With a smile on her face and tears welling up in her eyes, Jane looked through her window at the vibrant courtyard. It was Princess Lavinia's eighth birthday, and the castle was abuzz with merriment and festivities celebrating the little majesty. Pepper had baked a honey cake trimmed with cream and strawberries and was busy serving the delectable treat to the royal family and their many guests. At the other end of the table, Jester performed one of his many novel ballads. He was wearing a metal unicorn horn attached to a headband, fashioned earlier that morning by Smithy, which bobbed up and down on his head as he danced, sliding to the front of his face in a most comical manner. Jane planned to rejoin the rest of the party once she composed herself, but she was content to watch on for the time being. She wiped her eyes and sighed, hoping nobody noticed her absence.
It was a balmy and humid mid-summer afternoon, and Jane had been running between her duties all day in a state of constant motion. Her daily morning patrol with Dragon had turned into a larger task by order of the King, who requested that she and Dragon make several stops delivering crates of dried fish and meat to nearby villages as a demonstration of gratitude for their loyalty, and as a subtle nod to the wave of relative fortune and affluence which had swept the kingdom in recent months.
Following this task, she and Gunther were sent to remove a belligerent visitor from the local inn, who had no shortage of insults and bile towards Jane specifically. After that still, the two young squires began preparing the courtyard for the princess's birthday party, which took up all afternoon even with the added help of Smithy, Rake and Jester. So fast-paced was Jane's day that she had scarcely had time to eat or even catch her breath.
As the first wave of party guests arrived, a heavy fatigue washed over Jane. Her head began to pound, her cheeks flushed, and she felt unsteady on her feet, as if she could topple over at any moment. Still, she carried on with escorting the guests to the courtyard and carrying their heavy gifts as though she felt right as rain, ignoring her body screaming out to her for rest. She glanced over at Gunther, who appeared completely alert despite having almost as hectic a day as Jane had. How annoying, she thought.
"Jane! Jane!", a cheerful voice cried out from the corner of the yard. Jane turned to find Princess Lavinia running towards her at full speed, hitching up her new pink gown to gain momentum.
"Oh Jane, is it not the most delightful birthday party you have ever seen?", the princess twirled with excitement, "Lady Elinor will be here soon! And so will Lady Georgina! I must introduce you to them straight away!"
Quickly wiping her brow, Jane smiled and chuckled at the Princess' enthusiasm. "I should be delighted to meet them, your majesty. It is wonderful that you three have become such good friends."
"Oh yes," Lavinia replied with a twinkle in her eye, "But you are still my very best friend, Jane! I shall never have a greater friend than you. And I have already told Georgina all about you and your adventures with Dragon." The little majesty suddenly looked up and scanned the sky; "Where is Dragon? I though he would be here to meet my friends."
Jane shook her head. "You know Dragon. He loves attention when he decides it is time for it. All these people around the castle have him rather grumpy, I am afraid. But I spoke to him, and he has assured me that he will be here for your birthday song. Perhaps he will stay for longer. I know he will not be able to resist the treats Pepper has been preparing".
The princess grinned mischievously, "Neither will I."
"Lavinia! Come over here, my darling!", the King called out from across the yard.
"Coming, father!" Lavinia gave Jane a big hug and ran towards the table where everyone had gathered. With a slouch, Jane walked back to her post at the gates where Gunther also stood to await more guests, leaning against the wall in his typical nonchalant manner. Hearing the rattling of Jane's armor, he turned and raised his brow. "Been in the wars? You look awful."
Jane rolled her eyes. "It is called helping, Gunther. You may want to try it sometime. And I see you did not lift a finger to help carry the gifts. How gentlemanly of you."
Gunther's smirk turned into a look of confusion. "But I did offer. Did you not hear me, or were you pretending not to?"
Now Jane was confused. She did not hear Gunther offer to help carry the gifts. She was all out of sorts today in a manner which she could not comprehend. Before, she had gone nights without sleep and carried on with her duties as normal. She had even skipped both breakfast and supper before without it affecting her in any observable way. But today, something was different. Something was off.
Gunther's voice suddenly snapped her out of her daze. "Seriously, Jane. Are you quite alright? You seem unwell."
Jane looked straight ahead, focusing her sight on several horse-drawn carriages coming over the bend. "I am completely fine, really. My apologies, I suppose I did not hear you."
Gunther nodded, not convinced Jane was completely fine but not wanting to force it out of her. "It is rather noisy here today. These guests make even Jester seem quiet as a mouse."
Jane chuckled, "Indeed. The King and Queen really want Princess Lavinia's birthday to be special this year." Jane's face fell slightly as she spoke. "Considering..."
Gunther shook his head sternly, "No considering that today. It is a day for merriment and cheer only. We owe the little majesty that."
Jane sighed and promptly straightened her posture, as if to will the sadness away. "On that we can agree, Gunther."