Act I Part X
As Life Goes On

Logan was not really sure he had thought his plan through entirely once he'd walked up to the door of the farmhouse he'd been born in, and he wasn't sure how Jasper would take his arrival. He'd been led to believe he and Reaver were friends. But, of course, that might not be entirely true, considering Reaver did like to mislead him...

A tear ran down his cheek and he prayed for the tears not come back. He'd managed to tame it about an hour or two before and he was not sure how long a second time might take him. The heir had already suppressed so many feelings for so long without a second thought, and now that they were all coming up again, he was not sure how to shove them down any further. Maybe Jasper might be able to help, however a foolish notion it seemed.

After taking a deep breath, he reached and knocked firmly on the door three times. He wait for a minute, and knocked again. Shortly after, Jasper came to the door in a nightgown looking rather drowsy and disgruntled. The butler looked him over and then looked confused. "The sun's not even up yet. Whatever do you want?"

The prince meant to reply, he really did - he'd planned it out several times in his head along with several possible scenarios to go with it and he'd come up with something rather nice. Instead, something inside of him snapped, and the tears came back nearly instantaneously. And, after a few minutes of him standing there sobbing, Jasper ushered the poor boy into the house and shut the door.

Jasper tended to his wounded hand and put the tea kettle on, and made him some eggs and ham all quite quickly. He insisted the boy eat, and he did while the man sat at the opposite end of the table and watched him intently, sipping his tea quietly. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to know what had happened to drive Logan to come to him, or why he seemed so horribly upset, but he was Sparrow's son and need so desperately to be cared for that it nearly broke his heart to see him cry.

Some warm tea soothed Logan nicely, and Jasper got him some cleaner, warmer clothes and offered him the bigger bed to sleep in. Logan kindly declined and said the smaller bed would do just fine. It had been his bed for a few years before he'd gone to live with Reaver.

He sniffled at the thought and, finally, Jasper could take it no longer. He sat next to him on the bed and wrapped an arm around the boy's trembling shoulder. Logan looked up at him, his lip trembling furiously. "I never want to go back," he said.

Jasper nodded and pulled Logan in closer to himself, suddenly feeling a strange desire to vanquish all those that caused the boy harm. He wished he could protect him from all of the world's cruelties and bring him all of the happiness of the world. It was a strange feeling he couldn't remember ever having felt before, but he thought he might have an idea of what it was, and the thought made him smile, and he thought of Sparrow smiling back at him. Yes, he would do this for her.

"Now, you loved Reaver, right?" Logan nodded. "But, not as a father, or a friend." Logan shook his head and looked at the ground, and Jasper chuckled slightly at his bashfulness.. "Logan, if you're going to stay here with me until your mother gets back, I won't treat like any more of a child than you are, and you aren't much of one. I will respect you, and hopefully you'll respect me, too, and we will be friends. Or..." He paused to think about this himself before saying it. "Or, if you want, I could... love you, I suppose. As... a son."

A few brief moments of silence followed, and Jasper chuckled at himself. "You know, you don't have to worry about me. I assure you that I am very heterosexual."

Logan laughed at this and smiled. "Yes, I think I like that idea."

It was funny how Sparrow seemed to trust her butler so completely no matter what. He certainly couldn't rely on her for anything at all, yet he liked to try and trust her once and a while. Sometimes she would even make an effort not to let him down, too. Sparrow couldn't understand it herself, but she felt as though she owed him some sort of trust or affection; a feeling which really appeared out of nowhere the day she hired him. It was this strange feeling that she felt in the pit of her stomach, almost like guilt, but at the same time it wasn't.

But war was a funny thing, too, she thought. It had been ages since she'd felt so... alive..? Perhaps that was the word, but she wasn't sure... It was this strange feeling of both fear and adrenaline that just made her feel happy. And she hadn't slept more than five hours for the past week, but she felt well rested and ready to go like a sugared up child. And no matter how much she missed Jasper, and Logan, and Reaver-

No, wait, that wasn't right... Jasper had been at the top of the list, as though he were the first one she'd thought of. And she hadn't begun to think about Garth. Maybe she was just very exhausted, she thought to herself. And, really, if anything she missed Jasper because he would tell her stories to help her sleep and since she hadn't sleep for days... And yes, she missed having him bring her whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. The queen was indeed fairly hungry and tired of the bland, small rations she received. She would have sent for something better, but perhaps she was just too lazy.

Official word was that they were waiting. Waiting for what, exactly, nobody was sure. This grace period lasted for eight more days, and was bone-chillingly quiet. Anticipation lay thick in the air, as well as the eerie silence which made every man's hair stand on end. Despite the lack of action, sentries never slacked - the encampment was indeed heavily guarded, if only to protect the queen herself from any danger. And if it bother anyone, it was Sparrow herself.

The queen was keeping a journal just to keep herself occupied between the very boring talk of strategy. She knew Jasper would be curious when she returned... and probably Garth. Yes, he would also be worrying about her, his wife. But Jasper would be the first person she would see, she supposed... She would stay at the homestead a night before returning, she had decided, as a night of peace, before returning to her busy life. The farm was such a peaceful and warm place...

Something about the castle had always seemed... cold to her. Garth said it was probably the harshness of the walls and the endless echoes that could make one feel so hopelessly lost and alone. An almost poetic thought from the man. The stone was indeed very - quite literally - cold while the farm was constructed of nice – practically kind – wood. And it had been her home for years; it was the home where all of her children had been born.

For some reason, she liked to imagine Jasper when she returned to him, smiling and waving, waiting just as he'd promised with a freshly baked pie just for her. And she would hug him, and he would hug her, and then he would tell her that everything was alright again, and she would be safe, and they would eat the pie and he'd tuck her into bed and tell her a story. If she ever returned.

To her, the so-called talk of strategy seemed fairly purposeless. Walter would have agreed with her. The general would sputter out the same plan, again and again, ask what the queen and Swift thought - and Walter, for good measure. They would tell him, every time the same as before, that they were still just fine with it, and Walter and Swift would then ask if their opinion on the matter should really be taken into account and if there wasn't someone of higher rank than a 2nd lieutenant who should be there in their place. Then it was explained to them, the same way every time, by Sparrow, that procedure to the queen wasn't 'worth shit'.

It was obvious to anyone with a brain that the general was just trying to stall for as long as possible, in some misguided hope that the bandits would all disappear. He could honestly say the whole conflict didn't really make all that much sense; a bunch of bandits got together and that meant that an entire army had to get together and fight it out with them. There wasn't much sense to it – it was a civil war at best.

Sparrow liked Walter very much. Not very much at first, but he did indeed like her very much and decided he would win over her friendly affections. He didn't really have to do much, as she already enjoyed his company and was quite the fan of his general attitude towards life - however you might describe it – and his humour. But then, he would bring her some extra food he'd found, like the chocolate the general had been hoarding, and she was very grateful.

They had a love affair, her and the chocolate. Some of the finest stuff around, anyone would say. Sparrow would even lick her fingers shamelessly and even scrap out every last bit of crumbs or melted smudges that she could, even in the company of others, which Walter found rather entertaining. So, yes, she was thankful and did indeed like him quite a bit. She decided they would stay friends, and she would tell him about Jasper and how well they would get along.

After a week of waiting and another of Mourningwood's stalling, another troop of soldiers rolled in, deciding that they'd like to take over the state of affairs and see if they couldn't get things moving along.

"Go home, princess, and leave the war to the men," the leader of the group had said. He was a general, too, only he seemed to have no respect for the hero. Garth had apparently sent for him, knowing him from his years working for Lord Lucien, in hopes he might convince Sparrow to return home before she got hurt. His was name Solomon Turner, and he very obviously did not like Sparrow one bit.

"Don't you realize who you're speaking to?" she had demanded, her face growing red as a tomato, looking up at him as he rode along on his fancy horse all rather offensively 'fancy-like'. "You, ser, are serving under me, and that's something you'd best not forget." She was obviously quite offended by him, taking what he said personally. She didn't know he shared that contempt for anyone who declared their-self Albion's monarch. "I want him gone," she told Mourningwood.

Francis shrugged as though he hadn't quite understood her. He didn't really want to have it out with the other general, and he quite liked the idea of having someone take over. Maybe that way, he could avoid the battle entirely; a thought which delighted the coward immensely, needless to say. Sparrow, however, wanted to hit him very hard. In his face. With her fist. Repeatedly.

"I'm here under the order of the king himself and, seeing as your on a bit of a... hiatusfrom your royal duties at the moment, I don't think that there's much you can do in regards to my presence," he said.

"Might I point out that we were here first?" she said, realizing how stupid it sounded long before it left her lips.

'My dearest of Jaspers,
I'm not as well as I'd like to be. I've been eating too much chocolate lately, I suppose. If I go into battle like this, I'm sure to cramp up.
Today, a two-assed horse rode into camp and decided it owned the place. And apparently, he pretty does thanks to our very fine king, Garth. I'm so completely thrilled that I could throw up. And he's decided that too little progress is being made with our scouting missions, so we're apparently just going to charge into battle the day after tomorrow.
I'm not sure when you'll get this, or if I'll write again. If I don't, then it's safe to assume I'm either dead or on my way to your arms. No, scratch that - terribly worded. Well, balls, it's in pen and I don't want to scribble it out. Just pretend I said something different.
I trust all is well with you and that you're having a lovely vacation away from bratty old me. I hope Garth is enjoying his peace and quiet for the time being, because when I get home, he's getting hell.
If I get home...
Well, I'll be thinking of you.

Sincerely,
Sparrow'

Jasper set the letter down and sighed. No, he didn't care much for where this was all headed, and he certainly didn't find her uncertainty amusing - whether it was sarcastic or not. But his thoughts were interrupted by Logan wishing to hear news of his mother. If anything, he just hoped she'd return. For Logan's sake. And for his own.