𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱; 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘺𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯.

𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘐, 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵; 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧.

"Your servants were fighting your enemy's servants before I got here." Jack explained, "I drew my sword to part them. Right then, that hothead Jonah showed up with his sword ready. He taunted me and waved his sword around, making the air hiss. As we were trading blows, more and more people showed up to join the fight, until the Prince came and broke everyone up."

"Oh, where's Corbyn? Have you seen him today? I'm glad he wasn't here for this fight." Lady Montague sighed.

"Madam, I had a lot on my mind an hour before dawn this morning, so I went for a walk. Underneath the Sycamore grove that grows on the west side of the city, I saw your son taking an early-morning walk." Jack told her, "I headed toward him, but he saw me coming and hid in the woods. I thought he must be feeling the same way I was- wanting to be alone and tired of his own company. I figured he was avoiding me, and I was perfectly happy to leave him alone and keep to myself."

"He's been seen there many mornings, crying tears that add drops to the morning dew and making a cloudy day cloudier with his sighs. But as soon as the sun rises in the east, my sad son comes home to escape the light." Montague frowned, "He locks himself up alone in his bedroom, shuts his windows to keep out the beautiful daylight, and makes himself an artificial night. This mood of his is going to bring bad news, unless someone smart can fix what's bothering him."

"My noble uncle, do you know why he acts this way?" Jack asked. 

"I don't know, and he won't tell me." Montague sighed.

"Have you done everything you could to make him tell you the reason?" Jack questioned.

"I've tried, and many of our friends have tried to make him talk, but he keeps his thoughts to himself. He doesn't want any friend but himself, and though I don't know whether he's a good friend to himself, he certainly keeps his own secrets." Montague said, "If we could only find out why he's sad, we'd be as eager to help him as we were to learn the reason for his sadness." 

Corbyn entered the square and they all looked at him.

"Look- here he comes. If you don't mind, please step aside. He'll either have to tell me what's wrong or else tell me no over and over." Jack said with a smile. 

"I hope you're lucky enough to hear the true story by sticking around." Montague said, "Come, madam, let's go."

"Good morning, cousin." Jack smiled.

"Is it that early in the day?" Corbyn sighed.

"It's only just now nine o'clock." He said.

"Oh my, time goes by slowly when you're sad. Was that my father who left here in such a hurry?" Corbyn frowned.

"It was. What's making you so sad and your hours so long?" Jack asked. 

"I don't have the thing that makes time fly." He sighed again.

"You're in love?" Jack questioned.

"Out." Corbyn corrected.

"Out of love?" Jack pouted.

"I love someone. She doesn't love me." He explained.

"It's sad. Love looks like a nice thing, but it's actually very rough when you experience it." Jack nodded. Corbyn saw some blood on the floor from the fight earlier and his eyes widened. 

"Oh my! What fight happened here? No, don't tell me- I know all about it. This fight has a lot to do with hatred, but it has more to do with love." He scowled, "Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake- it's everything except what it is! This is the love I feel, though no one loves me back. Are you laughing?" 

"No, cousin, I'm crying." Jack smiled.

"Good man, why are you crying?" Corbyn frowned. 

"I'm crying because of how sad you are." He laughed. 

"Yes, this is what love does. My sadness sits heavy in my chest, and you want to add your own sadness to mine so there's even more." Corbyn sighed, "Goodbye, cousin."

"Wait. I'll come with you. If you leave me like this, you're doing me wrong." Jack grabbed Corbyn's arm. 

"I'm not myself. I'm not here. This isn't Corbyn- he's somewhere else." He said.

"Tell me seriously, who is the one you love?" Jack asked.

"Seriously? You mean I should groan and tell you?" Corbyn raised his eyebrows.

"Groan? No. But tell me seriously who it is." He said.

"You wouldn't tell a sick man he "seriously" has to make his will- it would just make him worse. Seriously, cousin, I love a woman." Corbyn said.

"I guessed that already when I guessed you were in love," Jack said, tiredly.

"Then you were right on target. The woman I love is beautiful." Corbyn nodded.

"A beautiful target is the one that gets hit the fastest." Jack shrugged.

"Well, you're not on target there. She refuses to be hit by Cupid's arrow." He sighed, "She's rich in beauty, but she's also poor, because when she dies her beauty will be destroyed with her."

"So she's made a vow to be a virgin forever?" Jack asked.

"Yes she has, and by keeping celibate, she wastes her beauty. If you starve yourself of sex you can't ever have children, and so your beauty is lost to future generations." Corbyn frowned.

"Take my advice. Don't think about her." Jack told him.

"Teach me to forget to think!" Corbyn exclaimed. 

"Do it by letting your eyes wander freely. Look at other beautiful girls." He suggested. 

"That will only make me think more about how beautiful she is." Corbyn shrugged, "Goodbye. You can't teach me to forget."

"I'll show you how to forget, or else I'll die owing you that lesson." Jack smiled as they left the square. 

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𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦.
𝘪'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺/𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪'𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘺𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.