That evening, Jane was alone at the kitchen's little outdoor table. The sky was darkening as the last rays of sunlight still peeked over the castle walls. Pepper, always so caring, had saved Jane a bowl of stew leftover from the dinner she had missed. The cook still had to clean up the kitchen from said meal and then begin prepping for the meals tomorrow. So she, unfortunately, couldn't stay long to chat with Jane. However, before she left, Jane was at least able to tell her friend of her mother's approval of the matching armor set and gown. Jane wasn't sure what part of her short retelling made Pepper so giddy, but her friend did love to speak about more feminine topics on the rare occasions when Jane brought them up. Having mostly male friends wasn't a fact Jane normally minded, but it did make certain subject matter hard to discuss at times. This made Jane's friendship with Pepper all the more valuable, and it sadden her that they weren't able to spend more time together. Eventually her friend reluctantly had to pull herself away from the table to leave Jane to finish her stew alone. As she sat there, she gently combed her fingers through her nicely styled hair. Although she worried about messing it up, the feel of her fingers running through her hair without catching was a refreshing change.
She was shortly joined by Rake as they caught each other's eyes while he was working, "Good evening Jane." He did a double-take, "Oh, wow, your hair looks beautiful."
Despite liking the hair herself, she, for some reason, felt embarrassed about anyone else knowing that fact. "Uh, yeah, my mother forced it upon me," She responded weakly. She was such a terrible lair.
"Oh, is it because the ball is soon?" If Rake caught her lie, he didn't acknowledge it. "You must be excited," he smiled.
Jane wasn't entirely sure what he meant with that comment. It was possible Rake just was not aware of how stressed Jane had been lately. Not to mention, both Pepper and Rake were hopeless romantics, so the news of her engagement probably sounded exciting to them. Not feeling like opening that can of worms, Jane simply responded, "I guess you could say that."
An awkward silence fell between them as they both seemed unsure what to say next. Rake in general wasn't much for conversation and she could visually see him squirm to think of a reason to excuse himself. Glancing to his left, out of Jane's line of sight, he seemed to find his excuse as he gave a curt nod and wave to whoever was approaching before also giving a quick wave goodbye to Jane. With that, Rake left at a concerning speed. Rake was scared of many things but there were only a few individuals that made him so jumpy, one of them happened to be the person Jane wanted to see the least: Gunther Breech. Unfortunately, that was exactly who rounded the corner and seemed equally startled to see Jane, "Oh magots," was his greeting as he quickly averted her gaze and carried on to the kitchen.
Jane was left alone to debate whether she should make a break for her tower or if she should just brave whatever Gunther was going to say once he returned. The stubborn side that was unwilling to show weakness decided to stay as she continued to eat her stew. When he did finally come out from the kitchen, bowl in hand, he stopped to stand in front the the table, "You're never going to keep your hair looking like that before the ball, you know."
Jane blanked for a moment, not expecting that to be the first thing he said to her in days, "I've had my hair styled before, Gunther. I know how long it usually lasts," she retorted.
"Really? Now here I thought you didn't even own a comb," he sneered back with a chuckle.
"Ha ha," she mocked dryly, "I, at least, made myself presentable for your grand return to the castle. Meanwhile you still look like a sweaty donkey," she smiled despite herself. She missed this banter when he was gone.
"Aw, so sweet of you to get all dolled up for me. Unfortunately, my mind already associates you with a feral forest woman and I really don't think you can save-face now," he wore his trademark smirk communicating to her that whatever ill thoughts he had upon seeing her dissipated.
"Where have you been anyway?" Jane changed the subject, "I've been forced to spare with the dummy most days. The other squires are not as entertaining to fight as you," she meant that last comment as a jab but it came out more sincere than she intended. She quickly averted eye contact and pretended to focus on her stew instead.
Finally taking a seat at the table, he answered, "Just stuff at the harbor." Gunther didn't talk about his work with his father often, so she decided not to push the matter. Jane finished her stew as she thought of what to say, "So, are we on for sparing tomorrow morning?"
"I thought you would be busy considering how close the ball is now," he responded, that edge returning to his tone.
Jane thought for a moment and then answered, "Hm, no, I don't think I have anything planned."
"Not even with the whole," he trailed off as he mauled over what to say, "hair situation." This didn't seem to be what he actually wanted to say. Jane only assumed this to mean he knew about her engagement and, for reasons unknown to her, was refusing to mention it directly. Considering how worried she had been about what insult he was going to throw at her about her future marriage, his lackluster acknowledgement was... disappointing? Jane wasn't sure what emotion she was feeling but she didn't want to let it go.
"The 'hair situation?' That's the best you got?" She asked, louder than intended. She was mad right now. Why?
Gunther seemed to pick up on the change in atmosphere, "I'm sorry, I thought I'd be nice for once and not point out the obvious, but yes, the whole castle is talking about your future engagement," he practically spat the words and glared at her with intensity.
"Well excuse me for expecting... I don't know, an... insult?" The words felt odd as they left her mouth as she realized how silly they sounded out loud.
"Jane, the level of care I give for your wedding is lower than dung," He seemed tired all of a sudden, standing and grabbing his bowl, "The entire castle already seems obsessed with you! Forgive me if I don't indulged in yet another celebration of you," These words were spoken with a certain venom Jane rarely saw from Gunther. This wasn't their normal banter and it hurt far more than whatever made-up conversations Jane had thought they would have about her wedding. Why did his words hurt so much? What was wrong with her?
Jane's legs seemed to move with a mind of their own as she also stood, "Do you think I'm happy about this?! I know for some reason you think I always get what I want, but I do not want this!" Oh no, she was about to cry. She couldn't allow that to happen, not in front of him. "You know what? Never mind about sparring tomorrow. You're right, I'm far to busy," she said, much quieter and, luckily, without tears. Leaving her empty bowl on the table, Jane turned and left in what she hoped didn't look like a hurry. Her face was hot and her breath uneven as she blacked out completely on the way to her tower having barely even realized that she arrived. Glancing over the railing of the walkway, she tried to see if he was still by the kitchen table but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Pepper was there holding Jane's empty bowel and they locked eyes. "Bat-bladders, did she hear everything?" Jane groaned as she turned away to open the door to her room.
"Jane! Are you alright?" Came a voice from behind that caused her to jump. Sharply turning around she was relived to find it was just her friend Jester. She laughed a little in an attempt to relax her beating heart. "Where did you come from?" she asked once she caught her breath.
He smiled softly, "Well I was on the swing right below working on a ballad when you stormed past," he trailed off, allowing her to speak. "Oh, yeah, that..." Jane wasn't sure how to respond. Mainly because she herself wasn't sure what had happened. She decided just to keep it simple, "I just got in an argument with Gunther. Nothing unusual," she tried to play it off as a joke.
"Nice try, Jane. I may be a court jester but my perception skills are unmatched," He said dramatically, like when he put on a show. He leaned in, his hand resting on his chin in a facade of deep though, "Ah-ha! You, my lady, have tears in your eyes! Which, using my amazing reasoning and deduction skills, indicates to me that you are deeply upset," he ended his performance by slowly returning to his normal way of speaking.
Jane, despite the tears in her eyes, was smiling. Jester always seemed to know just what to say, and how to say it, in order to get a smile out of anyone. Knowing she was beat, she sighed, "Fine, I may be a bit upset about what we talked about. More than usual."
Jester hopped onto the wall near her tower door and motioned for her to sit as well, "In my experience, the best remedy for that is to talk about your feelings with a good friend."
Jane obliged but wasn't sure where to start. Jester didn't interrupt her quiet thoughts and instead they enjoyed the silence while it lasted. Finally, Jane spoke, "You know how Gunther is: he takes things said and twists them into what they aren't. I thought... I thought things may be different after our journey to get the sky leaf," she glanced toward the mountain, "it felt like we finally made a connection. Some kind of understanding with each other..." Jane didn't know why she was talking about the incident with the sky leaf. It was completely unrelated to the conversation she had just had with him. Her brain felt like it was on overload these last few days and everything she said made less and less sense.
Jester interjected her thoughts, "Jane, forgive me, but why do you care about his opinion so often?" his tone was unplaceable.
Staring at the ground, all Jane could muster was a simple, "I... don't know." This was the genuine truth. Jane had not expected Jester to ask such a question, and being faced with it, she found she had no answer. Jane desperately tried to clear her brain-fog as she thought hard about her next few words. "I guess... everyone just accepts that I am a knight, except him. If he were to accept it, then it would feel more..." she lost her thread of words as her feelings became incoherent.
Luckily, Jester picked back up, placing a hand upon her shoulder, "Jane, you have the heart of a pure knight and Gunther does not. You need no approval from him." Seeming to get flustered by the contact he initiated, he removed his hand before continuing, "I know you want to be friends with Gunther, you want to be friends with everyone, but maybe... it's not going to happen." Jane nodded but said nothing. She knew he was just trying to be supportive but his words hurt in a different way she couldn't describe. Jane felt she and Gunther were already friends, but whether Gunther would admit it or not she didn't know. Were they not friends? If Jester did not think so, then maybe it was so.
"I totally forgot to mention I love what you've done with your hair," Jester's words broke through Jane's thoughts again, "You should wear it like that more often."
"Oh, I don't know. It would be a hassle to keep up with," she was relived by the change in conversation.
Jester simply smiled back and seemed unable to look away from her. The love she saw reflected in his eyes was almost overwhelming. Feeling awkward, Jane slid off the wall and made to open her door, "Thank you Jester, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me."
Disappointment flickered over his face for only a brief moment before he followed her lead and also descended from the wall. He then took off his hat in an elaborate bow, "Anything for you, my lady knight." After saying their goodnights, Jane closed her door to prepare for a restless nights sleep.