Chapter 3 - Communication

The next morning Jester bounced out of bed with a twinkle in his eye. He double checked his pocket for the potion and hurriedly flipped to the second page of instructions.

Day Two

Communication is of utmost importance. Whether in a group or alone, talk to your special someone as often as possible. Ask questions, share opinions, but above all listen.

Additionally, continue following the directions from day one.

If you and your sweetheart have been friends for some time you may go on to the next set of instructions tomorrow. If you are not already friends, follow these directions for another week before moving on to day three.

Jester smiled to himself. This should be easy. He and Jane talked all the time. Not counting the big, green lizard in her life, he was her closest friend and confidant. Feeling quite sure of himself, the boy strode into the courtyard and immediately spotted Jane seated alone at the picnic table.

The red-head shot him a bright smile then called out, "Up early two days in a row I see." Her grin turned into a playful smirk. "Are you really our jester or some imposter sent to spy on us?"

Jester twisted his face into a scowl and answered in a deep villainous voice, pounding his fist into his hand dramatically, "Bat bladders! I have been found out! I would have gotten away with it too, if not for you…" a finger pointed accusingly at her, "… you, meddling girl."

Jane's responding giggles drew a smile from his lips as he took the seat across from her. Jester's grin slowly faded as she took a sip of milk. In his excitement that morning, the minstrel had neglected to plan how he would slip the potion into her drink. Jane noticed his eyes on her glass and rose to grab a cup.

"Can I pour you some milk?"

"No!" He jumped to his feet, startling the young squire. "I mean... I can get that."

As Jester reached for a cup his countenance suddenly brightened, instead of filling the glass with milk he put his brilliant juggling skills to work, amazing Jane with several one-handed tricks. Keeping his friend distracted with increasingly complicated throws, Jester used his free hand to pour a drop of the potion into an empty cup and fill it with milk. He then finished his performance by tossing the empty cup high in the air and catching it behind his back with both hands. Bringing one hand forward, Jane was surprised to see the cup was not empty, but filled with milk. Jester then brought his other hand around and revealed the empty cup to a hearty applause.

"That was fantastic, Jester!"

"What was fantastic?" called Pepper from the kitchen. Jane turned to yell down to her friend about the court fool's performance.

"You should have seen it Pepper…"

Clink. Clank. The two cups of milk swiftly swapped positions.

The girl turned at the sound to glance first at the boy in blue, then at the table. Seeing nothing amiss she resumed telling the cook about the amazing feat of flying pottery. Once the others had arrived and the morning meal underway, Jane repeated the tale for them all and had the court fool demonstrate some of his more complicated throws.

Jester loved that he could practically read Jane's mind just from the look on her face. A glance, a quirk of the eyebrows, the slightest change of her mouth; he knew what each meant. Now, after several sips from "her" cup of milk, the red-head's face spoke of uncertainty.

Waiting till no one was watching, the female squire met his gaze and mouthed across the table, "Can you smell the roses?"

Jester had to fight back a victorious smile. Carefully constructing a look of innocent confusion, he responded with an almost imperceptible shake of the head. Jane frowned slightly then returned to her meal. She finished eating her final few bites in contemplative silence despite Jester's best attempts to draw her into conversation. Hastily downing the last drops of milk, the female squire sped off to sparing practice calling out her goodbyes, leaving behind a clearly disappointed court fool.

Late morning found Jester seated at a table in the library with Prince Cuthbert. While writing his initials was a good start, the King still insisted his son learn to write his letters. The lad and his teacher were currently working on the young heir's name. Thus far it had been slow going.

"So you see, your highness, you draw a straight line down like so," the blue-clad tutor demonstrated. "Then you draw a little hill starting partway up the middle. Once you have learned this letter we will be half-way through your first name."

"Truly?" Jester almost missed the skeptical tone in the prince's voice as the door to the library creaked open and a flash of red hair caught his attention.

"Yes. Truly. Now, your highness, practice making "h's" until I return," he answered distractedly, then hastily added, "Remember, your father wants them to look absolutely perfect."

The prince nodded solemnly and moved to pick up the quill. He labored slowly over the first letter, glancing up frequently to watch as his tutor headed towards the back corner of the large room. Once he was out of sight, the boy quickly filled two rows of "h's", snuck one more peak over his shoulder, and stealthily crept out the door.

Jester slowly made his way down the center aisle, checking behind each bookcase for a familiar mass of red curls. He finally discovered her in the very last row, nose buried in a book. Crossing his arms over his chest, the boy leaned against a bookshelf. The bells on his hat jingled lightly, but Jane did not turn. Jester watched with a bemused expression as her eyes scanned the pages, completely absorbed. The thin worry lines between her eyebrows slowly smoothed over and her face began to glow with excitement as she hurriedly turned the page. Intrigued, the minstrel took a few steps closer and coughed lightly … with no response.

Just as the minstrel opened his mouth to try again the sun burst from behind a cloud, painting everything in shades of gold. Sunbeams flowed through a window behind Jane and seemed to catch in her hair, making it glow as though lit on fire from within. The light glinted off her armor, sending bright spots fluttering around the room. It was like something out of a fairy story. Jester found himself entranced at the sight.

Jane moved to turn the page and suddenly spotted him. Startled, she dropped the book to the floor, breaking his trance. Immediately both friends knelt to pick up the fallen volume. As they simultaneously lifted it off the ground her eyebrows rose in a silent question.

"Sorry," he murmured, "I was just… um…"

The minstrel's gaze flickered to the window, her face, the bookshelves, then finally landed on the object still held between them.

"I …wondered what had you so mesmerized. You did not see or hear me at all."

Jane smiled sheepishly. "Please do not mention that to Sir Ivon. He would be disappointed by my lack of alertness and would probably make me practice with the blindfold again. I was doing some research for Sir Theodore and came across this epic battle story. I guess I got too caught up in the tale to notice anything else. Here, look. It all started because some man fell in love with a girl from the enemy town."

Turning to a spot near the middle, she handed him the book. Jester flipped slowly through the pages.

"That is quite a long story. Perhaps you could give me the condensed version?" he looked at her hopefully.

"No! You ought to read it for yourself."

The boy frowned slightly and resumed flipping through the pages. Jane tilted her head to look at the books surrounding them. "Do you remember when we were little and used to hide in the library for hours at a time, reading the tales of great knights to each other?"

Jester smirked back at her. "We would empty out all the bottom shelves and build a fortress to hide behind."

She nodded in reply, the mischievous sparkle in her eye unmistakable.

"Is it possible that the lady knight is thinking of reliving those days?"

"I bet I can finish my side of the fortress before you," she challenged.

This led to a mad rush for books. Within a matter of minutes they had a blockade formed. Jane had indeed finished first. Jester insisted she won only by knocking over several of his books when his back had been turned, but then again, perhaps it had been his own large feet. The two friends spent the next several hours enjoying one another's company, reading Jane's book aloud, talking about life, and laughing. Lunch came and went, but neither took any notice.

After finishing the final page of the story, Jane turned to her friend. All her earlier playfulness had dropped away.

"Jester, do you ever wish you could go back to when we were little?"

He pondered the question a moment or two, wondering what had prompted it. "Do you?" He finally responded.

"Sometimes. Life was so much simpler then." She paused.

Jester knew there had to be more than that. "What is bothering you, Jane?"

The squire took a deep breath and resumed speaking, purposefully avoiding her friend's concerned gaze. "This morning Mother was complaining about how unlady-like I am becoming. Then Gunther beat me rather soundly at staves. I was distracted… and I have not been practicing my footwork as I ought.

"I was relieved to finally go to my lessons. I always outshine Gunther in that area. But today, I found I had read the wrong section of our weaponry book and after several incorrect answers Sir Theodore …" She had to stop to swallow back the lump that had been building. "He said he was disappointed in me and sent me off to do more studying…" She trailed off, eyes on the ground, her face the very image of defeat. "Today, I feel like a complete failure."

"Jane," the boy started quietly, ducking his head to try and catch her eyes with his own. "You work harder to become a knight then any squire I have ever seen. As for your footwork… it rivals even my own masterful skills." A hidden smile crinkled the corners of her mouth as her head tilted up slightly to meet his gaze. "You can run rings around Gunther. You know that. As for Sir Theodore, he only wants to see you do your best. You are going to be a great knight someday… I know it." With the last few words his voice grew quiet, his gaze distant.

"Jester," she laid a hand on his arm, immediately drawing his full attention. "Thank you."

Jester's eyes grew soft. "Any time, fair knight…"

Jane began to pull her hand away just as the minstrel moved to cover it with his own, but before either got very far Jester felt a small, sharp sting in the back.

"Ow! Whatever was that?" He reached around his shoulder to rub the offending spot. The squire's head whipped around, immediately scanning the area. Sir Ivon would have been proud Jester thought with a grin.

"Your highness," she called, "Was it not just last night that your father spoke with you about the sling-shot?"

A sigh was heard from behind the bookcase. "Yes," the prince answered grudgingly as he stepped into sight. "The Lady in Waiting sent me to finish my tutoring with Jester. I was only trying to get his attention."

The innocent face Cuthbert pasted on did nothing to hide his true intentions from the two friends. His words however, caused Jane to immediately jump to her feet, scattering books left and right. Her head swung towards the window.

"Oh no! How long have we been here? It must be well into the afternoon by now. I hope I am not late for my archery lesson." Running to the end of the aisle, she turned back only long enough to say, "Sorry Jester, could you put the books away for me?"

The blue-clad boy chuckled to himself and nodded his head as Jane sprinted towards the door. She did not need to wait for a response. For her, his answer was always yes.

It had taken the prince and his tutor the rest of the day, but finally Cuthbert could write his first name without any help. Jester felt quite pleased with the accomplishment, but was disappointed that it meant he would be late to dinner. So the minstrel was rather surprised to find the seat across from Jane had been left open. For a moment he wondered if the others had discovered what he was up to, but as the court fool drew nearer he spotted Jane's practice sword lying on the table, reserving his place.

As they ate, Jester pondered the many benefits to sitting across from his best friend. It afforded the perfect position to view her every change of countenance, enabling them to share in several private jokes without ever uttering a word. Then when their feet would happen to bump under the table, Jane would give him a look he could not quite describe, but always made his heart jump. Jester felt the best part, though, was that he had more opportunity to monopolize Jane's attention. He was soon tuning out all the others in an effort to better hear her. Towards the end of the evening meal the two friends became so engrossed in their conversation that they sat talking for several hours even after all the others had left for bed. When Jane could no longer hold back her yawns they decided to turn in for the night.

As Jester drifted towards his room, the contented smile on his face slowly weakened as he attempted to ignore the worry that had suddenly wormed its way into the back of his mind.

End Note: I'll admit, this is somewhat of a filler chapter... more character development then plot development, but don't give up on this story yet. The plot begins to thicken next chapter...

Oh, and I just loved trying to fit in some of the many different ways best friends communicate with each other.