Chapter 8 – Pumpkin and Onion Stew
The sun was setting in the west, casting a bright pink complexion to the sky. Smithy was still hammering away. Mira had left shortly after lunch, and he had finished fixing her necklace soon after that. He had then resumed making swords, and was finally achieving success. Smithy placed another complete sword in a row next to the others. He had made twelve so far, all strong enough to withstand more than the usual burdens of battle, and lightweight as not to weight down the soldiers. It was as if working on the fine, delicate art of a necklace had improved his sword making, somehow.
Just as he had finished another three swords, Smithy heard footsteps approaching his forge. He didn't need to look up to know who it was; he had been awaiting the sound of her delicate footsteps all afternoon.
"Hello Lady Mira," he greeted.
Mira smiled, echoing his enthusiasm, "Hello Smithy. Now, it is sun down."
"I know."
"And I believe that we had some kind of agreement."
"Indeed we did." He grinned.
She stood there, knitting her brow, wondering what he was up to. "Well…"
"Well, what?" Smithy was mentally laughing.
Mira was starting to get annoyed now. She opened her mouth to give him a lecture on impoliteness, when Smithy reached behind his work bench and pulled out a box. He presented it to Mira. She shut her mouth and looked at him questioningly. He gave her a look that said Go ahead, take it. Mira accepted the box, but looked sceptical until she opened it.
"It's perfect!" she exclaimed, running her fingers over the delicate chainwork. It was better than before and looked brand new.
Smithy was overjoyed at her reaction. The way her eyes lit up and her cheeks turned pink made him feel strangely…elated. And he wasn't too sure why.
She looked up, her blue eyes sparkling, and replied, "Thank you ever so much!"
"You're welcome, Mira," he said, scratching the back of his neck nervously.
Before he could do anything, Mira quickly came up to him and kissed him on the cheek before swiftly skipping out of his forge. Smithy was frozen, stunned at what had just happened. He suddenly blushed. The distant sound of Jester singing another one of his annoying ditties told Smithy that his friends were back from their mission. He tried, and failed, to remove the goofy look from his face before getting back to work.
Gunther muttered darkly as he led the thief down the stairs and into the dungeons. Dungeon was more of a title, rather than a description. Since the King had seen little use for them since long before his reign, they had become more a storage facility for all the extra junk that didn't fit anywhere else. But one cell was always kept empty, just in case.
Gunther struggled to find the right key to the cell, whilst still keeping a hand on the girl. After a few minutes, he found it. It took more time to turn the key in the rusty lock, but he did it, and gently pushed his prisoner inside, locking it after her. He stood back and sighed. "Well, it seems you may be in there for a while. Might as well make yourself comfortable." He gestured to the bench with cousins. The cell was more like a guest bedroom than a proper jail cell.
She remained standing there, at the door, with big brown eyes full of hate.
"Or you can stand there, fine by me, either way." Gunther went into the next cell over, which was open, pulled out a stool and positioned himself in front of the occupied cell. After a while, he went back and got a second one so he could put his feet up.
"That's better." he said, to no-one in particular.
The girl continued to stare.
"You know, I'm going to be here a while. I've got first shift in 'prisoner-watching duty'."
The girl's stare turned into a glare.
Gunther continued to talk, filling in the silence. "If I were you, I would be grateful to be here. It really is much better than the conditions in the town jail. Perhaps more lonely, but at least you get comfortable furniture and privacy. Other prisons won't give you that. And you also get me for company. Aren't you lucky?"
The girl rolled her eyes.
Gunther frowned. "What's your name, anyway?"
The girl hesitated, but answered, "Chloe."
Dragon was snoozing on the castle wall as usual, and was joined by his new best friend (other than Jane), Spyro, who was also fast asleep. It seemed that a day of stalking cows had tired both of them out considerably. Sasha was leaning against the wall with them, her mind fully focused on whatever she was writing. Jane and Jester looked on, while sitting at the wooden table outside the kitchens, waiting for Pepper and Rake to unveil her latest creation.
"What do you think she's made this time?" asked Jester.
"Well, last time it was a fig and radish pie. So, this time, it could be something along the lines of…kippers and cucumber omelettes."
"I don't know, she has been favouring her root vegetables lately. I'd say she's made a potato and apple pudding."
"Ok, who's ready for pumpkin and onion stew?" Pepper announced, walking though the door (held open by Rake), arms laden with bowls. Jane and Jester made faces, but smiled meekly as they accepted their food from Pepper.
She looked at them expectantly. "Well, go on."
"You know, Pepper –" Jester started.
"And be honest. I've been working on this all day."
Jane and Jester exchanged looks before bravely trying the foreboding stew.
Jane was surprised. "This is actually very good, Pepper."
"Yes, the onion compliments the pumpkin really well." Jester agreed.
"Why thank you, I'm glad you like it. Now I know the King will enjoy it for dinner tonight. I don't know what you were worried about, Rake."
Rake shrugged and followed Pepper back into the kitchen.
"Well, it's much better than the apple and corn soup she made that time."
"And that tomato and pear cake."
Suddenly, Dragon awoke and turned his head out to the forest. As did Spyro. Even Sasha looked up from her work.
Jane and Jester, however, were too busy 'having a moment', to realise the disturbance.
"What was that?" Sasha asked Dragon.
"I'm not too sure." he replied.
"Sounds kind of like a dragon." said Spyro.
"Another dragon? That's impossible. I've been the only one here for centuries." Dragon replied.
"Well, that noise came from something. Should we go and see?" Sasha suggested.
"Of course." said Dragon, getting to hid feat and leaping into the air. Spyro followed close behind, while Sasha made a mad dash across the courtyard and into the stable.
"Hey, where are you going?" Asked Jane.
"Heard a noise…could be dragon…" Sasha managed to yell back.
Moments after disappearing into the stable, she came back out, riding Tempest, bare-back, running though the still open gates and into the forest.
"Did she say there was a wagon?" asked Jester.
"I heard flagon. But how can you hear a flagon?"
"I don't know. Should we follow her?"
Jane looked to see Dragon and Spyro gone too. "Perhaps we should."
So Jane and Jester went into the stable, saddled a pair of horses and followed Sasha into the forest.
Another chapter, another week. What does everyone think?
And if you have any theories as to who the spellcasters are, i'm all ears. not really. it's just as expression. lol. but feedback and theories are welcome.
Thanks for reading.
Tiger-Cub684
