Chapter 24

THE STRANGE INCIDENToutside Ash's room hadn't been followed by anything else ominous, so Laurel had mostly convinced himself that he'd imagined it and allowed it to fade from his mind. He had enough to focus on anyway, what with trying to get used to living with the new feelings and sensations constantly swirling inside him along with Ash's healing essence. Luckily for both of them, no one else seemed to suspect anything had changed between them. He could at least take solace in that he didn't need to explain yet to anyone what had happened. He wasn't even through processing it himself.

With Ash gone to see his mother, Laurel ironically found himself roped into helping Minael clean. To his relief, he was only dusting the high spots his father couldn't reach on his own. Trying very pointedly not to think about Ash's recent perverted request involving a feather duster, Laurel nodded along as Minael gossiped about this and that.

"And then she made him leave the house! Can you believe? Seven years they've been together, but absolutely no compassion. I couldn't do that to anyone, I think." Minael shook his head at the audacity of some acquaintance of theirs that Laurel hardly knew.

"Uh-huh."

"Oh!" Minael's eyes widened as he seemed to remember something and his voice lowered as he wiped a damp rag over their coffee table. "Did you hear about how Malory's wedding is canceled?"

Nearly fumbling the duster in his hands, Laurel tried to cover his shocked sound by transitioning it into a cough. "Oh? I hadn't heard that."

"Don't forget to dust in the corners, please. I will have to drag the stepladder out to do it myself if you don't."

"Yeah, okay." Hastily fluttering the instrument over the requested areas, Laurel gave his father a sidelong glance. "So why did the wedding get canceled?"

"Well, because they have broken up, of course," Minael answered with a sigh. "Necia and Kauril are really very devastated. Did you know they bought a house for Malory for his wedding present, that he was supposed to move into?"

"Did you know anything about this?" Laurel asked, turning his head toward Ingrid, who was sitting on the couch, having already finished the tasks their dad had asked of her, with a guilty expression on her face.

"Oh, um…" Fiddling with the ends of her hair, she glanced down toward the cushions. "I know that everyone's saying Avi moved really far away, back home with his parents. He was living with a different family member out here, so he could play in our orchestra, but he quit. He didn't even tell anyone bye or anything, he just left."

Trying to remind himself that he had no evidence that he and Avi's conversation at the café had anything to do with the break-up and that he was wildly speculating, Laurel grimaced at the sudden nausea churning through him.

"It's very sad," Minael added. "Necia is so confused. She has been telling me about how Avi was very close to them and how fond she and Kauril were of him. She was saying how she feels it was so unlike him to leave without a word to anyone. But I guess sometimes you don't know someone as well as you think." When he looked up to see Laurel looking stricken, he frowned, setting down his rag to rub a hand over his son's back. "Is this news upsetting you, mikrova?"

"No," Laurel said quickly. "I don't really care what Malory does. It's just weird, that's all."

"It was very sudden and odd," Minael agreed. Then, scrunching his brow, he pursed his lips. "If it's Ash you are thinking about, you shouldn't worry. I don't think he would be doing anything like that to you."

"No, he wouldn't. I… I don't worry about that," he lied. The last thing he needed at the moment was to get into a conversation about his crushing insecurities and abandonment issues.

Retreating to his room to change into clean clothes, Laurel noted the small stack of envelopes on his desk that he hadn't had the energy to go through the night before. He'd been spending even more time with Ash than he'd realized for his mail to pile up like that. He was just relieved that the more time the healer spent around them, the more his parents seemed to like him, so they weren't giving Laurel shit for sleeping over at the castle all the time.

Picking up the first piece off the top, he slipped his thumb under the seal to break it, pulling out the letter. It was thick and glossy, with a fancy printed border around the edges, but otherwise blank. Frowning, he turned it over to check the other side but found no writing there either. This style of stationery was familiar to him, but he couldn't remember where he'd seen it before. He turned the envelope back over to see who'd sent it, but there was no return address, only his own full name and address centered on the front.

"Weird," he murmured, squinting as he tried to decipher if there was anything erased from the page. Even holding it up to the light, it was clearly a fresh sheet, never touched by a drop of ink. Had someone meant to write him a letter, but sent a blank paper by mistake?

"Laurel!" Ingrid called to him from outside his door. "Dad's going to listen to me play some of the new stuff we're working on. Do you want to listen, too?"

"I'll be right out."

Balling up the blank paper and envelope, he tossed them into the wastebasket before quickly dressing.

THE TRAIN RIDEback to the castle city of Ikronia was pleasant, as it usually was for Ash. Because he didn't require or expect any level of amenity from his surroundings, it was easy for him to feel at ease no matter where he was. Though he'd slowly been getting used to his luxe surroundings at the castle, he was far more accustomed to a sleeping bag on the ground under the stars. Camping out and sleeping in the woods overnight to get a jump start on hunting the next morning was something he'd done more times than he could ever count.

Pondering the unsophisticated atmosphere he'd been surrounded by most of his life circled his thoughts back to his mother. He'd been carefully and cautiously breaching the subject of his burgeoning romance with Laurel each time he visited, so as not to hit her over the head with an abundance of jarring information. She was always eager and enthusiastic for any information about Laurel, always curious about the person who seemed to have captured her son's heart so thoroughly.

He'd finally given her a hint of Laurel's status, by admitting that one of the things they'd bonded over was their mutual ability to perform magic. She'd been surprised by that, and then even more shocked as he'd gone on to explain that Laurel's magic was nearly polar opposite to his own empathic, curative abilities. That part no longer mattered, since they'd inherited the ability to perform each other's bred-in unique abilities, but he was far from being comfortable discussing that aspect with her.

Expectedly, she'd asked about Laurel's parents as well. Ash had assumed, upon his first meeting with Helio and Minael, that only Minael's bloodline had contributed to Laurel's abilities, because he'd never sensed any metaphysical energy from Helio. However, he'd recently come to discover that both men came from long, untainted lines of sorcery. It was just that Helio possessed a rare condition where his blood contained supernatural genetics, but he was unable to harness it to perform actual magic. Ash wondered if that unusual defect in Laurel's genetic code had contributed to his own magic becoming so unstable under the stress and trauma of he and Malory's courtship, but he would never have voiced it out loud.

He remembered that Laurel had found the assumption of only one of his parents having the genetic predilection for magic very cute and naive.

"I don't think you quite understand what a scandal it is if a magic user marries a non-magic user," he had explained. "Let alone actually breeding with them."

"But you dated Nero, didn't you? He isn't a magic user."

Laurel had scoffed at that. "Yeah, he's the Crown Prince of Ikronia. That would pretty much be the only exception to the rule."

"In other words, I'm a scandal." As if he hadn't already been acutely aware of that fact.

"I'm afraid so," Laurel had admitted, though his tone and expression made it clear that he didn't necessarily agree with the ideology. Ash remembered how clear he'd made that at the inn before they'd had their first kiss. "Why do you think my vatra insists that you take my name? He doesn't want any blemishes on the family tree."

It was understandable, Ash supposed. But Laurel's explanation of Helio's feelings on the matter only made him more determined to keep his unusual circumstance of birth a secret from the general public. He wouldn't do anything to risk their family's reputation, particularly because Helio had been so understanding in allowing him to court Laurel in the first place. And as time had gone on, he had become more and more fond of Laurel's parents. He particularly thought Minael would make an enchanting grandparent and would likely spoil their future children rotten.

Of course he'd skipped over all that explanation as he'd gone into it with Mollie. No need to burden her with tedious details. Laurel was a ridiculously wealthy, pedigreed picture of privileged nobility, and that was that. She hadn't taken the news as badly as he'd imagined, but she wasn't thrilled. She'd let out a barrage of questions, suspicious now of what someone like Laurel would want with someone like Ash.

He knew she hadn't intended to offend him, but because he'd had his own very quiet doubts in the back of his head of that nature as well, it hit him in a very sore spot. "He doesn't stand to gain anything from being with me," he'd agreed with her. "Only that I would be unconditionally devoted to him every moment of every day until I die."

He'd come on a bit strong with that line, he reflected, smiling quietly to himself with a light shake of his head. But he thought maybe she now understood with a little more clarity just how important Laurel was going to be in his life.

He hadn't yet shared with her the secret that Laurel was the patient he'd come to the city to treat, but he was still unsure exactly how or even if he wanted to broach that particular subject with her. Knowing her, she'd have questions that he couldn't, in good conscience, give her answers to. And the last thing he would want would be for her to view his spouse as a victim, to pity him and show him sympathy that would only put his prickly lover on the immediate defensive.

But progress was being made in all aspects of his life, and that was all Ash could hope for. He'd come so far with Laurel, but he still couldn't help the feeling that there was one missing piece. Something he hadn't, or maybe couldn't yet reach. There was still that one tiny knot that he couldn't seem to unravel, that was preventing Laurel's magic from being back at its full and unencumbered glory. But he'd spent hours thinking and trying, and nothing yet. So for the time being, all he could do was wait for something to reveal itself to him.

IT WAS INCREDIBLEto Laurel how in only a couple of months, the quiet solitude he'd once cherished above all else and at nearly all times, had lessened its choke hold on his mood. He no longer craved being alone all the time, no longer slept away the hours he couldn't stand being in his head anymore. Now in the spot he'd once been so annoyed to be approached by an incessantly persistent golden retriever of a man, he waited impatiently for that same man.

A waitress approached his table, pulling him from his thoughts as she placed a mug into a saucer before him.

"I didn't order this," he told her. He was waiting for Ash to arrive before he got anything.

"No," she said, nodding her head back toward the interior part of the café. "Compliments of a gentleman inside. He sends his regards."

Sitting up a bit straighter in his seat, Laurel tried to peer into the building through the large window. "Which one?" He was far from unfamiliar with being approached by men and offered gifts, or having drinks bought for him by men trying to soften him up to the concept of being approached.

She glanced back into the window as well. "Oh, hm. I don't see him anymore. I guess he left."

"What is it, anyway?" He questioned, sniffing at the lightly scented steam wafting up from the cup.

"It's coffee with nutmeg and a splash of milk," she explained. "He was very specific about the order, so I assumed he was someone you know."

His heart stopped at her words, and he felt like his blood was seizing in his veins. Though he suddenly felt cold all over, and like he might pass out in his seat, Laurel gave a small nod. "Thank you very much."

Watching her walk away, he pushed it as far away from him as possible, so quickly that coffee splashed up over the lip of the cup to spill onto the table. It was too distinct to be a coincidence. There wasn't a single doubt in his mind that Malory had sent this to him from inside. It was what he drank every morning. Laurel had made it for him dozens of times.

"Hey." A voice from behind him had Laurel flinching in terror, whirling in defense against it. Adrenaline was rushing through him so his blood was already pulsing in his ears and everywhere else even as his brain was able to process Ash's form. Shocked and concerned, the healer rushed the last few steps up to the table. "What's the matter? Did I startle you?" It only took a moment for him to absorb the thick wave of dread and horror. "You're shaking. What the hell happened to you?"

"I-it's nothing. I… You just scared me, that's all." Ash was here now, was all he could think. Malory couldn't do anything to him if Ash was here.

"You seriously think I believe that?" he asked incredulously. "What's this?" He gestured toward the cup on the table and the small puddle next to it.

Taking a deep breath, Laurel swallowed, willing himself to calm. "It's nothing. A guy just sent that to me from inside." Why was he lying? He couldn't even explain it to himself, but all he knew was that he couldn't tell Ash the truth. "It made me feel weird, and then you snuck up behind me and scared me. That's all."

He may not have had the privilege of a private academy education, but Ash wasn't an idiot. He knew as well as he knew his own name that Laurel was hiding something. But he also knew that pushing the subject would only result in an argument.

"Alright," he said, keeping his voice light. "I'm sorry for scaring you. You know I would never intentionally do that." There would be time later to broach the subject, and it would be more productive to ease into it rather than demanding an explanation now.

"No, I know. It's okay, really." He was still panting slightly from the rush of nerves, but he forced himself to take deep, slow breaths.

"I take it you didn't like the drink," Ash pointed out, somewhat sardonically.

"Huh?" Focusing on taking in air and slowly letting it out, Laurel glanced back down to the still steaming mug. "Oh. No, I didn't like it. Can we go, actually? I don't want to stay here."

Tilting his head, Ash nodded slowly. "Of course, if that's what you want. I was going to drop off my bag at the castle, but if you'd rather go to your house…"

"No, the castle is fine," Laurel said quickly, rising out of his seat so suddenly that the legs scraped the ground with an ear-grinding squeak. "We can do whatever you want. Or I can go home if you want to relax on your own." Running a hand through his hair, he started moving toward the street. "But let's go to the castle first, and you can drop off your things and we can talk about it. Or not, I don't know. It doesn't really matter, does it? We-"

"Laurel." Keeping his feet planted firmly, Ash clasped the sorcerer's hand in his to prevent him from rushing away. "Stop. Breathe. You haven't even looked me in the eyes yet."

The gentle but firm tone of Ash's voice managed to penetrate Laurel's self-imposed bubble of panic, halting him in his tracks. He flexed his fingers against his healer's, slowly turning to face him.

"Hi." Hoping he could start over and alleviate some of his obvious stress, Ash released Laurel's hand and cupped his lovely, sharp-featured face. "I missed you, gorgeous."

Almost as soon as the words, so sweet in their delivery, hit his ears, Laurel could feel the adrenaline begin to ebb away. "I missed you, too." There'd been a vague feeling of emptiness while Ash had been gone, an absence that he wondered if the healer had felt too, something he imagined was due to their new bond.

"You aren't acting like it," Ash pointed out, though the softness surrounding his words kept them from sounding accusatory.

Sighing a bit, Laurel grimaced at the slap of guilt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… Ignore you. I really did miss you. I always miss you."

"Show me."

Knitting his brows together, Laurel blinked. "How?"

Lightly smirking, still framing the man's face in his calloused palms, Ash gently pulled him into a kiss. Their lips clung, tenderly meeting and parting.

Filled with affection, Laurel found himself letting out a small noise of protest when Ash's mouth lifted off his too soon for his liking. Shaking his head a little, he snaked his arms around Ash's neck, pulling him back into another deeper, more fervent kiss. If Malory was still watching them, then so be it.

"You're tempting me," Ash murmured, stroking his fingers over Laurel's face when the sorcerer finally allowed him to break the seal of their kiss and ease back. "Did you have a bad time while I was gone?"

The need to explain about Malory's canceled wedding and the truth about the drink was a painful ache, but Laurel couldn't force the words out. "Not really. I just spent some time with my dad and Ingrid."

He knew something was wrong, but patience was something Ash nearly constantly had to exercise with his lover, so he only nodded and placed a hand on the small of Laurel's back to lead him out to the street.