Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I just daydream about them a lot.
"She's just a legend, father! There aren't really people like Lady Alanna!"
He supposed he owed his father an apology for once- Duke Baird was right. There were honourable and valiant people in the world. Neal had been wrong, for there really were people who deserved those titles outside of legend.
His dark green gaze was drawn across the practice yard, where a tall girl on a heathen war horse neatly lanced a willow ring with her lance. There she was, a girl he respected more than anyone. A girl who had more valour and more honour than most legends combined. She was real, and ordinary.
His lips twisted wryly. Well, she was ordinary for now. He'd bet good money that his best friend would become a legend someday herself. He bet she did it in the most honourable and valiant way possible, too.