Mordred laughs again at the persistence. His own gullibility seems laughable now - how he'd listened with rapt attention to the other knights' explanation of the ancient tradition, how he'd considered the difficulty involved and climbed laboriously into the saddle... backwards. How he'd been so proud of himself managing to stay upright, and so confused when Arthur caught on and added his own stipulation about inside-out britches. The absurdity of that and the knights' laughter had made it obvious enough that he'd been had. Getting down to climb up the right way had been admitting that he understood, and they'd laughed at him then, too.
The embarrassment had prickled with a bitter aftertaste of humiliation at the time. He'd wondered if perhaps they did not consider him one of them after all.
All it takes is Gwaine to remind him of the folly in that thought. Funny, boisterous Gwaine, who can hardly have a spiteful bone in his body.
"Ah. Of course." Mordred concedes to the joke with a playfully regal wave of his hand, and looks out again at the water. Percival easily lofts two small children atop his shoulders, while Elyan barely manages the squirming of one. Leon, of course, is not present - it takes more than a little sunshine to drag the king's right hand from his duties. "Did I last long? Compared to the others, I mean."
Gwaine feigns some thought (no, not like always, thank you your highness) as he goes back to pretending like he could nap at any moment. The sun is a little too bright to stay awake forever. He can't be blamed. "You were the second worst. Don't think Percival could even climb up in the saddle." More ribbing, but it's all in good fun. Mordred's got half the knights telling him every day how quickly he's learning.
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The embarrassment had prickled with a bitter aftertaste of humiliation at the time. He'd wondered if perhaps they did not consider him one of them after all.
All it takes is Gwaine to remind him of the folly in that thought. Funny, boisterous Gwaine, who can hardly have a spiteful bone in his body.
"Ah. Of course." Mordred concedes to the joke with a playfully regal wave of his hand, and looks out again at the water. Percival easily lofts two small children atop his shoulders, while Elyan barely manages the squirming of one. Leon, of course, is not present - it takes more than a little sunshine to drag the king's right hand from his duties. "Did I last long? Compared to the others, I mean."
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