Jenny: Antagonists

The Guttersnipe resisted the urge to frown, but she promised Domitia: "I'll be sure to talk to Jason for you. I am sure he will understand."

When Domitia had gone and she had sat back down, Artos asked, "Will he?" to which she had no very good answer. Artos went on. "Jason is a good man. I've been watching him. Uncle Ambrosius has been watching him. It may be that he will be taking Gaius' old place soon, if he likes."

She found herself blushing deeply at the praise. She knew that they regarded Jason with respect, but to hear Artos speak of him so levelly, as he would of Gaius or the other Companions, warmed her heart.

"Do you think he will listen about Domitia, since you go to him with no reason for him to?"

She frowned. "He will listen if I say it," she replied. It was true, she had no more reason to present to him than Domitia's word of repentance. He would respect that gingerly - she could not blame him - but he would respect it, especially if she had made amends with the one who had offended her.

Beside her, Artos was contemplatively quiet. She worked at a buckle, the subject having been dropped. But presently she became aware of the silence of his pages, and he said, "The rain has stopped."

She looked up at the window, frowning, the little flutter beginning in her chest again.

~~~~

Jason was taken aback by Druce's forwardness. Glancing over his shoulder at the village splayed out by the river, he said, "I don't know. She came with the Guttersnipe. I think she's part of Master Lucius' retinue: she seems to be by his side most often."

He stepped away from the horse, thumbs in his belt. "She always looks as though she's bit into a lemon when I see her." He was going to add, "She made the Guttersnipe cry - or close to it," but at the last moment he held back, since it was a thing between himself and the Guttersnipe, and no one else.