Change
Disclaimer: I do not own Jane and the Dragon. Thank You.
Note: This is a rather slow chapter so be warned it may be a bit boring. I will probably change the last paragraph a bit when I get the chance but since it had been so long since I updated I thought I would do that later... so without further ado on with the story.
Chapter 3:
Once we had closed everything down we headed to the throne room to make sure the royal family was safe and secure. It seemed as though everyone from the castle had decided to take shelter there… even Smithy's new pig, at first I thought he would never get over the loss of his old one but when everyone had pitched in to buy him a new one he seemed to start to get over his loss. I think that after pretending that the new pig was taking the place of the old one he finally managed to build the foundation of a beautiful friendship… thinking of this seemed to bring back so many memories for when I looked around the room with each person I saw the journey I had seen them go on over the years, the changes and the similarities.
Rake and Pepper were in a secluded corner talking to one another, over the years there slight attraction towards one another had grown in to a full scale romance and Jester told me in the strictest of confidence that Rake was planning to propose to Pepper when he got the chance, or in my opinion nerve. Rake had always been a little nervous around her as it was, so it is hard for me to imagine him asking her to marry him, but love can make us do crazy things and for those of us who don't always throw those types of emotions out there for all the world to see it makes things doubly hard… but his feelings for her are so strong I think that it won't be to long before he finally gets his nerve.
Jester was with the royal children who seem to have grown up over night, the prince seems to have changed for the better over the years, he is no longer the annoying little brat that he once was. He seems to be taking his position seriously and he is becoming the type of man whom I would be proud to serve under. And princess Lavinia is slowly becoming a young lady and in my opinion will be as beautiful as her mother, it was a sad thing when she stopped wearing her wings so many years ago, while she is still as innocent and sweet as ever I fear she is growing up quicker than anyone would have thought, but that is mostly due to the fact that for some reason everyone in the castle expected her to somehow stay a little girl all of her life… it is a pity and yet a great joy to watch her grow from the little girl to a young woman, but she will be strong as well as the sweet beauty that we begin to see before us…
The sound of Jesters voice seemed to bring me out of this trance, he was telling his latest joke to the royal children. Now Jester had hardly changed over the years, he was much more accomplished to be sure but overall I had scarcely noticed a change… except for his behavior towards me, I had discovered his feelings for me through Pepper and had decided it best not to mention anything to him, if he decided to tell me he would do it in his own good time and besides I wasn't sure I wanted him to, after all we were such good friends and I would hate to spoil it.
My mother on the other hand kept nagging me to find a suitable husband while I was still young, I on the other hand was not so keen on the idea after all I am finally nearing the point where I will become a knight and in any case there weren't many men within a decade of my age anywhere in the kingdom of Kippernium and the only ones I knew were Jester, Smithy, Rake, and Gunther. Rake of course was out of the question because of Pepper and besides I could never see him as anything more than a friend. Smithy was far too busy with his duties and I had always looked on him as a good friend and nothing more. Jester is the sweetest man alive but he and I are so vastly different, out of all my friends though he is the only one I could possibly see as anything more than a friend… then there was Gunther. I couldn't help laughing at that idea, me and Gunther every part of my being rebelled at the thought, well almost every part after all even if he was a stupid, stuck up, and conceded man he did have some good qualities such as being handsome, strong, in some situations brave, and I had even seen him show acts of kindness when he thought no one was looking. Indeed he had improved since when we were first training together, we were comrades in arms and he had on a number of occasions risked his life to save my own, though I would never admit that I needed help on those occasions. He no longer tried to cheat on tests and do such horrible things as his father would want, indeed he had become the very opposite of his father and for that I am eternally grateful, I still cannot stand the man though for I cannot remember the last time we shared a civil word.
"Jane… Jane!" I turned around and said, "Oh I'm sorry Jester I was lost in thought." He smiled at this and I knew that he was just dying to make a joke but he refrained from doing so by asking me, "Sir Theodore just told me that Gunther was on the way to take care of those wolves when the storm started, do you think he will be alright?" Suddenly my mind was brought back to the present, "I need to go after him it's far too dangerous for him to be out there on his own in such a storm!" He shook his head at this and said, "The castle is locked down except for one gate which Sir Theodore left open so that when the storm died down a little he could leave with relative ease and he has forbade anyone from leaving the castle to go after Gunther, particularly you. You won't be able to get out of here unnoticed, and besides it is far too dangerous out there you said it yourself… you would just be putting yourself in the same danger that he is in then Sir Theodore or Sir Ivon would have to leave to go after you before it was safe enough."
"You are right Jester, indeed I cannot get out of here alone but if you would distract them as I am leaving and make it so they do not notice my departure then I could go find Gunther… please Jester you must do this for me." Again he shook his head and said, "No Jane it is far too dangerous for you to go alone…" His eyes lit up as though some great idea had just occurred to him. "If you let me go with you then I will help you escape." My eyes grew wide at this Jester out there in such weather it was not safe but perhaps if I could make him think that I agreed to this I could tie him up so that he could not follow me… but I could not deceive him in such a way. But if it was to protect him and to save Gunther… even then I could not, for if deceiving him wasn't enough tying him up was, but what of Gunther's fate…
