Chapter 9

It was very beautiful outside and seemed to be the perfect day, in terms of weather. Birds chirped freely, relishing the crisp, clean air, and blue skies with an occasional fluffy cloud. The fragrance of the roses in Rake's garden was sweeter; the moods of the kingdom's denizens brighter. Up in her tower, Jane was studying a book on a past battle, and found the story very intense. Dragon had left a while ago, flying to a northern field in search of amusement. Everyone had dispersed in the castle, starting their daily routine after a wonderful breakfast, and Gunther was even in a better mood, smiling as he polished his sword and shield. It was the perfect day to go for a ride, so Smithy was in the stables, busy saddling a horse for Gunther. The raven-haired squire was to have a one-on-one lesson with Sir Ivon later on. He was planning to ride through town to get warmed up and acquainted with the horse, so he would most likely do better in his lesson, as he was naturally not the best at horse-riding. His smile broadened when he saw Kayla running towards him. "Good morning!" he called, trying his best to be sweet and charming

"Hi," she simply said when she reached him, but then paused as she took a moment to catch her breath. Once she had recovered from her run that had taken her from her room inside the castle, through the gardens, and to the practice yard, she told him, "I wanted to talk to you about your fight with Jane the other day."

"Oh." Gunther was slightly crestfallen. He did not wish to discuss his problems with Jane to Kayla, as she was Jane's friend and probably would not care to hear the truth, like everyone else at the castle. No one ever wanted to hear his opinion in anything it seemed, especially not in matters concerning Jane.

"So," Kayla began. "What was it all about? I know you guys said you're rivals but like literally, I could hear you guys' screaming and yelling from in the kitchen. Pepper and Rake were getting worried."

Gunther's face turned a sort of rubicund hue, partly due to embarrassment at hearing his fight with Jane was so evident, and also at the very fact that he was speaking to Kayla alone. "Sorry about that," he said finally, finding his voice that had seemed to disappear in the realms of discomfiture. "We just get into disagreements a lot."

Kayla laughed. "That fight sounded a lot harsher than a disagreement. It sounded like you guys were going to war." He laughed, trying to draw attention away from the topic and perhaps come across some other subject of conversation. He then noticed her expression of pondering, as if she were thinking very deeply of something of much importance and sincerity. She seemed to be making a decision. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she replied. "I was just thinking about my er-, kingdom."

"I wonder what it would be like to go there," Gunther said, and Kayla looked up quickly, startled. That was an unexpected response. Kayla's eyes sparkled with interest. "Really?" she inquired.

"I don't know," he said. "I haven't been many places, that's all." Just as Kayla was about to respond, Smithy came from the stables leading a gray and brown mottled horse and Kayla crossed her arms, annoyed. She did not enjoy being interrupted. Gunther nodded to Smithy and quickly said goodbye, then mounted the horse. She marveled at the animal and its rider as he rode the horse to the gates and then disappeared in the direction of the town. Smithy smiled at Kayla then turned his attention to assembling his tools and starting his work. Jane had seen Kayla from her window, and was on her way to the practice yard. Kayla's mind was still on Gunther but she tried her best to focus on Jane, who was commenting, "I see you're interested in the horses." Kayla remembered the only time she had ever ridden a horse. It had been when her mind was in Jane's body and the King had sent her on a mission to track down intruders with the other knights. Having had no prior experience with horses, Kayla had found it very difficult to keep up with the other knights and to avoid their suspicions.

"Yeah, I guess," she said, though her mind was still on Gunther.

"Well, I can show you some things." It was obvious to Kayla that Jane sought to teach her about horses, and since she had let Gunther intrude on their last lesson, she complied to let her, and they headed off into the stables. Kayla commented on the reek of the place, for a putrid odor engulfed the place. The smell of horses, their food, and their dung. This place needs some Febreze, Kayla thought. Jane explained some techniques to putting on saddles that sounded like a lecture Sir Theodore had given her on the subject. She then demonstrated how to put the saddle on a few times, and when Kayla finally went up to the horse and tried to put on the saddle, it reared and the heavy leather saddle landed on top of Kayla. Jane calmed the horse down and then helped Kayla up. She then gave her the extended lecture on saddling a horse.

"I see you've remembered you're lessons well," commented Sir Theodore, who had been standing at the entrance to the stables unnoticed. Kayla jumped at the sound of his voice and Jane calmly turned around, keeping a hand on the horse to steady it. Kayla, her voice a bit high in surprise, asked, "How long have you been standing there?"

The old knight laughed and said, "Not very long." He then turned to Jane and told her, "It is time for your archery lesson. You have seemed to forgotten." Jane apologized for her carelessness and took the horse back to its stable. She said goodbye to Kayla and then hurried after the tall knight. Kayla sighed and left the stables, waving her hand in front of her face to wave off the stench in the air. When she emerged from the stables, Smithy called out, "I have some free time if you want me to show you the horses." Kayla turned around to face him and wondered how he even knew Jane was showing her the horses. He was very attentive. She agreed to let him, so they went back in the stables. He took out the same horse and Kayla attempted once again to saddle the animal. Smithy made it easier by calming the animal while she put on the saddle, keeping it from rearing. Once the saddle was on Kayla tried to get atop the horse on her own but fell as soon as she tried to swing her leg over the horse. Smithy helped her up and they both blushed for a few seconds, before returning to their task. This time Smithy helped push her up on the animal, causing the two of them to blush more. She then got off and Smithy led the horse back to its stable and gave it a treat. He then went to introducing Kayla to all of the horses, telling her their names and personalities.

After showing her the horses, Smithy took Kayla to the forge and explained many of his contraptions, including the wheel Pig spun on. She was very interested in his inventions and work, and especially his gentleness with animals. Kayla did not have any special ability with animals, though she liked cats very much and took very good care of her cat Pepper, who was now in the care of her friend. She sighed, missing the future somewhat, but returned to listening to Smithy. Jane returned from her archery lesson an hour later, and Dragon came flying down to the practice yard. Kayla stepped back a little bit as she saw Dragon go up to Jane and excitedly tell her, "I found a new tunnel and it's full of runes I have never seen before! I decided to wait until you finished your lesson with Ol' Rusty Legs."

"Sir Theodore," she corrected. "And thank you for waiting." She was about to mount the big creature when she noticed Kayla by the forge, a look of pure shock on her face. "We should bring Kayla. I'm sure she would love to ride you."

"No!" Kayla and Dragon shouted simultaneously, only Kayla did so in fear and Dragon in annoyance. Jane tried to persuade him and eventually bribed him into letting Kayla come, with a deal that she would get Pepper to make some of that disgusting stew he adored so much. Kayla was hoping Jane would not win their dispute, and when Jane called her over, she asked, "Where are we even going?"

"To Dragon's cave."

"What?" Jane pointed to the big mountain that towered over the castle. Kayla tried again and again to convince Jane that she should not go, but eventually she gave in, realizing that riding Dragon, who Jane trusted, might be fun. She told them to wait as she went to her room and got her flashlight, pen, and notebook. When she returned and saw Jane and Dragon speaking to each other, waiting for Kayla to come along, she thought she would faint. She could not believe that she was actually going to ride a dragon. A year ago she did not even think they existed, let alone that she would ride one. Kayla did not know how she went up to Jane and nodded, but she did somehow and climbed onto the great beast's back. Dragon let out a snort of annoyance and took off. Kayla screamed fearing she would fall off; and she almost did, but Jane calmed her and pointed out at the view, as they had already gained considerable altitude. "I guess this is what it's like to ride on the top of an airplane," she mumbled to herself. Dragon could hear her though, and he asked, "What is an airplane?"

Kayla looked at Jane, who of course did not know what an airplane was either and mouthed so that Dragon could not hear it, "Should I tell him where I'm from?" Jane nodded and Dragon, who sensed they were talking about him behind his back (or rather on his back) tried to look at them. Kayla bluntly said, "I'm from the future. Airplanes are these things that transport people like a ship, except it transports them in the sky." Jane vaguely remembered some sort of machine that had been in the sky when she was in Kayla's body.

"The future, eh?" Dragon asked.

"That's what I said," Kayla responded.

Dragon was not very surprised, and asked, "Now how on earth did you manage that?"

"I didn't do anything. This scientist made a time travelling machine."

"I am knowledgeable in science as well. The science of carrots," Dragon laughed. He suddenly looked quite hungry. They had already reached his cave and he decided to swoop dramatically down to the ledge, in a humorous attempt to scare the daylights out of Kayla, and he succeeded. "Dragon," Jane chastised. He landed and Jane got off, Kayla following her. Kayla sat down on the ground, feeling dizzy, and said, "That was the scariest thing I've ever done. And I thought that cursed roller coaster was but that was way scarier."

"What is a roller coaster?" Dragon asked.

"Big scary things that are supposed to be cool but make you puke on yourself."

"Sounds amusing," Dragon commented, chuckling. Kayla stood up and looked around the cave. There were all sorts of pictures and strange writing on the wall and near the back of the cave was a massive pile of stuff that Kayla could not identify. Looking up at the stalactites, Kayla said, "This place is amazing!"

Dragon looked at her in an approving way and said, "Why, thank you."

"You're welcome," Kayla said, amused, as she looked at him and tilted her head. Dragon burst out laughing, and Kayla soon did as well. Jane looked confused, and partly embarrassed that she did not get it. "What is so funny?" she asked. Kayla was wiping a tear from her face, and Dragon was getting over his laughing. Jane repeated her question, and Kayla began singing to the tune of "Who Says":

Who knows?

Why it's so funny

I don't have a clue

Who knows why I'm laughing like I'm crazy

But hey

Maybe it was a good joke

But I'm not sure

Who knows why anything's funny

Who knows?

Dragon was of course not familiar with the song, but he burst out laughing again, and Kayla joined him. Jane rolled her eyes and was happy that the two of them were getting along. The three of them started to a tunnel entrance that Dragon had recently found and they went through the entrance that was big enough that Dragon could come in the cave. Kayla flipped on her flashlight and Dragon immediately started to ask questions about it. Kayla explained to him about electricity and batteries. Their conversation went to Kayla telling them about her life in the future, and Dragon commented, "I'm 300 years old. Dragon's live much longer than shortlives."

"Really?" Kayla was interested.

"Oh yes, we magnificent creatures have magnificent life spans as well."

"How magnificent is you're humility?" Jane joined in. Dragon looked as if he was thinking about what she had said, but their attention turned to the runes on the wall. Kayla was trying her best to remember if she had learned about these runes in her class. She had taken a class on mythology and was wishing she had paid more attention during her lesson. Jane and Dragon were looking at a sequence of four runes that repeated many times on the wall. The last rune in the sequence was one they were familiar with: the rune meaning "dragon." They told Kayla this and she used her knowledge from her English class to try to figure them out.

"So it could be a title with a noun, preposition, article, and 'dragon'. Or it could be an interrogative sentence with the first word being why, when, what, who, where, or how." Kayla was thinking about this. Jane and Dragon looked at her and Dragon asked, "What are you blabbering about?"

"Grammar," Kayla said. She took out her pen and notebook and began drawing the runes and writing her ideas. She felt like she was one of those people on television who would go into a mysterious place and have to decipher the codes and warnings. They continued trying to figure out the rune sequence, but got nowhere with it. It was getting late and they decided to go home. Kayla was less afraid the second time she rode Dragon, but was still cringing when she looked down and saw the ground so far down. When they arrived back at the castle it was late afternoon, and as they had missed the mid-day meal, Jane and Kayla went to the kitchen to ask Pepper for a snack to eat. Jane then went to practice against the dummy and Kayla went to her room to look at her notes. She tried to figure out the rune pattern but was unsuccessful, and when the evening came they all gathered at the table. Kayla sat at her usual place beside Smithy and Rake and Jane and Jester sat across from them. She smiled as her friends started a conversation. Her friends. Her friends who lived in the Middle Ages.

Note: So what did you think? I WANT TO KNOW YOUR OPINION! Sorry for the caps lock, I'm excited. :)