Chapter Four

“By the Goddess, he’s cute.”

“Hush.” Avalon glanced over at his new husband who seemed content enough sitting on a pile of ropes on the lower deck staring out to sea. Avalon turned back to his friends who were both ogling the man he’d just married. “He doesn’t need to hear how cute you think he is. That’s not seemly or respectful.”

“Go on, admit it.” Duncan playfully nudged his side. “You’re thinking the same thing.”

“He’s not how I imagined he would look, that’s for sure.” Avalon watched Jasper making sure the man wasn’t showing any sign of discomfort. “Apart from the hair color he looks nothing like his siblings.”

“Which is not a bad thing,” Merlin said, keeping his voice low. “You could’ve married Jasper’s sister any time, and never have. And as for Luigi…” he broke off and mock shuddered, making Avalon chuckle.

“Luigi suffers the same fate many Crown Princes seem to go through when they don’t have a purpose in life. They spend their time in social gatherings instead of actually moving around the world, helping protect their country or any of the other many things useful Crown Princes can do.” Any time Avalon felt the urge to overindulge in food, wine, or any other vice, he held the visage of Luigi or the late Crown Prince of Gunkermal – Paragon - as the ideal he didn’t aspire to be like. “You notice Luigi didn’t even turn up for the wedding, nor his wife.”

“He wasn’t missed. But what about you and your young prince? You’ve married him. What are you going to do with him?” Duncan asked.

“To be honest, I’m not sure.” Avalon studied the young man again. With his eyepatch towards the sea, it wasn’t easy to pick that the young prince had suffered any trauma at all. As reported, he was clean, soft spoken, apparently shy, and that was understandable.

He was also a good looking man – just more delicate than Avalon was used to. Jasper sat upright, his slender frame half turned towards the side of the ship, not looking at anyone or seeming to want to engage with anyone. The look, if Avalon was honest with himself, was one of vulnerability, even with the fetching coronet still lodged in his hair, which was definitely pinging Avalon’s protective instincts.

“You should go and talk to him,” Merlin urged quietly. “The whole idea of you marrying him was to give him the life his mother wished for him, but surely it would be a good idea to find out how he sees that life. Is he expecting to be deposited back in Cijan, or does he have any hope or expectation about spending time with you?”

“I don’t want to scare him off,” Avalon admitted.

“He’s got to be scared enough as it is,” Duncan said gruffly, and Avalon imagined his friend’s protective instincts had also been sparked. “He has no advisor, no chaperone… his mother didn’t offer to send anyone along to see to his dressing or comfort. I expected to see at least three people added to our crew once you married him.”

“Not everywhere has the same standards as in Cijan,” although Avalon had wondered the same thing. “Can one of you arrange for some food to be prepared in the smaller dining room? He and I should at least have a conversation before I decide where we are going next.”

“I’ll organize something with the chef. You go and show your new husband around the ship.” Merlin and Duncan disappeared in the direction of the galley and sleeping quarters.

Heading in Jasper’s direction, Avalon could tell the moment his new husband had realized he was close. The man’s shoulders tensed, and then just as suddenly relaxed again as if Jasper mentally or physically told himself he was safe. Having never lived like that before, Avalon hoped that he wouldn’t do anything to cause Jasper to dive back into his shell and never come out.

/~/~/~/~/

Free. I’m actually free. Jasper couldn’t get enough of watching out across the waves, well aware the land and home where he’d spent his whole life was disappearing behind him. He had nothing to look back for – everything in his life was changing, but he was moving forward, regardless of how that might look. For the first time since he’d been abducted, or even before that in truth, Jasper could finally take a full breath. How long that feeling lasted remained to be seen.

There was something so incredibly liberating with the way the water surrounded the ship on all sides, and Jasper didn’t get any negative vibes from the crew at all. There was curiosity – but Jasper expected that anyway. Wearing a black eyepatch, even one with a discreet monogram in the corner of it, was enough for anyone to look twice in his direction.

Unused to being on a ship, Jasper sat incredibly still, side glancing every few moments to make sure he wasn’t in anyone’s way. There weren’t a huge number of sailors present – most of the ship seemed to run by mechanical and magical means. It was a shame there was anyone around at all because Jasper had an overwhelming urge to jump up, yell, and scream with the sheer joy of being away from the Lowenthorp castle and the ever pervading threat present within those walls.

He wouldn’t do that, of course. Jasper learned early on to keep anything he held dear close to his chest. Being the youngest and least athletic of three children, his siblings being far more confident than he could ever be, Jasper kept most of how he felt to himself. It was only with his mother that he felt he could ever confide anything, and more recently, not even then.

Jasper stiffened as he heard someone approaching. Avalon. Forcing himself to relax, Jasper half turned from where he was sitting. “Am I in the way? Is there somewhere else I could sit where I won’t bother anyone? I’m unused to ship life, I’m afraid.”

Ship life was the least of Jasper’s concerns, but his husband didn’t know that. Avalon’s smile was warm. “I thought I could sit with you for a while, and then we could share a meal, discuss what happens next. I realize this must all be quite unnerving for you, being spirited away so suddenly.”

“It’s happened before.” Jasper wished he’d bit his tongue when Avalon winced. “This is both welcome and a far more pleasant experience,” he added quickly. Jasper didn’t want Avalon to ever think he was ungrateful. The man had made a huge personal sacrifice, and Jasper was well aware of what might happen to Avalon’s reputation if their marriage became public knowledge outside of Cijan.

Jasper was determined Avalon also wouldn’t think he was going to be a burden. “Did you have somewhere specific in mind to drop me off, or…” he trailed off, unsure how to continue. It wasn’t as though he had any ideas of his own of where he could go.

The frown was fleeting, but Jasper noted it, nonetheless. “I think we need to have a private conversation,” Avalon said, glancing around. “I came into our marriage with a few expectations, but I would appreciate your input on how our lives might look together going forward.”

Expectations? “Did you actually want to be seen traveling with me?” Jasper whispered, staring at his new husband. “What if someone sees me with you? I never imagined… I… I… I don’t know what to say. I just thought you’d drop me off somewhere, and we’d likely never see each other again.”

“That’s not exactly how marriage works,” Avalon said, and Jasper was sure he was imagining the twinkle in his husband’s eyes. But he took the hand held out to him, and stood up. Although he almost stumbled when Avalon tucked his fingers around his elbow, and added, “Let me show you your new home, shall I?”

A home on this ship… with him… and his friends… Jasper wasn’t sure if he should feel exhilarated or terrified. So he stamped down any possible feelings at all, and paid attention as Avalon started showing him around the ship. Learning possible hiding places was something new Jasper did, but it was all part of his survival skills, and he took that responsibility seriously.