Chapter Twenty-Seven
Patin
Consort. Crown Prince Consort Patin. Patin heard the words. His logical brain knew what they meant. But they are applying to me! He saw the World Council officials disappear from the room as if they had never been there, but the words were still there – more importantly, the impact of those words were still there. I’m a crown prince consort.
“Hey.” Jaq tapped him on the arm – the arm that was still wrapped around Jaq, while his other one was hugging Serron close. “Are you all right? Please tell me you’re not upset with me for doing this?”
The sight of Jaq’s worried face pulled Patin from his erratic thoughts. “I’m not upset with you, Jaq. Never with you. Shocked might be a better word. I’m a little bit confused that something so life-changing can occur just by someone making a ruling.”
“That is what happens when someone goes directly to the World Council.” Serron clearly couldn’t stop grinning. “Did you see our husband and the way he gave his presentation? How did you remember all those cases and legal precedents, Jaq?”
“I studied. This was important to me.” Jaq still looked unsure, and Patin knew that was his fault.
“Jaq.” Patin gently edged Serron’s arm away and faced Jaq directly, resting his hands on his husband’s shoulders. “What you did for me…what you did for all of us is so incredible. I truly don’t have the words to thank you. I was a glassblower, working at the markets, and now…” He looked around, struggling to know what to say. “Now, I have you, and Serron, and a position I never dreamed of holding, and…I’m just going to ramble if you keep letting me talk. This is all so much, but please don’t think I’m not happy about it. I just need to let the implications of all this sink in.”
Going with his gut instincts, because Jaq still looked a little unsure, he bent over, brushing a kiss on each of Jaq’s cheeks. “I wanted to do that at the wedding yesterday,” he said, grinning at Jaq’s blush. “Today I can, and it’s all because of you. Thank you.”
“All right,” Serron said, but he was clearly affected, too. “I think we need breakfast, and then we’ll have to talk about a few changes that need making. I’m going to have to employ a valet, three of them actually, and then there is the question of bodyguards…”
“Wait, wait. No.” Patin shook his head. “You don’t get to do that. I’ve been your valet and bodyguard for years. You can’t shut me out of that position now. And when Jaq moves into our rooms, which will be entirely at his discretion, I can act as Jaq’s bodyguard and valet as well. I won’t have you taking that away from me. I’m not like you. I can’t sit on my non-royal butt all day and do nothing while others are working around me.”
“Oh, my goodness.” Jaq burst out laughing. “You want to hire valets? Are you telling me you can’t even dress yourself, Serron? Wait, don’t tell me. Let me guess.” He held up his finger and prodded Serron in the stomach. “The reason you walk with your spine so straight, and your stomach sucked in is because you’re wearing a corset. That’s why Patin has to help you get dressed, isn’t it? Because Patin has to lace you into one of those garments with numerous laces that do up at the back every morning.”
Patin started laughing at the imagery. “Actually…” he said.
“No. You can stop that.” Serron slashed the air with his hand, although he was laughing, too. “I was simply thinking that my consorts would like to be treated in accordance with their positions, but clearly, they’d rather make jokes because they’re jealous of my amazing physique – a natural physique that doesn’t require anything laced up to maintain it.”
“Well, there was that time when we attended a fancy-dress ball at the World Council building, and you decided to be laced into a leather waistcoat. You then proceeded to get rolling drunk and knotted the laces of it so badly when it came to going to bed, you almost strangled yourself trying to get it over your head, and I had to cut you out of it. Perhaps better me doing it than a valet?”
“My husbands are ingrates. I can see it now. Every move I try and make to ensure their comfort and good health, and I’m going to be thwarted at every turn by either intelligence or someone who knows a lot of things about me I’d rather he forgot.” Serron put the back of his hand on his brow. “Woe is me.”
“Never mind, dear,” Jaq said, still chuckling. “Patin can tell me all about it if you’re going off to have an attack of the vapors. As for me, I seriously think I need to eat and possibly take a nap. Is that possible?”
“After the miracle you achieved today, you can have whatever you want,” Patin said. Hesitating just a moment, because old habits were going to be hard to break, he held out his elbow. “Let’s head to the dining room and order some food, shall we?”
The joy on Jaq’s face at that simple gesture was worth any discomfort. Sliding his hand into Patin’s elbow, Jaq looked over his shoulder at Serron. “Are you coming, dear, or do you still need a moment to do whatever it is you’re doing?”
“You’re cheeky.” Serron dropped his hand and hurried to Jaq’s side, holding out his elbow, as well. “You told us you were honest, but I don’t recall hearing the word cheeky ever used in our discussions before.”
“I guess you bring out the best of me,” Jaq said with a laugh. “Both of you.”
Patin grinned, but he also mentally took a deep breath. Opening the door, he stepped out of the office and into the public eye, hoping the gossip that was sure to come would at least be quietly spoken.
/~/~/~/~/
“Is Jaq resting?” Patin looked up from where he was going through Serron’s correspondence as Serron came back into their sitting room from the bedroom. After a fun and laughter-filled meal, Patin and Serron finally persuaded Jaq that a nap would be a good idea, considering he’d been up all night. Serron suggested he could use their bed to ensure Jaq wouldn’t be disturbed.
“Yes, he’s sleeping, and before you ask which side of the bed he chose” - Serron smirked - “he sprawled out across the middle of it, so goodness knows what that means for us at a later stage.”
“That we need to buy a bigger bed.” Patin looked down at the piles of paper he’d been organizing. “You have a pile of invitations to visit various estates – mostly from families who attended the wedding - and before you ask, they do not include any mention of me or Jaq. They are addressed to Crown Prince Serron and party. The invitation from the Duncan estate was the only one that added a postscript that you wouldn’t require staff during your stay as the estate was well-equipped to satisfy your every need.”
Serron snorted. “We’ll put Duncan’s to the bottom of the pile then. The day anyone presumes to tell me whom I might have traveling with me is the day I start ignoring them. Anything from the castle?” He flopped down on the couch and put his feet up.
“A message from the queen.” Patin picked up the ornate envelope.
“Does it concern my Father?” Serron immediately sat up again. “Is he all right?”
“I don’t know,” Patin said softly, moving over to the couch and taking a seat next to Serron. “It’s personally written and addressed to you. You know I won’t open letters from the king or queen.” He handed the envelope over.
“She would’ve received the decree notice from the World Council by now.” Serron looked up from where he was breaking the wax seal. “Is it weird that I suddenly feel like I’m fifteen years old again and worried I’ve got into trouble with my parents?”
“At fifteen, I was already traveling” - Patin smiled - “so I wouldn’t know that feeling. But, Serron, it’s your mother. Yes, she is also your queen, but she’s never meant you any harm. It was her suggestion that led us to Jaq in the first place. Read the letter.”
Patin sat back, giving Serron his privacy. It was a chance for him to think over the meal they’d just shared – his first public meal as Serron and Jaq’s husband. It was Serron who told Hunter that Patin was now a crown prince consort alongside Jaq, and for him to advise the staff.
Hunter’s hurried duck of his head didn’t hide his smirk, but he muttered, “Congratulations, Your Highnesses” as he disappeared to organize food. Hunter had clearly been efficient in informing the staff of Patin’s new position. For the first time ever, they ate attended at different times by six of the footmen and three of the housemaids, all ducking in to ensure they had everything they needed, while bowing and curtsying in Patin’s direction.
Patin knew what that was all about, though. They were all looking to see if I’ve suddenly grown a crown out of my hair, or if I’ve suddenly turned into a royal tyrant. Patin didn’t have any intention of changing who he was or how he behaved in public or private.
“Damn, Mother. I underestimated you,” Serron said softly.
“Is it bad news?”
Serron shook his head. “The furthest thing from it. Well, if you set aside the fact that, unfortunately, Father is still terminally ill and his refusal to see anyone except Mortrin and Tinker is still in place. However, Mother apparently passed on a message through Mortrin about the World Council decree. He… he…”
“You said yourself your father is desperately ill,” Patin said quickly, putting his arm over Serron’s shoulder. “If he’s said anything upsetting…”
“He laughed.” Serron was looking at him and Patin could see the tears in his eyes. “Mortrin said that it was the first time he’d heard the king laugh in weeks. Apparently, he sent a message to the queen that I was to be told that he could see that I had finally gotten my own way, and he was immensely proud of me and of you for putting up with me for so long.
“He said, and the queen is quoting Mortrin directly, ‘Patin deserves his place alongside Prince Jaq and that decree will put that upstart Rupert in his place.’ Oh, Patin. I know my relationship with my father has never been one hundred percent smooth sailing, but I’m going to miss him when he’s gone.”
Serron’s voice caught in a sob, and Patin held him close, pressing his husband’s face into his shoulder. He was probably the only person who knew how badly Serron had strived throughout his life, wanting his father to be proud of him.
A moment later, Serron sat up again. “Sorry about that,” he said, sniffing and wiping at his eyes. “My father’s not dead yet, although I’m not sure the wait is any easier, knowing the end is inevitable.”
“Your mother has confirmed that? There’s been no improvement.”
Serron shook his head, tapping the letter. “She’s finally informed the king’s advisers, as people were gossiping as they do. Our wedding caused some controversy because it wasn’t held at the castle, as we already know.”
“I guess that means we should go back then? Does it have to be today? I mean, obviously, if the queen needs us, we must. I’m just worried because Jaq does need his rest.”
But Serron shook his head again. “That’s what I mean about me underestimating my mother. She says…here…you read it.”
Still confused, Patin took the letter, glancing over the information about Serron’s father and reading on. His eyes widened.
My suggesting Jaq as your spouse was not an idle thought, or a mere wish to assist my friend, the queen of Elembaum, in her concerns about her son. We talked often, as I mentioned, and Jaq had been considered as a possible spouse for you for more than a year. We, my friend and I, both felt that with Jaq’s determination to be honest in all things, if anyone could find a way for you and Patin to be together while still following the king’s mandate, then it would be him. We are both so pleased that we were right.
Please let Patin and Jaq know that I look forward to welcoming them as your consorts, at the castle in one month’s time. Juggling the needs of two husbands was never going to be an easy task, but if you retain your honesty, then it can be done. I know you can do it. While Patin is an excellent foil to your occasional hot-headedness, Jaq will bring a refreshing level of intelligence and problem-solving to your marriage that will be invaluable in the years ahead.
In the meantime, enjoy your free time while you can. The burden of kingship is far easier to handle with loving spouses who offer support and share the responsibility that comes from wearing the crown.
I echo the king in saying how very proud I am of you all.
With love,
Mother
“Oh, my goodness.” Patin put down the letter, just staring at the wall in front of him as he absorbed the words. “The queen recommended Jaq specifically so we could be together?”
“We knew that when she first mentioned him to me and said how honest we needed to be with him from the outset.”
“But she’d been planning this for a year?” Patin caught Serron’s eyes. “Why didn’t she mention him sooner?”
“Probably because she knew I wouldn’t listen.” Serron chuckled as he tugged Patin into a hug. “Admit it, you’re only caught up on that bit because you’re thinking that if we had been with Jaq for a year, we’d probably be taking a nap in the same bed as our husband right now.”
“While I admit I’d love nothing more, I feel we need to act with a bit more class than our arch-enemy Rupert.” Patin grinned as he got an idea. “We need to give Jaq a gift that will show him just how much we appreciate him. We need to organize Jaq a library here at Folkon.”
“Ooh, what a brilliant idea.” Serron flashed a brilliant smile. “Let’s leave Jaq a note in case he wakes up and finds us gone, and then we’ll scour this place looking for suitable bookshelves.”