The sound of bickering echoed off the castle walls. Gunther and Jane had once again stopped practice to begin an argument. Jane huffed as she marched over to the table for lunch.
"You can barely hold a real sword, let alone fight with one. Our kingdom is doomed!" Gunther called over as she reached the table, a scowl imprinted on her face.
"What does he know?" She asked, more rhetorically then anything else. "I will make an excellent knight!" She proclaimed as Pepper brought her a bowl of soup. Smithy, Jester, and Rake were already seated at the table, and had just begun their meal. They each stopped their meal momentarily to listen to her.
"You all know I will make a great Knight, Right." She said, rather then asked, expecting the usual answer. All of them immediately agreed with her, flooding her with "Yes of Course's!" And lot's of head nodding. All but one. Jane starred at Jester, anger beginning to pulse in her veins.
"You do think I will make a great knight, do you not?" She said, her voice ringing with annoyance. Jester looked at his soup for a moment, pausing to choose his words.
"No." He murmured, turning to face Jane. Everyone's jaw dropped as Jane's eyebrows shot up.
"Excuse me? You do not think I would make a great knight? Pray tell, why?" She patronized her blood pressure rising. Jester bit his lip before speaking again, his voice calm and serene.
"I… want to believe that you would make an amazing knight. But, the truth is, you would not. You fight well, but you are flaky Jane. I just can not believe that once you finish training you will be as thoroughly entertained as you are now. I know you Jane, and I know how you work.
"When you get to that point, where you have been knighted, you will get bored, just like you have with everything else. When something better comes along, something new and different, you will give up what you once thought was amusing."
"Is that what this is about?" She barked at him. "Do you think that because you gave up being a Knight I will too!"
"No Jane. I did not quit, because I never started. For me, it was just a dream, and that is all I really wanted it to be. Because, in my dreams I could be a hero. I could save Princesses, and slay Dragons, and all that, but in real life, none of that is real. And I knew this. And I thought that you did too. But Jane, as you have grown, you have lived off the idea that it is like the fairy tales, and it is not. It is hard work and dedication. Though hard working when you want to be, you are not nearly as dedicated as Gunther is."
"Gunther! Oh, please explain how exactly Gunther is more dedicated then I am."
"You have friends Jane. Friends you are simply not willing to give up. You are not willing to let your friends die so you can save the King. That is why Gunther has no friends. He has put his whole life has been put on hold so he can accomplish this one task. That is dedication."
Jane starred blankly at him. "I can not believe you Jester. I thought you were my friend!"
"I am Jane, which is why I am telling you this. Sometimes being a friend means having to tell the truth, no matter how much is hurts. You have never paused for a second before telling me the truth, plain and simple, so here is my truth for you.
When most people look at you they see a Strong, Brave, Female Knight, but when I look at you, all I see is a little girl, trying to be something she is not. You do not really want to be a Knight; you just want to prove that you can be a Knight. I hope that someday their will be a female knight, I just…Do not want it to be you."
Everyone remained silent as the shock of Jester's harsh words reached their ears.
"I can not believe…Why would you…I will be a great Knight, a better knight then Gunther, and a far better knight then you would ever have been!" She spat as her fists clenched together.
"Then go Jane." Jester said, his voice still as calm as when he had begun. "Prove me wrong."
And so off she went, only to prove him right.