M is for Morphine]

The page arrived to find Elsa still asleep. Rising with the sun was for roosters, in her philosophy. She shooed him out of her room and read the message while she hastily got dressed. There was no time for a proper sit-down breakfast. If she hurried, she could probably swing around and grab something from the kitchen without being terribly late.

When she showed up at the courtyard, she was still munching on a crusty heal of bread. A fair little rainbow of knights had already gathered. The colors made the meeting look a lot more festive than the business at hand would imply. Elsa reached the back of the group just before the figure in the center started speaking.

-----

She'd taken many long journeys on horseback before, but they had all been for a different kind of business. Well, whether it was commerce or magical intrigue, some things remained constant. First things first: never eat the food at an inn. Or drink what they facetiously called wine. Hopefully the kitchen could be persuaded to part with a wineskin, in addition to the other supplies she was requesting.

Abraxas would be waiting for her in the stables. With luck, the stable master could be talked into lending her one of the castle's mules, and some oats for the road.

[Shadaras]

“Burns!”

The order hadn’t been directed to him, but Jay paused anyway, turning just in time to see Burns looking in his direction with a silly grin plastered over his face. Jay stopped and crossed his arms, leaning on the wall by the door. If the thief acted at all like a knight should, he’d be easier to like. Or at least, to not dislike. Sarn, on the other hand, exasperated Jay for a entirely different reason: the Feberi just wasn’t at all like the guard. He was a mage, for one thing. His magic was music-based, for another. And he was rather flighty, all things considered.

Jay banged his head gently on the wall behind his head. He wasn’t a knight-master. He wasn’t even ranking among the Color Guard, let alone the whole contingent of Knights that rode under Dunburrow’s banner. He didn’t need to worry about who had what temperament and why they got certain assignments and not others and he certainly didn’t need to hear what Sarn wanted Burns for. But he was curious, so he stuck around and listened.

Burns was cheerful as ever, though he wasn’t sure how much of that was a mask and how much was real. Jay tried to resist the urge to scowl again; he did that entirely too much around the thief.

Most of the other knights had already left the courtyard by now. The other ones that hadn’t, Jay didn’t pay much attention to. He was glad that most of the knights he’d be riding with had a sense of duty, though; after the guard he wasn’t sure what to expect, but he’d ridden home patrol with the guards often enough while training to be a knight, and even when he’d been too young for the knights but old enough for the guard. He knew roughly what to expect from a ride: long days, too-short nights, uncomfortable beds, food that all tasted the same after a while.

Jay listened to Burns finish speaking and glanced at Sarn, wondering what the Feberi’s reaction to Burns’s pleasantry would be, as the Gold Knight seemed in a rather foul mood at the moment.

[Draco]

Dragus pushes open the doors to the stables and walks over to his wagon. He walks right over to his wagon. As expected, the stuff laying next to it has been taken away to their destinations.

"I wonder what I should bring along..."

He lowers his head and looks at what he was wearing. Simple, yet nice clothes that he usually wore when not on duty, and on a couple cases on duty. A light leather tunic, pants, his coat, and his sword. He rummages through the wagon and takes out a bag and chest.

Opening the chest reveals his armor, azure body armor, a helmet to match that resembled a dragons head slightly, and arm and leg armor to match. In the bag, was his more preferred uniform. A stronger leather tunic, and other parts.

He sets the two uniforms aside and looks at the other things in the wagon. A few moments later his horse walks into the stable and into it's stall.

"Well you finally made it back."

He remembers how his horse, Okita, took off on him in the middle of the woods miles away from the castle during a rest.

"You have to keep taking off on me like that. I don't want another incident like the time you left me in Tabloid town to walk the rest of the way with the wagon."

The horse ignores him and eats.

"And you're not listening... Well we're going on another trip, so rest up while you can."

He continues to go through the wagon. Taking things out and piling them behind the wagon.971

[Deleted]

Too cheerful. Much too cheerful. Sarn’s foul mood wasn’t helped by the manner in which his … Squire? Page? … Whatever he was, Burns was too happy to be innocent.

“What have you been doing this morning?” he snapped harshly. Although he believed in Burns’ sincerity, he wasn’t taking any risks with the Grey Blade running around Castle Kestrel. He had been assigned to watch other the man and if anything went wrong, he knew he would be held accountable, not only to the other knights, but to the King himself.

He flicked a hand to indicate that the two of them should start walking and nodded politely to the other night, Jay. Sarn crossed the courtyard and headed towards the stables. He wouldn’t need a mount but Burns would, and that frustrated him somewhat. “Come on, keep up!” he called over his shoulder, still waiting for an answer to his question.

[Tam]

You do realize, though, said Oran, padding up to Tamia where she stood glowering in the shade of a gnarled willow tree, that they could be talking about something important, don't you?

"I would assume so," she replied coolly, without looking at him. "Which is why I cleaned up their horses and put them in the stalls to wait."

Are you thinking of, I don't know, going with them? the cat asked, distaste written on his face as much as it was possible for a cat's face to display.

"Oran, I don't even know if I--" She broke off, as a figure strode past and entered the stables purposefully, apparently not even noticing her.

"Dragus...?" she murmured, bemused.

It looks like they're aiming for a hasty departure, observed Oran. Look.

Tamia squinted into the sunlight and was surprised to see a whole pack of knights heading their way, all presumably coming from the meeting in the courtyard.

"Lord Puffiness wasn't joking," she mused. "That must be the whole Colour Guard, and then some."

The cat smirked. Curious yet? he taunted, but when he looked back to the girl, she was gone.

"Lord Dragus," Tamia started, crossing the stable floor to where the Azure Knight was rummaging through his wagon. He appeared to have laid out most of his belongings on the cobbles around him, and Tamia hoped that he was out of the way enough that they wouldn't get trampled into dust when the other knights arrived. "Did you just come from the meeting? I wonder if you could tell me what all this fuss is about?"

[Rikku]

It was astonishing how someone so angelic in appearance could seem so very annoyed.

“What have you been doing this morning?” snapped Sarn, rather harshly. Burns smiled, amused at this show of distrust. Of course, he hadn’t expected people to warm to him straight away, but … well, it was one thing to expect people to be suspicious, and entirely another for them to be so open about it. He almost found himself admiring the Feberi’s honesty, and would have told him so, if he had the least idea of how to pronounce ‘Feberi’. Stars and Stones. He would most likely end up calling Sarn’s people the ‘February’ or some such thing, and that would not suit at all.

Likewise unsuitable was the first answer to Sarn’s question that came to mind, which was a tad sarcastic. He bit it back in time. But then he had to try and figure how he could say ‘I woke up. Then I went for a run. Then I ate. Then I came here’ without sounding sarcastic, which was a challenge in itself.

Burns had never paid so much attention to his choice of words, and it irked him. But then again, Burns had never been in a situation so precarious, either. Even if some rich mark realised that, no, tall friendly man with the gloves and the sword wasn't part of his household staff, all he could do was call for guards or slap a gauntlet in your face. If he went wrong here, things would be worse, far worse.

So he paid undue attention to his words, which had the unfortunate effect of Sarn walking away before he could answer.

“Come on, keep up!” Sarn called over his shoulder, and Burns trotted easily up to him.

“I went running,” he answered, finally. Sometimes simple was best. “Do you know of any good lakes or rivers near the Castle? Any decent-sized body of water. Running is good; swimming is better.”

Then he added, “But flying is best, yes?” He grinned. “Certainly better than riding, I should think.”

He was fairly happy with this. It was just the kind of thing that might actually move them into a conversation, and anything more than Sarn barking orders and Burns saying ‘sir’ would be welcome to him. Provided Sarn actually responded. He didn’t seem to be in the best of moods.

Well, even if he answered it would be a dull sort of conversation. But any conversation was better than nothing. Burns loved to talk.

He wondered idly if that Jay fellow would be interesting to talk to and decided, no, a conversation in which one party did nothing but glower and grimace and glare would be no conversation at all.

On the other hand, it would be plenty entertaining.

[Draco]

<<Stables>>

Dragus stops what he is doing and turns to Tamia. He bows his head slightly in greeting.

"It would seem people are disappearing in Silverward. It would also seem that men are the prime targets." He continues to explain the details on the story. "So now we are to go and investigate these disappearances and this red haired women. I also believe us men will need to rely on our female comrades to keep our heads straight!" A small chuckle escapes his lips as he turns around to place his last bag into the wagon, and place the rest in the pile on the floor.

"I don't think I will be taking the wagon with me. It seems to be to troublesome to bother."

Glancing around the room, he looks to see if anyone else have shown up. "More people should be coming to check on their horses or borrow a horse for travel soon."

[Deleted]

Burns hurried after the Feberi who was doing his best to keep his annoyance at bay. Normally he was an easy going fellow, perhaps too much so for a knight, but something about this day was making his temper short. The older man finally replied to Sarn’s question.

“I went running, Do you know of any good lakes or rivers near the Castle? Any decent-sized body of water. Running is good; swimming is better.”

Sarn found his mind wandering to the landscapes he had passed on his frequent flights over Falcorum and the lakes and rivers he had seen pass far below him. He remarked about a few of them, particularly the river that ran from the mountains and traced a path south of the castle, but his offhand mumbles were cut out by Burns’ next remark.

“But flying is best, yes? Certainly better than riding, I should think.”

“Oh, flying, yes!” Sarn gave an almost involuntary skip and turned slightly to look at his charge. “Yes, much better. I don’t have to drag my wings over the rough ground, I can just soar right past all obstacles and there is so much freedom ... so much joy. Did you know that Feberi flight is directly related to our enchantment? The first wings were given by enchantment to a crippled Feberi woman who wouldn’t have been able to move were it not for that gift. And she is the mother of my race ...”

As he kept talking, Sarn began to bounce while he walked, lifting his wings and flicking them slightly. The further along they got, the higher he went until he was almost leaping along, taking great strides and using his wings to propel himself. It wasn’t until they had reached the stables that he realized what had happened.

Sarn glanced at Burns with an air of dawning comprehension.

You cheeky little … The Feberi smiled wryly. He’s good. I’ll give him that.

[Rikku]

Burns gave an internal smile as Sarn waxed poetic about flight. In fairness, it did sound wonderful. To soar in a skein of sky, to waltz with the wind, to … alliterate …

They reached the stables. Burns's internal smile slipped into an internal wince. Horses. I hate horses.

But he’d be a worthless sort of squire if he couldn’t even prepare a horse.

“I’ll … go get my horse, shall I?” he said, his grin a lot less sincere than it generally was. He was assuming that Sarn didn’t want a horse. It made sense; no one who was so fond of flying could see much appeal in jolting around on some animal’s back.

Burns went off to fetch a horse. Gloomily.

But by the time he’d entered the stable he was restored to his normal good cheer. It was a pleasant enough morning, and he was going to help people, and things were interesting, and there would be, finally, a chance to get to know some of his fellow knights and show him that a man could change his colours after all.

“Early one morning,” he sung, in his good-natured rumble of a voice, “just as the sun was rising, I heard a maid sing in the valley below …”

He broke off as he came up to a horse’s stall. It looked at him. He looked back.

He sighed.

“Ho!” he called to a couple of people who stood talking, a young woman with turquoise-ish eyes (kind, friendly, could probably be trusted to keep his presence secret if he spun some tale of woe) and a young man with messy black hair (more dangerous, and he didn’t like the look of that kata – knight, not thief, knight, not thief). “Would either of you be knowing anything of horses?” He grinned cheerily. “I will admit to a lack of experience in the matter.”