An ominous thud echoed around the courtyard, something the swarming workers were quickly getting used to. The skinny boy, with his raven hair sticking to his forehead, clambered up, running after the brown mare he'd been trying to ride. He soon caught hold of the reins, trying to soothe the excited horse. The boy leant against the now slightly calmer horse, trying to catch his breath. A familiar cry could suddenly be heard over the buzz of the onlookers:
"Merlin!"
After two failed attempts at a hunting trip, both of which were cancelled due to the lack of a certain servant, Arthur had taken it upon himself to teach Merlin exactly how to ride a horse. Which was proving itself harder than it looked.
Arthur turned back on his horse, after hearing the third in a series of thuds coming from behind him. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the servant who was currently lying on his back, letting his horse run wild around one of the smaller courtyards. He slid off his rather proud-looking stallion, easily tying the reins to the fence nearby. He walked over to his servant and looked down on him threateningly. As the young boy in front of him tried to get up, the prince pushed him back down with his foot. He crouched next to the almost permanently startled looking boy.
"Merlin, I'm starting to think I was wrong about you." The prince said, pursing his lips slightly. The young warlock's eyes widened.
"Really?" Merlin said, still sounding slightly winded.
"Yes, you're even more of an idiot than I first thought." Arthur said, pulling the boy to his feet by his jacket. Giving the younger boy a small shove, he pointed to the horse, which was now trotting around rather happily, as if throwing off his rider had given him some kind of great pleasure. Merlin glared at the horse, feeling slightly humiliated at having barely made it out of the courtyard.
Checking that the prince had his back turned, and that no one else could see him, the young warlock muttered an incantation, making the wildly swinging reins fall still and slip into his hand, slipping themselves into a loop around Merlin's knuckles.
Pushing his hair out of his eyes with his free hand, Merlin walked back over to the re-mounted prince, sincerely hoping this would be the end of his 'lesson'.
Arthur fixed Merlin with a hard penetrating stare, before turning his horse back to the gates. Looking back at Merlin, he shattered the warlock's hopes of rest in a few words.
"What do you think you're doing, Merlin, get back on, I've not lost hope yet."
Hours later, in the deep forests surrounding the castle grounds and it's outlying villages, a loud thud, followed by a shout of surprise, made the birds in the trees screech and fly away in panic, made the small woodlands creatures retreat into their holes, and the young prince of Camelot sigh, and ask the one question to which he dreaded the answer.
"How far did you get this time?"