A/N: Thanks for your reviews for Chapter 1!
The sound of bells clinking at midday had not been coming from Jester. In order to alert the court, Jane and Gunther had been assigned to run through the castle with handbells to signal meal times. In the young knight's never ending bickering, the silence could not halt their competitive natures. At every mid day meal, they would challenge each other of who could round up the most people in the quickest amount of time. Jane was two wins away. Gunther was one. Jane had already gotten the royal children, Rake and Sir Theodore. She almost added Smithy until Gunther tore past her with a smirk upon his face. In the distance she saw her mother, father and the King and Queen walking together. The dung weevil got five! How so quickly?! Her count was four. She decided to head for the knight's quarters for Sir Ivon. Jane tripped forward and fell through the door. Ivon had opened it and grinned in amusement as he walked past her, followed by Gunther. If only she could slice that bloody smirk off his face. Defeated, she picked herself up and went to the window. She exhaled sharply from her nose as she witnessed even more defeat as Jester trailed behind Gunther. Jane looked at the bell in her hand and balled her fist in her free hand. She pretended it was Gunther's head and put the bell over her fist and shook it violently. It was the closest she could do as opposed to ringing her rival's neck, no pun intended of course. Sighing at the realization of how foolish she was being, Jane glanced to the side wall and headed to join the others.
Jane walked past Rake's garden and caught sight of his easel of parchment and ink. With a lack of ability to write and read well, he had been drawing pictures into his sentences. She tilted her head to an angle and saw it read: "gud marroh deer—"and next to it seemed to resemble some sort of carrot. A few of them actually. Jane gave a slow and single nod to the easel, her eyebrow arched, and continued on her way.
Outside the castle gates, a gathering of unfriendly souls were taking place. Their armor was a cold dark grey and sewn into the cloaks on the backs of them were a malicious looking coat of arms. Black horses with slits for eyes stood on guard with their hind legs around the shield design. Within the harsh angled shield there was an image of four interlocking arms, each with a dagger under their palms. A crescent moon placed in the middle. Below it was a banner that read 'illimitato'.
All eight of them treaded softly as they faced each other in a final meeting before they were to act. None of their helms allowed for their identities to be revealed. The meeting of whispers gave their final commands before moving out. Two crept inside. Three remained at the front gate. Three went around to the back gate. Two would be standing on either side of the entrance out of sight while the third would stand brazenly head on toward inside castle grounds, prepared to make a first attack if need be. They knew who they were coming for. They knew they would succeed. An odd malady would be to blame for the eventual fall of Kippernia. By the time King Caradoc realized he would be under siege, it would be too late.