I don't own Jane, Dragon or any of their friends.
Chapter 3
Jane woke up at sunrise to see a handsome, dark-haired gentleman lying next to her.
"Dragon?"
The young man stirred and sat up.
"Jane?" he asked in a rich deep voice. Jane's eyes traced Dragon's new form. His skin was slightly tanned, but not burned and his eyes were the same reddish-hazel they were in his old form. He seemed to have a mass of muscles on his arms and a lean body.
"You look amazing," Jane breathed, moving beside Dragon.
"Do I?" Dragon asked. "Do I really?"
Jane nodded.
"Well, then, let's see if we can convince your short life friends of me being a human."
The two stood and began walking through the forest to the castle. As they neared, Jane began to get more and more nervous. The duo entered the castle and was automatically bombarded with stares from all sides. Everyone who worked, lived, or protected the castle watched the squire and her gentleman walk through the courtyard.
Soon, Sir Theodore walked up to Jane and inspected Dragon.
"And who might your friend be Jane?" he asked curiously.
"This is Draco," Jane said, hurriedly coming up with an alias for Dragon.
Sir Theodore nodded. He turned to Dragon and asked, "What are your areas of expertise, young Draco?"
'Draco' shrugged. "I don't have any, sir. That is why I've come to the castle. Jane said that maybe I could train as a blacksmith under the blacksmith you already have here."
Sir Theodore nodded and guided Draco through the castle to Smithy's barn with Jane following close behind.
"Smithy!" Sir Theodore called. "Smithy, I've gotten you an apprentice."
Smithy came out of pig's stall and eyed Dragon with interest.
"And who is this fine gentleman?" he asked getting close to Dragon.
"This is Draco," Sir Theodore said.
"But he likes to be called Dragon because that's what his family called him before they left him here and went away." Jane added in a rush.
Sir Theodore nodded to her and continued. "He wishes to learn the art of blacksmithing from you. Will you teach him?"
"Of course, Sir Theodore," Smithy breathed, moving closer and closer to Dragon.
Jane felt a small bang of possession at the heated look Smithy shot her friend. She stepped between the two of them and planted a kiss on Dragon. They stayed that way for a few seconds before Jane backed away and followed Sir Theodore to training practice, noting the crushed look on Smithy's face. All through training, Jane kept thinking about Dragon and how she couldn't wait to see him again. This is what drove her to fight harder.
"Oof!" Gunther muttered for the tenth time that day as he fell to the ground. "My Jane, you seem to have gotten extremely good. What happened?"
Jane smirked down at Gunther.
"Nothing has happened Gunther, I am just in a good mood. Is that wrong?"
Gunther shook his head and they turned to their mentors. Sir Ivan was glaring at Jane while Sir Theodore was giving her an approving stare.
"Very good Jane," he said. "You have improved greatly. You may be excused from your training while Gunther does some training with Sir Ivan and I."
Jane quickly bowed her head to both knights and hurried to Smithy's barn. There she saw Dragon tending to one of the horses.
"Hello Dragon," she said as she entered.
He turned to her with a smile and greeted her in kind. He bent down and kissed her hand before pecking her lips as well.
"It is a pleasure to see you Jane." He said.
Jane looked taken aback.
"You're speaking in proper tones," she said incredulously. "Who taught you?"
"The kitchen maid, Pepper, taught me when she had some free time. She was very nice about it."
Jane smiled and began helping him with the horses. Soon they had moved on to cleaning the stable as they went into casual conversation about things around the castle. Later, the two were sitting in the courtyard near the fountain just talking.
"Hello Jane," Jane looked up to see jester coming toward her. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Draco," Jane replied. "But he prefers to be called Dragon because that's what his family used to call him."
Dragon stood and held out a hand to jester.
"Pleasure to meet you," he said. "Jane has told me about you and she says that you are very funny. I can't wait to see you perform sometime."
Jester looked flattered by Dragon's praise. "Thanks Dragon, that's very kind of you."
Dragon nodded and returned to sitting with Jane. Jester turned to his best friend and sat down on her other side. "Speaking of, where is Dragon Jane?"
"He's searching for more Dragons," Jane replied offhandedly. "He should be back around sundown."
Jester nodded, then left to go talk to Smithy for a while, leaving the two lovers to gaze into each other's eyes.