[Woah, the reads on the previous chapter nearly knocked me off my chair. Thanks guys! Hope you've enjoyed reading the story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Here's the last chapter, finally, no more extensions, no more questions. Here's how the story ends.]
-.-.-
The banquet table was alive with chatter and clatter as the guests helped themselves to the meal of various meats, fruits, soups, and sauces from the palace kitchen. Pepper had really outdone herself this time, Jane thought to herself, as she noted that the her cooking became more skillful and exquisite with each passing year.
"My compliments to the chef!" one guest suddenly exclaimed, raising a wine goblet in the air. Jane guessed that he had emptied it quite a few times, judging from his flushed face and slightly slurred speech. "A toast to King Caradoc and his castle!"
Shouts of "Here, here!" went on up and down the banquet table, as goblets clinked here and there. She meekly raised her own goblet, still full of wine that she had taken just a sip off at the start of the meal. She took another sip, and still could not understand its appeal to all the guests around her, drinking heartily from their own cups.
"Don't waste the wine, Jane," Gunther said, to her right, picking up his own cup, already half-drained. "It would be insulting to our host."
"We are the hosts, silly Gunther," Jane said, sneering slightly. "And how can anyone stand to drink this stuff, let alone get drunk on it? You can hardly taste the sweetness."
"One does get used to the bitterness of a wine, much like we get used to the bitterness in people," he said enigmatically, not looking at her. "Makes the sweetness all the sweeter. Not that you'd know what I'm talking about," he suddenly added, swishing his goblet absent-mindedly in his hand.
"Oh spare me your poetry," she said, looking at the cup in her own hands. She took another sip and searched for the sweetness; and she found it was right there, on the tip of her tongue. "Hey, you're right, I do taste it. I think I'd still prefer pumpkin juice or something.
Gunther didn't have the chance to reply as an announcement was made regarding dinner entertainment. Jane could hardly hear it over the general dinner din, and turned to Gunther.
"What did they say? I thought I heard 'Jester' mentioned," she said.
"Here comes the fool now," Gunther said, his gaze fixed on the figure entering and positioning himself at the head of the banquet hall, some ways from King Caradoc's chair. He was handed a lute by one of the staff.
And then he started singing.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I bid you good eve
I present to you high jester, of the highest sleeves,"
At the same time, he shrugged his shoulders humorously, and his padded shoulders jiggled to the song. The guests laughed.
"Now let me not taketh too much of your time
But pray please do listen to this simple boy's rhyme."
Then Jane could only sit, mouth agape, as he started his song-
There once was a lady-in-waiting, let's call her Jane;
That girl wasn't ordinary…
-.-.-
"You can't be serious. You couldn't have been serious!" Jane could barely contain herself, pacing back and forth in the palace garden.
The ball was by now almost over, with some of the guests taking their leave, some of them dawdling behind, chatting with the royal family, feasting on the desserts. Meanwhile, the garden was nearly empty. Except of course, for two young men and a screaming young woman.
"Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?" she hissed at Jester, in an attempt to keep her voice down. "I don't want to hear any more about that bet you've made between the two of you."
"Oh please, you're one to talk, Little Ms. Competitive," Gunther sneered. "I haven't gone a week without you coming up with some wager just to prove how much better, faster, or stronger you are at anything I want to do."
"Alright, I know I've been a jerk, a dung dweller, a bog-brained half-witted maggot," she started sizzling.
"You forgot to mention 'pig's bottom'," Jester interjected.
"But to treat me, a proper lady, like some sort of prize for the two of you? It's lower than low. It's- it's- really low, that's what it is!" she said, continuing to pace agitatedly.
"Well, we may have to argue the 'proper lady' bit," Gunther mumbled.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Jane said, suddenly stopping in front of the two of them.
After a moment's pause, Jester suddenly quipped "Won't you at least tell us who won tonight?"
Jane scoffed and rolled her eyes. "And still, the fools won't quit," she said, before turning her evilest gaze on the two of them, in turn. Then, suddenly, she got an idea, apparent in her knowing smile and lit eyes.
"Why don't we make another bet, gentlemen?" she said, smiling at them, in turn.
-.-.-
"Good morning, Rake," Pepper called cheerfully, as she brought a large bowl of breakfast porridge from the kitchen to the courtyard table.
"Good morning, Pepper," Rake called from the garden, where he'd just finished pulling out the last of the weeds of the morning. "Is breakfast ready?"
"Quite, and still hot. Be sure to call the others before it becomes cold," Pepper said, returning to the kitchen to prepare the other meals of the castle.
Rake set out on his task around the castle grounds.
"Good morning, Smithy, breakfast's ready," he called as Smithy emerged from his quarters, with Pig soon rushing to meet him.
"Good morning, Pig, your breakfast's ready, too," he said, bending over to greet the Pig.
"Good morning, Gunther, Pepper said to tell- you-," he said, passing the knight's quarters, where Gunther emerged, looking unusually sprightly.
"Good day to you, too, Rake. See you at breakfast," he said, waving at the gardener as he headed to the common courtyard.
Rake furrowed his brow after him, thinking that something seemed strange; not quite figuring out, he decided to shrug it off and call the last people for breakfast.
A flurry of bells passed him and greeted him a cheerful good morning as he passed Jester.
"Good morning, Jester," he shouted after the jingle-boy before making his way up to Jane's room.
Jane nearly jumped out of her door, twirling around in the morning sun. Even Dragon seemed put off by this strangely ecstatic behavior.
"Jane, have you got squirrels in your britches? If you do I can put them right for you. Can't have pests in this castle on my watch-, Jane, is something different about you today?" Dragon said, from atop the turret.
Jane only laughed and said "Good morning" to the two of them as she skipped down the stairs past a stunned Rake, who could only shrug at Dragon and follow her down.
-.-.-
Smithy, Pepper, Rake, and Dragon wore troubled expressions throughout the day. It was the day after the ball, and they were all busy cleaning up after last night. They swept and kept, broomed and zoomed, mopped and basically just slaved away the whole day. Everyone was exhausted by dinner time, and they all sat down to eat at the same table in the courtyard, just like always.
"It's strange," Rake said, absent-mindedly stirring his soup with his spoon. "There's something different today, but I can't figure out what. Nothing's out of place. Not in my garden, the cabbages and potatoes are growing just fine; not in the kitchen, the food's as lovely as ever; not in the forge, the bellows work the same as always. But something's just bothering me, like a weed I can't pull out."
"I've been thinking the same thing, too," Smithy agreed with Rake.
"Well, maybe we're all just a bit tired. Our minds can play tricks on us sometimes, you know," Pepper said, trying to help.
Dragon suddenly landed on the wall next to them. "No, something's fishy here, and I just know it. I can sniff it a mile away."
He suddenly put his face close to the other three people who had been silent the whole time; giggling amongst themselves, as they soon noticed.
"Did you three get your hair cut?"
They broke out into laughter which soon spread into a joyous peal of laughs echoing through the courtyard.
-.-.-
"Do you regret changing your hair back to the way it was before the bet?" Jester asked Jane as they watched the moon from atop the parapet.
"The hair, maybe," she said, giggling. "It was starting to grow on me."
"Touche," Jester said, with a smile.
"But I don't regret going back to the way things were," she said, gazing up at the moon. "Some things should never change."
"Yes, then maybe people wouldn't have to be bothered so much," Gunther suddenly interrupted, walking towards them from behind. "Or forced to grow their hair into unmanageable bushes."
"Oh shut up. It wasn't a fair bet anyway," she said, not turning to face him.
"You didn't stand a hair of a chance," he continued.
"Do you two want to take my job or will you promise to leave the puns to me?" Jester suddenly broke in, face all seriousness.
They all looked at each other, then broke out into laughter again.
"Yeah, we should probably leave things the way they are. Just so, you know, no one here dies of bad jokes," Jane said.
"Or bad hair days," Jester said, looking at Jane.
"Or bad fringes," Jane said, looking at Gunther.
"Or bad hat hair," Gunther said, looking at Jester.
"Or bad running gags. Honestly, I've had enough of you two," Jester said, breaking into laughter again.
"So have I," Gunther and Jane said at the same time.
They looked at each other and could only smile.
