Chapter Twelve

They slept together. Not in the carnal sense, or in any intimate way beyond one man holding another for comfort all night. But after Jasper had talked himself hoarse and with Avalon yawning and trying not to show it, it was Avalon who suggested that if Jasper shared his bed, he might not be inclined to dream. It was clear Avalon hoped doing that would allow them both to get a decent night’s sleep - at least for a few hours. Jasper found himself unwilling to leave Avalon’s company, for reasons he wasn’t ready to examine, and was happy enough to join Avalon on his huge bed. To his surprise, his sleep was dream free.

Hed thought it would be difficult, having never shared his sleeping space with anyone in any way before. But there was something comforting about Avalon’s bulk, and his calm nature soothed Jasper in ways even his mother had never been able to do. The fact that Avalon was happy to touch him with affection – didn’t consider him dirty or despoiled in any way – went a long way to easing any discomfort Jasper imagined he would feel.

Those feelings of comfort and calmness extended into the next morning. When one of the crew turned up with their breakfast, Avalon behaved as if it was a perfectly normal thing for his husband to be sharing his quarters. They broke their fast alone, as they had typically done since Jasper had arrived on the ship. There wasn’t a lot of conversation, but Jasper’s magic let him know Avalon was quietly pleased that he’d stayed the night, and that settled something deep inside of him.

They didn’t make it to the deck the way they typically would’ve done, though. Duncan, still bristling with something Jasper couldn’t decipher, was waiting outside of Avalon’s cabin door when they went to leave. Merlin was with him.

“We need to talk. All of us.” Duncan didn’t even wait for a response but led the way into the smaller state room. Avalon didn’t seem concerned. In fact, he made a point of ensuring Jasper was comfortable before taking the seat next to him, a half smirk on his face.

“Speak freely.” Avalon waved his hand at Duncan. “I understand you feel you have a lot to say now the events of the night have been successfully resolved.”

“A lot to say?” Duncan hadn’t sat down, although Merlin had, and Jasper noticed the apologetic look sent his way from the quieter man. “Do you have any idea the amount of trouble you caused last night?”

“Are you speaking generally, or do you have something specific that you’re upset about?”

Jasper appreciated Avalon’s continued calmness, although he could tell Duncan didn’t. If anything, it seemed to infuriate the man even more.

“All right. All right. I can see what you’re doing here, sire.” Duncan started to pace. “You want me to itemize every infringement. I can do that. How about we start with the fact an entire ocean full of sea creatures turned up to admire the ship simply because the consort dreamed about it? Then there’s the little matter of that same consort jumping overboard – the same man who could not swim, but did he die like anyone else would in that position? No, apparently not.

“Then, to make things worse, you decided to go after him, in a longboat, in the middle of the night, putting your person at great risk, and before you give me some rubbish about how there was nothing there that might hurt you, there were freaking whales circling the ship, and you didn’t give a crap about any of that. Oh, no. You went off to play the hero, saving a man who by all accounts should’ve already been dead.”

Avalon’s hand was heavy on Jasper’s shoulder, which had to be an instinctive act of comfort, because with the things Duncan was yelling, it was as if the man was seriously annoyed because Jasper was still alive. Jasper wanted to shrink into his chair as the weight of Duncan’s disapproval hit him.

Avalon tried to deflect that focus. “And yet, despite your concern, my consort and I are both sitting here, in perfectly good health. Jasper even managed to get some more sleep, which we can all agree is a positive.”

“For now.” Duncan swirled around, waving his arms in a way Jasper could only describe as threatening. His magic stirred. “The crew are going crazy. They claim the consort has been sent by the devil himself or is completely insane. What type of person jumps into the water to save sea creatures that pose a danger to all sea going vessels everywhere?”

“The sea is their home.” Jasper forced the words out, even as he inwardly cringed against Duncan’s tirade. “Those are intelligent creatures who care when humans have accidents in their waters – I could feel the sadness the whales felt at the idea of ships sinking in storms and things like that.”

“Do you see what I mean? That’s crazy talk.” Duncan pointed at Avalon. But then his finger moved in Jasper’s direction. “What are you? Because you sure as hell aren’t human.”

“Duncan!” Merlin and Avalon yelled in unison.

“No. I demand to know.” Duncan edged closer, and Jasper’s magic started to crackle along his skin. “You sway our prince with some hard luck story about being abducted, and injured in such a traumatic way you lost an eye because of it. The Crown Prince of Cijan is known throughout the world for being a caring man. Did you craft your story specifically, knowing our prince would be intrigued enough to want to save you from yourself? Was this all a devious plot to trap him into marriage so you could what? Take over Cijan? Is the King in danger, or your husband? I bet you haven’t even lost your eye at all. You have no other scars anywhere anyone can see. What the hell are you?”

“Don’t touch me,” Jasper said quickly, pressing back in his chair as Duncan loomed over him. “Don’t you dare…”

“I dare to expose your falsehood for what it is.” Duncan’s hand flashed towards him, ripping Jasper’s eyepatch off his face as Jasper’s magic surged forward. Jasper cried out, both scared and desperate to hold his magic in. But the humiliation of having his injury exposed, combined with his intense fear at the way Duncan was acting… he didn’t have a chance to hold anything back.

A bright light flew from his eye socket, hitting Duncan in the chest and sending him flying back until he crashed on the floor, Jasper’s eyepatch still clutched in his fingers.

Jasper hunched over, covering his face with his hands, trembling with shame and anger. Because Duncan had seen – Jasper had no idea what he’d seen exactly, but Duncan had seen enough to leave him with his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide with shock.