Chapter Seventeen

When Avalon was small and his mother was still alive, she used to spend time in his room in the evenings, reading from fantastical books that Avalon always remembered as having spectacular vivid covers. The stories his mother would share always had a handsome hero who would do some wonderfully heroic deed so he could win the notice of the beautiful princess. When Avalon met Louisa, who had been the daughter of a society family who spent a lot of time at the Cijan castle, he was originally attracted to her because she looked like his ideal image of a princess.

Some of those stories must’ve stuck in Avalon’s brain, because as they traveled across the back country areas of Lowenthorp, he was imagining a range of scenarios where he could be the hero in Jasper’s eye. Unfortunately, vanquishing monsters was out, at least the non-human variety. They were just the stuff of fairy tales.

But the urge to do something epic and heroic consumed him. The Lowenthorp landscape didn’t have much to hold his attention, so his mind was free to roam at will. Wide fields, small forest areas, and the occasional lake were nice enough. All the villages they went through were small, well kept, and the people were politely friendly. Avalon did notice that no one appeared to recognize Jasper as one of their princes, which Jasper seemed to accept as normal. “I didn’t go out much,” he said quietly when Merlin asked about it.

That niggled at Avalon, the little pieces of Jasper’s life that were slowly painting a picture, one shy phrase at a time, of a prince hidden by parents concerned about his magic. Was that the real reason, or was it more? It wasn’t as though Jasper wore a sign around his neck proclaiming his magic status.

And the closer they got to the tall mountains that apparently held the caves where Jasper had been tortured, the more the whole situation bothered Avalon. As Merlin had mentioned, why did Queen Fiona reach out to his father for a marriage contract to a Crown Prince, for a son she’d effectively hidden away forever and a day?

Not that Avalon was upset about his marriage. If anything, he was quietly losing his heart to the shy young man with the spine of steel. But nothing Queen Fiona had done in her approach to the King of Cijan fit with a parent hiding their son. And another nagging issue, perhaps more important than any other, was how the hell did anyone know to capture Jasper in the first place, if he barely ever left the castle walls and most people didn’t know who he was? Just trying to make sense of it was giving Avalon a headache.

“Would you please talk to me?” Jasper’s voice broke into Avalon’s daydreaming about facing a masked stranger with his sword and cutting him to ribbons for daring to hurt his husband. “Your energies are all over the place. It’s still another day’s ride to the caves if we’re stopping for the night, which would be the sensible thing to do. But we can go back the way we came, get back on the ship, and never come to Lowenthorp again, if that makes life easier for you.”

“What? No, no, I don’t want to do that.” Although Avalon knew his husband had the right idea about them needing to talk. He looked around. There was a small paddock and a stream a short distance from the trail, and he called out to Duncan, “We’ll pull over, and rest for a bit. Water the horses and break out some food.” To Jasper he added, “Fancy a picnic with me?”

There was a little head shake, but Jasper seemed happy enough to get off the horse, relinquishing the reins to one of the guards. Avalon led him over to where they collected food, and then moved them out of earshot of everyone else who was sitting around in groups, content to stop and relax for a while.

It was a pleasant enough setting, as far as picnics went. The sun was bright, and while the air held a chill, it wasn’t unpleasant. Avalon waited until they’d both eaten a meat pie and Jasper was picking at a fruit pastry when he asked, “Can I be blunt with you?”

“Are you going to tell me what’s in this pastry?” Jasper glanced at him sideways. “I’m not sure what it is. I’m thinking it’s apple and blueberry, but possibly the cook has put in something else.”

“I have no idea of the exact ingredients, but I’m sure it will taste good.” Avalon cleared his throat. “I need you to tell me about the night you were taken.”

Jasper stilled, just for a second, and then took a deliberate mouthful of the pastry, chewing it quickly and then swallowing. “I wasn’t taken at night. It was during the day… or at least I imagine it was. I was unconscious at the time.”

“How did that even happen? Weren’t you in the castle?” Avalon thought back to how surprised he and Duncan had been that Jasper had no attendants or any form of protection when they married. Had someone broken into his suite?

“Hmm, I was in the castle, yes.” Jasper quickly took another bite. “There’s definitely apple in this.”

“Jasper!”

Swallowing, Jasper said, “The next time you suggest a picnic I’m going to say no because clearly picnic is a code word in Cijan-speak for interrogation. Fine. The last thing I remember of that day was a luncheon event at the castle. Luigi arranged it. It was mostly friends of his, some of the society family members, and a few visiting businessmen from Rosenhip, or so I was told.”

Avalon frowned. “I thought you weren’t invited to any social events?”

“I wasn’t as a rule, but apparently, after Luigi got married, and remember this was after my father had passed, my big brother decided the responsible thing to do was to find me a career, or an investment opportunity so I could be a gainfully employed prince, rather than someone who mooched around living off my royal allowance and the inheritance my father left me.”

“And the Queen agreed to this?” It was almost unheard of that a prince was expected to work. The political ramifications of such a thing, not to mention the negative image something like that would send to society families about a royal family not able to pay its bills – that’s why it never happened.

Jasper thought for a moment and then shook his head. “You know, I honestly don’t know. I never had a chance to ask her. But Luigi ranks higher than I do, and it’s not like I had much else to do. I enjoyed studying, and I read a lot, but it’s not like I had any say in how the country, or the castle was run. Maybe there was an issue with the Treasury, or something. Perhaps the country was running out of money. If I could be productive…”

Suddenly the “sell me to the highest bidder” Avalon’s father had mentioned made a bit more sense. If Jasper was being made to feel like he had to be productive, when that wasn’t the way the world worked at all – at least not for princes... “What happened at this event?” Avalon asked, keeping his voice low. “How did you end up unconscious with no one noticing something was wrong?”

“I haven’t got a clue.” Jasper looked up. “I’m not trying to hide anything, I promise. I wouldn’t do that to you. You know the worst of what happened and still want me around.” He looked back down at his hands. “I felt woozy after drinking my water, but my magic – you have to realize I’d tamped my magic down so hard for that event. Luigi lectured me for an hour when he told me I had to go. He was adamant that no one was allowed to see any funny business, as he called it. He even sent a stylist to fix my hair, so it covered the eye and my contact lens. I’d never had anyone even touch my hair before that time. It used to touch my butt.”

Avalon could picture Jasper with long hair, and parts of him stirred that really didn’t have a cause to when they were sitting outside being watched by friends and guards. “One of the advantages of being a Crown Prince Consort is you can wear your hair any way you please,” he said, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. He was determined to ensure that Jasper would live his life on his terms and be accepted exactly the way he was. “That explains why your magic didn’t warn you something was wrong. Did you leave the event, go to your room perhaps?”

Jasper shook his head. “I couldn’t tell you, I really can’t. I guess I must’ve done otherwise Luigi would’ve known something was wrong and called in a healer.”

Would he? Avalon wasn’t so sure. “So you were at the event,” he prompted softly, “and you weren’t feeling so good?”

“I felt woozy, my head felt funny. I remember we were sitting eating luncheon. Luigi was at the other end of the table. I was sitting at the foot of the table… there were two people I couldn’t remember who they were, but they were on either side of me, and then someone said something… and then someone else laughed… I distinctly remember someone laughing.” Jasper inhaled sharply. “Then I woke up in the cave, it was night then, and my magic was gone.”

“So, you were taken from the luncheon – the luncheon hosted by your brother?” Avalon wondered if they were riding in the wrong direction. The castle was back towards the coastline.

“How can that be? There were ten people there, plus me and Luigi. I don’t know… I’m not sure…”

Jasper looked genuinely upset, as if he hadn’t considered his brother could be part of a plot to kill him. “It’s all right,” Avalon said quickly, reaching for Jasper’s hand. “We can work it out later. But I have to ask… There were reports, after you returned, that you appeared nervous around people. Was that because you thought someone in the castle was responsible for you being taken? Remember, we’re going to catch these people. Your mother will be safe. You can tell me anything.”

“I was scared because I was being watched.” Avalon’s hand was squeezed. “Anyone hearing about it would think I was a madman or someone whose mind has been addled because of the torture I went through when I was taken… It’s not like I could point to someone in the shadows and say they were watching me, because it wasn’t like that, but I knew someone was.”

“Like the hairs on the back of your neck go up, and you get a shiver down your spine?”

“Yes, just like that.” Jasper’s whole body sagged. “Thank goodness you understand what I mean. Every time I left my room I could feel it, but I could never tell who it was. That feeling didn’t go away until I got on your ship.”

“Do you feel it now?” Avalon had a horrible thought. “Is it something you’ve felt at all since we landed?”

“No.” But Jasper’s free hand immediately went to his neck, and he looked around nervously.

“All right. It’s all right. You’re completely safe with me and our friends. Look, I have an idea, and I should ask Merlin about it as he knows more about magic than I do. But quickly, before I call him, do you know why your mother pleaded with my father for our marriage contract to be rushed through?”

“No.” Avalon could tell from Jasper’s face he was being completely honest. “It’s like I said. I thought I was contracted to… you know… one of the others. She never said anything to me before the wedding.”

“I guessed as much.” Avalon patted the hand he was holding. “We can talk to your mother about her motives another time, but for now, I need to call Merlin over. Do you mind?”

“The next time you invite me to a picnic, there’d better be strawberries, chocolate confectionery, and a thermos of hot chocolate as part of the deal. And nowhere near as many guards.”

You deserve all that and more. But it wasn’t the right time to say such a thing, so Avalon bent over Jasper’s hand and brushed his lips against the knuckles. “I promise,” he said as he straightened. “Merlin. Duncan,” he called out. “We need advice.”