I leaned forward, resting my elbows against the table as I watched the jester perform. He was juggling three apples, and in between the tosses, he would grab one of the apples and take a bite without breaking the circle. The children sitting at the tables giggled with delight.

“Hey Jessica!”

I turned around and looked up. Brittney was coming toward me, weaving her way through the tables.

“I heard that you came back this year,” she said as soon as she stood beside me. “I’m so glad that you’re here for the summer!”

I smiled and nodded. “I’m glad I came back too. I couldn’t bear the thought of being stuck in the 21st century forever.”

Brittney rolled her eyes. “Oh, I bet it had a lot less to do with the 21st century and a lot more to do with that white-haired nerd up there.”

“That could be true,” I said with a shrug. Glancing back up at the jester, I smiled when he caught me staring and winked at me.

She laughed. “So, I heard that you guys finally started going out. Last summer you made it sound like it was impossible.”

“Last summer I thought it would be impossible,” I admitted, “but a lot has happened this year. It’s been pretty crazy.”

“I’ve just heard snippets,” Brittney said, “but some of it sounded pretty intense. I’m glad Allan is okay. Is he doing any better?”

I nodded. The story had travelled pretty fast that Allan tried to commit suicide. Granted, he was in recovery for a very long time. Melissa had to give his coworkers some explanation.

“There are off days,” I said, “but he’s doing really well I think.”

“Well hey,” she said, “you’ll have to tell me more about it sometime. It’s been great to see you! We’ll hang out when we’re both off work.”

“Sure thing,” I agreed. As she walked off, I found my gaze drawn back to Allan.

It boggled my mind to think back on last summer. It felt like so long ago. Allan had changed a lot in this past year. He’d become so much happier. His skin had a lot more color, now that he was all healed up, but his hair was still white. I think that change was permanent. There were, of course, days where both of us struggled, but we were always able to pull through.

As soon as Allan’s show was done, he bowed to the audience. He was stuck for a few minutes as the usual mob of children crowded around him, but when he was finally able to get away, he headed to my table.

“Hello there, person I have never met before,” he said as he came to stand next to my chair. “Mind if I sit here with you?”

I looked him up and down and wrinkled my nose. “I don’t know,” I said slowly, “you kind of look like a weirdo.”

“But I’m your weirdo,” he said as he sat down and kissed my cheek. “How was your day? Are you getting a feel for your new job?”

I leaned back with a laugh. “Honestly, it’s way harder than I thought it would be. You make working with kids look so easy, but I swear, some of those children are possessed.”

“Then you should be able to handle them just fine,” he replied, “you’re great with possessions.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s really the parents that I’m afraid of. I’m just waiting for one of them to chew me out because their kid got a black eye from getting hit in the head with a wooden sword.”

“That is the danger of giving children weapons,” Allan conceded.

“It sure beats cleaning rooms all day though,” I said. My smile faded as I thought about last summer. Cleaning rooms would be boring without Greg to talk to all day.

When I had returned to The King’s Rest this summer, Melissa and Allan had a present to give me. It was the blade of Greg’s sword, mounted in a frame. It hung on my wall now.

“I just wish Greg could see me,” I said with a sigh. “I wish I could show him how good I’ve gotten at sword fighting! It was thanks to him that I got into it at all.”

Allan wrapped his arm around me and pulled my chair closer to his. “You’ll get to tell him someday, and rub it in his face that you’re way better at it than him.”

I gave Allan a sideways glance. “I could rub it in your face right now if you wanted to go spar a little bit.”

He heaved a tired sigh. “One of these days you’re going to get really tired of beating me.”

“That’s impossible,” I said as I moved to stand up.

“Well then,” Allan said as he rose to his feet, “I guess it’s on.”

The End