A/N: Jane and the Dragon do not belong to me and as such, I only claim the characters that I create.


The orange haired young lady walked through the castle halls, head down and mouth set. Low heeled shoes clicked against the stone floors, the swish of her dress an interesting sound.

You see, this young lady never wears dresses. Never.

She had a place to go and she wanted no distraction from this task. As she hurried down the hall, a young man caught sight of her. He blinked, jaw dropping open. "J-Jane? Is that you?" He hurried after her. "Why in the King's name are you wearing a dress? And a fancy dress at that?" Through a door and down another hall, the young man followed after her. Years of moving through the castle told him she was heading for the throne room, which was down the next hall on their right. "Oh, I get it. You're trying to impress the visiting nobles. Trying to impress a King, are you, Jane? Well, I suggest you stop trying. No one would take a Lady Knight except for our King Caradoc." Ahead of them lay the open doors of the throne room, voices and lute music floating out. "What a surprise. You aren't speaking to me. Are you sore at me for besting you in our sparring match today?" A man stepped out of the throne room, looking up and down the hall. He caught sight of the two and let out a breath, standing and waiting for them to draw nearer.

A moment later, he looked back into the throne room, then hurried toward them. "Lady Turnkey, please. Your presence is requested by Her Highness. She is in dire need of your assistance." He glanced at the man accompanying her. "I'm sorry, was I interrupting you, Lady Turnkey?"

"Lady?" He looked to Jane, scrunching his nose.

"Sir Knight. Forgive me, but it seems our… conversation is at an end." She curtsied to him before striding into the throne room, the man rushing after her while hurriedly speaking about the apparent "dire" situation.


"-and then she just—she just went in there!" Gunther was frustrated that Jane was invited to join with the visiting nobles while he was stuck outside with the others. "Can you believe that?" Jester gazed at him with a rather blank look. "You don't believe me. She was wearing a dress, for God's sake!"

"Gunther. I just saw Jane not a quarter of an hour ago. She's in the stables. And she isn't in a dress." Jester waved a hand toward the stables and Gunther ground his teeth together, stomping toward the Royal stables, the court jester following after him, hands clasped behind his back. "Jane, Gunther would like to speak to you." They stood in the doorway, gazing at the silent(as silent as a stable can be) barn. "Jane?"

"Just missed her." Smithy poked his head out of one of the stalls. "She left in quite a hurry too, if I remember correctly. Something about being late?" He shrugged, returning to his work. Gunther looked at Jester rather smugly.

"Do you believe me now, Fool?" Jester let out a breath.

"Fine, Gunther. Jane was invited to the gathering and you were not. What would you like me to do about it?" Gunther waved him off, walking out of the stables and back towards the castle. "Gunther!"

"Nothing at all, Jester. I was just, ranting. Carry on with… whatever you were doing." Jester glared after him. Apparently, three years had only changed his status from squire to knight, but hadn't helped his attitude. Sadly.


Jane was in the kitchens later that evening, scrubbing hard at a plate. "Pepper, this won't come off!" She glared hard, scrubbing even harder.

"Add some more soap then, deary. It might help." Jane grabbed the bar, scrubbing it against the rag and then attacking the plate once more. "Better?"

"Yes, much. Sorry about that, it's just—"

"Why Jane, why aren't you at the ball?" Jane dropped her head. "Playing 'Cinderella', are we? Working away in the kitchens only to appear at the ball in a beautiful gown, hmm?" She looked over her shoulder at Gunther standing there, a smirk on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. She gave him a look, then turned back to work on a rather large pot. "Ah, still sore about the sparring match, I see. Better luck next time, Jane."

"Unless you want to help, Gunther, I suggest you leave." She didn't look back at him. Pepper smiled, covering it with her soapy hand. "Perhaps you could stand guard outside of the ballroom and see if a nice lady will take pity on you. I suggest you hurry now before the clock strikes twelve and you turn back into a frog." Pepper laughed, stifling it quickly as Gunther was now a knight in the King's Guard.

"Ha ha, very funny, Jane. But not nearly as hilarious as you seeing you in a dress. That had me in a fit of laughter." Jane wrinkled her nose, looking at her fellow knight in contempt.

"Dress? Did you try one of Jester's drinks again, Gunther? I haven't worn a dress in ages." Pepper shook her head, taking the dry dishware and putting them in their proper places throughout the vast kitchen. "Oh. I get it. You're trying to provoke me again. Interesting tactic. I thought you were smarter than that sort of remark."

"But I saw you today! You went into the throne room earlier! I walked next to you for two hallways!" Jane dropped a bowl in the water, wiping her hands on a towel.

"Of-course you did, Gunther."

"They called you Lady Turnkey!" Jane rolled her eyes, drying some silverware.

"You walked with my mother, oh brilliant Gunther."

"It was not your Mother!" He stomped his foot against the stone floor of the kitchen, a frown marring his features and brows furrowed. "It was you, I know it was! There are no others called Lady Turnkey!"

"And that is where you stand corrected, Gunther. My aunt is called Lady Turnkey. She lives just on the other side of the border and is of King Randolph's court." Jane looked at him like a governess would a misbehaving child. "Now that we've settled that, would you please leave? I'm not getting any work done with you here." He glared at her, but stormed toward the stairs to the garden.

"I know it was you, Jane, and nothing you say will make me change my mind!" He slammed the door shut behind him. Pepper looked over at Jane.

"Jane, dear, what was he going on about?"

"With Gunther, who knows?"


A decent beginning I suppose. Perhaps shorter than I wished it to be, but I don't want to go any further and give everything away in the first chapter. So, please tell me what you think. I have high hopes for this.