Chapter X

Jester pounded hard upon the old wooden door until his fist was red and he had actually created something of a hole in the rotten wood. But he didn't care, he had to get the old Wizard, had to get him to Jane! He'd break down the whole door if he had to.

"What's all this then?" His fist stopped short of hitting the Wizard in the face as the door was suddenly thrown open.

"Ah…"

"Well, boy? Making all that ruckus and have now lost your tongue? What's the matter then? I am up and I am curious, so let's have it."

"My friend, Jane, she is very sick." Jester stammered out.

The old wizard shrugged.

"So, take her to the Court Physician than."

"I have. He says there is nothing he can do for her, that what is making her so ill has been caused by sorcery."

The old wizard looked at him sharply.

"The dragon bound girl?"

"Yes." Jester said without a thought. "Please, she needs…"

"Lead the way boy."

It was hard not to break into a run to get back to Jane's side, but he forced himself to walk at the same speed as the old Wizard, which was considerably faster than he was expecting considering how old the Wizard looked to be. But Jester wasn't one to complain. Help was coming to Jane and that was all he wanted.

He rushed ahead to shove the Physician's door open, holding it for the old Wizard as he entered the chambers.

"Wizard?" He heard the startled gasp of Lady Adeline but ignored her as he followed the old wizard as he moved swiftly to Jane's side.

For several moments the wizard said nothing, simply inspected Jane's arm, turning it this way and that. Jester watched him feeling his terror eat at him further for Jane, unlike earlier, was now not making a sound while the old man went through the steps of examining her wounded arm.

The old wizard shook his head, muttering under his breath, "foolish, brave girl child, I told her, I did, to come to me if the pain grew more than she could bear, but did she heed my words? No, of course not, thought she could tough it out like it was any ordinary wound. Brave girl, but foolish, so desperate to prove that she is strong when she does not yet realise the true strength is from the heart…" And so on the old wizard muttered.

"Can you cure her?" Jester asked for Jane's parents seemed to have lost their ability to speak and the Physician was standing a respective distance from the old Wizard. Jester was the only one still standing by Jane's bed and by proxy near the Wizard.

"Hmmm, what was that? Oh, cure her? That my dear boy is a very good question and one…" he fell silent for a moment, "I think, no I'm sure I can answer, but I need time and certain materials." He glanced towards the grieving parents and gave a slight shake of his head, "you'll be the only one of use to me." He said to Jester.

"The Physician?"

"Oh, him too. But you'll be the one carrying out my errands, if you don't so mind." Jester shook his head, of course not.

"Good lad, now this is what I need you to get from my tower to help your friend." Moments later, Jester was legging it out of the Physician's chambers and running for the Old Wizard's Tower yet again. He did it several more times, back and forth, bringing all sorts of odd things that the Wizard claimed he needed. But he was glad to be busy. He needed to be busy or his worry for Jane would drive him crazy. It was clearly driving her parents to despair.

Her mother, every time he saw her, was crying, crying like Jane was already lost, already dead. Her father at least was trying to keep himself busy, helping the wizard in any way he could. Only doing small things of course as Lord Milton's mind was currently not working to its full capacity but enough to keep himself from breaking down, like his wife. Jester admired him anyway. Not many would put the words 'Strong' and 'Lord Milton' together but in those hours, Jester did.

oOo

"She's weak, but she has a strong soul so I think she'll make a full recovery." The old wizard informed them just as dawn broke over the land.

"What caused…" Lord Milton started to ask.

"I have an idea but I would first like to talk with Sir Theodore and some of the visiting Knights just to confirm my theory. You should try and get some sleep. Your daughter is in no more danger now. As I said she has a strong soul for one so young." Only Jester noticed that the old wizard was looking between Jane's prone form to the large green body that could be seen from the Physician chamber's windows.

Lord Milton nodded before gently taking his wife's arm and quietly led her from the chamber.

"Don't s'pose there's much chance of you leaving, hmmm boy?" The Court Physician said when Jester made no move to leave the wall he had been leaning against for the better part of the night, ever since the Wizard ran out of things for him to do.

"No chance," the old wizard answered for him with a small chuckle. For a moment, Jester was sure they were teasing him but when he open his mouth to send back a witty retort, it died on his lips when he saw only kindness and friendly approval.

"I'll be remaining here too, Fredrick, if you don't mind, to keep an eye on the child." The old wizard said to the Court Physician who looked mighty relieved.

"Good, don't know what I'd do if you left. I know you said she's out of the woods, but that arm looks nasty still and I haven't much knowledge when it comes to magical wounds."

The wizard nodded, before looking back at Jester.

"Boy, go get yourself some breakfast. You'll be needing food if you're going to stay here until she wakes and afterwards. And if you want to be useful, get us some breakfast as well… and if you should see Sir Theodore on your way, tell him I wish to speak with him."

"And the other knights?" Jester nodded.

"Good lad. Smart head on a pair of strong shoulders, that's good, useful. You'll need that head of yours in days to come."

"Sir?" Jester asked, confused but the old wizard was waving his hand.

"Don't mind me, Lad. An old man's senseless words, don't mind them or me. Just get some food and find those knights. Off you go now." Another wave of his hand and Jester left the Physician's chambers, albeit, reluctantly.

He didn't want to leave Jane, but she was in safe hands and on the mend and he was hungry, not to mention exhausted. He had been awake all night after all so his jog to the Castle Kitchens was a sluggish one at best.

He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised when he was suddenly ambushed there by his friends demanding to know what was happening and where was Jane and a number of other things that his poor tired brain could not process. The only thing that made even the slightest bit of sense to his exhausted brain was…

"Are you threatening me with a spoon?" He asked Pepper his voice slurring slightly. It wasn't even her large, wicked spoon either. It was a simple dinning spoon and Jester felt rather insulted by that.

Pepper glanced down at the spoon than back at him before giving his nose a light smack with it, simply because she could.

"Ow! What was that for?" He yelped, grasping his throbbing nose.

Honestly what had he done to deserve such brutality this early in the morning? The sun was barely even up!

"For not coming and getting us immediately when Petal fell ill!" Pepper close to shrieked at him. How had she… Oh.

He saw Gunther, looking a tad sheepish, off to one side of the kitchen.

Jester shot him an unimpressed scowl before turning his attention back to his three very unhappy friends.

"I didn't have time! I've been running errands for the Wizard all nigh…"

"THE WIZARD!" Jester clapped his hands over his ears to protect them from the startled yells of his friends.

"Yes, yes, him. Speaking of which, I need to bring him some food, so Pepper if you would be so kind." He tried to sound patient but he was tired and worried and those two emotions were causing him to be irritable.

"I also need to find Sir Theodore as well." He remembered as he bit deeply into a soft loaf of bread that Pepper had just pressed into his hand as she scurried around the Castle kitchen, setting up a tray for him to take back to the Court Physician chambers.

"Why?" Rake asked.

"Because what is wrong with Jane's arm is more than what everyone originally thought, right?" Smithy guessed softly and Jester nodded before turning his attention onto Gunther who was looking thoughtful.

"Those Knights, the ones you fought with, they weren't normal, were they?" Jester asked the tall squire who looked unexpectedly uncomfortable at being put in the spotlight.

Jane had told Jester a great deal about her battle with the Shadow Knights but he was certain she had kept things from him. Important things that scared even Dragon, who he remembered tensing when Jane was describing the Knights to him.

His suspicion that the Knights weren't at all ordinary were confirmed when he looked at Gunther's face which had paled considerably and he actually looked quite scared.

"What do you mean? Not normal?" Rake asked looking panicky. Jester simply kept looking at the uncomfortable squire who was twitching under his gaze.

"I don't know what they were, but they weren't," Gunther looked away from them and out the kitchen doorway at the lightening sky, a new day announcing itself, "they weren't human. At least," he shook his head, "they didn't seem to be."

Jester held up his hand to keep Rake or Pepper asking what Gunther meant by the Knights not being human and how that could possibly be and gestured for Gunther to continue.

"Look," Gunter snapped, "I know that it sounds crazy! That's why we were told not to talk about it with anyone because no one would ever believe us. Or if they did, it would cause wide spread panic! Because that truth of the whole matter is, those Knights we fought, they weren't human. In fact, they might not have even been alive for all we knew. They didn't speak, they just… attacked us. They fought us so ruthlessly you would think that they didn't fear for their own lives! And maybe they didn't because…" He looked straight at Jester as he spoke, "because the moment anyone's sword hit its mark, they, the Knights, exploded into ash. I've never seen anything like it," he absently touched the wooden table top, dropping his gaze from Jester's, "and I don't want to ever again."

"And Jane was hurt by one of these Knights?" Jester pushed.

Gunther nodded.

"I tried to warn her and help her, but I wasn't fast enough. And she was tired from the battle so she wasn't thinking straight and just threw her arm up and over her face." He shook his head in disbelief, "how she didn't lose her arm, I'll never know." He looked back at Jester, frowning, "you think that they might have… might be hurting Jane?"

Jester shrugged.

"Jane's injured arm was apparently hurt by powerful sorcery," He heard Pepper gasp and Smithy curse softly under his breath from where he was leaning against the kitchen wall behind Jester, "she's fine now, or will be, but the Wizard wants to know when and how she might have been injured by magic. You were hurt during the battle, your head?"

"Yeah, but that was by a shield. I managed to miss being hit or stabbed by one of their swords."

"Were there others besides Jane who was hit by their swords?" Jester asked and Gunther thought for a moment.

"A couple of Knights and Squires but I don't know how any of them are faring. If you haven't noticed, Jane and I don't exactly get along with those lot."

Jester nodded and started rubbing his temple. His head was beginning to ache from lack of sleep and was not exactly enthused by all the thinking Jester was currently trying to do.

"Here, Jester." Pepper said as she held out the tray of food for him to take back to the Court Physician chamber.

He forced himself to push his grim mood aside to smile widely in gratitude for all the food that she had thought to put of the tray.

"Thanks Pepper."

"You take that back to the Physician's chambers," Gunther said as Jester picked up the heavy tray, "and I'll go and wake up Sir Theodore and inform him that the Wizard wishes to speak with him."

"Thank you." Jester said, gladden that he wouldn't have to wake the Knight. As much as he liked and respected Sir Theodore – he'd preferred Sir Theodore over Sir Ivan any day – he didn't fancy the idea of waking him up, something he heard from Jane was a rather dangerous activity as the old knight tended to throw things in the general direction of whoever dared to wake him from his slumber. Usually sharp things like knives and apparently once even his sword!

By the time he returned to the Physician's chambers his arms were aching and his eyes were sore from lack of sleep.

"Good lad." The physician said as he slapped Jester on the back.

"How is she?" He asked as he walked back to Jane's side.

"She's doing well, her breathing is returning to normal and she should be awake soon." The old Wizard said before looking up at Jester.

"You look like you could do with some sleep."

"I won't…"

"Go and take a nap over there," the Physician said waving to a wide window ledge that was padded with cushions and blankets. "We'll wake you the moment she stirs, never fear."

"And if something…"

"You'll be the first to know because we'll be making you run for her parents. These old bones don't move as fast as they used to you know." The physician replied with a snort.

"Right…" Jester said before pushing himself up onto the ledge. The moment his head hit the cushions, he was out to the world.

oOo

Not that he was able to get much sleep for very long, not with all the ruckus that was made when Sir Theodore and several other Knight's came marching into the Physician's chambers.

"Knights," Jester heard the Physician snort to the old Wizard, "aren't happy unless everyone nearby knows they're around."

Jester felt that that was a little unfair, but was too tired to speak out in protest.

Even though he was awake, he kept his eyes firmly shut for he was certain that the moment anyone realised he was awake; he'd be kicked out of the chambers while the adults talked.

"How is she?" Sir Theodore asked and Jester heard him move near to Jane's bed.

"Sleeping and thankfully, recovering." The old wizard replied and Jester peered from beneath his eyelashes at those gathering before him.

"What happened? Why is one injured squire such an emergency for you to summon us?" a Knight that Jester did not know demanded. Jester decided immediately from both the look on the Knight's face and his tone that he didn't much like him.

"It is an emergency when the squire who was injured during a battle that you all fought in was injured by dark magic."

"What?" Sir Theodore looked quietly upset and angered by this news.

"The girl's arm, the one she had injured during the battle you told me about Sir Theodore, was infected with dark magic. Dark magic that was only removed from her arm just hours ago."

"And if it hadn't been?" A knight asked and Jester felt his heart quicken in horror at the thought.

"She'd be worse than dead." Jester heard all the Knights mumble their distress.

"You don't know that the girl was infected with dark magic during the battle! She could have been infected at some other time. She does, after all, spend her time in the company of a dragon!" A knight growled before letting out a rather cowardly yelp when said dragon snarled at him through one of the windows.

"No, it was during the battle, I am sure of it." The wizard said, "From the sword that caused her harm, I suspect."

"But she's healing, yes?" Sir Theodore asked worriedly.

"Yes, Sir Knight, she is. She has a strong soul."

Jester fought the down the desire to throw something, heavier the better, in the direction of a Knight that he swore heard muttering, "for a girl," to his neighbour who sniggered.

"Why only her? There were others who were harmed from the blades of the Shadow Knights." Sir Theodore's calm and reasonable voice broke through Jester's desire to throw something heavy at the still sniggering knights.

"Others might be affected but just don't know it yet or do know it and are simply not saying anything about it. She might be affected earlier than the rest because she is a girl," more sniggers, "or because of her connection with the dragon." That shut up the sniggers, "but in all truths," the wizard continued, "I don't know. But I urge you to check all and any knights and squires that you know who were harmed by the blade of the Shadow Knights and to send them directly to me."

"Will this, what harmed the girl, kill them?"

"Kill them." the old wizard said sounding even older than ever as he spoke, "or worse."

Jester heard a Knight snort.

"What is worse than death?"

"You have no idea, my boy and I think you would have no wish too. But there are many things that dark magic can cause that are worse than death."

Shortly afterwards the Knights left and Jester once more fell asleep, his mind thinking over all that he had just heard and trying to connect it with all that he knew. But every time he felt as if he had the answer within his reach, it slipped away.