Mucking out the Stables (open)

[Maura Bracken]

The horses had been turned out to the field for exercise or riding so Maura could muck their stalls out. The stable smelt of horse dung, straw and horse. It was a pleasant and comforting smell, one she was used to.

The day was already hot and the sweat on her palms made the gloves she wore damp and sticky. She drove the ends into the dirty straw and then lifted it up and into the wheel burrow. A few more bundles and she had the dirty straw out. Maura paused, curling her arm around the pitchfork and leaning her head against the handle. After cleaning out five stalls, she was feeling grimy and gross.

"Eight more ta go," Maura said outloud. "And the bloody mice are back." It seemed this time of year, she was always chasing out mice. A little one was scampering across the ground in the shadows.

[Gaius Martyn Augustinus]

Walking carefully lest his usual palace slippers get dirty, Gaius made his way to the stables to give Nix his weekly apple. The old mule was quite got on in years, swayback giving the beast of burden an almost comical appearance, but the mule had taken Gaius on journeys in his younger years, and the old man felt he owed the creature a nice little treat every now and again.

Besides, a little walk in the air would get him out of the drafty damp castle.

"Good day to you, Maura" Gaius said genially to the familiar face. Then he frowned. "Good gracious.... why are you staring at your feet?"

[Maura Bracken]

"Good morrow," Maura answered automatically as she tried to spy where the mice were hiding this year. There would be water down their hole when she found it. Even if she did flood some of the surrounding buildings.

"Oh I'm trying to imagine them in silky slippers tha' the rich lasses like ta wear." She lied easily but then grinned and pointed in the direction where she thought there were mice. "Just saw a mouse is all. They're always comin' here when winter is close. For the warmth and grain I reckon. Gotta find their hole so's I can drown 'em. Unless you want 'em for sommat?" Gaius seemed to be in touch with forces she could not comprehend. A feeling that grew from her uneducated state. Besides, she knew that some magic users could use life to make magic. Her brother had.

The thought left a sour feeling in her belly.

"Nix is out with the other beasties. He was trying ta eat moths before. They were botherin' him."

[Gaius Martyn Augustinus]

"Bah!" Gaius snorted, scowling so that his droopy jowls were especially pronounced. "Slippers are rubbish! Just look at these wretched things." Holding up his robes slightly, he revealed the slight material of the footwear, his bony ankles protruding above. "No good out-of-doors, no good! Even in the castle, the drafts still swirl about me robes. Your sturdy boots, lass, are best suited for your line of work."

The offer of mice piqued the old man's interest. "If you catch any alive, I'd be much appreciative, Maura. I'll pay you a halfpenny each.... a whole penny if you get them alive. But I need no more than five. Five, you'll remember?" The old man shuddered, imagining his rooms crawling with vermin. "Make that four."

The young woman's expression did not escape him, her wariness over what he might do with mice. His mouth twitched slightly with humor. "I've a snake, my child, that needs feeding. Milking the snake venom for medicines is why it's there. Nothing more nefarious than that."

Gaius set the apple to the top of a wood rail. "Then Nix shall have his treat a little later. How is that hand I patched up last week? Giving you any trouble?"

[Maura Bracken]

"An' what if I dream o' being a lady who don't care about tha' stuff. Only about pretties?" Maura propped her fists on her hips and scowled at Gaius. He took her up on the offer of mice however and Maura crossed her arms, both unsure what he would do with it magically, but knowing she would do for the money. Her expression changed to confusion when he said he had a snake.

"Oh, my hand is good." She flexed her hand to prove it. Several nights ago she had managed to cut her hand. There had been alot of blood and a nice ache that night. But Gaius's messes fixed it right up.

"Don't ye kill things for well magical stuff?" She asked not realising how deeply she was displaying her ignorance. "Ye are magic aren't ya? And well I know life is used sometimes. I've seen it." There was a slightly haunted look in her eyes.

[Gaius Martyn Augustinus]

Gaius chuckled. "Not you, Maura. You're too sensible for such frivolities. Stay that way.... please? There are so few left of us in the world."

The old man's brows scrunched low as Maura stated her questions. Realizing this would no longer be a quick trip to the stables, Gaius moved over to a stool and seated himself. "No, dear child. I do not kill things for magical 'stuff'. That would be an abomination and wrong." Picking fussily at his robe sleeves, Gaius went on. "There is some magic that uses life-force to make itself more powerful, but it is a dark art, a terrible art. And...." He leaned forward, his voice growing ominous. "....It always exacts a price to use that sort of magic. Always."

Slightly shocked to hear that Maura, normally a steady, able person, had actually witnessed that sort of magic, Gaius frowned. "Seen it? Whatever do you mean?"

[Maura Bracken]

It felt like someone had doused her in a bucket of cold water. Maura crossed her arms and shifted from foot to foot, chilled to the bone and her stomach as heavy as ice. Although she wished she was cool, stoic and hard to read -- Maura's distress flickered over her face. When she had witnessed her brother killing another person for magic, she had assumed he was just taking what was normal too far.

"I must have mis-saw," Maura lied badly. She had been right to cut her bother from her life but still she wondered if it was really so bad. The nobles fought wars to get power. Assassins killed by contract. A human killed beasts. Was it really so wrong? Frowning, Maura grabbed a box and placed it so she could sit in front of Gaius.

"What sort of price?" She asked while pulling her feet onto the box and cuddling her knees to her chest. "What makes it so dark anyway? People always use the lives of others. Just in different ways."

[Gaius Martyn Augustinus]

Gaius looked kindly on the girl, his eyes taking in all. This subject was a personal one for her, he could see. This wasn't mere curiosity.

"It exacts a price on the soul," the old man said gently. "Magic is not merely a tool, apart from the body like a sword or a piece of clothing. Those who have natural magical ability do so because it is part of their being, part of their body. It works because of their life-force. When a magic user takes another life to use for magic, the life-force is, in part, absorbed into themselves. That is why it is said the darkest magicians are the most powerful.... and have the shortest lives. They may burn brightly but also quickly."

Gaius shrugged. Much of this was actually person conjecture on his part, but in his long years, he had observed much. He was speaking from experience. "I know of no creature no matter how small or insignificant who would give it's life willingly, do you? Only if the life is given freely and with no reservation can the magic not taint the magician."

The old man leaned forward and patted Maura's hand. "Please don't worry. I am an old man and certainly not an expert in the field. I use magic occasionally only when in the direst of circumstances. I find my mixtures and medicines and a strong dose of common sense to often be just as powerful as magic, so those are the tools I prefer. But tell me, Maura..... who is it that is so affected in your life?" Gaius said the last gently but with concern.

[Maura Bracken]

"Ye got old for a reason, sir. Tis world ain't exactly all roses and fluffy things." She murmured and then chewed on the edge of her tongue as she tried to come up with a hole in Gaius's logic. If this was all true, then by rights she should tell Gaius about Langston, her brother. But she could not be responsible for her brother's loss of freedom or life. She could cut herself from her family, but never harm them.

"What happens to someone who is caught practicing dark magic?" Maura asked softly, uncomfortable under the weight of Gaius's concern. "I mean, is it outlawed in Camelot? Like all magic used ta be?" Even if Gaius might profess ignorance, right now he was the only learned person Maura knew.

[Gaius Martyn Augustinus]

Gaius rested his chin on his chest and observed his interlaced fingers for a moment in thought. Ahh, this was it -- Maura knew someone close who was dealing with dark magic. This was indeed serious.

"The punishment for being caught performing dark magic is.... muddy. Each is handled in a case-by-case basis, I believe." What he meant to say was that the judgments were entirely at the discretion -- and the 'mood' -- of King Uther, but though Gaius was a long-term, trusted servant, he was not a fool. Talking negatively about a monarch was a good way to see oneself thrown to the dungeons.

"However, it would be a good friend indeed who encouraged their acquaintances to give up the practice -- for their own soul's sake as well as their lives'. There are endlessly fascinating and often powerful aspects of good magic to explore without tainting oneself with the dark." The old man's brows rose at Maura, his look pointed and direct.

[Maura Bracken]

Maura frowned, that didn't bode well. Sounded to her like a person needed money to soften the law. That was how things worked. Then her lips went tight in response to Gaius's pointed comment.

"I know nothin' about magic. So I can't be persuading anyone even if they are likely ta listen to me." She rubbed her fingers together and glanced to the side, watching another mouse. It waddled quickly to a hole and vanished. Maura grinned, so that's where the little beasties were going.

"I caught my brother . . . Langston killing and I felt it. The magic. It was cold. Very cold." Suddenly, she fixed Gaius with a stubborn look. "Ye can tell but I won't be part o' his I dunno, is hanging. He said it was for power an' I believe him. Ye don't what its like, not knowin' where yer next meal is gonna come from. If he has ta kill and take souls ta get ahead, well the nobles have ta take our coin and lives to keep their places." She gestured irritably at the empty stalls.

"Hells, I take care of their blasted precious beasts an' I still have ta scrape together coin ta eat and have a place to sleep. We do what we can."

[Gaius Martyn Augustinus]

Gaius sat up straighter, frowning. His eyes were sharp. "Maura, if he is killing, that is wrong. Don't you see that?" Unless.... did she mean killing people or animals? "You did mean murder, right? The killing of another life like his own? That would be a terrible offense and he must be stopped, whatever his justification."

Sitting back, somewhat affronted, Gaius heard the bitter undertones in Maura's voice. "Maura, please don't become like this -- embittered and angry over things you cannot change. No, life is not always fair and it is very hard, but there are good things too, and there's usually a way to carve out an existence for yourself if you try. Don't think of this work as serving the nobles, but as aiding those beings who appreciate you the most -- the beasts of burden. They have no judgment or malice in their hearts, only appreciation for you -- albeit on a most basic, primal level -- and all that you do for them. Do you wish to take your anger out on them?" His tone was gently chiding but Gaius hoped he was getting through to the girl.

The old man glanced around to make sure they weren't being overheard. Talk such as Maura was spitting was treasonous.

[Maura Bracken]

Feeling sick, Maura dropped her eyes and rubbed her hands against each other. It wasn't so much Gaius's words that bothered her, making her swallow and try to keep her eyes dry. It was that she agreed with him. Killing another human, that was never right. It should never be right. Stealing souls, that was bad. Real bad. But Langston was family . . .

"I know killing is wrong," she admitted miserably. "I know it, I mean I don't . . . I avoid him. But he's family and I can't . . . nah I wont be part o' his punishment. Wont betray my own family." Again she looked at the empty stalls, some more left to muck out.

"I aint blamin' the beasties. I'm blamin' those tha' make some of us poor. Make us do things we'd rather not." Suddenly she stood up, still rubbing her arms as if cold.

"I've kinda put ye on the spot there. Look, why don't I take ye out to the paddock. I'm sure ye'll want me to apologize to my poor charges." Maura grinned, trying to put the talk behind her.

[Gaius Martyn Augustinus]

Pushing himself to his feet with a small groan, Gaius gave Maura a look, then lowered his eyes. If she wished to now change the subject, he would not push her. But as they moved toward the outside, the old man stopped her with a gnarled hand to her arm.

Lifting Maura's chin so she was forced to look at him, Gaius murmured, "Listen your heart, Maura of Camelot. Heed what it tells you. Our inner voice is most often correct, and I suspect yours is telling you what to do.... even if your head will not listen."

Patting the girl's shoulder, Gaius turned and retrieved the apple, then strolled in an unhurried manner outside. "Now.... shall we see if Nix can be enticed away from grazing to speak to an old friend bearing gifts?"

[Maura Bracken]

Maura couldn't help but smile at Gaius's quiet wisdom. He was a good man, even if he did sometimes give her the willies. He was wrong however, her heart was a tangled mess of mixed loyalties. It was the cool cut of logic that was telling her what she should do.

"I'm sure they'll all come a'running over and start flirting," she rolled her eyes as she headed out of the stables. "Shameless beasties they are, when ye have an apple." It was a short walk to the paddock but mindful of Gaius's slippers, she tried to skirt the worst of the mud and muck. When they reached the paddock, Maura opened the gate enough for them to squeeze through. The paddock itself was grassy with a water trough sheltering under a large oak. The oak's roots broke up the earth metres from it and there was such an aura of awareness about it Maura had to stop herself from leaving shiny trinkets and sour milk.

"See? Here they come?" Nix too was approaching with a few of the mares. "Aint they gorgeous?" She let herself be inspected by the mares and suppressed a laugh when one started searching her pockets for food. The others were all hopeful at Gaius.

"Nix got much ta say?"