"First you have the army drag me back here then you place me under house arrest and I am not permitted to see Amythest or Cordilla!" Jasper flung his long ponytail over his shoulder, the sun shining through the delicatly worked window making his hair gleam like waves of expensive amber. "Since when did you become a Tyrant FAther!?!"

Jeran's heart was breaking soundlessly in his chest. To have one of his children stare at him with anger, especially the one that most reminded him of Aspen... It was almost too much to bear, but for the sake of his people, he must. "My word is final on this issue Jasper. You will assume the duties of the Crown Prince and wed within the fortnight." Jeran's eyes narrowed slightly, his delicate hand raising sharply to forestall a reply from his rebellious son. "You will wed someone worthy to be queen, someone the people will accept. NOT..." His hand dropped sharply in a chopping motion. "One of your playmates! The time has come to put aside the relationships of your youth and wear the mantle of a man! If you do not choose someone suitable in that time, I will choose someone for you."

"What about Rose? She is firstborn and has the dragon eyes! She should be the one to rule!" Jasper's own eyes, shining brilliantly with his hot emotions, were the same intense green as his father's. He flung himself onto a low couch worked with delicate embroidery and crossed his arms, a gesture that closed him off from his father. Jeran's lips trembled once then thinned in anger. A single strand of shining ebony hair escaped the intricate hairstyle he wore and momentarily blew free in the breeze that danced through the open window. His hand clenched into a fist. An unfamiliar gesture.

"Rose is dead, Jasper." Jeran was very proud he managed to keep his voice even. "She has been replaced with the creature known as Jackal. Jackal is unworthy to rule this kingdom. That leaves you." Jasper opened his mouth to argue again, but stopped when he caught a glimpse of the face his father wore behind his unfamiliar mask. A desperate man. No...a man close to defeat. "Rose is dead, Chrysania, Holly and Honeysuckle are fit only to marry of thier rank. Hawthorn is only a child still. None of your sisters besides Rose has the eyes of a ruler. That leaves you, my green eyed son. My...only son. You MUST take the throne when I am gone! There is no other alternative." Jeran turned his back on his sputtering son and took his leave of him. As the doors were being closed behind him by adoring servants, he caught the last words his son flung at his retreating back.

"You're going to be around for a long time yet! Why do I have to do this NOW???" Jeran flinched at the accusatory tone and as the doors shut behind him, and the gaurd took thier stations, an infinite sadness washed through his soul. 'I won't be around for as long as you think, my son....'

He stumbled slightly on a wrinkle in the magnificent carpet and strong, muscular arms caught him and crushed him against an armoured breast plate. The crest of the Highwinds was pressed against his pale face and he didn't need to look up to know there was a pair of concerned golden eyes watching him. "Thank you, Melfyn." He whispered softly, "I stumbled...I...I..."

"I know your majesty." The compassion in his voice was almost more than Jeran could bear right then. Tears threatened along the edges of his green eyes. Melfy's strong hands helped their king to his feet and lingered empathetically before returning to their owner's side.

"I need to be with my wife right now. Please escort me to her, Captain of the Gaurd." Jeran didn't look at Melfy when he gave the command, but if he had, he would have noticed the envy that burned in those golden eyes.

**************
"Why do you have to be so hard on him, Jeran? We were free to live as we pleased when we were his age?" Aspen paced back and forth across the rich carpet that covered their floor from wall to wall. Her soft leather slippers made a whispered 'shushing' noise as she moved. She was wearing a long gown of silk in a simple blue. There were few ornaments on her person, but what there was was valuable beyond imagination. And there was, of course, the large emerald ring she wore. Symbol of her Queendom. Her blue eyes flashed between anger at her husband and confusion...at her husband. As she sat on the edge of his bed, her golden hair sprang free of it's loose restraints and spilled over her back like liquid sunshine.

Jeran loved the colour of her hair and raised one hand to take a handful and press it to his lips. Melfyn kept his post at the door as impassivley as he could. It always hurt him to see Jeran loving his wife. But it was a pain he would bear if it meant a few more precious moments in his Lord's presence. Aspen glanced uneasily at the stoic Captain. She suspected, nay, knew of his relationship with her husband, but had held her piece. Jeran was a well loved man, and he never neglected her. Melfy was a beautiful elf, not as beautiful as Jeran or herself, but admirable in his own way. Perhaps it was the golden eyes she found so, worthy of a second look. If she hadn't met Jeran first, all those years ago, perhaps she would have settled for Melfy.

Jeran watched as his wife, the woman he loved more than anything, examined his Bodygaurd, the man he loved second to her. It was...complicated, but so simple at the same time.

A soft 'oomph' was heard as one of his many cats lept onto his stomach, expelling the air from his lungs. It purred and rubbed itself against his face and neck. Aspen smiled at the look of tenderness that crossed her husband's face when he stroked the feline's back. It was that look which had first told her he was the one for her. Of course, she had fought it for years, but deep in her heart she had always known.

"When I had first left home..." Jeran spoke in a low steady voice as he lavished affection on the growing crowd of cats that were actually sharing his lap and spilling onto the bed. A kitten struggled up and nestled itself in his long black hair, purring contentment. Aspen listened intently. Jeran rarely shared anything with her about the time before he had met her. That he would do so, meant he was more troubled than she thought. She took his manicured fingers in her hand and gently held them. He smiled at her and continued. "When I had first left home it had been to escape my brothers. My sister Rowena...you remember her don't you?"

Aspen nodded. How could she ever forget the woman that had showed up for thier wedding accompanied by Bi'an Scitt, scourge of the northern seas. Aspen had been even more shocked when she found out Bi'an had actually been only the first mate! Rowena had been his Captain for over a century!

"Well, Rowena had escaped an arranged marriage when I was still very young. She is quite a bit older than me after all. She had been my protector until that time, but I didn't begrudge her her freedom. Even after I began to suffer my brothers' tortures. They never anything that would be physically traceable...as fourth prince I was rather expendable." He smiled gently, the smile of a man who had forgiven much. "But I do not wish to share those times. When I left, it was because I had felt nobody loved me. That I was unimportant. Little did I know then, how much the people of this kingdom had faith in me. At first my brothers tried to get me to return. Even hiring bounty hunters, and trained assasins. In the end, they let me go free. By that time, I was accustomed to keeping the company of powerful people, people that my brothers did not wish to stand against. During those years I travelled much of the Bowl and met many people. It took nearly a century before the first messanger caught up with me. By that time, I was already travelling off and on with you." Aspen remembered the first messanger that had found them. Jeran had paid him a handsome sum then had burned the message that was brought to him. He hadn't even read it.

"I had thought they were messages from my brothers, demanding my compliance. Messanger after messanger came and went. Some died trying to reach me. Some died after reaching me. But all thier messages went unread. Until one day, when I tired of the game and opened one of those simple letters. What was inside changed my heart, my way of thinking and my life. It was a letter, from a poor farmer, dictated through a priest. In it, he was begging for the 'Dragon Prince' to return and free them from tyranny. That night, I read every message I had kept. In every one of them, there were entreaties for my return. They needed me. That was the first night I had cried since leaving home." Aspen gently wiped a tear from Jeran's cheek.

"And the next morning you left. Taking any of us that would follow you."

"Yes. It was a bitter war. Civil wars always are. My only regret was that my brothers were killed by the mobs before I had a chance to speak with them. I would have forgiven them the trangressions against my person; but for thier crimes against the people of this kingdom, they would have died. I wanted them to know that." He sucked in a breath and struggled to sit up. Mews of protest turned into purrs as he settled back down and the cats found new places to cuddle. Aspen held her hand against his face, pink now, she wondered what was wrong with Jeran. He had difficulty breathing and seemed flushed. His cheek beneath her soft touch was burning.

"Jeran...what is wrong?" She tried to look in his eyes but he refused to meet her gaze. A quick glance over at Melfy and she caught a concerned, knowlagable, look. If Jeran wouldn't tell her, she'd make Melfy spill his guts later.

"I..I'm just tired that's all. Anyhow, my point is this. I love the people of this kingdom with the same intensity they love me. I would never abandon them. I will never leave them without a suitable replacement. Never." Aspen's blue eyes clouded over at his words. What brought this talk of mortality on all of a sudden? Death was a subject rarely broached amongst elves. It only happend in battle or accidents. It wasn't something an elf, with a lifespan of roughly a eight hundred years, ever contemplated. She took Jeran's face in her hands and forced him to look at her. The lines around his eyes and mouth were deeper than last time she had seen him...but wasn't that just this morning? She removed her hands and stared in horror at the flesh coloured makeup on them. Makeup? Jeran never needed makeup. His beauty was legendary. During the Battle of Ascension, the Goddess of Vanity herself had tried to kill him, unable to live with the knowledge someone could rival her. His hands enfolded hers.

"Aspen...when did Lwell die?" He asked in a gentle whisper. Aspen thought deeply. Jeran always had a familiar. He was a witch. Every familar he ever had he named Lwell, that was why he loved his cats so much. They were the offspring of his precious familiars. She had barely thought anything about Lwell dying again. There had been the elaborarte funeral as usual. Then Jeran usually took to his bed for a week to recover from the lost life force (a familiar housed half of the witches soul) then he would perform the ceremony that would bind another cat to him. Come to think of it, he hadn't performed that ceremony yet, and it had to have been over half a year ago that Lwell had died. The look in her eye was answer enough for Jeran.

"It has been almost eight months to the day, and I still haven't recovered my lost half of soul. I'm dying Aspen."

Aspen stared at him in silence, afraid to speak in case her next few words validated his and made them a reality. She could feel a hot burning pushing past the lump in her throat. "What do you mean? You are DYING!? You're still in your prime! You're not even six hundred yet, are you?" Aspen knew her husband was quite a bit older than her, he had been adventuring when she was born, but just how old was he? "That is riduculous! I refuse to believe it! How can it be true?" Her voice was raising in anger, but she felt helpless to stop it. "There has to be a way to stop this! We'll do like we used to, we'll start a quest and search for a cure! I'll go right now and..," Jeran took her hand in his own and squeezed lightly. He smiled into her angry, tear filled eyes.

"Apsen, I am approaching my six hundred mark, I am over two hundred years your senior. But as you say, an elf is still in his prime at that age. Consider this, however. I have been through nearly seventy familiars in my lifetime. That is seventy times I have split my soul in half, lost it, and have had to regrow that missing portion. After so many times, it becomes more difficult. This is why most elves, with our long lifespans, do not become witches. I suppose I could have chosen a longer lived familiar, but could you see me bonded to a homonculus?" Jeran smiled tenderly at the multitude of cats blanketing his bed. "I'm afraid I am a cat person through and through." Aspen bit her lip and choked back a sob. She drew back an arm and slapped him hard across the face. Melfy leapt across the room but Jeran stopped him with an upraised hand. He watched her rapidly retreating back as she ran to the doors that seperated thier rooms and slammed them shut behind her.

"My Lord, are you alright?" Melfy gently drew Jeran's hand back from his face, the touch of a concerned lover, and examined the red palm print glowing on his cheek. Anger burned in his golden eyes, making them blaze like the sun. He went to follow the sobbing queen but Jeran's hand on his belt stopped him again.

"Let her be Melfy. She doesn't like to be surprised like this. She'll settle down in a few hours then come to apologize." He removed his hand from his stinging cheek. "She always does."

"Maybe we shouldn't have hid this from her for so long?"

"No, what I did was right. I wasn't certain until recently. We won't be telling the children for a while yet tho'. They have enough to worry about." Jeran gestured to his ornate desk with a fine boned hand. "Please bring me the books, Melfy." Melfy nodded and casually scooped up two books and brought them back to Jeran. With precese movements, Jeran removed a pair of reading spectacles and perched them on the bridge of his perfect nose. He looked so sexy like that! He maneuvoured a heavy book onto his lap, displacing several disgruntled kitties, and began to leaf through it. Melfy sighed. Those books contained information on all of the eligable royalties in any elven kingdom in the bowl. He would be up for hours searching for the perfect matches for his daughters. He had already found one for his eldest daughter Chrysania. Her wedding would be the night Jasper had to annouce whom he was going to marry.

Jasper...that boy needed to grow up! Perhaps a stern talking to by the Captain of the Gaurd would set him straight.

***************
"Life is just too unfair!" Jasper stared angrily out of his window, watching the rising of the moons. Hot tears of injustice burned his eyes, rimming them in red. Already it seemed like he had been here forever...Well! He'd be damned if he was going to give in to his father's tactics. He would declare himself gay! It would serve him right!

"Yo." Jasper threw himself backwards as a figure pushed past him into the room. Through the window! This window was in the tower...Jasper thought incredibly to himself. "That's no way to greet your sister Jasper! Of course, if you want to grovel at my feet, you can." Jasper looked up the black clad legs, leather jerkin, all those gleaming, sharp, deadly knives into eyes as green as his own.

"R-rrose?" He grabbed the hand that was proffered to him and regained his feet if not his composure. "B-but, wwhat?"

"C'mon! I get word my wayward brother was caught and is being made to marry and I'm supposed to stay away?" Jasper only stared. She looked great! Her black hair, she was the only one to inherit the reccessive trait from their father, was cut short, and her dark lashes framed her beautiful green eyes so nicely... Jasper shook his head to clear those thoughts out. 'She's your sister! Get real Jasper! It hasn't been THAT long since you last got any... Or had it?' "C'mon little brother, spill all the details."

"What's to spill? His royal highness has ordered me to pick a 'suitable' bride by Chrysania's wedding night or he will pick one for me. He locked me up here under house arrest, won't let me see Amythest or Cordilla and comes by every day to deliver another lecture." Jasper's fine features crumpled up into a pout as he flung himself on the roomy bed. "I don't know why Amy and Dilla haven't busted me out of here yet! I mean, Amy is a dragon!! She could have just flown up here and knocked the top of the tower off and we could've just flown away. A dragon can easily outfly the Griffen Knights... Uh, sis? Why're you looking at me like that?"

Rose stared at him with a faint look of disgust and pity in her eyes. "You are *waiting* for someone to come rescue you?" Jasper sat up and stared at his sister. The tone of her voice was less than complimentary. "Haven't you considered escaping on your own?"

"Of course I have! But I'm kept under lock and key, and there are gaurds assigned to the doors and the window is hundreds of feet off of the ground, and they took away all of my spell componenets and my weapons...and..."

"That is really pathetic Jasper. Can you light a fire by yourself?"

"Sure I just.."

"Without the use of a spell?"

"Well yes, I could just..."

"Without the use of a flint?"

"Well now that's getting darn difficult! I could do it, but why bother? Amy can just.." Rose's fist stopped just a centimeter shy of her brother's finely made nose startling him into falling backwards. "What did you do that for?" He gasped.

"I had no idea you were so dependant on others." She replied quietly. "Did you think your good looks, charm and social position would always get you what you want?" Jasper was about to reply when there was a pounding on his door. In a flash Rose was gone, hiding somewhere in the room.

'You better hide,' Jasper thought ruefully. 'There is a price on your head still, sister Jackal.'

"C'mon in! It's not like I can stop you or anything."

The heavy wooden door flung open and Melfy strode in, eyes blazing angrily. His gold armour shone in the fading light and his gloved fingers played around the peace knot that held his sword in it's sheath.

"Oh. It's *you* Melfy. How is father's pet today?"

"Lwell is fine your highness. As for myself I have come to talk some sense into your empty little head. How dare you upset your father! He has the well being of the entire kingdom in mind!"

"Isn't that typical! He cares more for his kingdom than he does his children!" Melfy sucked in a breath and tried to keep calm. He hated talking to this spoilt brat. "And he cares more for his stupid cats more than he does his kingdom!" That statement hit too close to the silent tragedy that was slowly killing Jeran, a tragedy that Melfy was helpless to fight. But he wasn't helpless to deal with a spoilt prince!

*POW*

Jasper went flying as Melfy planted a right fist in his face. Before Jasper even hit the ground Melfy felt cold steel pressed against the delicate skin of his neck.

"You shouldn't hit my little brother, even if he does deserve it." The knife blade caressed his soft skinned throat. No more violence?" Melfy nodded his head slowly, feeling the dagger's edge dig sharply into his skin, then it was gone.

"Lady Jackal." Melfy bowed deeply. "To what do we owe the honour of this visit? Pleasure? Or business?" Rose flinched. She knew coming back here was a mistake.

"I tink you bwoke my dose you bastard!" Jasper sat up and felt delicately along his misaligned probiscus. Melfy and Rose (Jackal) glared at him and resumed their tense confrontation. "But it really hurts..." Jasper protested weakly completely ignored by the two.

"I thought maybe I could speak with my father..." Rose began. "I need to ask him a couple of questions." Melfy's eyes narrowed suspiciously then he smiled wryly.

"I think we may be able to arrange that, Jackal. Why do you need to see him?" Rose turned her head, too embarrased to meet Melfy's eyes. She stuttered something then cleared her throat. She wouldn't get to see her father if she didn't tell Melfy the truth. She knew that much about the elf before her. "I...well...ummmnn" She blushed furiously and Melfy felt a bit surprised to see what was supposed to be a cold-blooded assassin reduced to a shy wall flower. No matter what she became, Melfy reminded himself, she was still Jeran's daughter, and...she looked so much like him that Melfy could not keep up his hostile front. He took her hand and squeezed gently.

She smiled briefly then managed to gather herself. She was about to speak when Melfy silenced her with a finger on her lips. "It's okay. If it is this difficult for you to speak of, then perhaps you should speak of it only to your father?" A flash of annoyance on her face turned to gratitude. Melfy smiled then gestured for her to proceed before him out of the room.

Pausing before leaving Melfy turned and addressed the put out prince, "Perhaps you had better have a look through that book of eligible princesses my lord. It is only two weeks until you need to make a decision....I'll have a cleric brought in to attend to your nose." Melfy grinned hugely at the expression on Jasper's face. Even with out the damage Melfy had done, he would have looked like his nose was out of joint. Still grinning, Melfy bowed and slammed the door shut, loudly sliding the newly installed bolt into place.

Jasper threw the book of princesses at the door and watched with some satisfaction as it exploded into a shower of parchment. He was just plopping himself down on what had become his favourite sulking couch when one of the sketches settled gently on his foot. Glancing casually at it he stopped, and stared while his mind registered what he was seeing. Light colored eyes, slanted slightly, gently curving ears, shoulderlength hair with a bit of a curl to it...freckles... He held the picture in one hand and covered up the lower part of the face. Then the upper. Then the lower again. Realization spread an icy chill through his body and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Cut the hair shorter and remove the makeup... Take away her shoulder baring dress and put her in a leather jerkin and woolies... Top it all off with a smartass smile and more testosterone than your average human and you had... Danis!

So deep in shock was he, Jasper didn't even notice when the cleric arrived to heal his nose. Danis? Well, that changed everything....