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Chapter Two

Captain Henry Beaumont

Half way through supper, Jane had decided that Captain Beaumont, or Henry as he insisted she should call him, was one of the worst suitors her mother had ever picked out for her and that definitely said something. Her mother had very bad choices when it came to men she thought would be a suitable husband for Jane and from all her suitors combined all these years, Captain Henry Beaumont was pretty high up the worst suitor's list.

Jane gritted her teeth when Captain Beaumont's overly obnoxious laugh echoed around the room and even more so when her mother giggled and even her father chuckled at what Henry said. Something about a foreign king, a barrel of wine and an exotic fruit but Jane has tuned out as soon as the Captain started to talk about his adventures and she decided to watch her suitor with a critic's eyes.

Henry Beaumont was a good looking man, and after watching him Jane decided he definitely knew it too. He was tall, slim and tanned from trading in more exotic lands than Kippernium. He also had dark long hair that was fastened back with a ribbon in the similar fashion as Gunther but strangely enough Jane found herself comparing the Captain with Gunther. She found herself thinking that Henry Beaumont's hair does not look half as silky as Gunther's and whilst her fellow knight's tied back hair made one's attention focus entirely on his large steel grey eyes, Henry Beaumont's tied back hair only made his features much pointed and sharper and Jane wouldn't be surprised if it could cut anyone that goes anywhere near him. Jane also decided that she didn't like his eyes, despite being bright blue and mischievous there was something she could not quite put her finger on. They sparkled but they were not warm and somehow there is a glint of something dark that make's one question his real intentions. And then there was his personality, he was arrogant and obnoxious. He constantly talked about himself and his adventures trading in foreign lands and it grated on Jane's nerves. She supposed that she should be used to such arrogant and obnoxious behaviour since her fellow knight had been like that for most of her life. But Jane decided she preferred Gunther's arrogance any day and any time than Captain Henry Beaumont. At least with Gunther, it was due to him being an extremely proud person and his pride would not let him bring his expectations down, also the fact that the Merchant was his father. But Jane knew when it came down to it, Gunther would let his pride be hurt unlike Captain Beaumont who looked like he'd rather drown at sea than lower his pride, Jane was certain.

Jane just did not like Captain Henry Beaumont and counted the seconds before he had to leave. She did not care if her parents were taken by the Captain, she certainly was not and she did not care about the fact that he was the youngest of her Mother's choices. Jane decided that twenty-five was far too old for her and cursed her Mother inwardly for not picking someone closer to her age, say twenty. Or even nineteen. In fact, nineteen would be the perfect age for a suitor.

"Rumour has it, Lady Jane, that you have tamed a Dragon. However did you manage to tame such beast?" Captain Beaumont drank deeply from his goblet and turned his attention to Jane as he put the goblet down rather heavily. Jane placed her fork down on her plate and looked at the Captain for a moment. She felt a sharp pain on her shins and a pointed look from her Mother.

"Dragon did not need taming, he was rather civilised when one did not attempt to slay him." Jane said dryly, ignoring the glare her Mother sent her and the Captain unable to answer just cleared his throat whilst he tugged on the collar of his tunic.

"Your Dragon is rumoured to be the last of his kind." Captain Beaumont pressed after a moment of tense silence.

"Maybe, maybe not. Dragon and I are not sure. We are planning to search for other dragons sometime in the future." Jane said dismissively as she arched an eyebrow to see if the Captain will challenge her or not.

"Never in my years of trading have I heard of dragons other than yours, Lady Jane, and even then it wasn't until recently I really believed it. Of course, I did come across the odd dragon egg or tooth but they were seldom genuine. Do you know how much of a price an egg or a tooth will fetch, Lady Jane?" The Captain frowned for a moment before his eyes began to sparkle at the prospect of how much either item would really cost.

Jane resisted the sudden urge to sneer at the Captain, so instead she made a clicking noise in between her cheeks "I can imagine it'll fetch a fair price, Captain."

"Just between you and I, Lady Jane," the Captain leant in "can I be so bold to ask you to tell me when your dragon loses a tooth. Of course, we'll share the price and you have no idea how sought after such item is." Captain Beaumont laughed loudly as if he just told the funniest of jokes but his eyes bore into her to let her know that he was deadly serious. Her father nodded and muttered that it will indeed fetch a large price and it will certainly do the kingdom a great deal of good if such money began to circulate.

"That is too bold, Captain!" Jane bristled at his rudeness, "and between you and I, I will certainly not tell you when Dragon loses a tooth! It is his tooth so he can do whatever he pleases with it and I do not feel comfortable making a profit from it. It was bad enough the last time when the Merchant got Gunther to steal it. Of course, Gunther did what was morally right in the end and gave it back but it's not right to make money out of such things!"

"I'm sorry to offend you, fair Lady." Captain Beaumont said, and Jane merely nodded her head sharply, her head barely dipped.

"Anyway," He said in a silky voice "how is Gunther? The last time I heard about him he was still a squire. Of course, I've seen him around when I come to port but I've never spoken to him since."

Jane noticed the way the Captain tried not to sneer out Gunther's name but she ignored it "He had been knighted last summer"

"Yes, ever since I can remember he always wanted to be a knight. I was still a boy when I went to sea on one of the Merchant's trading vessels and he would often join his father on his voyages." The captain mused before going into an elaborate tale of how he joined his father at sea when he was the tender age of ten and how the Merchant made him the Captain of one his vessels ten years later. "I can imagine that he's a bit like his father, that Gunther."

"Gunther is nothing like his father! Gunther is kind and knows what is wrong and what is right. The Merchant is an obnoxious and greedy man and Gunther is ten times the man he will ever be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am tired and I shall retire to my chambers. Goodnight Captain, Mother and Father." Jane growled before she stood up a little bit too quickly that she felt slightly dizzy but she pushed the feeling down, curtsied stiffly and stormed out the room without a second glance. She vaguely heard Captain Henry Beaumont inquire if he said something wrong but her parents said nothing, they merely sighed.

Jane's mind reeled. How dare did the Captain suggest that Gunther was exactly like his father! He was nothing like the Merchant and it was clear that the Captain had been at sea far too long. She doesn't even know why exactly she got so angry at the Captain when he suggested such a thing but something was triggered inside of her and she felt that she had the utmost right to defend her fellow knight. Gunther cannot help who his father was but she knew that the young man had been trying his hardest to separate himself from his father's reputation and goes even as far as thwarting Magnus Breech's schemes the moment he got wind of it. Of course many still believed that Gunther was exactly like Magnus and time and time again Jane find herself defending him. But, with that said she has found that people have started to warm up to the fact that he's not like his father, especially when the young man had been knighted a year before and was proving to everybody, and more importantly to himself, that he will never just like the Merchant.

So caught up with her musings, Jane didn't realise that she has already reached the kitchen and everybody turned their heads to watch her approach in an uncomfortable blue dress that her mother had forced her into, their conversations halting for a moment. She suddenly felt subconscious about her dress when she caught the glance Gunther flashed her, whether unwillingly or not, and noticed the way his eyes darken slightly before he shook his head and went back to his plate.

"Ah! There you are, Jane! Right on time for pudding!" Pepper exclaimed, bounced on her toes in the most endearing way before she served out her famous pear petal pudding just as Jane sat down with a thump beside Jester in her usual seat opposite Gunther who was pretty much a permanent part of their group though he was still slightly distant towards them. The others did not seem to mind when Jane had coerced him to join them a few years ago and since then he had spent every lunch and supper time before he went back to the village for the day just after 9 at night.

"How was your supper with Captain Beaumont, Jane?" Jester inquired before he placed a spoonful of pudding in his mouth.

"Disastrous!" Jane exclaimed and felt everyone's eyes focus on her for further explanation but didn't press until Jane had her first spoonful of pudding. She sighed happily and smiled at Pepper with silent appreciation. "He has to be one of the worst!"

"You don't like him? I heard he's quite a charmer." Pepper said, looking slightly disappointed to hear that it was yet another disastrous meeting with a suitor. She hoped that Jane would find a suitor soon that she liked or she feared that the Lady-in-waiting would do something drastic like send Jane into a monastery.

Gunther scoffed "He's quite the charmer, alright."

"What makes you say that? Do you know him?" Pepper looked at Gunther curiously and noted the spark of dislike in his grey eyes when the Captain was mentioned.

"He's the Captain on one of Magnus' trading vessels, and his only charm is to trick ladies into giving him whatever he wants. Money, land, a scandalous affair and when he's finished with them he throws them away like common rubbish." Gunther placed his spoon down before he looked at Jane pointedly. "He's got a notorious reputation so be careful of him, Jane."

The others looked at each one another for a moment in a silent acknowledgement, the same thought ran through their minds that it was rare for Gunther to voice out what he thought about Jane's suitors and all of them noticed the way the young knight clenched his jaw in irritation and the possessive tone in his voice.

"He can't be that bad." Pepper pressed.

"He's also a pompous arse." Gunther declared, with a careless shrug of his shoulders.

"A bit like you then?" Jester retorted, but there was no malice in his tone. It took a long time for Jester to warm up to Gunther and deep down he knew that Jane will never return his feelings for her. It hurts to know, but he was slowly getting over it.

Gunther ignored Jester and kept his eyes on Jane "I'm serious, Jane. Be careful of that one."

"I don't like him anyway. Never once did he shut up about himself. He went on and on and on about things he saw, where he went, blah blah blah! The only time he managed to keep his mouth shut was when he was shovelling food down his throat. Then he laughed at me when he found out I was a knight! Told me girls can't be knights because they were too weak and soft!" Jane frowned, recalling the way the Captain laughed at her but she didn't notice Gunther sigh in relief when she said that she didn't like the Captain.

"The bog-weevil!" Pepper exclaimed and the others nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well, there is definitely no chance of him seeing you in your undershirt then eh, Jane?" Jester smirked, and at that revelation, Gunther began to choke on his pudding. He gasped and spluttered, bending over to the side of the bench whilst Rake started to thump the choking knight on the back. Smithy and Jester chuckled whilst Rake and Pepper shared a confused look between themselves and Jane felt a rush of crimson inflamed her cheeks as she looked at the choking Gunther before she turned to Smithy sharply.

"Smithy! You told Jester?" Jane glared darkly at the chuckling blacksmith, but he merely offered an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Jane. He came just as you and your mother left and he asked what was that all about."

"Someone care to explain why would the Captain want to see you in your undershirt, Jane?" Pepper placed her hands on her hips and looked at Smithy, Jester and Jane sternly. But not before flashing a worried looked towards Gunther who gulped down his drink in an attempt to cease the coughing.

"It's all bit of a misunderstanding," Jane sighed, "Mother asked why did Gunther take his tunic off whilst we were sparring and told me under any circumstances I should never let anyone see me in my undershirt."

"I told you it was too hot to spar in my tunic!" Gunther said defensively at Jane's dark and accusing glare, his voice hoarse from all the coughing.

"Yes, but she heard you taunting me to take mine off! Then Mother went on to say that when the time comes Captain Beaumont is most certainly allowed to see me without my tunic or dress for that matter!"Jane exclaimed defiantly but it only caused everyone, apart from Gunther, to laugh "It's not funny!"

"It most certainly is!" Jester declared wiping at his eyes childishly.

"Well, he'll see nothing! He's so obnoxious I will not be not surprised if he annoys himself just by looking in the mirror! Why does Mother pick the worst of men? Why can't she pick a nice fellow for once." Jane took a deep breath in, held it for a moment and let it hiss out slowly.

"You'll find the perfect one someday," Pepper said softly and everyone nodded.

"I best be off." Gunther cleared his throat as he stood up to his full height "I'll see you in the morning, Jane. Goodnight everyone."

"I better go too. Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning." Jane too stood up, bid everyone goodnight and followed the retreating figure of Gunther until she had to turn and go up to her tower. Everyone watched as they two knights walked together in silence before they nodded at each other as they parted ways.

"You know, those two will be perfect for each other." Pepper declared when Jane and Gunther disappeared from sight.

"How so?" Rake inquired, looking at her curiously like the others.

"Despite their differences, they compliment each other. Haven't you all noticed the way the boy gets protective, and dare I say possessive, at the slight mention of Jane's suitors? Same goes with Jane, if anyone says anything bad about Gunther she defends him. Jane is looking for someone who will take her seriously when it comes to her knighthood and who can understand that side of her more than Gunther himself. The two of them had been training together since the beginning and they both understand the other's commitment to the realm." Pepper sighed perceptively and the others couldn't help but agree with everything the cook had said.

EDITED 13.04.17

First thing first, I've got to thank you for reading my story, especially to those who reviewed; WateryCordial, Amelle Kyre, anon, guest, and Sunrise19.

Another short chapter, I know, but it'll get longer I promise :) In the next chapter, we'll see Magnus' choices for Gunther, and the idea that sparked off Magnus' arrangement to get the two young knights in matrimony.

Lastly, and most importantly, Review please!