View Single Post
Old 02-23-2006, 09:14 PM   #70
Firefoot
Illusionary Holbytla
 
Firefoot's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 7,646
Firefoot has been trapped in the Barrow!
“Never mind her, Léof, lad! She's just a silly girl lets her tongue run off and leaves her wit behind. She means no harm. It's as plain as the nose on my face that this is likely to be the finest hall in the Mark,” explained the man. Léof nodded. He had not really taken offense at the lady’s words. But there was a one who had never had to work for much in her life, who had never had to deal with the death of a mother and a careless and sometimes cruel father, who had not grown up having to look out for herself and a younger sibling besides. No, he did not feel offense, nor even resentment. But if hard times came her way, he thought she seemed more likely to break than flow with it and make it through. Though she might be several years older than him and probably had a much better education, he could not help but feel that she was mostly naïve and inexperienced. But who was he to judge? He was charged only with the care of her horse.

“And to be part of it at the beginning...I remember my own first job, lad. It's a proud thing.”

“That it is, sir, and thank you,” responded Léof. He could already feel the beginnings of respect and liking for this old man. Léof did notice, however, just how much he was being treated as a lad – even if not unkindly so - and this bothered him. He knew that he looked rather young for his age, but he was not a boy in either age or experience. His mind was immediately set to trying to figure out how he might avoid this. His first thought was to get himself cleaned up – before he went back to the mead hall, in fact. Other than that, he supposed he would simply have to prove by his actions and speech that he was not just the young stable boy.

His thoughts returned to the matter at hand. He had noticed that the horse he was leading was still quite warm from the ride – whether because he had been ridden particularly hard or had simply been pushed along at a fast pace recently, he could not quite tell. “I’d like to walk this horse around a bit more before putting him into a stall,” he told the man. The other horse did not look so tired, leading Léof to think that the man had ridden along at a more sedate pace. “If your horse is fine, if you could tie him up out here in the aisle? I can take care of it, if you’d like to head on inside,” Léof offered. He honestly was not sure how much help the man intended to give. “Or if you prefer, there is a tack room just down the aisle where you could put the saddle and bridle. And might I ask the horses’ names? And… I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name, either…”
Firefoot is offline