The armor bearer for the young prince hated traveling.  Every few months Erik visited some new land, some princess, some tournament.  The roads always had pits, the inns were dirty, and there was nothing worse than cold, tough meat when all you wished for was a home cooked meal.

"Come along Sheo!" Erik called, gesturing for the boy.  The armor bearer hurried to catch up to his young prince whilst still searching for a reason to be left behind.

"You know, M'lord, I think I might be coming down with something. It might be the plague.  I'd better-"

"Come on, Sheo." The prince sighed. 

"Yes, M'lord," the boy muttered, tapping his horse lightly with his heels.  Erik reached across and clasped Sheo's shoulder comfortingly. 

"You won't get mixed up with this dragon.  I promise.  Don't you worry; I'll take care of you."

"It's you who I am supposed to be taking care of, M'lord," Sheo interjected. 

"But you're only a boy.  Sixteen, yes?"

"Seventeen, actually, M'lord.  A fortnight ago."

"Congratulations! You're almost a man!" Erik smiled and flicked the reins of his horse.  He trotted on ahead, leaving Sheo behind.

"Not so much younger then you.  You're only seventeen and as rowdy as they come!" Sheo muttered under his breath. 

But, as the boy acknowledged thoughtfully, his young lord did have more burdens and more responsibility then most their age.  Plus, he had that old drunk of a king and father to look after.  It was no secret that the king was ruthless in getting what he wanted. 

So, Sheo whistled softly, and his old horse ambled after his lord's young stallion.

Hi, sorry if this chapter's formatting is a little weird; I wrote it on my laptop and then emailed it to my phone, but then somehow all the "quote marks" disappeared.

Does anyone like my characters so far? No one is actually reading this story yet so I guess not. It's just me and my characters. So I'm basically talking to myself here. Oh well.

Anyway, so far Sheo is my favorite character 😄😄😄 but I have a lot planned for him so we'll see how that goes.

Love ya!