The Unsuitable Slave. (NC-17) Part 30/34
Jared stared at the landscape beyond the window. He saw the brief flurry of activity as a courier rode in at full gallop. He breathed deep to calm his nerves and his fingers lifted unknowingly, to worry at his collar. Whatever the news that was borne, Jared had no right to its knowledge and it angered and feared him all at once. He paced the room, every nerve within him trembled and tingled.
He was still pacing when Sophia found him. She was pale and her eyes were tearful. She leaned a hand on the polished surface of a table as she conveyed the news that had been brought. “The siege of Adomisa is over. The Realm’s forces were cut down from the rear, by troops of the Federated States. The States has declared war on the Realm.”
Jared’s first reaction was relief and he breathed deep, smiled and held her hand before becoming fully aware of her panic. She looked fit to faint and Jared guided her to a seat.
“Why would they do that now? We cannot fight a war on three fronts, what will we do?” She cried. He was still thinking on the answer when Sophia roused herself enough to sit upright and study Jared. “Oh stars! You are not even surprised.”
He frowned. He hated to see this gentle woman in unnecessary distress.
“You knew! Steve warned me from the first moment you arrived, that Jensen was hiding secrets. He is supposed to be a friend. You knew what the Kingdom plotted and you did not give as much as a whisper! We should have known better, but you, your birthright is to protect the people of the Realm. You are everything that was told.”
“Sophia, Jensen is your friend. This involvement isn’t relevant to the cause you fight. The information is 'need to know' and you didn’t need to know. Steve used that card with me, so you understand the concept. Surely you cannot pretend you have told Jensen every aspect of your own campaign.”
She wasn’t hearing reason. “You are your Uncle’s child and you are worse because you use it to betray your own nation.”
The insult stung but Jared didn’t pull back, he reached to rub reassurance on Sophia's shoulder. She startled back from him with a fearful scream for a sentry.
“No, Sophia!” He was rushing to explain himself, to explain his Master, before the onslaught of armed men came to rescue her from the traitorous Prince. “The States’ alliance is defensive. It stops with the Realm’s retreat.”
Three fully armed men approached. Jared smoothed at his empty belt. He had been disarmed from the moment he entered this household. He felt utterly exposed and there was no escape. He continued talking, “The States merely want Morgan removed from their doorstep. The Kingdom will come to the table for a stalemate that ends as it all started. You see danger from the wrong quarter, my Lady.” Jared raised his hands in surrender.
“Do you have guarantee of that? Do you have King Joshua’s ear? You are their toy. How can you even know such details?” Sophia was angry.
“I have the States’ ear and unique insight into the Misan Court. The Federated States can make the difference, force negotiations that have been shelved too long. Joshua is not his father. This war wearies him and he will concede, but he will not accept defeat.”
Sophia indicated for her sentries to wait. “You are delusional. You don’t even know who you are any more. The Kingdom has you twisted to its will. The States has done this without the courtesy of a warning. It is not a defensive move.”
“They gave warning. They held talks with a key representative of the Realm. There is agreement to push Morgan back. What the Realm does with him is its own business, and fresh governance can decide its terms. It stops at the border.”
“You expect me to believe that Kane sanctioned it?” She sneered at him.
“No, Sophia, it wasn’t Kane, and Prince Jensen played no part in it. I was in the best position to see all angles and opinions, I had opportunity and I did it. I sanctioned it. It was my decision.”
She opened and closed her mouth, then asked, “How does a dead man sanction anything? Did Jensen know of it when he entered this household?”
“He knows that the State’s offered Joshua their assistance to reduce the carnage, and protect their own interests. He doesn’t know that I sanctioned it.”
“So you keep secrets from him? I didn’t think a slave was permitted that.”
Jared shook his head and rolled his eyes. He knew it was true, but it hadn’t felt important or wrong. He was sure Jensen guessed and had left him this single, last act of diplomacy for his Realm. Jensen never wanted to speak for the Realm, it wasn’t who he was.
Sophia’s voice dropped a little and became sympathetic. “I think you need to decide what you are and where your loyalties stand Prince Jared. I hope you are correct and do not trust too easily. I have heard that is a failing of yours.”
“The States are known to be fair in their dealings. You have too much other bad business to fret without cause.”
She regained some of her poise and nodded curtly to him, “Do you understand the terms of a house-arrest Jared?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Consider yourself under house arrest. You will not leave this room. If you try, my men have permission to restrain you by any means.”
Two men took position in imposing stance by the door. The third crowded him with greater height and bulk. He moved away from him under wary eyes. “My mother?”
“You are forbidden to go near her.”
“You hold no authority to do any of this, Lady Sophia.” He couldn’t help the petty jibe.
“I am Lady of this household and you, you are nobody. Don’t forget that Prince Jared is dead, Child.”
“I am somebody to Jensen.”
“Prince Jensen is easily lost if you have lied to us.”
The sentries blocked his path as she took her leave. He originally thought the wait for the allies’ return was going to seem long. The men who guarded him were tight lipped, silent and solid. He shifted his estimate to 'endless'.
***
Out of the frying pan into the fire. Jared hated the expression but it seemed so very apt.
It should have been a joyful moment. Instead it was an unmitigated disaster; a monument to the human condition and its survival instinct, the one that demands that trust be strictly rationed.
Jared couldn’t describe what he felt when Christian walked through the door. He had grieved for him, missed him like his own family. Moons! Chris was his family. The moment that he had walked into the room, alive and larger than life, had been painful and hopeful all at once. This time Jared got to see, to touch and to inhale him in a tight, warm, bear hug, with safe arms wrapped around him.
“I missed you, you stupid big puppy, I was always coming to get you, you know that, right?” Chris’ voice was rough and emotional but Jared knew he wouldn’t cry. His own eyes may have been a little damp but that was just the tightness of the squeeze.
It was when he unburied his head from the broad reassuring shoulder that Jared noticed what was out-of-place and altogether wrong.
“We have to get you out fast. We’ve found the Queen, we have a carriage for her and your horse is being saddled. We’ll remove that abomination from your neck and get clear. Do you have anything you need to take?” Christian’s voice crackled in the static of his confusion. His men were armed and the sentries that had guarded him in neutral silence were being herded away from the room. At first Jared wondered what Christian had said to reassure Sophia of Jared’s cooperation and then he had seen Sophia, held by Chris’ men, knife to her throat and a defiant glower on her elegant features. Her lips formed words. “Please, Jared.”
“Chris?” Jared flexed his arms and pushed the Captain back from his space. “What’s going on? Where’s Steve? Where’s Jensen?”
“Sire, we need to move now. I can explain as we ride.” Captain Kane was all business, his hand found Jared’s collar and felt for a clasp.
Jared reached up protectively and swatted the searching fingers away. He knew the lock was fitted flush, the only access, his Master’s key, but the touch felt like trespass. “Don’t” he said irritably.
“Sire! Do you need anything?” Chris repeated.
“No. Yes. I need you to explain what’s going on.”
“We’re getting you out of here. Somewhere they’ll not find you. Now, please move Jared. I am not sure if they have reinforcements.”
Years of partnership had him moving in tandem with his friend, letting himself be swept along in the older man’s care, as if no time had passed without him. He came to his senses in the spacious entrance hall when the stable lad was dragged roughly into their presence and ordered to prepare his horse and turn the rest loose.
“Chris. Stop it! Just stop!” Jared held out his hand to the lad and shoved the boy’s captor away. “Leave the boy alone and leave the horses alone,” Jared growled, to everyone’s stunned surprise.
“Prince Jared, come on! Now is not the time to argue over details.”
“Is Morgan on his way? Are we found out? If so, we should be getting these people to safety, not abusing them.”
“Morgan is being kept busy with your favorite Prince and his friends. They deserve each other.” The words were spat with heavy sarcasm and hatred.
Christian moved to hook the stable-boy’s arm.The lad looked up at Captain Kane and gulped. Jared ground to a halt and protectively shoved the lad behind him. “No!” he said. “I think now is a great time to hear the whole plan, preferably in private, Soldier.” He spoke with an authority he had never before used with Chris.
His Captain span on his heel to stare at his Prince with a wide-eyed look of disbelief.
“Sire. Your sister awaits and you would not want harm to befall her.”
Jared thought he would not find his breath. “You have Meghan safe? Oh, Stars! Christian, why didn’t you say?” Jared moved to hug the broad man again. “So, you must bring her into the protection of the house. We are better to stand together.”
Captain Kane drew back. He studied his former charge with an expression that suggested Jared had lost his sanity. “This household stands with the Kingdom and with the man that took everything of you. They made you a slave, you are a prisoner here. I have made it safe for you to leave and they will not pursue you. Prince Jensen is dealt with, we will regroup after Morgan is quashed and rise again to quell this madness.”
Jared couldn't ask his Captain what he meant when he said that Jensen had been dealt with. He didn't want to hear the worst, wouldn't accept it anyway. He filed it in a dim part of his mind and pretended it wasn't said.
“No! No, Chris, we won’t! We will squash Morgan and you will assist the people of this Nation to regain peace and dignity. The Kingdom will draw back their hatred and regain their own peace. That was the plan.”
Activity had ceased and an unnatural stillness surrounded the Prince and his Captain. Into it Jake carried the Queen with the ease of one carrying a small child. She was wrapped in quilt with her face chalk-pale but her bright hazel eyes shone clear. “Captain Kane, Private Abel, Jared, We will take counsel now. Jake, be a good boy and find a chair for me while you fetch the Lady of the House. My dear Sophia will find us a safe space.”
Captain Kane took to his knee in a deep bow.
“Quit grovelling and start listening Captain Kane, I tire so easily of all this.”
***
It felt unreal, years lost to wracked pain, vague uncertainty and breathless, weak whispers dropped away with strong spoken words and determination. His mother arrived as though she were never gone, with a gentle chastisement directed at Kane and a friendly warning to Sophia. Sparks of hate flashed between the Lady of the House and the Captain of the Queen's Guard but they conceded to their Queen with an awkward ceasefire. There was acknowledgement that none of the parties had entered this tryst in total honesty. There were promises of change and negotiation, a need to be done with this war and memories of long lost friendships.
On the sidelines, in no defined camp, was her son, the one she had given it all to and taken everything from. He was wrecked by Kane’s deed and his mother’s calm. They could fix this, reboot the rebellion from different direction, mend their alliances and end a war. The trust would have to be rebuilt but without Jensen, whatever the result, Jared knew he would be empty and homeless.
The fog of his mind was thick, it swirled and grasped at him as he fought an urge to scream and shout, yell his grief and disapproval. Words ended in question and attention focused on the him but he hadn’t heard the questions over the noise of his loss.
When he finally heard their voices, the Queen was speaking sadly, “I already know his decision. My son is dead. Have the boy saddle a horse for Prince Jensen’s slave and have the armory return his weapons to him.”
Angry heat burned at the edges of the mist and clarity returned. “Mam,” Jared's voice caught and hitched, “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“You think I cannot see how you are Jared? You are no longer my lost boy. Somewhere since De’ith you grew up. You cannot denounce him to be here and I fully understand what sacrifice the Federated States has asked of you, I have seen it in your words and your actions. I loved Jensen's father once and I should not have let him slip from me. Don’t lose faith, fight for your love and take him home.”
Surely it was hopeless. Kane had brought his campaign forward and exposed Steve’s revolutionaries and Jensen’s troops to the full wrath of Morgan’s men. The time of the mission was long past, the rendezvous not kept.
“Mam.” He pleaded.
“No!” It was Christian’s objection, “You would disown your only son? You would let him be resigned to deviancy and servitude, committed to a life of degradation and an afterlife in Hell? You aren’t thinking straight.” He made toward the Queen and Jake lunged to restrain him.
“You see only the collar Sir, you haven’t seen them. You didn’t see them together, Sir.” Jake did not stand down from his Captain.
Jared turned a shocked face on Jake who returned a clear blue gaze with a small shrug, “I see what is there and I was jealous but I will not deny it, there is a time for truths and it is now. You love Prince Jensen and he would gather the moons for you. He needs you, now more than ever.”
The Queen was breathing shallow, her pallor grey with exhaustion, “Jare,” she gestured for his hand and he wrapped his arms around her. “My son is gone but I am very fond of Prince Jensen’s lover. I think when we have mended me and fixed this ridiculous squabble, we may see each other again.”
“How do I even know he is alive?” His finger drifted to the sore purple bloom on his neck, “Don’t give up on me, Child. Whatever transpires, don’t give up.”
“I am certain, it was foretold.”
He kissed her and held her close, breathed in the scent of lavender water and rose. He squeezed his eyes tight to prevent the flood before bowing to take his leave, the last time as her son and the final moment as Prince of the Realm. There would be no reunion with Meghan, for she had no brother.
Jared gathered his courage and walked away.
Part Thirty One
Masterpost
Back to Part Twenty Nine