OH MY GOD! It's been so long since my last update! I'm soooo sorry! :(

I'll blame school, I've been having a test a week for the last few weeks and I've got another one coming up soon. :P (Good old school.)

I'm writing this chapter in between tests, hopefully all you guys are not too upset with me...

My last chapter was mostly to introduce Leo, my skirt chaser. :P It also hopefully showed Jane's feelings for Jester.

I don't own Jane and the Dragon...

Chapter 10

A Toast!

The rain was falling down into the small little clearing where the three caravans where camping, their deep green coverings blending them into the foliage around them. The sky lighting up with the bright flash of lightning closely followed by the earth rumbling crack of thunder that woke up the young man with grey-blue eyes. Beside him on the large mattress that was placed in the back of the caravan on the floor slept his twin sister, her light brown hair covering some of her face, her breathing light. Ovid smiled as she rolled over and placed her head against his right shoulder and kept sleeping like nothing happened. To his left laid his mother who was also awake and watching him from the corner of her eyes. His father was not in the caravan.

That was one of the few disadvantages that Ovid had to get used to when he first came back to the gypsies, families had to share the bed.

"The thunder woke you up as well sweety?" His mother whispered not wanting to wake her daughter.

"I think so, or my wonderful niece..." The two laughed under their breath as at that exact moment, Viola decided her uncles chest would make the perfect pillow, normally she slept on a smaller mattress on the floor beside them.

"I'm surprised that Lilli had not awoken, you know how much she dislikes storms."

His mother nodded at the comment, sighing at the next loud rolling wave or thunder that shone into the caravan.

"And your father decided it was the perfect time to hunt, something about how all the animals would be hiding from the storm. That crazy old man."

Ovid laughed, his grandfather and father did have some strange ideas sometimes.

"I suppose it could be worse, he has decided one time that it would be a good idea to give Sera some ale right after she had finished giving birth to Viola." She sighed, "something about wanting to celebrate the occasion."

Sera was Ovid's and Lillianne's older sister, and the mother to Viola, who was still sound asleep on Ovid's chest, thumb in her mouth. He couldn't remember much about his older sister, as he was seven when his family had left him in the care of King Caradoc for the lack of anything else to teach him. Which he found odd as he was being taught tons of things since he came back.

"She had passed away after Viola was born, right mum?" Ovid looked over at his mom who was admiring Viola

"Yes. Child birth. She had been so pale and tired." The sad look on her face told the story, Sera had tried to fight it, but didn't make it through the night. "She was holding Viola. Had such a serene look upon her face. Your father even cried. And he's only cried twice."

"Twice?" Ovid looked toward his niece, if the painting was any consolation, his little drooly niece of four looked very much like her mother. With the same pale features and slender profile the whole family seemed to have. The biggest difference was her eyes, instead of the greyish-blue hers where a striking shade of deep blue. So deep they almost had a purple tinge to them. According to his grandmother Penelope, the fathers eyes where a beautiful shade of deep blue. The father has never been found since Viola was born, Ovid's father said it was good, as he would be dead if he showed his face around the caravan. Yet, nobody would explain why that was.

"The second time was when we left you at the castle." The thunder cracked at its loudest shaking the caravan and waking both Lilli and Viola.

The next morning the air was fresh and cool, some trees where split in half, others laying on the ground. Birds where singing in the trees that were still standing tall and proud, while smaller animals where running all over the smaller, knocked down trees. Some of the bigger gypsies were moving trees out of the way and getting the animals prepared to continue their journey.

According to Dario, they where on the border of Italy... Almost home.

Ovid stepped out into the morning light, the air was crisp, cool and calm. The sun had not quite broken through the clouds that just barely lingered behind, white, fluffy, and gently floating past, as harmless as a butterfly.

"Ugh! Why does it always have to be so beautiful out the next day after a storm?" Lillianne had wandered out of the caravan, her darker blue-grey eyes slightly bloodshot and drooping.

"Its not always nice after a storm... Sometimes, its still a little ugly out."

"Shut it Ovid. You're not helping."

"Now tell me how I'm not helping?" Ovid was looking down at his sister who had struggled her way down to the dewy grass at the bottom of the caravans steps then sat down getting the bottom of her pants all wet. "I'm waiting for an answer."

"You're growing an attitude..." Lilli huffed, pulling a dagger out of the folds of her tunic.

"And that's a problem?" The male twin crouched down so that he was just barely looking at the top of his sisters head, the light brown of her hair showing through in the blinding glow of both blonds.

"Not if you don't want it to be."

Reaching down and plucking the dagger out of Lilli's hands, Ovid stretched out a foot and slid his way down to the ground beside his twin. He had gained some more muscle since he left the castle a year ago, also gained a bit of colour and had a bronzed glow about his skin, just a touch lighter then his sisters.

"The weather is beautiful." He swiped a strand of hair out of his eyes, "Besides dad said today was a special day for both of us and the rest of the caravan."

"Your lucky I'm your sister..."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Resting down beside her, he lifted up his right knee and rested his arm on it, the dagger still in his hand in a loose, but deadly position, facing toward the ground.

"Your acting is getting much better. People would think we were courting or something."

"Nah. Its too relaxed. Besides, I'm not acting... If I were acting, you would be blushing."

"Is that so?" She turned her tired eyes toward her brother who was looking at her from just under his lashes, his hair falling gently in his eyes, shading him from the sun that had just peeked out from the small cloud in the sky. His arm just resting on his knee which he had raised up, his left foot folding under the bend, the dagger still in his hand. He looked both deadly, yet calm. Lilli blushed.

"Bastard."

"I'm loved for it." He smiled, a bit lopsided, but cute. It had only added to his charm.

"Your going to charm the skirt off of some lady if you keep that up."

"Am I now?" Ovid relaxed and laughed. "Good, because there is a girl I want to charm."

"The lady-knight in training?" Lilli shot him a look that screamed 'I'm right and you know it.'

"Yes." Ovid didn't even looked surprised that his sister knew. She was his twin sister after all, and the two of them where exceptionally close. So close his father sometimes voiced out that it was unnatural for siblings not to fight. Yes, they had their heated disagreements, or Lilli would get frustrated with him and call him some interesting names. But they never drew blood. A bruise here or there did occur quite often, more so when Ovid first came back to the caravan and was still as thin as a twig.

A year ago, picking up and properly using a sword, let alone any weapon, was like watching a young child swing a stick around. The movements uncoordinated and clumsy. But now, he could use two swords at the same time, and make it look easy, throw a dagger with deadly accuracy (something that Lilli ingrained into him as she wanted something they where both good at, to hold the stereotype that twins where very similar), and entertain a crowd with his song and dance.

"I've been trying for years to get her to notice me, but she has always just looked at me like a good friend." Ovid looked down at the wet grass and sighed, "I guess I'm just doing it wrong or something."

"No, she is just dumb."

"What a harsh thing to say!"

"Not really." Lilli put her hand on his cheek, "I'm only saying that because your such a nice guy. If she isn't attracted to you then something is not right with her. You did almost everything you could, and you can't do anything about the results of it."

"I guess." Looking around he stood up and pulled his sister up after him, "Wait... What did you mean by 'almost' everything?"

"You still have to see her again after growing up."

...0

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

How was it that those two words could echo through the whole woods and scare the birds, who went flying off in fear, Ovid will never understand. He knew it was the pure volume of his fathers voice, but how he could get that loud was another story.

After there little talk, Lilli had wished him a happy birthday, then stumbled back into the caravan to get some more sleep. It had appeared as though a lot of the caravan folk where thinking the same thing, as they stayed in the same spot for the day, something that does not usually happen. It was also the twins birthday, and his father insisted on a party. So of course they spent most of the day preparing for that, and the moment nightfall hit, the fire was started and the music and dancing begun.

The twins where turning fifteen, and the whole caravan was excited that both of them where there this year and not just the one. So the festivities where a little over the top as Ovid and Lilli's father cracked out the instruments that they use during a play. So of course the entire caravan were celebrating and being, well loud. Something that was usually not allowed as it would attract thieves and bandits.

"Happy Birthday!" Dario shouted wrapping his arms around both of his kids and pushing them together in a giant bear hug. "You better enjoy the party because it probably wont happen again."

"Humpf?" Ovid questioned into his father armpit, his airways starting to be impacted.

"Yesh, whafth mmm oouu humpfing aboooat?"Lilli asked her face crammed into their fathers other armpit.

"What are either of you saying?" Dario let go of the twins and looked at them with curiosity and gleam

"I said." Ovid took a breath "Huh."

"Just huh?"

"Just huh." He grinned, "why might we not get another one?"

Even though Ovid knew exactly why there where not many parties, it was always fun to ask his dad really dumb questions as the larger man would be stunned for about thirty seconds then mumble incoherently for about ten before clearing his throat and actually answering. Lilli had told him one time that dumb questions throw off their father because he had to wrap his head around the idea that such a dumb question could come out of somebodies mouth.

"Whhaaa?" It had begun, with the twin giggling at their fathers face as he just stared.

"I... um, what?" Head scratch "You wanna know? Huh... Well uh. Heh... Bandits." Dario stopped to regain his posture. "Because of bandits you knuckle head."

"Why didn't you say that to begin with?" Lilli asked, with a gleam in her eyes

"Clara!" Dario shouted while walking away, "The kids are making fun of me again!"

"Well you make it so easy!"

"I do no..."

There was a signal from Gianni, the leader of the gypsies and the grandfather to Lillianne and Ovid and father to Clara, the twins mother. It was a swift signal, but effective. All he did was raise his hand with the index finger pointing to the sky, it wasn't above his head, just in front like he was telling the person he was talking to 'one second', but it did its job, the clearing went silent. All Ovid could hear was his sister breathing beside him, and the wind rustling through the trees. The fire was soon put out, and the sizzling could be heard above the trees, a bellow of dark grey smoke floating to the sky, marking where they were. There where a couple of sounds of people unsheathing swords, Ovid grandmother grabbing the bow and arrows out of the caravan farthest away from him, and his mother taking Viola into the caravan they had stayed in the night before just about ten feet away from where he stood. Lilli had pulled out a couple of her daggers and nudged him to do the same. His left hand went to his waist, where one of the three daggers he had to carry on him at all times was sheathed and gave it a gentle tug, just enough to loosen it in the sheath, he wouldn't take it out just yet.

Slowly Ovid moved his foot feeling for the soft push of his second dagger that was strapped just inside of his right boot, made just loose enough that he could hide it there by strapping it onto his leg, but tight enough that they would not fall off, they where made of a dark bear hide that his father had killed shortly after he rejoined the gypsies, and the thigh high boots where then crafted for him in the nearest town. His third and final dagger he had strapped onto his upper arm, so that even if he decided to take his shirt off, which he had that night, it would still be there.

Lilli had already unsheathed the dagger that hung around her waist and was staring off into the woods, a look of pure determination on her face, her left hand rested on her breast where she had hid the second dagger that afternoon in the folds that protected them from bouncing too much. Her third dagger was also hiding inside one of her boots, she always alternated so that it was a surprise where the dagger would come from if she used the other two.

The woods became silent, and nobody dared to move or breathe, not really sure what it was that Gianni heard. It could have been just a bird, or maybe a bear ambling through, or it could also be thieves trying to get the advantage of sneaking through the forest. Usually if it was thieves, the caravan had an advantage as they also had to think like thieves to survive, some of the weapons in their possession where stolen from various places, then changed usually by repairing the blade, or removing any unique features so that they couldn't be recognized.

Time dragged as the twenty or so people all stood in silence waiting for Gianni to relax and laugh it off as his old age. But the laugh never came. It was an ambush.

...0.0.0

It started as a crack of a tree branch and Gianni rose up and spun around slowly moving back until somebody handed him one of the training staves used to practice with. In anybody ease's hand it would have been laughable, but in his grandfathers hands he knew damage would be dealt. His other grandfather stood just in front of him, his right hand just behind his back with the palm facing the twins, and the fingers spread wide. Ovid had surprisingly never been in an ambush, or even a fight for that matter against somebody that was trying to kill him, so he wasn't sure what to make of the gesture.

"When grandpa closes his hand, that's when you attack." Lilli whispered still looking into the dense woods where the tree cracking sounds were heard. "Grandma Penelope and Rhonda will light torches soon so we can see where everybody is."

"And go for the kill" Came the gruff whisper from his grandfather in front of him, "Don't let the bastard live unless you're going to take him as a prisoner, or else they will come back. And they will have the knowledge of how we fight."

"Avoid that at all costs" Ovid grandmother Rhonda walked up behind him, a lit torch in her hand, his other grandmother not far off light a couple along the walls of the caravan creating a soft glow just bright enough to see shapes.

"Also." Lilli looked in his direction, "Try not to get killed. Injured is fine, its unavoidable. But you can avoid death."

"Listen to the commands of myself or your other grandfather, and that includes any order to retreat." His grandfather grunted, "and we will only retreat if all hope is lost, or if many men are down. Besides your sister, usually its only men who are trained with weapons, so there is not many of us."

"Why just you?" Ovid whispered at his sister fear starting to creep into his voice, his body already frozen with fear.

"Because I told dad if he signed those papers and left you at that damned castle I'd throw a dagger at him."

"You did, didn't you?"

"The man's got a scar on his back to prove it." Enzo laughed under his breath. "Then Lilli said he was lucky that he was her father or else she would have hit his head. With that kind of skill, we had to train her."

"So want about me?"

"You have a stick growing out from between your legs. Just because of that, you are trained." Lilli laughed, then fell silent as Enzo shushed them, his hand shaking behind his back.

The first guy had emerged from the trees, his hair matted, and straggly, and his teeth black and falling out. The mismatched swords had seen better days, but looked strong enough to last him one more night.

"Ohhhhhh... What a lovely prize we've walked into boys." His voice deep, and stringy. A hissing sound coming from the back his throat. "There is even a lovely little girl who thinks she can fight us. She will make a fine source of pleasure before I kill her."

"Rapist."Enzo whispered, "Rhonda, get into one of the caravans. Get the other women to go with you, and stay there. Lilli, take the bow and arrows from your grandmother. I want you to stay as far away as you can while still hitting them with arrows." Both women nodded in response then went into action, Lilli disappearing from Ovid's sight.

"Ovidius." Gianni called out. "Keep an eye on your sister. Do everything in your power to make sure she is safe." He nodded and ran off towards Lilli behind the caravans the moment Enzo had closed his hands.

The moment Ovid got behind the caravan with his sister there was a shout of fury from the rapist and many more yells as the trees exploded with about ten men, all running into the light of the dimly lit clearance. Some falling to their deaths the moment they entered the clearing, eating the metal of the blades from the first few men, others bring up their swords for a fight.

"I'm going to sit on top of the caravan and start shooting off arrows, you stay in front but underneath and block anybody from getting up." Lilli commanded already half way up the side of the caravan.

"What about the back?" Ovid question taking out the dagger from his waist and looking up at his sister.

"I'll warn you in advance. I will be able to see all around."

"Okay." Ovid gave her the thumbs up. "Oh, and next time you may want to climb up before talking to a guy, I could see your under garments." Ovid was answered with a rock falling on his head and a laugh.

"Come out, come out where ever you are." Came a snot filled voice from behind Ovid. "Ah, there you are pretty."

"Pretty?" Ovid turned around and faced him, "I'm not very pretty..."

"Wha?" The man never had a chance to recover from the shock of calling a male pretty before an arrow punctured through the top of his head, a direct hit from the girl above. Ovid looked away as the blood splattered his upper torso.

"We will need a bath after this!" Lilii shouted down, "A very long bath." She had just rested the bow down on the roof of the caravan and peered over to examine her brother, using the boxes of props on the top for cover. "Just make sure none of it gets into your mouth!"

"Got it!" Ovid shouted back, wiping away any blood off his face. Shivers raking his body at the shock of what just occurred.

Walking around the large mass of the caravan, Ovid looked up to see that the bull had been killed, and one of the horses where injured. Blood was soaking the ground and bodies where starting to litter it. To his left, the dirty matted hair leader of the thieves came running up towards him. Ovid stumbled over himself, and took a quick look up at his sister. She was busy trying to protect their father who had three guys surrounding him. Holding up his dagger, Ovid looked straight into the man and froze. Murder was in his eyes.

"Oh shit."

Knocking out the dagger from his hands, the man smiled showing off his blackened teeth.

"New to fighting are you? Too bad you wont live to see another day, and learn from this experience."

With that the man swung his sword and sliced Ovid through the chest pushing him back onto the ground, a deep bloody line marking the spot where the tip of the blade made contact with flesh.

"Ovid!" Lilli screamed from the top of the caravan "Get up man! Please!"

Rolling over onto his knees and elbows Ovid took a quick look around to see if he could find his dagger, using the mans cruel laughter as extra time to get up. With out any luck, he picked up the one thing that he could find. A wooden mug that somebody dropped when the warning first went out. Picking it up he took a couple of breaths before lifting himself unsteadily to his feet.

"Hah! A cup? You want to make a toast to your last living day?" The man jeered his laughing turning into a grin.

"Not sure yet... But maybe this will work." Putting his hand between the handle of the cup and the actual cup, Ovid made sure he had a solid grip before quickly spinning around bringing his arm from behind and hitting the grinning man square in the temple with enough force to break the cup in half. A resounding "thunk" noise echoed through the clearing and trees.

With blood leaking profusely from the side of his head, the man fell to the ground, a look of pure surprise on his face. He was dead. Killed instantly by the force of the cup hitting him.

"Oh. By. The. Heavens. Ovid." Lilli whispered sliding down from the roof of the caravan where she had been perched. "You just killed a man. Your very first kill. And it was with a wooden mug."

Whoo! That's a long one! Hopefully its worth the wait. :)

Again I'm sorry that It took so long to update, hopefully the next one will be a lot quicker. Plus my term is almost over so Ill be able to put one up through December. That's a promise. :D