Chapter Twenty-One

The one damn thing Jasper asked me to do, keep an eye out for intruders, and I failed. Miserably. Duncan will be furious at me if he learns I let my guard down in that way.

To say Avalon was having an interesting day was an understatement. Witnessing his husband’s magic in full force made him understand in part why the World Council originally encouraged magical humans to die out. Jasper was one of a kind, totally unique, and extremely powerful. Avalon was in awe that the man had not only reclaimed his eye, but the hair that was stolen from him as well. The hair that was just as beautiful on his husband as Avalon had imagined.

But instead of being allowed to appreciate the moment… No, now he had to deal with a current threat in the form of three men who looked like they could all do with a bath. Standing at his full height, Avalon looked at them coldly. “I’m the Crown Prince of Cijan, here on orders from the World Council to bring to justice those who harmed my consort, Prince Jasper of Lowenthorp a few months ago.”

“He ain’t no prince,” the original speaker said harshly. “He’s the illegitimate pup stolen from our tribe at birth, taking the wisdom and the powers rightfully cultivated in our beliefs into a world that doesn’t deserve them.”

Avalon’s eyes narrowed and he wondered how he appeared to people who had no respect for royalty. “Wasn’t Jasper sired by the late King of Lowenthorp?”

The three men looked between each other and then the middle one nodded. “Yes. Not in the traditional sense, where a man might lay with a woman. The King was never unfaithful to the Queen. His seed was planted in the woman by magical means. But the boy came from the loins of a woman in our tribe, not the Queen who rules the land now.”

“Regardless of how the events occurred, under the succession laws law-abiding folk live by, my consort is a Prince of Lowenthorp by virtue of being his father’s son. Giving him every right to live in the castle, with his father, so I’m failing to see your complaint. Surely if the woman who gave birth to Jasper wanted a claim on him, the Queen would hear her case, especially since the King has now passed. Why didn’t the woman simply come forward if she wanted to see him?”

For a moment it was as if no one would answer. Avalon was conscious of Jasper still standing behind him and desperately wanted to get them both out of the caves. From the quickened breath, Avalon had a sinking suspicion his husband recognized the men in front of them, and not for any positive reasons.

“The woman died during the birth,” one of the men said finally. He appeared slightly older in looks than his companions. “The King, when he heard, came for the infant immediately and took him. Our people were concerned. Magic has no place in the castle, but as the infant didn’t show signs of any, Joseph said we had to let him go.”

“Then that should’ve been the end of it, surely.” Avalon waved the tip of his sword to indicate the caves. “And yet, here we stand more than twenty years later at the scene of one of the most barbaric torture sights in known history. You can’t make me believe that the actions perpetrated in these caves a matter of a few months ago were done out of love for a child grown in a different environment to that which you would offer him.”

“Magic has no place in the castle, and because of the airs and graces the pup would learn at the castle, he had no place in our tribe. So, we took the magic from him.” The middle man bristled, and although the only weapon he had was a stick, likely picked up from outside, Avalon tensed.

“If that was your intention, then you failed.” Avalon frowned. “How did you even hear that Jasper had magic when it was widely known throughout the world that he rarely left the castle, or socialized on any major scale? Half the people in Lowenthorp, as we traveled here, didn’t even recognize him. So how did you know to take him?”

“People talk.” The older man cast a worried look at the man standing in the center. The man on the left was grinning to himself, as if being in the cave was his happy place. “That one’s brother has been heard muttering when he’s full of drink about how the young one was possessed.”

“Half-brother,” Avalon corrected automatically, but the older man shook his head.

“The Queen’s barren. Always has been. She has never carried a child under her heart. The late King’s arrangement with our tribe goes back well before she ever stepped foot in the castle.”

Jasper’s quiet gasp was filled with pain. Taking a step forward, Avalon’s anger intensified. “No matter whose body they came from, those children were sired by the King of Lowenthorp, as you say, by agreement with your tribe, making them the legal heirs of the Lowenthorp royal family. I imagine your people were well looked after during that time, and greatly profited from the connection.”

“Food still comes regularly, as does a regular supply of magic crystals,” the older man admitted.

“The Queen provides your magic crystals?” Avalon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Reaching down, he grabbed one of the ones lining the wall for light. “You mean these crystals? Are you telling me the crystals that lit your way while you raped and tortured an innocent man to the point of death were supplied by the Queen – the woman who raised him and loved him with her whole heart even if she didn’t carry his being underneath it? If I could, if I had the proof, I would condemn you to an eternity in stone for the crimes you committed on my husband.” He threw the magic crystal causing it to crash against the cave wall, splintering into a thousand pieces – shards of light sparking the air before falling to the ground.

“You…” Avalon’s mouth dropped open behind his face covering. In the place of the three men were statues, scared expressions and bodies leaning away from the blast site, frozen in time. “Er…” he looked back at Jasper, whose beautiful eyes were surprisingly expressionless. “Please tell me I didn’t do that.”

Jasper’s slender shoulders rose and fell – just a slight movement, but they spoke volumes. “I just gave your actions and intent a little push. They were three of the four men responsible for what I endured in this cave.”

“There’s one more? Is it this Joseph they mentioned, do you think? We have to search…”

But Jasper was shaking his head. “Joseph is already here, aren’t you, Joseph? If that is your name. Do you think my magic that puny I can’t detect the soul of another who hides in the shadows?”

A fourth man appeared as if he had literally walked out of the rock face.

Maybe it is me that is dreaming, Avalon thought as he rested his hand on Jasper’s shoulder, his sword firm in his other hand.