A Fool's Tale

Chapter 17 - A Stable Environment

A light hand shook my arm. I brushed it aside and wearily cracked open my eyelids. A little girl with sparkling brown eyes and an upbeat smile stood in front of me. I'd be surprised if she were older than nine years.

"Good morning, master Gael, Gilles bade me to let you know that you shall be performing this evening for an important dinner."

"Okay, but did you really need to wake me so early?"

"You're also to report to the stables at the crack of dawn."

"Oh, alright." I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. That was unexpected. I didn't think I'd be working on the same days I entertained.

The little girl scurried off, likely to interrupt someone else's rest.

I roused myself and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading to the stables. When I arrived, a gruff looking man with thin straw colored hair set me to work grooming the horses. He watched me clean the first horse with an appraising eye. I doubt it was an expert job, but when I was done, he grunted grudging approval and began grooming a horse in a different stall.

Eventually, I discovered his name was Alan Grub, and that I was to report to him on a daily basis with the exception of Sunday and usually performance days. Alan had little interest in personal chit chat, but he loved complaining. He grumbled constantly: about the bad weather, about the stuffy king, about the rude soldiers. Something was wrong with everything, and it went on endlessly. I tried to tune him out, but he was persistent, and kept asking me for my agreement, which I gave, unsure how he would react if I did otherwise.

I did discover why my help was needed on an evening I was to entertain. It seemed that the Kertan envoys had come with a great many horses, and they expected us to tend to them all. Alan complained bitterly that it wasn't normal, and any self-respecting person would want to take care of their own horses. I nodded in agreement, although I had no idea what the correct protocol actually was.

For the most part, it seemed like a good job. I liked spending time with animals, and although work in a stable would probably be physically demanding, it would give me a chance to think about jokes for my jester role. The only negative was that listening to Alan whine endlessly would surely grate on my nerves.

We were half way through grooming the Kertan horses when Alan informed me I could go for lunch. I hurried away, relieved to get away from his barrage of complaints, and rushed to the dining hall for my meeting with Kyla.

When I arrived, she was already seated at a table near the entrance.

I raced over. "Sorry, they had me working in the stables. I finally got a break."

"Lucky, I've been peeling potatoes." Kyla made a sour face. "I hate visitors." She brightened. "Then again, if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have a job."

"Sort of a love-hate relationship, I guess."

"Exactly. Anyways, we need to go over the performance, 'cause we'll be working at the same time, and we don't want to be stepping on one another's toes...or even worse, throwing food at each other."

I laughed. "I promise that'll never happen again. Honestly, I'm so new to this I'd be happy for any advice you have." I paused, embarrassed. "This is actually going to be my first real performance."

"Ouch, that's tough. I knew you were inexperienced, but I thought you had more of an acrobat turned jester kind of history."

"Not quite, more of a dodging my wicked uncle kind of history."

Kyla smiled sadly, and her eyes clouded, as if with a painful memory. "Well, that's one way to learn." The feeling that we had a bond of shared experiences occurred to me once again.

We remained silent for a few seconds until Kyla's expression turned businesslike. "I tell you what, I'm gonna do my best to get you through the night. Just follow my lead. We'll both start with some acrobatics, tumbles, that kind of stuff. I know you have the ability, so just try to keep up."

"Okay, got it." I doubted I was as good as Kyla, but this was my strongest skill. I was sure I could entertain any crowd.

"Next is the trickier part. We have to work the room. Laugh, make jokes, talk to the audience."

"Yeah, I'm a bit worried about that stuff."

"I'll take the lead at the front of the room. There's usually a head table, so leave that to me. You talk to the other guests, and make sure you observe their reactions. If someone gets angry about your jokes, make a funny face and move on. Don't even try to make an angry person laugh. It's way easier to keep the happy people entertained. Just do your best and you'll figure out what works. It takes a long time to perfect this craft. If it makes you feel any better, I've only been doing it a few years myself, so I'm still learning too."

"Talia told me not to make fun of the king and queen, or the princes either."

Kyla frowned. "You know I told you not to trust royalty, but I have to admit she's right about that. Never offend your employer, unless you're positive they can take the joke. It's all about knowing your audience."

I nodded, though I really wanted to find out what Kyla had against royalty.

"Do you know how to juggle?" she interrupted my thought.

"I've never even tried."

"Okay, watch." Kyla pulled out three small balls and smoothly began tossing them in a pattern. "Notice how most of the time there's only one ball in the air." She continued a little longer then stopped and handed me the balls.

"Now you try."

I threw the first ball and caught it, but wasn't quick enough to toss the next one as it slipped from my hands. I quickly scooped it from the ground before it got away.

"Don't worry about it. Just keep practicing every chance you get. It'll take a while, but you'll learn eventually. For tonight, I won't do any juggling." She winked. "I wouldn't want to show you up."

A rush of gratitude flooded through me. Kyla was doing her best to give me a chance to succeed, even if her own performance suffered.

I attempted to return the balls, but she pushed my hands back. "Keep them. I have plenty, and you need to practice." She placed a finger against her chin. "That's all I can think of for now. Do you have any questions?"

"Uh, where are we supposed to go to prepare for the performance?"

"Go to the entertainer's quarters. Trust me. The place will be a madhouse. Everyone's gonna be getting ready."

"Okay, I guess that's everything I can think of." I bit my lip. Our meeting had probably made me even more anxious, but at least I had a bit of a plan for the show.

"Great, I've got to get going. Those potatoes won't peel themselves." Kyla rushed out.

Peeling potatoes. I shuddered. Things could definitely have been worse than the stables.