A/A Hey guys! I am vaguely new here, and this is my first story! I had to delete the VERY first posting of this story because it was not showing up due to a Document uploader mistake made on my behalf :P Well, this is a story set four or so years into the future, when Kippernia is at war with Gypsies/ Nomads. Keep in mind that this is a *Drama* so yes, it will be a bit OOC. Jane is about 15, Jester is about 17, and Gunther about 18. I just KNOW that is off, so correct me if I'm wrong. I REALLY hope this works... *Crosses fingers* Feel free to PM me with questions or comments and more than free to press that shiny little review down there... :)
Special thanks to-
TheManyFacesOfJesterandSunRise19 for reviewing on the old copy, I owe you both a Lot! okay, Enjoy!
LadyM
It started on a beautiful summer day.
Of course, you are thinking, all stories begin with the sun. Well, this one will too, as all stories have to begin somewhere- God knows where. So the sun is just as good a place as any. Now, would you calm down and let me tell the story? Good. Now, where was I?
The room was wide and spacious, the light that streamed through the windows looked dusty and old as time in the autumn coolness of the kitchens. Barrels were scattered about here and here, and in the center of the room lay a long wooden center table where two girls stood, each about fifteen.
Squire and the cook worked silently, side by side, kneading the dough with a kind of lazy concentration. Through the window, the court jester was arguing quietly with the other squire, their banter muffled by the steady sound the blacksmiths hammer and of bread being rolled into long doughy threads…
The redheaded girl looked up from her work and gazed out the window silently, a small whisper of a smile shimmering across her lips. The cook, called Pepper more often than naught, didn't even look up from her bread.
"You know, Jane,"
she murmured, breaking the silence.
"Someday, you will have to choose,"
Jane stopped, taking in the heavy comfort of the morning met with the weight of her friend's words on her heart. Hanging her head towards the neglected bread, she began to roll the dough between her fingers.
"I know," she whispered, expressionless.
Pepper turned back to her work with a sad gleam in her nut-brown eyes.
Jane worried pepper.
She worried her with the way she put herself firmly between troubles, and her friends. Jane worried her with the way she had given so much effort towards others trials' for so long, that she could not remember how to cope with her own. The trial being, those two boys. God knows what was running through their minds...
Jane was not the sort of girl that had trouble making up her mind.
Lady in waiting or knight?
Swords or stave's?
Soup or bread?
The king or her heart?
Gunther or jester?
Jane couldn't even think about it.
Not about sweet, funny Jester.
Not about that mysterious, duel-sided Gunther.
The question was quite clear to her- Best friend, or rival?
But she couldn't find the answer to save her life.
A sudden clatter shook the two from their thoughts, and they turned to find the gardener, Rake, slipping hurriedly down the stairs, nearly losing his footing at the bottom. Taking a huge raspy breath, he spoke-
"They... they are taking him,"
"Who?" Jane demanded, ignoring Peppers' wild glances.
"Jester," Rake finished, "They are taking him to the dungeons,"
Jane felt a cold iron hand squeeze her insides, as fear met with disbelief.
Not real,she chanted inwardly, in a wild attempt to keep calm.
It is not real, it is not true. Jester is outside, talking to Gunther- Just look out the window. Rake is lying. But Rake never- Just look outside, Jane.
So she did: And she found three steely guards leading away a blue clad teenager, he was struggling terribly, and kept shouting something into the wind. Something that could make Gunther look as pale as a whisper and just as breakable, was definitely worth hearing, in their opinion; so they all leaned forward as they strained to hear them echo through the courtyard, like empty hollow music notes.
"You told! You promised, Gunther, you gave me your word!"
Jane felt sick. She could barely feel Pepper's hand on her shoulder and Rake's on her elbow, nor hear their plea's over Jesters'.
"You told me, Gunther. You lied to me,"
The look in his eye could make the stones melt to a puddle of tears as one of the guards raised his club and drew him silent with a sickening crack.
Oh God. Jester.
Pepper gasped
"Oh, petal..." Jane let out a racked whimper, and Pepper wrapped her in an embrace in an attempt to keep her back. Thrashing, Jane tore loose, and ran outside, ignoring her friend's screams'. The sudden rain beat down on her with a bitter vengeance.
For a moment, she had hoped it was all a terrible nightmare. But there it was, happening right before her eyes. Yet, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene. A million questions came rushing through her head, the root of most all being- why? Why Jester? Why was he taken? Why, Why, Why? Seeing her best friend at that wooden pavilion waiting to hear his fate hurt more than any pain she had ever known, but she watched on, silently.
She knew it was the least she could do for him at that point-
deep down, she still wished she could do more.
The king rose out of the shadows, to give his verdict, and Jane clenched her eyes shut. Gunther had broken away from the forces, and was now standing by her side. No doubt, to keep her from running through the crowd and bludgeoning every guard she saw along the way- as she was seriously considering.
"Go away," she hissed, her voice already losing the once wicked edge it had before.
"Not a chance," he hissed back.
The king cleared his throat,
"Today we gather to reveal a traitor. One among us, sadly..."
He began, addressing the gathering crowd below him.
Jane felt like screaming, but... her throat was not listening to her at the moment. Instead, her head flopped limply on the closest available shoulder, which unfortunately was Gunther's'. The boy flushed furiously, and stood straight as an arrow.
"...Squire Gunther has informed me, that this young man has been sneaking weaponry to our enemies. The Gypsies,"
Jane sat up and stared at Gunther, positively wide eyed. He gritted his teeth, and met her gaze.
Please understand. He hoped, furiously. Oh god, please, please... let her understand. For once in her life, make her understand.
Outraged whispers echoed through the crowd, and the king raised one hand for peace.
"Therefore, I regret to inform you, that this young man to my left..."
Jester, Jane thought, Oh you fool. You bloody fool.
"...is to be executed. As of tomorrow,"
Jane felt sick to her stomach; fury and despair tearing at her insides. She shoved Gunther aside and tore through the baffled crowd.
"NO, Jester!" she screamed, her throat finding it's voice. More than a dozen eyes turned at the furious red haired maiden that was glaring at the king,
"You cannot do this!" she finished.
But he just glared right back, with every bit of steel in his eyes as Jane.
"My decision is final,"
And somehow, in a rush of blurs and cold glances, they were all gone.
Oh if only it were that simple, she moaned letting the rain fall in her eyes. If only they knew how much they were taking away from me.
"Jane."
Gunther called softly,
"I am sorry. I...am sorry. I really am."
The girl just stood silently, very very still.
She tried to tell herself that she could survive. That she could get over this. No use. Gunther could see her trying. Trying so hard, not to unsheathe her sword and knock the prints off his fingers. Maybe he was sorry-
He wasn't sure what to think anymore.
Maybe, he contemplated, I am simply going mad. Yes, that was it. Madness was far more explainable than L-.
No. Not that word again. Yes, Madness would suffice.
Suffice to explain that overnight the girl he had known for ages had grown into something much more lithe and glorious than her temperament would suggest. It would suffice to explain that he found himself watching her- watching the wild twist of her slender body every time she parried him. Or the impossible gracefulness of her hair swinging about her porcelain face like a red fire halo. Suffice to explain that for the first time in her life, Jane was beautiful to him. Completely and utterly breathtaking. Yet, she was impossible, she was domineering, she was erratically stubborn. Loyal.
She was utterly and completely Jane.
And for that, he was sorry.
Not so much for the fact that Jester was to be executed, as that with him, a little piece of Jane would be as well. And she knew it. She knew Gunther Breech was the reason. The reason her best friend was to die.
Die at the stake of his honor, KNIGHTS' honor. What a stupid thing she thought of it now, that it had caused so much wrong in the world.
Gunther watched as Jane's' shoulders heaved. If he did not know any better, he would have said that she was crying. He knew.
Clasping her sword, Jane swung furiously. Not at Gunther, But at the practice dummy in front of her.
"Stop, Jane," Gunther said weakly,
"Your sword, it is not... sheathed..,"
Jane was not listening. Typical. She chopped at the raggedy thing again and again, each time the steady blows echoed through the eerily silent yard. WHAM.
That is for Gunther, she thinks cruelly, for turning Jester in- for turning him in after he trusted him.
AGH- he trusted him. And look where he was now! Oh God, her stomach turned wildly at the memory of Jester's eyes as he... ZZZIP.
That is for the king, for sending Him to be executed... CLATTER.
That is for me. For being so foolish. For actually...SLASH.
Jester. That is for Jester.
Jane clenched her fist as the head of the poor abused dummy rolled to a stop at her feet.
Oh, Jester.
The boy who had given her hope- Her first set of armor.
The one who had offered to be her dummy.
The boy whom she had given countless smiles and he, in return, had smiled back.
The boy that had given her her dream.
Jane whirled around suddenly, to face Gunther till they were practically forehead to forehead. He could see pure fury in her undying green eyes, and she could see a comatose-like fear in his raven brown ones.
This is it, Gunther thought, I am going to die.
But Jane did not raise her sword. Instead, she lowered her lips to his ears till he could feel her breath like dragon fire on his neck as she spoke low, and dangerously calm.
"I do not know what is to become of you, Gunther Breech, but I do... I know..."
Breathe, Jane, Steady, she reminded herself.
"I know you will not like what I have to do,"
And with that, she turned and walked away, leaving Gunther standing dumbstruck; as she turned to face him once more, death in her eyes.
"Do not try to stop me,"