A/N: Thanks for the reviews, past and present. You people give me hope.
"Child, why did you not take her to the Wizard?" His voice grew angry. What did I do?
"I thought-"
He stepped out of the doorway cutting me off, "You did not think, Jane. You never think!"
I was taken aback, I felt my eyes grow and my mouth open. He surely did not say that – did he? "I was only trying to find Mother for another reason, not this, Father. Honest, under Knights' Code of Conduct."
"But you are not a Knight, are you?"
I rubbed my neck sheepishly and looked down, "Well, not exactly."
"Go to the Wizard, now!" Father ordered pointing to the Wizard's Tower. "Do not come back until you have gotten my Grandchild taken care of!" He slammed the door in my face after turning back and storming into the room again.
Only then did I notice the smell of wine. "Not again," I groaned. He cannot be drinking again, can he? I turned right and walked toward the Wizard's Tower.
He has been drinking since I quit and moved to the Town. This has surely got to stop! I furiously thought. And yet he has missed you Jane. You have not paid visit in six years, I heard Gunther's voice in my head. How was it that the people I love come into my head? That IS true, but honestly! I thought back. …He still loves you. Perhaps if you, say, pay visit more often, he will stop, that was Dragon's voice.
I was at the Wizard's Tower now and knocked on the door. He should stop anyway! I should take this issue to the King. It was a moment until I got an answer, No, you should not! It is a family issue; therefore you should not take it to the King, surged Gunther's and Dragon's voice in a raspy, furious way.
Champion, now everyone is against me.
The door opened a crack and I saw a blue eye peek out. "Hello?" An old, feeble voice said.
"Umm, hullo good sir, I am-"
"No need to explain Jane." How did he know my name? "What do you desire that requires my attention?"
"I, umm, need a favor from you."
"Does it require the attention of your daughter Minerva and the shard stuck in her back?" He asked delicately.
I took a step back astonished – I felt my mouth drop open. "Yes –yes, how did y-you know?"
The Wizard pointed one shaky brown finger out the door to my daughter, "She is crying, no?"
I looked down at Minnie who was still crying. "It is obvious that she is hurt by her facial gestures. The way her face scrunches up, her not bothering to wipe away the red hair that falls gently in her face, and look at her fists – how they are clamped up and tight!" the old man observed.
"May we come in – can you help her, I mean?"
It seemed the Wizard took this into thought for he did not answer straight away, "Are you the true Jane Breech?"
I was offended, "Yes, who else would I be?"
"Did you used to have a courtship with the boy in blue?" A picture came into my mind making me feel dizzy…
"I love you, Jane – always have and always will," Jester said fondly fingering my red hair.
The sunset looked unbelievable from the stone wall where we were seated. I normally would have replied "you too" and not minded his gentle touch, but instead a lump formed into my throat once he said the words…
"Snap out of it, Jane! You have a child in your arms with a shard in her back, and you are about to fall off the stairs!" The warning felt so far away…
… So I did not answer, I was ashamed of what I had committed…
The world was a blur and spinning…
…He did not seem to notice my silence but kept on going, "Do you want to hear a jest Jane? I made a new one."
I could not answer him for fear of my surely cracked voice. He noticed this time, "Jane, are you alright? You have not spoken."…
Tears clawed at my eyes and my lower lip trembled…
…I wanted to scream, "No I am not alright! Nothing is alright; nothing will ever be alright ever again!" But I lied and trusted my voice, "Yes, everything is almost alright."
"…Almost?" I could picture his face scrunched up…
Minerva's shriek sounded like the wind, so far off…
… "I am sorry Jester, but I have to leave," I said.
He took it wrong and said his goodnights and everything and left me alone to sit on the wall. Just to sit on the wall and think at how ignorant humans could be at times. I said I was leaving, I never said how…
"Good God child, watch yourself! Do not go another step back!" I did not listen; I could barely make out the words. But someone with skin brown as Rake's hair, and calloused but firm hands grabbed Minerva gently, but I could not tell who what with everything blurry. Then the same person yanked me away from where I was standing. A thought crept into mind then, The Wizard.