"Slay him Jane! Slay his short life butt!" shouted Dragon sitting on the wall as he watched his fiery haired friend duel Gunther. She was steadily driving him back, blocking, parrying, and grunting with each blow she delivered.

Just think of the practice dummy she told herself whilst locking swords with the other knight in training

"Dragon snogger" he cursed at her

"Sheep shagger!" she spat back. Jane sprang to one side catching her opponent by surprise and landed a blow on his thigh. Gunther clenched his teeth and drove his weapon towards her shoulder but his action was blocked by the length of her sword

"Knock his block off Jane!" bellowed Jester. He, Smithy, Pepper and Rake stood behind Sir Theodore as they watched as Gunther swiped at Jane's legs; she jumped and aimed her sword at his chest. He jumped back and tripped over Rake's wooden dragon dung bucket and landed flat on his back. When he lifted his head up the first thing he saw was the blunt wooden end of Jane's sword.

"Well fought, young squires" commented Theodore walking towards them "Most unfortunate Gunter, but a knight must be aware of their surroundings, despite the fact it should not have been here but were it belongs" on his last line he turned around and looked at Rake

Catching him on the spot, the royal gardener stuttered "A-ah y-yes, I'll see to it right away Sir Theodore" he quickly scampered to collect the bucket as Smithy returned to his forge and Pepper went back to stir the soup for tonight's supper.

"Say Old Rusty Legs?!" called out dragon as Jane put her sword back in the basket "can Jane come out for a fly now?"

"Yes, she is free to do as she wishes for the rest of the afternoon" with that the old knight pulled Gunther to his feet "You need not only know how to weld a sword, but to practice footwork squire-Gunther if you are to beat you opponent"

"Yes Sir" answered the teen "Thankyou sir"

Sir Theodore headed back to his quarters with his hand on his hilt of the sword.

Jester came up to congratulate his fiery haired friend "Well done Jane! Nothing beats a good morning then seeing Gunther loosing to a bucket"

"Thankyou Jester", she said as she climbed behind Dragon's head "I will see you at lunch. Bye!"

"Bye!"

"Floppy Hat looked a bit pale this morning" commented Dragon as they flew over his mountain. Jane didn't hear him; she was watching the sea and smelling the salty hair

"Pardon?"

"Jingle boy- he looked pale. Didn't you notice?"

"Ah no" thought Jane aloud "I was too interested in the match…but I thought he looked fine"

"There you go see- Short Lives. Don't notice anything… Hey look! It's Gunther's dad's down by the dock! Can I drop dung on 'im?"

"Dragon no!"

"Not even a little one?"

"Dragon, in some ways I am held responsible for the things you do…especially when I'm flying on you. Now come on you overgrown Newt, we've got to seek out the forest, I heard Sir Theodore and Sir Ivan mentioning something about robbers. If we can find their camp we can lead the other knights strait to them"

"Awe fine…spoilsport"

Back at the castle:

Jester had just waved goodbye to Jane and Dragon when Gunther came up to him "I did not loose to a bucket, I fell. Besides, if the darn thing was not there I would have won!"

"-Had you not have lost to a girl"

"Ye- no!" he sighed in frustration "Haven't you got a ballad to write clown boy?"

"Haven't you got footwork to practice?" Jester crossed his arms and stared to walk off towards the kitchens

"Well at least I know my own name!" shouted the squire

Smithy stopped hammering the horse shoe and dumped it in water. Steam hissed up as he stood in his door to watch the fight

Jester stopped in his tracks and turned around

Gunther continued "Yes, is that right? It must be pretty embarrassing not to know one's own name"

"I know my own name, Gunther, but to you it is Jester"

"Oh so the name itself is embarrassing? It makes me wonder what could be more embarrassing then having 'Jester' for a name…"

Jester felt his hands shake in anger "Compare it to Gunter and Jester sounds"- the comedian stopped, put his hands over his mouth and started coughing. Gunther took advantage of the pause

"-Like dragon dung?" he suggested. Laughing, Gunther went over to collect a quiver and bow to practice his archery

Jester stopped coughing and wiped his hands on his jacket. Growling in frustration he headed away from the battle practice area in a fast walk.

"Jester!" called Smithy, jogging up towards him "Do not let his taunting get to you, if you do you will be playing right into his hands"

"Thanks for the advice Smithy, now if you'll excuse me, i have a ballad to attend to" and with that the court jester went to his quarters and was not seen for the rest of the afternoon

awe...poor Jester- please review! just tell me what you think! the more reviews the faster i'll update! ideas are welcome!