Hello dear people! "Did you die?" you might be asking. Sadly yes I did. But I lived! *cookies to whoever gets that.* So sorry that I did. School is guh-ross and eats my time alive. Be on the look-out for the pirate references.
The anticipated chapter 15 awaits you... go forth and enjoy.

"Ouch..." Jane winced as a sharp pain shot to the back of her head. She softly rubbed her skull and felt a huge mass. She pushed herself off the ground and sat upright.

Alright. I am in a field. It is evening. It is raining and I am wet. Why am I out in a field? Right right right. I was with Tristan. We were chasing cows. Then what? I tried to snatch his glove. Then it started raining. And then... oh.

Jane felt heat rush to her cheeks. But then what happened? Wait. Where is Tristan?

"Tristan?" Her head whirled around. She jumped to her feet and scanned the meadow.

"Tristan!" She called desperately. She looked back down in frustration. Oh no... She knelt closer to the ground, picking up a glove. The grass leading away was flattened and bent over, like people had been laying on it. It continued in a trail leading into the forest. Jane jogged alongside it. In the mud of the forest floor, there was the other glove.

We have been ambushed. Somebody took Tristan! Jane took off running back to the castle.

Meanwhile...

"Come on men! Let us stop and make camp." Leolin bellowed, slowing his horse. Dragon felt the wagon lurch forward and abruptly stop.

Mehul cursed as he unstrapped his cargo. "I wish this rain would stop, so we could build a fire."

Lorcan chuckled. "Why? The chilly weather getting to you?" Mehul rolled his eyes.

"That girl, she will not be coming after us will she?" Berthold said, unrolling his tent.

"No. And even if she did? What could a little girl do?" Finlay assured his friend.

"Besides, Vanessa assured me that she would take care of everything when we first arranged this." Edric grunted. "I am sure it includes excuses." The three men smirked.

Cadan stepped cautiously towards the wagon, shaking his head. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you looking at boy?" Leolin's gravely voice rumbled. Cadan looked up nervously into the hardened eyes of his leader.

"Put up the cage then untie the poor lad. He deserves a few moments of peace." He trudged away.

Cadan climbed into the wagon and pulled out a bundle of iron bars. He assembled the roof of the cage and shoved the poles into their slots on each of the four sides. Raising it up, he tediously placed each one in its hole around the edges of the wagon. The cage was up. He reached inside, and grabbed the rope around Dragon's ankles, freeing his legs and feet. Then he untied the rope around his neck, taking off the burlap. He also freed him from his gag.

"Why do you do this?" Dragon's voice was low and solemn.

"These were my orders." Cadan looked at the pitiful sight in front of his eyes. The boy's head was hung low. One of his eyes was swollen and purple and he had a cut on his cheek. His upper lip was crusted with dried blood. Cadan pulled a rag from his pocket and squeezed out his hair over it, dampening the linen.

"Here. For your face." He said, handing it to Dragon. He took it, wrists still bound. He brought it up to his nose and wiped it clean, grimacing from the pain.

"How old are you?"

Dragon paused. "Human years?" Cadan nodded. He knew the math. For every one dragon year it was sixteen human years.

"Nineteen."

His jaw dropped. "But that would make you-?"

"Three hundred six."

That was the youngest dragon Cadan had ever seen. He was nearly the same age himself, being twenty. He had so much life to live still, just like the dragon, who would live another nine hundred years or so. And here they were, about to take it all away. His conscience began to nibble away at his heart.

"I must go set up my tent. Lorcan will be here in a moment to look after you." His voice quivered.

"Wait." Dragon spoke. "You are all dragon slayers yes?"

"Yes."

"Am I going to die?"

Cadan said nothing and went away to his horse. He knew the answer, but he could not bring the words forth.

Back at the Castle...

"Sir Theodore!" Jane called, racing into the royal drive. She practically flew into the practice yard and up the steps into the knights quarters.

"Sir Theodore, Tristan has been kidnapped!" She shouted, bursting into Theodore's room.

"Jane?"

"We have to go find him! Gather the knights and- and-"

"Jane!"

Theodore's yelling woke Jane up out of her hysteria. "Sir?"

"Jane, Tristan passed in his resignation form to the king this afternoon. He is not kidnapped, he left back to Dulcemia."

Jane's heart sank to her toes. "No... He, we were just out together on a walk, then I was hit, causing me to black out. When I woke up he was gone."

"Have you considered the possibility that he could not bring himself to say good-bye, And that was the way he chose to do so?"

"Sir, what are you trying to say? Are you saying he did this?"

He nodded.

"No. No, I refuse to believe that."

"Jane, not everyone has the same honor we knights have. Not everyone lives up to their word."

"But- but..." Jane felt a knot grow in her throat as hot tears formed. Of all the people she would not cry in front of, Sir Theodore was number one. She quickly exited before they sprang from her eyes. She violently wiped them away as she headed down to the dinner table in the kitchen.

"Oh petal!" Pepper screeched as she saw a soaked Jane, plodding down the stairs. "Get over here and have some stew before you catch a cold!" She rummaged through a cupboard and pulled out a blanket, which she wrapped around her friend's shoulders.

"Thank you Pepper."

"What in the name of all nonsense were you doing out in this weather?" She clenched her fists on her hips.

"I was on a walk with Tristan." Jane softly said as she sat on her stool.

"With Tristan?" Smithy asked confused. "The King said he left, leaving me with stable duty again."

"So I heard." He left me. He really did... "I am sorry everyone, but I do not feel very well. I have a large headache. Please excuse me." She choked. As soon as she was out of her friends sight, she let out gruesome sobs as she ran to her room and once inside, she could do nothing but cry even harder.

Meanwhile...

Jester and Esme walked hand in hand down the halls.

"Thank you for taking me on a tour of the castle Jester. The caravans are always so crowded when it rains."

"I remember. And it has been my pleasure." He kissed her hand. The couple suddenly heard the clattering of objects coming from Tristan's room. Vanessa emerged from the room, with a barrow of Tristan's clothes, sword, and journal.

"Vanessa?" The two said at once. Vanessa spun on her heels to face them.

"Jester! Esme! What are you doing up here?" She shouted stunned.

Jester furrowed his brow. "I might ask the same of you."

"Yes," Esme released Jester's hand and stepped towards her sister. "What are you doing with Tristan's things?"

"Oh, the King released his property to the gypsies as a gift and I have been assigned to retrieve it." She said smoothly.

"Why would he do that? Those are his." Jester too stepped forward.

"You did not hear? Tristan has left back to Dulcemia." She lifted the wheel-barrow. "Such a pity."

"That is impossible Vanessa! He could not have possibly left because-" Esme stopped herself. It was meant to stay a secret. "Because... he would not have left his journal." Esme snatched it up.

"Right. Well he did. You two lovebirds have a good night." Vanessa left them standing appalled and bewildered.

"Jester, Tristan could not have left to Dulcemia because..." She handed him the journal.

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yes. Something is wrong and I intend to find out what." He kissed her cheek and ran down the hall.

Cadan tossed on his blanket. He had been trying desperately to fall asleep, but his mind would not allow it. Thoughts of the young dragon being slaughtered at his hand raced and flurried in his brain. He saw the glow of a fire through his tent. The rain must have stopped. He crawled to the opening and peeked through the crack. Ah, Egmond. He stood and opened the flaps, leaving his dwelling. He pulled up a large log and sat on it beside his friend. Egmond poked at the embers with a long stick, stirring them around causing sparks to fly up into the night sky.

"Egmond?" Cadan spoke, staring at the flames.

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever..." He paused, searching out the words. "Do you ever, weaken in your belief of the cause?"

"Why do you ask?" Egmond replied while throwing another dry log on the blaze.

"Well, what I mean is, do you ever believe that what we do is wrong?"

"Is that what you are feeling?"

Cadan nodded ashamed.

"Why?"

"Because, dragons are magnificent creatures. They are intelligent, far smarter than any human. They feel emotion. They live great lives, and they could teach us so much about our history."

He heaved a sigh. "And this one, this one is only about three hundred years old. Only a quarter of his life span, and we will be taking away the rest."

He grabbed his own stick and poked at the fire. "I just do not believe it is right anymore."

"Neither do I."

"What?" Cadan asked, completely shocked.

"I lost my belief years ago. I figured if Theron's brother could give up on the cause, why did I need to stay? I knew killing off a species as great as that was wrong. Why did we need to finish what a stupid dead man started?"

"Then why did you not?"

"A little orphan came along." He messed with Cadan's hair. "It is my mission to protect you, not to kill dragons."

Cadan smiled, but the smile quickly faded into a frown. "Is there anything we can do? We need to protect him."

"We shall figure out something." He gave him a manly pat on the shoulder. "Leolin will make sure we have a big day tomorrow, so we best get some sleep."

"Alright. But promise me Egmond."

"Promise you what?"

"That the dragon will not die."

Egmond sighed. "You know I cannot promise that."

Cadan grimaced because of the air of truth that rang with those words. The assurance that the dragon would not die was near to impossible. He would try to think of something. There had to be a loop hole. He did not know what it was yet, but he would find it. He also knew that if the dragon was to die, he would not take part.

Dragon could not quite understand what he was feeling right now. He knew he felt anger. A deep raging anger for the entire dragon slayer clan and how that man assumed that he and Jane... that Jane and he would ever... that they... No. He would never do that to Jane. No matter how much he loved her, he would never. But he also felt a sincere sadness. Jane would never know that they shared those special moments. She would never know that he was there, sitting beside her, holding her hand tightly, lips touching hers. That was all Tristan to her. She would never know if dragon would ever come back. Which he would not.

That was another reason he was so solemn. He was going to die, he really was. It was not fair. Not fair in the least. Nobody should ever have to know that their life was going to end. But here he was, caught in a cold cage, bound and helpless. He never got to tell Jane he loved her. As Dragon, or as Tristan. And now... she would never know.

There was also a small piece of him that still wanted to have hope. Maybe, just maybe, Jane did not get hurt too badly and made it back to the castle. Maybe they noticed he was missing. Maybe they were out looking for him right now. Maybe he would not have to die. But again, those were all just maybes, hopes, slim chances.

And perhaps, there was a way to escape. There had to be. After all that is what Jane always said. "Where there is a will there is a way." And goodness, how he had the will. Now he just had to find the way. He could not breathe fire, he was still a man. But he did have his claws. He pressed his toes against his heel and kicked off a boot. Wonderful. Five green toes with five sharp claws.

He lifted his foot to the ropes around his wrist. He slipped a toe between the strands and jerked away. The claw sliced straight through. Why did not he do this sooner? Using his now free hands, he put his boot back on and examined the bars. Darn. Nothing he could do about that. Unless he had a key. And come tomorrow, he would find a way to obtain that key. He would retrieve that key should the opportune moment arrived. Hopefully, Jane would find him before he needed to.

"Jane?" Jester lightly rapped on her door. No answer. "Jane?" He knocked a little harder.

"Jester?" She was awake and had heard him the first time. The sound of his voice had alarmed her. She so wanted it to be her Tristan, just so she could have the assurance that it was not true. When she realized it was only Jester, it only made the hollow pit in her stomach grow.

"Can I come in? I really need to speak with you." He said through the still closed entrance.

"Why?"

"Please? Just- please." He rested his head on the frame, figuring it was useless. She must still be mad at me. He jumped back at the sound of the latch lifting and the hinges turning. His heart nearly broke when the open door revealed a red nosed, puffy eyed Jane basking in the glow of her many candles.

"Jane, you-" His voice caught in his throat as Jane engulfed him in a snug embrace. His knees weakened a bit and he returned the hug, stroking her hair, inhaling her scent. He winced when he realized he belonged to another, as did she. That realization however did not prevent him from squeezing her closer to his body, absorbing her warmth as she cried softly into his shoulder. She released him finally, and allowed him to enter then shut the door behind them.

"Dear heart, whatever is the matter to cause tears such as these?" Dear heart? Jester, watch yourself.

"I have lost them both Jester. First Dragon, and now Tristan has left me too." A tear ran down her face.

"Tristan? You know where he went?"

"No, not exactly. Maybe, I could find out what I did wrong..." She pressed her palm into her eye. A lean arm wrapped around her shoulder, drawing her closer.

"You did nothing wrong. Anyone that could leave you is a fool. That is why I do not believe he just left you. Tristan is no fool. We will find out what happened to him." He gently rubbed her arm and tilted her face upward so he could look into her eyes. "I promise."

"Oh Jester, I do not deserve your friendship or your kindness. I have been awful towards you lately and I am sorry. So very sorry."

"I am sorry as well dear Jane-"

"But you have done nothing wrong! It was all me!" She sobbed again into his chest. Jane! Get a hold of yourself, crying like a child.

"Yes I have Jane. You were right, I was rude and jealous. I am sorry. I have something to tell you..."

"Jester, I..." Suddenly, Jane's hand was on his cheek, turning his head. Jester's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. His mind was screaming, telling him not to, but his body would not obey. The two inched closer until Jester tasted Jane's sweet tears as their lips met.

Ooo goodness. I couldn't help myself... :P
This was rather fun to write... oh! If anyone actually cares what Cadan actually looks like...
http:/ quizilla . teennick . com / user_images / L / LO / LOZ / LOZ4444 / 1253482352_2679_full .jpeg
Anywho... you know the drill. Review and I love you more than Jester loves leggings. :)