Chapter Thirteen

“How dare you treat the consort in that manner. That is a hanging offence.” Avalon was on his feet in an instant, crossing the distance between himself and his prone friend. “You have massively overstepped the bounds of our friendship. I could punch you, I’m so angry right now.” He bent over, tugging the torn remains of Jasper’s eyepatch from Duncan’s fingers. “Are you pleased with yourself? Did you see the proof you needed for yourself?”

“He’s not human.” Duncan’s hand shook as he pointed in Jasper’s direction. “He can’t be. His face… under that patch… the eye… I swear I saw demons.”

For a moment Avalon was confused, and then he remembered. “The same thing his brother Luigi saw when he demanded to see because he was an asshole, too. Jasper’s magic adapts the vision of his eye to the beholder. Jasper, my husband, I am so sorry, but could you look up at me for a moment?”

Avalon was so sure Jasper would refuse. The man had been yelled at and humiliated, and Avalon imagined he could feel that pain in his own soul. He had never dreamed in a million years that Duncan would go so far as to physically assault his husband, which was why he wasn’t fast enough to stop him. But, he knew, as much as he hated to ask, that for any of them to move forward, Jasper’s injuries had to be addressed – something that would be easier if Jasper could face his friends without flinching.

After a long moment Jasper sat upright, dropping his hands into his lap. His beautiful face was completely devoid of expression. He wasn’t looking at Avalon, he was staring at the wall above Duncan’s head. Duncan gasped and cringed back, but all Avalon could see was the same eye he’d seen before, one that mirrored Jasper’s other eye except for the white iris.

“I’m not seeing any demons, and I didn’t the first time Jasper was gracious enough to show me the extent of his injuries. Merlin, perhaps you could settle something for me,” Avalon said with a lot more calmness than he felt. “Duncan claims to see demons in the space left by my husband’s missing eye, and Jasper has already said Luigi saw the same thing when he forcefully demanded to see the extent of Jasper’s injuries. Jasper’s magic appears to trust me, and when I look at the space caused by Jasper’s missing eyeball, I see an eye similar to the one that is there, with a white iris. The way Jasper’s original eye apparently looked. What do you see?”

“I see no semblance of an eyeball at all. Just heavily scarred skin, covering the space where the eye used to be. The evidence of what would be left when an eye is forcefully removed from its socket, and someone has tried to stitch the remaining skin around it to cover the hole.”

Merlin twisted his hands in his lap, his face ashen. “Consort, may I offer you my profound apologies for the behavior of my husband? I swear to you, truthfully, Duncan is not a bad man. He is driven by a need to protect Prince Avalon, something he’s done for many years and the events of last evening are well beyond anything we’ve ever faced before.”

“You can see evidence of the wound?” Avalon ignored the apology – it would be up to Jasper whether he accepted it or not.

“I imagine the scarring Merlin sees is what is felt if anyone touches that area. I can feel it when I wash my face.” Jasper’s voice was still devoid of emotion. He stood up, his chin going up as he met Avalon’s eyes. “I know you asked me to work on staying in this marriage, but this morning’s outburst is exactly what I feared would happen. And this is just after five days.

“People fear what they don’t understand. It is why my eye was taken in the first place – the persons involved believed that because it looked different from my other one, it must’ve been the seat of my magic, the root of my cursed existence. Your friends and your crew apparently believe the same thing. I will not condemn you to live with the hatred and anger that is often directed at me. You deserve so much more than that in a consort.”

Avalon’s heart lurched as Jasper bowed low and then straightened slowly. “Your kindness will not be forgotten, Your Highness. I will remain in my quarters until you can set me safely on the nearest patch of land. Thank you.”

“Jasper, please, don’t go,” Avalon pleaded as the man headed for the door. “I don’t want to lose you. If you go, let me come with you.”

Jasper’s hand rested on the door handle. “I can’t let you do that,” he said, still facing the door. “Can’t you see your friends are trying to protect you from the inherent evil I was apparently born with?”

“How can a man who communes with the giant creatures of the sea be evil?” Avalon strode to his husband, praying with everything he had that even if Jasper couldn’t see the true heart of his intent, his husband’s magic could.

“Don’t you understand? When my Louisa was lost to me, I truly believed I would never come to care for someone in that way again. But then my father told me about you, and yes, I know I went into our marriage thinking I was just doing us both a big favor – I’m a crown prince. We can be arrogant idiots sometimes. But you have to know I don’t think about you or our marriage the same way now.” He rested his hand lightly on Jasper’s shoulder – not to constrain him, just to have that connection.

“I haven’t been truly living since my Louisa was taken from me. I have given the appearance of living, forever traveling, never finding a home or someone I could call my own, and telling myself it didn’t matter because I didn’t need it. But the one thing Louisa had that I missed more than anything was her love for life and her compassion for others. I see that in you.

“I have never felt so much joy, or excitement, or fear, admittedly, as I have in the past five days. The way you view the world fascinates me. The things you see through your magic excite me. I want to hunt down the people that hurt you, so I can stand by your side as you have your vengeance. I want to hold you when your nightmares cause you to wake up shaking in the middle of the night. I want to stand between you and those who don’t understand how amazingly unique you are, so you don’t have to be bothered by their weak and unintelligent responses. Can’t you see? I just want to be with you.”

“You can’t change the world’s opinions about me, no matter how badly you might wish it.” Jasper’s hand dropped from the door handle. “In this world, magic belongs to crystals, pirates, and hill country tribes. Not in a man considered a crown prince consort through a hasty marriage. Even I know when being unique goes too far. Among society families, unique relates to an unusually creative hat, or the way a person buttons their coat. Not someone in an eyepatch who can move threatening man-mountains with their magic.”

“That was particularly impressive.” Avalon gently urged his husband around, so they were facing each other. “I’ve never seen Duncan so soundly thrown on his ass the way you did, and you never even touched him. Jasper please.” Moving slowly, he rested his hand against the damaged side of his husband’s face. The white iris in the eye-illusion swirled like a tornado. “Let’s work together to show people how wrong they are about you.”

“What if we can’t change their minds?”

Avalon caught the edge of hope in Jasper’s tone and smiled. His husband wanted to live, and Avalon would see that he would enjoy his life going forward. “Then you and I will live quietly and comfortably on this ship, or in some house somewhere, ensuring that the only people we deal with are those who understand how wonderfully unique you are.”

“Crown Princes are meant to live in the public eye,” Jasper reminded him.

“When it comes down to brass tacks, Crown Princes can live exactly as they please, where they please. Say you’ll stay. Please.”

“Can I have my eyepatch back then, if you don’t mind?” Jasper’s smile was small and still held a tremor, but it was a step in the right direction. “Let’s not frighten the crew who all believe I crawled into existence from the Underworld. That won’t help your cause in having me accepted by the people around you.”

Avalon arranged Jasper’s eyepatch over his head himself, making sure not to let the edges of the material touch any scarring Merlin had seen and Jasper clearly felt. “There you go. Do you feel ready to go up on deck, or shall we go back to my quarters, and I can order some refreshments.” He was determined Jasper wouldn’t feel pressured after Duncan’s overbearing behavior. He couldn’t even look at his friends.

“Let’s go up on deck,” Jasper suggested. “Perhaps you should let the crew know I can feel what they’re feeling, and that might at least encourage some honesty in any interactions going forward. That would be a step in the right direction, don’t you think?”

Chuckling, Avalon reached around his husband and opened the door. “I don’t think we can hide it from them that you are an amazing individual, that’s for sure. Last night took care of that.”

Ignoring Duncan, still prone on the floor, and Merlin, who was now hovering next to him, Avalon escorted his husband outside. The fresh sea breeze was a welcome reprieve after his friend’s disapproval, but Avalon knew he was doing the right thing. Duncan and Merlin would either accept their relationship or not, but Avalon knew in his gut he was doing the right thing.