Chapter 7
Kayla stood in the archway by the practice yard, where Jane and Gunther were bickering fiercely. They had not yet become aware of her presence, so she stood there unnoticed, watching their argument, wondering if it would be better to intrude or not. She wondered if somehow she had indirectly caused the argument, and she felt a bit guilty as Gunther was yelling, "Do you realize how selfish you are, Jane?" Kayla looked around to see if anyone else was witnessing their argument.
Jane looked hurt and angry. "Gunther, I'm not-"
He cut her off. "No, listen," he said. "It's always about you. Everything's always about you. If you don't get your way then you storm off and wait for your friends to come running back to apologize. One day you're going to wake up and realize the world doesn't revolve around you. I'm just trying to make friends because I have no friends, and no one likes me because they're all trying to make you happy. Just when I'm about to have a friend, something ruins it. Like when I was friends with Dragon. You were jealous and then my father came in and ruined it. And you have created a reputation I have to live up to. That lizard makes sure you get what you want. You and him probably set up the whole thing about saving the Prince. And now you're starting to see reality. Even the fool has stopped following you around all the time."
Jane could not believe what she was hearing. "How dare you accuse me of that? And Jester and I…" Jane trailed off. "You have no right to say those things. You say I've created a reputation for you? How about when you stole the test paper? How about when you exploited my fear of the dark? You've always been a cheater and that's your own doing. And about saving the Prince? How dare you challenge that? It was not a set-up, Gunther. And I recall I was the one who saved the Prince, not any of the knights. You're just trying to be the best and-"
"You're the one trying to be the best!"
Kayla could not let this argument go on any further. "Chill out, you two!" she called as she ran in their direction. Jane and Gunther bother turned around, surprised, and Gunther looked immediately embarrassed.
"Kayla, what are you-" Jane began.
"What is wrong with you people?"
Gunther looked down and Jane opened her mouth but nothing came out. "What's your beef?" Kayla asked. Jane and Gunther looked at each other. "We're rivals," Jane answered. Kayla didn't know whether or not she should interfere any further. They could figure out their problems on their own. Kayla was doubtful, so she decided she could talk to each one of them privately. Changing the subject, Kayla said, "Jester and I are going to perform our first song in the Throne Room after dinner if you want to come." She then left the practice yard without another word. Jane and Gunther no longer wanted to fight, so Gunther headed off to the Knight's quarters and Jane went to her room. Kayla went to her own room, and began pondering once again of how to restore Jane and Jester's relationship.
Meanwhile, Jester was sitting on the wall, and had witnessed the whole fight and Kayla's intervention. A sadness and emptiness filled him, and he returned to his lute playing. Jane may be angry with Gunther but she always seemed to forgive him. She spent much more time paying attention to Gunther than she did Jester. He felt so very troubled, so he went to trying to compose a new ballad.
Jester wasn't present at dinner. Kayla was relieved, as she did not feel like dodging his jokes another night. He was probably just practicing for their performance in an hour. She was sitting next to Smithy as usual, and Rake was sitting next to Jane, so they were not a squished as they usually were, for the table was not big enough to comfortably sit five people. Rake immediately went to yammering on about his vegetables, and when he did this, Kayla usually tuned him out, as she was not very interested in botany. Then Jane or Smithy would comment on it and they would go to another topic. Smithy started talking about some sort of invention he was planning to build. Despite her feelings for Gunther, Kayla still had a keen interest in what Smithy was saying. She wondered if he could build anything from the future that she could suggest to him. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
Jane seemed fine, not at all troubled by her argument with Gunther. Kayla wanted a chance to speak with her about it privately, but had not seen a chance in the last few hours since the argument. Jane happily commented on Smithy's invention-in-the-works. Rake then joined in, saying, "Maybe you could make something that could transport my vegetables like the wheelbarrow except you could make it so they wouldn't get mixed up."
Kayla rolled her eyes and whispered to Smithy, "Oh yes, how tragic it would be if he got his cucumbers mixed up with his zucchinis."
He laughed and whispered back, "How tragic it would be if he finally lost his noodle!"
Kayla then replied, "What if he accidently ate his noodle!" Rake, Jane, and Pepper, who was now emerging from the kitchen to present their food, looked at Kayla and Smithy with odd looks, as the two were laughing uncontrollably. They all then started laughing, even though they didn't know the reason for Kayla and Smithy's hysterical laughter, but laughter is often very contagious. Pepper set down a platter of fish, and they all started to eat, and continued their conversation. An hour later, they all went to the Throne Room, as they all wanted to watch Kayla and Jester's first performance, and they had not even heard Kayla sing before. Jester was already there in the Throne Room, and the Royal Family was waiting. Kayla went up to Jester and said, "I hope you don't have stage fright."
"Oh, I don't," he replied. He smiled kindly. "I hope you don't"
"Nah, I've sung a million times in front of people."
"Literally?"
She gave him an amused glare and they went up to the front of the room and bowed before the monarchs. It seemed everyone how lived at the castle was present to see their performance. Jester began to play his lute and Kayla began singing.
Note: Please review, as always. I hope ya liked it! I have big plans for this story…*excited laughter* Review, people! It makes me happy :)
