Jester watched as Jane fought Gunther. Jane had been winning in the beginning, but Jane was weaker then Gunther, and she had started to get tired and began to lose. Dragon, who sat lazily on the castle wall, had long since run out of cheers to call to Jane and was trying to go to sleep.
"Come on Jane!" Jester called out trying to help Jane. 'She needs to get control of the sword, she is letting it go all over the place.' he thought to himself, though to shy to call it out to her. He did not want Jane to think he thought she was bad at fighting. 'I am only a jester, and she is a knight, she knows what to do!' he told himself. Just then Jane was knocked to the ground.
"Yield!" Gunther yelled as Jane tried to get up. Gunther's sword was pointed to her neck.
"Yield!" Jane called out then got up from the ground.
"Excellent job young Gunther!" Sir Ivon called out as he walked closer to the raven-haired boy.
"Yes, a fine job Gunther." Sir Theodore said but walked over to Jane instead of Gunther.
"Jane you let the sword control you instead of the other way around, you need to work on it." Jane nodded to Sir Theodore.
"Yes Sir." Sir Theodore turned to Gunther
"We are done for the day, take a rest." Both knights nodded a small bow and took their leave. 'Talk to her Jester!' He thought then walked up to Jane. She looked angry.
"Jane, you were amazing! I think you are really improving." Jane stopped walking
"What do you mean I did amazing, I lost!" 'Yup angry'
"Yes, but you did well, it is not always about winning, it is about improving, getting better until you beat him every time!" Jester tried to sound optimistic, but Jane was still upset
"Jester, how can I get better if I get tired after the first 5 minutes of fighting!" Jane stormed off up to her room. Jester sighed as he walked over to the kitchen. 'She just needs a little while to calm down, that's all.' He walked down the stairs to the kitchen and saw Pepper hard at work.
"Good Afternoon Pepper!" He called out trying to sound cheerful
"Hello Jester!" Pepper replied chopping some radishes "Who won the fight?" Pepper had not seen it because she had to cook, not that she was really interested in that sort of thing, but she still like to know who she would be congratulating at lunch.
"Gunther won, but I really think that Jane is improving!" He wanted to give Jane some credit.
"Oh, too bad, she really wanted to win this one." Pepper was upset for Jane. "She has not won a match in a long time."
"Yes, I know, she is kind of upset, so be careful what you say, in fact" Jester thought about it "Do not even mention the fight."
"Alright, I will not." Pepper answered still cutting vegetables and mixing ingredients. "Have you seen Rake recently?" Pepper tried to sound casual while she said it. Jester could not help but to smirk a bit.
"Yes, I have. He is out in the garden. Do you need him for anything?" He knew she just wanted to see him, but he could not help asking.
"Umm, no but, well, I mean I..." She trailed off and Jester decided to help her
"To get ingredients for the stew right?" Pepper seemed to be relived
"Uh, yes." Pepper looked up at Jester and smiled. Jester had grown quite a lot in the past years to the point where he was as tall as Jane, maybe even a little taller. Jester smiled to her then walked to the stew and sampled it.
"I don't even know why they have me taste the king's food! Who would poison him? I mean if the king dies Cuthbert becomes king, and that is truly a horrible thought!" Pepper giggled and walked over to the stew and took the spoon from Jester as he was going for a third taste
"Let us save enough so the king may actually try some!" She hit him on the shoulder lightly with the spoon. "If you are only going to eat the meals I cook then you may leave!"
"Well then I guess I have to go!" Jester said and walked out of the room with Pepper laughing. As he walked out of the room he saw Dragon in Jane's room. Well, only his head was in Jane's room, but it still technically counted as being in her room. 'I will talk to her later when she has had time to cool off,' he thought 'But for now I think I will go for a walk.' He walked past Jane's room hearing Jane say
"I mean, he thinks he is so good, he has to be cheating somehow!" Followed by Dragon's usual:
"Just say the word and he is charcoal!" Jester walked off into the forest before he could hear Jane though he knew it would be her saying no. 'Well, with the mood she is in she just might say yes!' He laughed a bit at the thought of Dragon roasting Gunther. 'But Jane would never. Though she may ask Dragon to tourcher him for a bit though.' He laughed again. Jester continued walking through the forest thinking of Dragon doing terrible things to Gunther. It was then he realized that he walked quite a long way. He decided to turn back. He walked for another 5 minutes before finding himself in the same spot he was in 5 minutes ago. 'Am I lost?' In all the years he had been here in the castle he had never gotten lost. He wondered what to do then finally decided to just keep walking and see where it lead him. He had not been walking for long when something flew past his head and hit the tree behind him.
"WHAT THE" He turned to see an arrow in the tree then felt a sword to his neck.
"I'll give you 5 seconds to tell me your name and state why you are here!" Jester found himself staring into the face of a girl about Jane's age. She had long black hair with red and green streaks.
"SPEAK!" She commanded.
"Umm, I am Jester" He panicked. 'What is happening'
"Your real name!" The dark-haired girl called the sword getting tighter against his neck.
"Umm, I am..." He trailed off. He had never told anyone his real name, not even Jane. The sword got closer to his neck. 'This is not the time to worry about if anyone knows your name' He thought feeling stupid for not saying it in the first place.
"I am Marvolio"
"Why are you here, what is your business? No one comes this deep into the forest unless they are snooping!" She moved closer to him and he saw that she had deep purple eyes.
"I was taking a walk and got lost! That is it I swear!" He wondered if this was the way he was destined to die. The girl looked him up and down and then backed away.
"You are the jester for Kippernium are you not?" The girl said her voice changed completely from scary, and harsh, to kind, and humorous. Still scared he answered immediately
"Yes, I am." He got curious and a little less intimidated by the girl who now seemed to be playful rather than harmful "How do you know that, and why did you attack me?" The girl smiled lightly and said
"Well you are in a jester suit and we are in Kippernium, I can put 2 and 2 together, and I attacked you because I thought you were here to attack me. I was most definitely wrong, as you look like you have never even seen a sword!" The girl seemed to laugh a little at the idea of Jester being a knight. Jester was a bit angry that the girl found him so weak
"I could have been a spy you know." He knew that was probably a stupid thing to say to the girl holding the sword but he said it anyways. The girl just laughed.
"You breathe so loud I could have shot you in the dark!" She laughed some more.
"Who are you anyways? Why would you think someone is snooping around? Why would someone be snooping around?" He asked almost all at once.
"You ask a lot of questions!" she said but did not answer either question. That irked Jester. He saw her fiddling with her sword. She was swinging it around when she slipped a bit on a rock and dropped the sword. Jester saw his chance and dove for the sword. Once he had it he pointed it at the girl. He had never held a sword against someone's neck. It made him feel oddly powerful
"Not bad. You're pretty fast for a jester, Marvolio." She said perfectly calmly
"Tell me your name and why you are here!" He commanded as she had
"Why bother, you will never kill me. You are a jester; you have not got the guts!" She said sounding amused by this request. Jester knew he did not have the gut, but he had another idea
"I may not kill you, but I could take you to the king and I am sure he will find a way to make you tell him so why don't we save ourselves some time and just answer me now!" The girl seemed surprised and somewhat impressed
"Hmm, OK, I am Lilah Rose; I have been living in the forest for a while. Some people have seen me and have come up with tales that I am a witch and have sent people to investigate and kill me."
"Are you?" Jester asked still feeling powerful
"A witch?"
"Yes"
"If I were a witch why would I be telling you this when I could just teleport myself away from here?" The girl named Lilah Rose said in a voice that made Jester feel very stupid.
"True" Jester pulled the sword away noticing for the first time its incredibly light weight.
"This is a very nice sword" Jester said in spite of himself. The girl walked closer to him
"Is it not? I bought from a merchant in…" Lilah paused "You know, I really can not remember, I have been quite a few many places so I can not remember where I got everything!"
"It must have been expensive, especially for a girl who is living in the forest!" Jester found it weird how the girl was so scary one moment the perfectly friendly and willing to give away personal information the next
"Just because I live in a forest does not mean I am poor, you know! Well, actually you do not know which is why I am telling you. Ha Ha!" She laughed sarcastically at her own small joke. Jester thought he was starting to like this girl.
A/N: Okay, I know I used a line from Lord of the Rings, but I could not help it! Well That is it for now. Review please! I really will appreciate your criticism as mush as your complements! And while I am at it, Thanks for Reading!
(Chapter Edited slightly!)