Chapter Seventeen
Serron
I have messed things up big time. Patin said I would, and he was right, again. As the servers bustled around, serving a delicious smelling roast meat, breads, sides, sauces and condiments, pouring wine and refilling water glasses, Serron thought back to when he realized his feelings for Jaq had deepened. It wasn’t something he’d likely forget because it was when Jaq was stuck up that tree. The way the terrified Jaq had sought to appease his worry, and then, when rescued had given Patin a huge honor by bowing to him in public touched a deep cord in Serron’s heart that wouldn’t let go.
Apparently, he wasn’t the only one affected by Jaq’s behavior. It was Patin who’d mentioned it first as they lay curled up in each other’s arms that night. “Am I the only one who wanted to give Jaq a hug this afternoon?”
Serron remembered chuckling in the dim light. “Not at all. I felt exactly the same way. Dropping him off to his room this evening felt wrong to me somehow. I know I’m not explaining my feelings very clearly…”
“It’s like we’re shutting him out of our time.” Patin interrupted as he nodded. “That’s how I felt, too. Which is ironic when he was the one worried about doing that to me with you. It doesn’t feel right.”
Patin had been right, but because Serron had made such a huge mistake early in their relationship, they decided to think about their personal feelings and leave it until the next night, before they could talk about it more thoroughly.
Introducing a third to their bed and into their lives more thoroughly meant communication was vital, and for Serron and Patin, that hadn’t always been easy, given their relationship had to be hidden from others.
The days had been so busy as well, with the queen making sure everyone in the kingdom of Monce knew how much she supported Serron’s wedding to Jaq in Patin’s home.
Hence the lunch, which was Patin’s idea. Serron was due to exchange his vows with Jaq in just a few hours, and he and Patin both decided they needed to speak to Jaq before the wedding was completed. Yes, under law, Jaq was already Serron’s husband, but Serron felt very strongly about the vow exchange, which was why he never wanted to do it with anyone else except Patin before.
And then we met Jaq, and what Serron was so grateful for was that Patin was as taken with the prince of Elembaum as Serron was. Was that unexpected? Yes. Serron had never felt any lack in his relationship with Patin before, and he didn’t feel any now. But Jaq had a unique way about him and Serron wanted more. Patin had expressed how protective he felt over the prince, and Serron knew that was his soul mate’s love language talking.
I should’ve let Patin do all the talking. Serron sighed as he picked up his knife and fork, and the servers finally finished and left them to eat in peace.
“This is particularly delicious,” Jaq said after swallowing a mouthful. “Your staff is really attentive, Patin. I appreciate you probably told them I’m inclined to miss meals if I’m busy and having them delivered for me to my room is very thoughtful. Incidentally, I am interested in having a closer relationship with you both together, but I fear my lack of any form of romantic relationship experience might make it difficult to know exactly what’s expected from me, and I’d appreciate more details, if you please.”
“You agree?” Serron choked on his food and reached blindly for his glass of water, meeting Patin’s equally wide eyes. “That’s… that’s…”
“Didn’t you want me to agree?”
“Yes!” Serron and Patin said together, and then Serron started laughing.
“I’m sorry, Jaq. It was likely rude of me to laugh,” Serron said, wiping under his eye with a knuckle. “But I am so relieved. We truly didn’t want to make anything awkward between us and there was a very real worry that you might not be interested in us beyond friendship at all. Patin and I have been talking about this for two days – how to approach you, should we mention it before or after the wedding, and of course, most importantly, if you would consider a closer relationship with us. You’ve been a wonderful and surprising delight since we met, and we wouldn’t be honest if we didn’t acknowledge that we miss you when you’re not with us.”
“That feeling is mutual.” Jaq was compiling another forkful of food, being sure to include a piece of every item on the plate. “I wondered if there was something wrong with me. I am not in the habit of missing anyone, yet I did feel that way, even though my logical brain told me repeatedly how busy you both were and that you weren’t deliberately excluding me from anything.”
“We had to consider the limitations due to social position as well,” Patin said, indicating Serron with his knife. “Royals are not publicly known to have more than one romantic partner, although many of them have mistresses or lovers on the side, I’m sure. But those trysts are always kept to the shadows. Serron was very particular about insisting that I had a public presence in his life, wearing various hats, which allowed us to be together even if we were never seen to be as close as married.”
“I’ve always wondered why that would be.” Jaq paused his eating – he was wearing what Serron considered his thinking face. “I mean, you could understand it if, say, for example, a king had two wives, and they both had children. I’ve always imagined it was a succession issue that meant the World Council didn’t allow a member of a royal family, or a society family, to have more than one spouse. But where a king and his spouse were already the same sex, and they preferred to be a throuple as opposed to a couple, particularly if that third was the same gender as well, where is the harm in that? Wouldn’t that only impact ruling anywhere from a local level, rather than have any worldwide significance?”
“I do agree,” Serron said, “especially from the World Council perspective. I never understood why it was their business to interfere in who might marry and to whom. I believe…” He paused for a moment thinking about it. “I think it’s Crown Prince Consort Jasper of Cijan who recently presented a paper at the World Council addressing the implications of the World Council’s policies on marriages among higher ranked family in respect to the decline in the spread and use of magic among royals and society family members. He felt that the construct was an artificial way of limiting what might be natural born drives in a person, regardless of rank, thereby causing it to be a personal rights issue.”
“I read that paper,” Jaq nodded eagerly. “As you know, I’m not exactly magical, but my abilities are definitely more than intuition. My mother felt they were a throwback to a distant relative maybe, but it was never discussed. So, I had a lot of interest in what Jasper had to say.”
“As you know, I spent a lot of years traveling before being snared by our crown prince,” Patin said with a grin. “There was more than one tale in remote villages all over various kingdoms of babies from royal or society families that have been dropped off, very discretely of course, because of the fear that child might have some magical ability.”
“That does not surprise me. When the first laws around marriage for higher ranked people were put in, it wasn’t any wonder some people preferred to keep company with people they preferred rather than were contracted to. But did you hear much about throuples and how they were accepted?” Serron asked. “Because as none of us are ever going to bear children, that is a more pertinent question right now.”
“Thank you,” Jaq said suddenly and when Serron and Patin both looked at him, he blushed and added, “I couldn’t work out why my father was not happy with you or our marriage contract, but that is what he was thinking, wasn’t it? That you would keep company with someone else and probably thought I wasn’t going to object to it because of the type of person I was.”
“I thought we’d already discussed this.” Serron looked at Patin, who shrugged. “Our contract’s lack of infidelity clause and the lack of piss-off clause, yes, your father probably felt I would be unfaithful to you, not realizing you and I had already discussed the fact that technically I would be – and no, that doesn’t sound any better said out loud, even though it was something you knew before you agreed to marry me.”
Jaq shook his head. “I wasn’t trying to make you or Patin feel bad. Communication is the key to how we’ll get along. But I’ve had letters from my mother and sister, both expressing concerns about your behavior towards me and I couldn’t work out why – at least on my mother’s part. I thought she knew about your relationship with Patin.”
“She wouldn’t have done,” Serron said firmly. “My mother knew, of course, she did. But she would never have spoken about it to another person, not even a close friend. But your sister as well? I didn’t realize she even knew we were getting married.”
“Neither did I. I did plan to write her and let her know once the ceremony was done,” Jaq said, and then he hesitated. “It seems Crown Prince Rupert is bored. That’s the only reason I can think of as to why he has approached my family this way. If it helps,” he added quickly, “my sister thought he was behaving like an idiot.
“She knows I am old enough to make my own decisions about all aspects of my life, and wouldn’t have accepted your offer if I didn’t think it was a good idea. My mother wasn’t as blunt as my sister is inclined to be. She just mentioned that if I felt I wasn’t being respected in my marriage to you, then she would assist me in going back to Elembaum.”
“My gods.” Serron pushed back his chair and got up, tugging his fingers through his hair. “Am I going to have to challenge him to a duel just to get him to back off? We’re exchanging vows in about an hour’s time.”
“You’ve already said numerous times you’re not interested in Crown Prince Rupert,” Patin said gravely. “That makes his behavior unusual.”
“No, no, it’s not really.” Jaq started to chuckle. “See, Patin, you and Serron know that I’m not interested in Rupert. You asked me, and when I gave you my answer, you listened to me and respected what I said. Rupert doesn’t listen to anyone. He thinks…”
Jaq actually tapped the table with his fingers to accompany his laughter. “He thinks I’m innocent and gullible. The way Evangaline described it, it was as if Rupert thought I was this doe-eyed young person, unversed in the ways of men, and that Serron was like this wicked outlaw person who was going to plunder my body on our wedding night and then cast me aside for his numerous lovers.” Jaq collapsed over the table, full out laughing. “It’s as if he thinks I don’t have a brain at all.”
The laughter was contagious. Serron’s frustration drained away as fast as it arrived, and as he sat back down, he could see Patin had his hand over his mouth. “Oh, go on, Patin. Laugh. You know you want to. Rupert is being ridiculous.”
“Underestimating Jaq’s intelligence and compassion was definitely the wrong move,” Patin said, but he did remove his hand and seconds later, all three men were joined in laughter. For Serron, that was a good omen for how their lives would go once the vows were done.