Author's note: This is a filler. I'm not going to lie. Please review anyway.

"And who are you?" called a guard from the top of the city "wall". It barely went over the head of Gunther when mounted on his steed.

"I am Sir Gunther, and this is Lady Jane. We are knights in the King's service."

"And who's the third?"

"That is Smithy, our traveling companion and smith."

"What be your business in Skegness?"

"We come on an errand for the King."

"Which would be…?"

"Confidential." Gunther was getting tired of this pompous city guard.

"I can not let you in without knowing your purpose."

"Then Lady Jane and I will ride back to the castle, at which point we will come directly back with an order from the King and forty knights at our back." Very tired.

"Perhaps I should handle this?" interjected Jane, giving a death look to Gunther. "We mean no harm to the grand city of Skegness, or any offense to their loyal and devoted guards, but the King has given us a very important task."

"I can not let you through this gate until I know what it is."

"Perhaps…You seem to be trustworthy…Alright. Can you hold your tongue?"

"Under pain of death!" the guard boasted proudly.

"Lean down, then. We would not want unwelcome ears to hear." Jane looked at Smithy. The guard nodded and bent his head down to just above the top of the wall. Jane whispered something in his ear, and the giddiness of the guard became perceivable. "You will tell us if you hear anything suspicious?"

"Of course, a single whisper on the wind and I will bring word to you. You may pass."

Smithy was impressed by how quickly Jane had managed that. Normally, Jane would have lost her temper and Gunther would have solved it easily. Smithy really did not know what happened to Gunther when Jane was near.

They rode through the town, quickly finding the local inn. Curiously, it was titled 'The Green Dragon'. Smithy remarked this to Jane.

"Pepper told me about this. Rake bought an inn in Skegness a few months ago, and hired a man to take care of it. He calls it a 'chain'. He hopes to place one in every village, large and small. He has his eyes on your home town, next. I don't know if it'll catch on, though." Jane was finishing just when a man came out of the inn.

"Lady Jane, Sir Gunther and Jethro, correct?" The man who spoke had a heavy Roman accent, olive skin, and black, beady eyes. Something about seemed to exude a sense of trustworthiness.

"Yes, how do you know?" Gunther asked suspiciously.

"Rake told me that three friends of his would be coming. He told me to give you my three best beds."

"Excellent," Smithy said as he got off his horse. Jane and Gunther dismounted as well, and Smithy went to take them all to the stable.

"No friend of Rake will ever stable his own horse at my inn!" the innkeeper clapped his hands and a much smaller version of himself came to take the horses reins from Smithy.

The three found their rooms, swiftly making themselves comfortable, before they met in Smithy's room for a meeting.

"Why did you tell the guard what we were doing?" Smithy asked, as Gunther obviously wanted to know but refused to question Jane.

"I didn't."

"Then what exactly did you tell him?"

"I told him that we were trying to find the head of a gang of thieves, which is partially true, because I did hear some thief talking about the Gray Fox trying to pull something off in Skegness."

"Very clever, Jane."

"So how do we find Pal?" the three began to think up methods, with their heads bunched together so that not a word could escape.

OoOoO

Well, that didn't work, thought Fiona. But then again, Jester might be a tad too close to Jane to believe her. Perhaps the innkeeper and his wife? Fiona waddled over to the Green Dragon, with a brief side track to her privy, and waited for Verbena to finish what she was doing.

"Hello, Fiona."

"Hello, Verbena." Peppers face twisted in a grimace for a moment.

"How many times must I ask you to call me Pepper?"

"I never will, however many times you tell me."

"Well, then, what are you here for?"

"I have terrible news." This drew Pepper's attention. "I am afraid that Lady d'Ark is seducing my husband."

Pepper laughed at that at first. "Oh! You're serious. Well, I am going to have to ask that you and anyone who believes you stay away from our inn. We will not serve people so ready to believe such distasteful lies."

"Surely you jest!"

"Not in the least. Get out."

"Do we have a problem?" Rake had just entered through the door at the back of the dining room.

"Lady Breech has been spreading rumors about Jane."

"Leave. Now."

Why wouldn't they believe her? It was so obvious! Fiona left and made her way to Jethro and Elicia's home near the castle, with a short pit stop at her privy. She knocked on the gold-gilded door to the gold-gilded house. Most people would assume that this meant that the residents were wealthy, but in fact, Jethro had a goldsmith who would do anything for him, including gilding the entire house for free. She knocked quietly on the door.

"Smithy isn't here," Elicia stated.

"That's good, as I'm here to talk to you, not your husband."

"Oh! You're not Jane!"

"No, I'm Gunther's wife, Fiona."

"Good to meet you. Come in, I have some tea on the kettle."

"I thought you were supposed to be working at the castle forge?"

"I was, but my son helps, so I finish the daily duties quickly. Here is your tea. If they need anything else, they know where I am. What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you about Jane." Elicia took a sip from her cup. "What do you know about her?"

"I know Smithy would trust her with his life. Why?"

"I think that she's trying to seduce my husband."

"Why?"

"Have you not seen the way he acts around her? I know Gunther would not dote on her the way he does unless he was provoked. What do you think?"

"I think you need a lot more than that to convince anyone of not only being unfaithful to their husband but to convince your husband to be unfaithful as well. Very few will believe you, and I am not one of those few. I will excuse you for the reason that I myself acted foolishly while I was pregnant with Jethro III, but not many will forgive you. I would stay quiet and confront Jane privately, but do not try to turn the town against her. They will turn against you. Leave my house until you see sense."

And so she left. She was getting tired of this. Fiona left and went to her home, once again to the privy, and made a small dinner, after which she settled into her bed, but her mind still did not settle. She kept thinking, over and over, Two doors between them…

Author's note: I'm sorry it took longer than normal for this chapter. I kind of lost my inspiration. It'll come back, but in the meantime, I'm putting this on hold.