[Windmount Stables] Foiled Again! (Jaelyn)

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas briefly wondered whether he should claim that he was the son of Loren Dyres himself or maybe the bastard son of Petri Alvikal, but then he realized that Petri Alvikal wasn’t old enough to have a seventeen year old son yet, and Loren Dyres ... well, it was possible that Loren Dyres had fathered a son when he had been sixteen or seventeen, but lying wasn’t particularly knightly, and such lies could easily be found out. Unfortunately Lucas didn’t look anything like the Grandmaster of the Syliran Knights, but was short, skinny and had red hair. He doubted that Jaelyn would believe him if he claimed relation to such an important man. „Lucas Arias“, he introduced himself, and then he added, „My parents are both knights. Maybe you know them?“ As Jaelyn returned and adressed him, Lucas nearly jumped! „Oh ... you are back!“ he murmurred, stating the obvious. He nearly added a very heartfelt ‚petch‘ as well. It seemed as if this was one of those days where everything that could go wrong went wrong. Such days were becoming more and more frequent. He briefly recalled a very painful meeting with a little boy named Jokor. He’d thought that all that Kelwyn stuff that had happened would make him a little more lucky, but his pranks and adventures still didn’t work out as the should most of the time, and when he tried to do something heroic he often paid dearly. „Sure, let’s get started.“ He took one of the brushes and started at it as if he didn’t know what to do with it for a moment before he proceeded to scrub the door as if it were his personal enemy. And then he nearly burst out into laughter. He still couldn’t get over the fact that she had believed him! She really thought he had been asked to clean the door – or did it because he was such a nice guy! That almost made it worth it! „May I ask you something, Jaelyn?“ he wanted to know after a while. „Are you always that helpful?“ Of course knights were supposed to be helpful – Lucas tried to help those that were in need as well – but Jaelyn seemed to be a little more helpful than most, and he couldn’t decide whether she was a truly good person or boring and stupid. What he knew for sure though was that she was pretty and had a nice smile.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

"Ser and Sera Arias?" Jaelyn thought for a moment, "I think I might have spent some time with them as a Page. They were very dedicated to the Knighthood," she smiled softly in fond remembrance of the pair of Knights.

As Lucas went to work scrubbing the door Jaelyn joined beside him, scrubbing firmly at the door. While it wasn't what she would normally do for training after a little time she could see why Lucas' patron had asked him to do it. Scrubbing the large door clean with just water would prove to be exhausting work for one Squire, but hopefully a little less so with two.

At Lucas' odd question Jaelyn paused briefly, blinking in confusion, and then gave a small shrug, "A Knight is supposed to be helpful, and I am striving to become the best Knight I can," she then gave a soft smile to Lucas as she resumed scrubbing the door, "Besides, fellow Squires should help each other out in their training, right?"

[Lucas Arias]

„You were with them when you were a page?“ Lucas asked. He stopped scrubbing the door for a moment and looked at Jaelyn very closely. His eyes were wide with surprise. „I don’t remember you, but then I was most likely a page somewhere else at the time. And yes, my parents were and still are very dedicated to the Knighthood.“ He smiled a little as if he approved of that attitude. In truth he thought that they were a bit too dedicated to the Knighthood and a bit too strict in their attempts to make them into their perfect version of a little knight to be. They weren’t bad parents, but for them the skills that were necessary for him to attain knighthood were more important than anything else which was something that Lucas didn’t really agree with. Being a knight was about more than swinging your sword and protecting Syliras in his opinion. „Right. Knights are supposed to be helpful“, he agreed. „And fellow squires should help each other out – although I know a few that don’t share your opinion.“ He made a face as he thought of certain colleagues of his that seemed to really enjoy bullying others. Unfortunately his attempts to make them stop had just resulted in him being their next victim. But he really didn’t want to think about this matter further, so he shrugged his shoulders and asked Jaelyn, „What were you about to do before you decided to help me? I assume you were going to ride?“

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Jaelyn quietly nodded in agreement with Lucas as she quietly focused on scrubbing the door clean with the wet brush, but she paused when he mentioned that there were Squires who did not share her opinion, "You are right," she frowned slightly and resumed scrubbing the door with increased effort, "And people like that is all the more reason for people like us to work. So we can make sure that they do not besmirch the reputation of the Knighthood."

At Lucas' next question Jaelyn took a moment longer to finish scrubbing a particularly stubborn spot, and then gave another small nod and a soft smile to Lucas, "Yes, I was planning on doing some training on riding today. Would you like to join me? I find training is better with a partner."

[Lucas Arias]

„Do you think that’s possible?“ Lucas asked. His blue eyes were full of curiosity. „To besmirch the reputation of the knighthood? To ruin it thoroughly? I think it would take more than a bunch of lazy squires that bully others. But you are right, that’s another reason why people like us should work.“ He didn’t really feel like contradicting her right now. Since it seemed that there was no escape for him anymore, the squire did his best to finish his work quickly. When he put his mind into it, he was actually quite an efficient worker. „We are almost done, aren’t we?“ he asked and took a closer look at the door, wondering whether there was any way he could get an advantage out of this after all. Maybe his knight would give him the day off if he found out he’d voluntarily cleaned the stables. Maybe he’d go easy on him for a while. Maybe he’d get something especially good to eat this evening ... „Of course I’d like to join you“, he replied when he heard Jaelyn’s question. After the fiasco with the door and the prank that had never happened, riding was something that he actually looked forward to. „Are you a good rider?“ Should he tell her that he pretty much sucked as far as riding was concerned or should he pretend that he was good at it? He decided to do the latter, for now, and thus he added, „I love riding!“

[Jaelyn Baroth]

"I do not think a few fools could completely ruin the Knighthood's reputation," Jaelyn's voice was a little heavy as she scrubbed at the door more, reaching up to get some higher spots, "But like this door, even a little bit of dirt can dull the entire appearance. If something is spotless all it takes is a dark speck to make it not so."

"I do think so," Jaelyn responded to Lucas' question about being almost done, pausing a moment to take a step back and look over the door, "I think we can call it done about now," she gave a satisfied nod, and notcied some sweat descending from her forehead, "It was certainly a good exercise scrubbing the whole thing with just a bucket of water."

Setting her brush down Jaelyn cupped both her hands together and dipped them in the water of the bucket. Filling them with the still cold water she splashed it refreshingly on her face, getting the front of her tunic a bit wet in the process. Wiping the excess water from her face she turned and smiled softly at Lucas, "I am a fair rider, but definitely need more work. All the more reason to practice, yes? Come, let us find some horses to use," and with that she turned and head into the stable they had been cleaning.

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas pretended to try and reach some of the higher spots as well – he even climbed onto his crate again and stood on his tiptoes - but in truth he let Jaelyn do most of the work. The redhead was a firm believer in equality and that women should work just as hard as men, be it as knights or stable cleaners. „You are of course right“, he said to her as she remarked that even a little bit of dirt could dull the entire appearance and nodded, as if to emphasize that statement. „Every little bit of dirt is too much.“ In truth he thought that the so called ‚dark specks‘ were what made things interesting. Besides, without them the knights probably wouldn't have en‘ugh work. Once Jaelyn agreed that they were done, he quickly jumped off the crate again and tossed the brush away. There was a huge grin on his face now – but it disappeared again quickly. „Oh ... Jaelyn ...“ he began as he noticed that his fellow squire splashed some of the water on her face. „I don’t think you should do that. We just cleaned the door with that water. It’s probably a little dirty right now. We can find clean water and something to drink before we go on our ride.“ He approached her and looked into the bucket to check if the water was indeed dirty. As far as he was concerned, it was, and thus he decided that he’d rather sweat a little longer than put that water on his face. „Let’s take a look at the horses“, he agreed and entered the stable. He decided that he really wanted a black horse today.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

"You have a good point Lucas," Jaelyn replied with a soft smile in response to the Squire's concern, "But the coldness of it certainly did feel good. I definitely wouldn't want to drink it though. Some fresh water from the well would be nice before we get too busy riding."

Following Lucas into the stable Jaelyn looked over the horses, and then approached a mottled white and brown one. Smiling gently at the horse she slipped into the stall, and started going about the process of saddling it, starting with brushing it down, "Did you have anything specific in mind for training?" she called over to Lucas as she ran the brush through the horses hair, making sure it was free of dirt, "Or were you planning on just going for a ride?"

Much of the time Jaelyn came to the stables planning on working on her mounted combat, but today she just wanted to focus on her riding. She wanted to get to know how to move about on a horse better, and then she'd be able to better translate her fighting training on the mount.

[Lucas Arias]

„Let’s get some fresh water from the well then“, Lucas decided and took a look at the horses that were in the stable. As he had already concluded a couple of times, horses were not his favourite animals, but since he had told Jaelyn that he loved to ride and was actually quite good at it, he smiled and acted as if he were really looking forward to it. To his surprise he even spotted a black horse. It was not the savage looking stallion that would impress Jaelyn though, but a mare. At least he thought it was a mare. He hadn’t really taken a closer look at what was between the horse’s legs. He was not a pervert. „I thought I’d just go for a ride for now“, he answered Jaelyn’s question while he put a saddle on the horse and attached the reins to it. „And later on I want to practice fighting with a weapon for a bit. My knight said I really need to improve in that regard.“ Here he made a face and looked as if he were a little offended by that, as if he was already more than good enough in his opinion. In truth he wasn’t of course. When it came to fighting with both of his feet on the ground, Lucas was decent, but on a horse he pretty much sucked. „Let’s go“, he told her. He grabbed the saddle, put his left foot into the left stirrup and swung himself across the horse’s back. He actually managed to look halfway good as he did so. For a moment he had been really worried that he would just fall down on the other side of the horse, land on the floor and thoroughly embarrass himself. But fortunately it hadn’t happened, and the redhaired squire was now sitting on the black mare, a fake smile on his face.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

"If you would like," Jaelyn replied with a pleasant smile as she carefully climbed up into her own saddle, "I would be happy to help you work on your weapon training as well. What weapons do you train with?"

Gently nudging her horse's sides to get it into a light walk Jaelyn began to guide the horse out of its stall and stable and into the open fields of Windmount Stables. Outside in the open air she took a deep breath and then smiled up at Syna in the sky. It was indeed a lovely day to be out riding.

Jaelyn waited patiently for Lucas to come up even with her, and then gave him a soft smile as he did, "Shall we just go for a ride around the field then? That should be a good little warm up for both us and the horses I think."