Managing to make it inside the castle without being swarmed by her ladys in waiting and various other servants, Isabelle approached the doors to the kitchen, only to be greeting by aggravated shouting. It was partially muffled by the closed doors, so Isabelle was only able to catch a few words here and there, among them were, "theif" "vagrant" "miscreant" and "gypsy". Pushing open the door, Isabelle witnessed a small boy cowering in the corner, several loaves of bread and various fruits and vegetables scattered on the floor around him, and the head cook hovering over him shaking a rolling pin with a wild look on her face.
"What is going on in here Matty?" Isabelle shouted to be heard.
"Oh your highness." Startled, Matty dropped the rolling pin almost ontop of the poor child, causing him to jump and curl up into an even tighter ball. She then curtseyed before answering, "Your highness, I found this vagabond attempting to steal castle food. I was just about to call for the guards to have him escorted to the dungeons."
"He is a child Matty, and it looked more like you were frightening him to death. I shall take care of it."
"With all due respect your highness, it would be much safer if you allowed the guards to deal with him."
"Nonsense Matty, it is obvious he is of no danger. He is terrified and half starved. Leave me alone with him."
"Yes your highness." She curtseyed and along with the other servants in the room left. Isabelle carefully walked over the boy and crouched down beside him and gently touched his shoulder. He jumped and backed away from her with a gasp.
"It is alright. I am not going to harm you. Are you hungry?" His hunger, at least for the moment, seemed to outweigh his terror as he fiercely nodded his head. Isabelle gave a little chuckle as she rose to her feet, helped the boy to his, and led him to the table. Once he was seated she retrieved some clean food and placed it in front of him. Smiling as the child inhaled the food before him, Isabelle warned him to slow down so as not to make himself sick, he obeyed.
"I am Isabelle. What is your name?"
With a mouth full of bread he replied, "Dylan." Isabelle sat beside Dylan, contentedly watching him eat his fill. As she watched, she seemed to notice a kind of glow radiating from him, as if this simple meal had replenished his life and soul, and she was glad to have been able to help. After several more minutes Dylan pushed the food from him and his eye lids began to droop.
"Considering how hungry you were, I suppose I can assume that you have not slept in a real bed in quite some time either. Correct?" Dylan very groggily nodded his head. Isabelle took his hand and led him to her room and tucked him into her bed for a restful nap, avoiding as many people as possible on the way.