It was a fine day in the kingdom of Kippernium. The village was alive with activity, fishermen were reeling in many a catch, farmers were selling their latest fresh produce in the market and children were laughing and running down the cobbled streets.

The Kippernia Castle was also a hive of activity. The King and Queen were holding court, the lady-in waiting was running after their little majesties and the castle staff were as busy as always, doing their duties around the castle.

And one such person performing her duties was a red-headed female, knight-to-be; who was currently in the practice yard, swinging her practice sword at the dummy with all her might.
It had been a long journey since she was first made a squire six years ago, now at the age of seventeen Jane was only a short time away before being knighted on her eighteenth birthday.

Many things had changed since then, Jane was no longer as petty or as prejudiced as she had been when she was younger and was now more open-minded and forgiving- but by no means did this mean that the lady knight was any less determined or resourceful in fulfilling her dream of being a knight in the King's guard.

She had learned to accept that she could be a female as well as a knight and now bore no ill will when having to wear gowns on certain special occasions, she even cleaned herself more frequently and with her mother's help managed to tame her hair which had grown over the years and now fell down her back to her waist in soft red waves, except for when she braided it for patrol or practice.

Her skill with a sword had also improved over the years, for she unlike other smug former- squires she often thought to herself, knew she would never stop learning and therefore kept practicing in order to continue improving herself.

"Jane, why don't you try and spar with a real person? At least that way you could hope to improve your co-ordination."

Jane whirled onto the person that had distracted her. Gunther had changed little over the years; he had grown taller and even stronger of course. And though there were times when a semblance of humanity shone through him from an act of compassion or selflessness, for the most part he remained unchanged.

At least now though Jane understood the reason behind his past behavior was his deceitful father the merchant, who would prefer to throw his only son to the wolves rather than face any consequence for his actions. Thank goodness Gunther had managed to distance himself from his father, Jane thought, otherwise he would have driven the whole castle mad by now.

Indeed, Gunther had moved into the castle shortly after being knighted a year ago on his eighteenth birthday and now took no part in his father's schemes. Jane could only hope that the longer the time spent away from his father, the better his behavior would become. But for that to happen I must be nice and civil, Jane admitted to herself begrudgingly.

"Perhaps you are right Gunther, would you do me the honor?" Jane questioned whilst poising her sword into an attack position.

Gunther brought his hand up his chin as if pondering, "Hmm, well it does sound appealing, almost as much as watching paint dry."

"Isn't that sad that you find paint drying entertaining? But then I suppose for a man of your repute that is the best kind of entertainment you can hope for." Jane winced as once again her mouth acted quicker than her mind.

Gunther's smile faded. Well there goes my attempt to be nice, thought Jane.

However Gunther's smile quickly returned, "Well I will just have to make some entertainment out of you then, won't I?"

"We'll see about that!" Jane cried, grinning broadly and quickly switching her practice sword for her dragonsword.

Gunther unsheathed his sword and made a lunge for her, Jane quickly parried and so it continued until Sir Theodore found them.

"Sir Gunther, Squire Jane."

Gunther and Jane quickly lowered their swords and dropped their heads as a sign of respect. Seeing he had their full attention, he gradually approached them until coming to a stop in front of the two swords. "I have come to inform you that your presence has been requested in the throne room."

A King's order must be carried out as soon as it was given, that was one of the first lessons they had been taught as adolescents. But Jane couldn't help but glance down at her sword, it was in a sorry state and looking across at Gunther's his was no better. She would much prefer to clean and resharpen it now before the grime of the practice yard could weaken the metal.

Sir Theodore's hawk like gaze spotted her glance and his deep voice took on a reassuring tone, "Do not worry, Smithy here will take your weapons."

It was only then Jane noticed Smithy standing to the side of Sir Theodore, waiting patiently. After all her years of training under the wise old knight Jane was no longer surprised at his foresight and walked forward to pass her sword to Smithy and tried to convey through her small smile how thankful she was for his help and her apology for not noticing him.

Smithy simply curled his lips and gave a short nod in response, Jane's smile grew to a grin, it was just like Smithy to bare no ill will and brush off her apologies. Gunther cleared his throat and Jane quickly stepped to the side, allowing Gunther to pass Smithy his sword.

"Come now, we mustn't keep the King waiting." With that Sir Theodore quickly turned on his heel and marched toward the castle, Gunther quickly in tow. Jane hesitated before following and turned to Smithy, she placed her hand on his arm "Thank you Smithy, I know how overworked you've been recently."

"It's fine Jane, you don't want to keep the King waiting do you?"

Jane flashed him her best smile and quickly ran after Gunther and Sir Theodore

xXxXx

"And so I have decided to send Sir Gunther and Sir Ivon to deal with this situation, they shall depart immediately."

Jane bowed before her King, and left with her fellow knights. Raiders had been attacking a nearby village for supplies and weaponry, the distressed villagers had managed to get a message to the King who had called the knights together in order to discuss a course of action.

He had decided to send Gunther and Sir Ivon to dispatch of the raiders, the whole confrontation should not take long and more likely than not, they would be returning in a day or so. Jane was a bit disappointed she was not to go on this mission, even with her squire status she had seen battle. There had been a few invasion attempts in the recent years but they were few and far in between, after all how many people were prepared to wage war on a kingdom defended by a dragon?

That is why she planned to ask Dragon to accompany them, whilst she knew Gunther and Ivon could handle themselves, she preferred there be no blood spilt or lives lost in such a manner as this and hoped Dragon would pose an intimidating enough figure that the bandits would surrender without much of a fuss.

"So what's all the hullabaloo about then lady knight?"

Jane glanced to her left, whilst caught up in her thoughts she had not heard Jester approach. Very bad Jane, what happened to always being on guard? She reprimanded herself.

"Are you going to answer or should I do it for you?"

Jane smirked, "Sorry Jester, some raiders have attacked a nearby village and the King is sending Ivon and Gunther."

"Well that's good I suppose." Jane raised an eyebrow at his reply, Jester quickly noticed and hurried to amend what he said, "I mean not that there are raiders, or that you won't be going, well actually yes- at least we won't have to worry about you- I mean- I meant that it should be quickly dealt with then."

Jane nodded but kept her eyes downcast, sensing her somber mood Jester placed a hand on her shoulder effectively halting her in her path. "Did you want to go?"

Jane raised her head to look him in the eye, "It's not necessarily that I wanted to deal with the raiders- I just wish the King would entrust me with more missions, after all I'm almost a fully-fledged knight now."

"Indeed and the most fearsome of all I bet, which is probably why the King didn't want to send you, in fear that the raiders would have turned and run as soon as getting wind of you."

Jane smiled, it was just like Jester to cheer her up. Her best (shortlife) friend had undergone some changes too over the past few years, he now stood half a head taller than Jane and was not so lanky, with the sharper features and broader shoulders of a fully grown man but these had only changed his physical appearance and not her friend as she knew him.

"If it makes you feel any better though I'm sure this means you're at the top of the list for him to pick from next time."

"Thank you Jester, you always know what to say." Jane quickly wrapped her arms around him to give him a hug.

"JANE! WHERE ARE YOU JANE?!"

Jane pulled out of Jester's embrace and looked out the window, another smile stretched across her face and without another word she took off down the hall. "Sorry Jester but duty calls!" She yelled over her shoulder, if only she had glanced back she would have seen the red blush staining Jester's cheeks.

xXxXx

Jane smiled and jogged out into the royal garden. "OVER HERE DRAGON!" She cried whilst waving her hands in the air.

Dragon circled in the air a few times before swooping in and touching down on the ground. "Champion landing Dragon!" Jane exclaimed.

"When is it not?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to answer that."

Ignoring her, Dragon continued on "Jane you won't believe what the cows did today-"

Jane raised a hand to halt her friend's no doubt hilarious, in his opinion, account of the kingdoms cows. "This will have to wait Dragon, unless you don't mind telling me whilst I help with preparations?"

"Course not- Anyway…"

Jane made her way to the kitchen to pack provisions whilst Dragon regaled her with his latest adventure with the cows.

"And then he went MOOOOOOO! I mean can you believe that?"

Jane emerged from the kitchens holding packs of food. "Fantastic Dragon, I'm glad you had a good time."

Dragon plodded after her as Jane made her way to the stables. "And why are you packing all this food by the way?"

Jane stopped near the forge and turned to face Dragon, "Gunther and Sir Ivon are departing to deal with some bandits and I am helping with the preparations."

"Oh… rightly so." Dragon nodded his head, but Jane could tell his attention was drifting due to his disinterest in any short life drama that didn't directly affect them.

"Here Jane let me take that."

Jane turned around to see Smithy standing in front of her. He bent forward and took the packs from her hands before walking into the stables. "Thank you Smithy!" she called out after him. Jane then turned back to face Dragon, "But I do have a favor to ask of you Dragon."

Dragon brought a claw up to his face to examine it, "You want me to accompany beef-brain and the biscuit weevil to deal with the bandits."

Jane couldn't help but be a little surprised at her scaly friends insightfulness, "Sir Ivon and Gunther! And how did you know?"

Dragon rolled his eyes, "You're as easy to read as a book Jane."

A small frown appeared on her face but that couldn't hide the hopefulness in her eyes, "Will you do it then?"

"I thought you couldn't stand Sir Gunther." Dragon asked, purposely stressing Gunther's title to show how little it improved his opinion of the boy who had tormented Jane in her younger years.

Jane frowned at the emphasis on his name. "Just because Gunther and I have our differences doesn't mean I want to see him hurt- Please, it's just for one day."

Dragon let out a sigh, he knew there was no arguing with Jane when she got this stubborn. "Alright but I want something special for me ready when I return."

Jane smiled and put her hands on her hips, "How about I ask Pepper if she'll make a batch of Swamp Water stew?"

Dragon licked his lips, "Perfect."

Jane glanced into the stable, "Come on you big newt- they're about to leave."

As Jane and Dragon made their way through the stable and into the royal driveway, Gunther glanced up from adjusting his saddle. He had been watching Jane talk to her overgrown lizard through the stable doors, he knew she must be disappointed at not being chosen to go but he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief knowing she would be safe.

Yes, Gunther did have feelings for the lady knight. Ever since that escapade where there were accused of being 'secret sweethearts' when he was fourteen he couldn't help but wonder why he had felt so disappointed rather than relieved when she told him she felt nothing romantically for him. It wasn't until he was sixteen he realized the true nature of his feelings toward her but back then he was still under the influence of his father and unable to act on his feelings for fear of his father's reaction.

Now that he was free of him though, he had hoped to be able to start expressing his sentiments toward Jane, however that had not been going to plan. Their main interaction was still insulting each other, despite best efforts from both their parts but he had resolved once he returned that would change and he would confront Jane about his feelings.

Gunther's train of thought was broken by Sir Theodore, "So knights, are we ready?"

Gunther was about to nod in response when Jane stepped forward. "Wait Sir Theodore, I have asked Dragon to accompany them and he has agreed."

Sir Theodore turned to regard Jane, "I would have appreciated knowing your intentions sooner Jane but I have to admit I like your thinking, a show of strength to prove to the bandits we are not to be trifled with."
Jane bowed her head, "Indeed Sir Theodore."

The King was approaching to bid his farewell and Gunther watched as Sir Ivon and Theodore went to greet him, he was about to join them but Jane stepped forward and commanded his full attention. "My best wishes Gunther. Return home safely." She offered her hand and Gunther was quick to take it in his grasp.

Gunther felt a burst of hope, perhaps his feelings were not so unrequited as he thought after all. But then the Jester stepped away from the rest of the castle staff to stand beside Jane and she quickly retracted her hand.

"Thank you Jane," and lowering his voice considerably he added "And I promise to keep an eye on Dragon." The reward he got for that promise was a brilliant smile from Jane and a frown from the Jester.

"I heard that shortlife." Gunther raised his head to see Dragon walking up behind Jane. Jane placed a hand on his snout to try and pacify him, "I'm sure Gunther meant no disrespect, he was just trying to assure me of your wellbeing."

Gunther thought he heard Dragon mumble something about "Stew better be worth it."

Jane tried to make her farewell with Dragon brief but before she knew it Gunther and Ivon were mounted and racing down the drive with Dragon flying above them.

Jester grabbed her hand, "He'll be fine Jane." Jane nodded but continued to stare after Dragon's shrinking shadow. Not noticing Jester frown at her lack of reaction and retract his hand. She was vaguely aware of the rest of the farewell party dispersing and making their way to dinner, but she remained where she was until Dragon's shape was just a speck on the horizon.

"Come along Jane- time for dinner." Jane tore her gaze away from Dragon and forced herself to smile in Pepper's direction. She couldn't help though but throw one last glance over her shoulder before following the rest to dinner, wishing Dragon would be swift and hurry back.

"Don't worry he'll be back before you know it."

Jane turned back to look at Smithy who still stood where he had been during the whole departure, he gave her a look of understanding before turning and following the rest to dinner. As Jane hurried to follow him she couldn't help but feel a bit better knowing someone understood.