The Stables

[King Uther Pendragon]

The stables are home to the Royal and army horses, however there is plenty of room for the horses, ponies and mules belonging to the citizens of Camelot. For a reasonable fee your horse will have good care taken of it by the resident stable master.
The sound of clattering hooves and whinnying are perpetually heard in this busy part of the grounds, combined with the welcoming scent of fresh hay.

[Lady Morgana le Fey]

(Merlin)

Fall- the world was a rich tapestry of colour. Morgana, accompanied by both Gwen and one of the palace guards had rode out that morning for a ride in the country. She had asked permission of the King to ride out that morning and make a stop at her father’s grave. It had been 10 years since he died and although she knew he would never be coming back, visiting his grave made it feel like he was still close by. As the group of them arrived at the Cairn which sat at the top of a ridge of hills, she held up a hand to stop, dismounted and went the rest of the way- less than 5 minutes away by herself. Morgana knelt by the cairn for a few minutes, silently praying and talking to her father, set an assortment of fall wild flowers on top and the rejoined Gwen and the guard. Gwen noticed that Morgana was a little off, although that was not unusual when her mistress visited the cairn.

“Is everything alright milady?”

Morgana nodded and remounted her horse with a small amount of help from the guard. “Yes Gwen, I am well.” The group turned and headed back towards the castle as they had spent most of the day out riding and enjoying the fresh air. As they approached Camelot, which one could see the castle way off in the distance, she began to see the small towns and villages between here and the castle. They continued to ride on- Morgana acknowledged anyone who was out and about whether they were small children or grown adults. She was certainly not one of the nobility who looked down on servants- her best friend was her maid Gwen, she was close to Merlin and she truly cared deeply for the peasants.

Of course, as with any ride, they eventually made it back to the castle and directed the horses to the stables. Morgana dismounted but held onto the reins in her hands. She made the decision that she would care for her own horse today- a horse that she had practically raised from foal to young mare. In a way the horse was like a kindred spirit as she herself had grown from a young child to a woman. Morgana turned to the man who had accompanied them and nodded her thanks. “Thank you for riding out with us.”
Of course he was just doing their duty, but certainly didn’t mind.

Morgana entered the stables with her horse and laughed as the horse nudged her in the shoulder. “Hold your horses’ young lady! You will get your apple...” Morgana pulled a piece of fruit that was left over from the small amount of food they had taken with them and proceeded to give it to her horse.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin had been mucking out Arthur's horse for good half hour; he never realised one horse could create so much dung! Leaning the shovel and broom against the outside of the stall, he looked around for a fresh bale of hay to line the floor.
As if on cue, Arthur's bay nickered loudly, releasing yet more dung onto the beautifully clean floor.

"No! Nooo!" Merlin cried, slumping his shoulders and reaching for the shovel that had only just been put away. He patted the horse's side with a worn smile.
" You know, I sometimes wonder if Arthur tells you to do things like this on purpose!" he chided, and wrinkling his nose with disgust, scooped up the still steaming dung, carrying it to the wheelbarrow outside.

"Morgana! Hi!" Merlin exclaimed, when he caught sight of the Lady feeding her horse. He felt slightly self conscious that he smelt so strongly of dung as he walked over to greet her with a friendly smile.

[Lady Morgana le Fey]

"No! Nooo! ... You know, I sometimes wonder if Arthur tells you to do things like this on purpose!"

Although where Morgana was currently standing she couldn’t see that Merlin was in the stables, but she could hear the shovel of someone cleaning out one of the stalls and then a cry of anguish once the shovelling stopped. A grin crossed her face as soon as she recognized the sound of annoyance to be Merlin- Arthur’s servant and a good friend of hers. Again she couldn’t exactly see what was going on but it was confirmed that it was Arthur’s horse and the odour of dung filled the stables even more than before. She just shook her head and turned her attention back to her mare who was currently eating the apple from her hand.

On his way back in Merlin must have noticed that she was there as he quickly said hi and came over to greet her. She could smell the dung that he had obviously just been shovelling out, but it was not a smell that bothered her. “Other than Arthur’s horse I hope it has been a good day for you Merlin?” Morgana’s horse Raven finished the apple and she led the mare into her stall. She then picked up a brush and while she brushed Morgana focused her attention back on Merlin.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin laughed at Morgana's question, following her into the horses stall and replying at the same time.

"Well, It hasn't been a bad day, just the usual! Cleaning up after Arthur- then redoing the things I do wrong..." He watched Morgana brushing her horse with a smile. He liked Lady Morgana. Not only was she was very pretty to look at (the tips of Merlin's ears always turned a little bit red in her presence) but he would say she was also his close friend, despite their obvious class differences.

"I wish Arthur would brush his own horse!" he joked, remembering that after he had finished cleaning the stables out, he had been instructed to groom Arthur's horse and clean his mud splattered tack.
"But not all servants are as lucky as Gwen." he added, smiling lopsidedly, not sure how obvious he'd made his compliment. Anyway, How was your ride Morgana?"

[Lady Morgana le Fey]

"Well, It hasn't been a bad day, just the usual! Cleaning up after Arthur- then redoing the things I do wrong... I wish Arthur would brush his own horse!"

Morgana nodded her head as he followed her into the stall. "While I'm sure it isn't easy taking care of Arthur, I suspect that without you he would be horribly lost although you will never hear him admit it..." Of course Morgana didn't have to be in here brushing her own horse- she could very easily leave it to the stablemen, but they knew that after a ride she liked to at least brush her own horse as a way of relaxing a bit. She truly loved her mare and took every opportunity she could to honour the animal. Morgana gave a little laugh as he groaned about wishing Arthur would brush his own horse.

"But not all servants are as lucky as Gwen."

"Technically I do not have to do this, but it gives me a way of bonding with Raven other than riding. Most of the hard care is done by the stablemen, but this is something I enjoy doing." Wait Merlin thought Gwen was lucky? The poor girl, in Morgana's eyes at least, had one of the worst jobs! She had to deal with Morgana's terrifying nightmares. It was not uncommon for Morgana to wake up screaming through the night and Gwen would be right there to comfort her. On top of that she also helped in the kitchens, cleaned Morgana's chambers- although they were rarely overly messy...unlike Arthur's. "I truly am blessed to have Gwen at my side. I do not know how my life would have changed if she had been killed under suspicions of witchcraft or any of the other times our lives have been threatened..."

"Anyway, How was your ride Morgana?"

She finished brushing the side that she was working on and switched to the other side of her horse, giving an affection pat on the nose as she went. "The ride was wonderful. It was nice to get away from the palace for most of the day and to visit my father's graveside." Of couse she would shortly have to return inside to the bustle of court, but it was nice to spend an extra amount of time outside with her horse.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin patted Raven's velvety nose as he listened to Morgana. She really seemed to appreciate Gwen. Like him and Arthur, they were close friends, despite obvious class differences. When Raven whinnied loudly, Merlin backed away... he was nervous around horses as he had no horsemanship whatsoever- unlike the nobles who rode so gracefully, or Arthur and the other soldiers who rode confidently. On horseback, Merlin bounced up and down like a doll, and complained about his chaffed legs and aching backside for days after.

"You visited your fathers grave?" Merlin often forgot that nobles such as Lady Morgana were trapped inside the palace due to the expectations of their title. "It must be nice to get out of the Castle for a bit I suppose..." he mused, picking bits of straw out of his neckerchief.

"Well Lady Morgana, it has been lovely to speak with you, but I really must finish tending to Arthur's horse- he's expecting me down in the army training grounds soon. I hope to see you soon?" Merlin gave an awkward bow and smile, then headed back towards Arthur's stall, dragging a heavy hay bale behind him.

[Lady Morgana le Fey]

Morgana smiled as Merlin approached the horse and patted her nose. She had to bit her tongue to keep from laughing as the horse's whinny scared Merlin enough to back off. Merlin was afraid of horses? Raven, was probably one of the most gentle horses in the stables- hence the reason she belonged to Lady Morgana.

"You visited your fathers grave? It must be nice to get out of the Castle for a bit I suppose..."

She nodded in response to Merlin's question. How it must have sounded wierd to him to hear that she was excited to get out of the palace on a trip to visit his grave. For saftey reasons, among other things, she often remained close to the castle walls, so to venture on a pilgrimage to her father's grave was a welcome treat that required guards to accompany them.

"Well Lady Morgana, it has been lovely to speak with you, but I really must finish tending to Arthur's horse- he's expecting me down in the army training grounds soon. I hope to see you soon?"

Poor Merlin- if Arthur was expecting him down in the training grounds it meant that Merlin's day certainly was NOT over. She chose not to comment at his awkward bow- she would prefer if he didn't bow at all, but the social lines of Lady vs. servant were very clear on protocol. "Of course Merlin. If Arthur is expecting you I would not leave him waiting to long...we both know how that ends up..." The answer to that was NEVER GOOD. "I shall see you later." With that he headed back towards Arthur's horse and she finished brushing Raven. When she finished brushing Raven, she signaled for one of the stable boys to take over the rest of the care. Morgana nodded her thanks as a young boy came over then headed back towards the castle.

(end)