Owain sheltered one night at the castle of an earl. A pageboy led the knight to the stables where he settled his dapple grey. While Owain brushed and curried its coat, the horse rolled its eyes at the manger just a pace away. Their new traveling companion had taken the pile of hay for a bed. The grey snorted, still uneasy at scent of the beast. And hungry.
When Owain finished and headed for the hall, the gaunt lion rose from the manger and followed. No one dared shoo it away. The great cat settled under the table, at his feet, and feasted on every scrap he dropped. The earl's hounds watched from the far corners of the hall, tails tucked, ears flat with worry.
The castle servants had welcomed the wandering knight and spread out a feast in gloomy silence. The earl picked at his food. His lovely daughter sat still, her face white, her eyes downcast. When the meal ended and etiquette allowed conversation to begin, Owain sat back with full belly and asked what troubled his host.
"Ah, Chieftain," the earl said. "My two sons went hunting in the mountains yesterday morning, but they became the prey. A giant seized them, and sent word that he will slay them before my eyes tomorrow if I do not deliver up to him my daughter." His voice broke with sorrow. "Which do I sacrifice? The beloved youths or the beloved maiden?"
"Neither," said Owain. "I will save them all. I am a knight of Arthur's court, and no man can stand against me in battle."
"This is no man! It's a monster!"
"Yesterday, a dragon. Tomorrow, a giant."
* * *
The whole castle woke the next morning to a thundering clamor outside the walls. Trompings and thrashings and a howling voice calling the earl out. The giant had come.
Owain donned his armor and went out to meet the threat, the lion pacing at his side. Together they charged into battle.
"Some hero you are," the giant snarled at Owain. "Who's doing the real fighting here?"
The knight led the lion to the castle courtyard, shut him in, then leaped back into the fray, single-handed as any hero worth his salt.
When the lion heard the clash of weapons, though, it roared in frustration. It leaped to the top of a shed, to the top of the stable, to the top of the hall, and from there to the ramparts. It sprang to freedom and raced back to Owain's side.
In a raging battle-fury, the lion slashed with wicked claws -- and gashed the monster open from shoulder to hip, ripping through his bulging heart. The giant crashed to the ground, dead.
Owain's quest took many more twists before it ended back at Arthur's court. Much to the chagrin of one dapple grey, a faithful lion loped ever at its side, in service to the greatest knight of Albion.
