Worlds Away - Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Adam rode along thoughtfully behind his friends. The afternoon ride had gone well - and one good thing about being the prince was that no one questioned his motives, or odd requests. If the High Prince wanted to ride alone with his cousin and his cousin's wife, then no one tried to stop or question him. Well, if you didn't count the almost half-hearted protest that Lady Margot gave when it was clear that Adam would be wresting Lady Jadina from under her wing.

Getting rid of Hagen had been easy; the man needed no encouragement to find his own amusements. To Adam's surprise, getting rid of Stewart had not been all that difficult either. Despite seeing ambush and assassins in every corner, evidently Stewart was convinced that Lord Marmion had no intentions of sticking a dagger into Adam's ribcage. Adam might not have been so certain about that if he hadn't known that the current incarnation of Lord Marmion really wouldn't have any such motive and couldn't have attempted to kill Adam even had he wanted to.

Of course, soothing his fears about Megabyte and Jade had only created new ones -- or rather, a new one. Ami. Was she here? Was she on earth? He had no way of knowing; after all, he hadn't truly been able to sense Megabyte and Jade from a distance, so Ami would be no different. And if she was here, this world was not small - could they ever hope to find her? Random chance led to him Jade and Megabyte and Adam held on fervently to the hope that random chance might lead them to Ami as well.

Forcing thoughts of their absent Tomorrow Person aside, Adam reined in his horse and looked to Megabyte again. He could still see the hurt and sting in Jade's eyes when the other had announced that he *needed* to speak to Adam alone before they returned, and he did feel for her. Despite the fact that Megabyte and Jade were getting along better than they ever had before, and far better than Adam would have expected under the circumstances, some things still had not changed.

"So, what was so important that you had to send Jade away first?" As much as he hated to admit it, Adam was curious about what precisely was on Megabyte's mind.

"I'm having an affair," Megabyte said. Actually, he blurted the words so that they all ran together sounding more like 'Imhavinganaffair,' and it took Adam a moment to translate. Then, as a red that matched Megabyte's hair filled his face, the other continued, "I mean, not me. Marmion. Marmion is -- was -- having an affair."

If Megabyte hadn't looked so positively miserable and scandalized by the confession, Adam might have laughed. He didn't know what he had been expecting his friend to say, but that certainly had not been it.

Not that Adam was surprised by that sort of news about Marmion. His conversations with Hagen, a few sketchy notes in the prince's private journals, and the general attitude he picked up on from those around him told Adam that Lord Marmion was not a pillar of virtue. Hagen had even openly commented en route to Elspera Keep that he hoped that some time spent with Lady Jadina might have persuaded Marmion to only seek entertainments in his marriage bed.

Adam was under the definite impression that the only reason the prince and Hagen tolerated Marmion at all was because they had grown up with the young man, and he was *their* cousin.

"How exactly did you find this out?" Adam thought it was better not to mention that there was no need to be so secretive. Hagen knew of Marmion's infidelities, as did Stewart. And, as he had told Jade and Megabyte earlier, servants are far more observant than given credit for and they did tend to gossip.

"She - she - she kissed me!" Megabyte blurted the words out, going even redder than Adam would have imagined. "I mean, there I was, chaining clothes and she just walked into my bedroom and kissed me!"

"Somehow, Megabyte, I never thought you would object to a pretty girl kissing you," Adam teased. "She is pretty?"

"Yes! But that's not the point. The point is that I'm Marmion, and he's married and he's a complete jerk."

"Well, then this is your opportunity to change that, Megabyte."

"And you know what the worst part is? She acts like nothing happened!"

"That is usually the case with affairs --"

"She just went on, doting on Jade like she hadn't been attacking me earlier. You saw her, Adam, she treats *Lady Jadina* like she's the best thing on earth and then she turns around and screws her husband. What kind of woman does that?"

It took Adam's brain a moment to catch up with Megabyte's tirade. As it did, the pieces of the puzzle clicked into the place - the cold glares Adam had thought he was only imagining that Megabyte gave to Sarena, or the way he thought that Sarena had spent far more time than she should have with her eyes on *Lord Marmion.* "Sarena? You're having an affair with Sarena?"

"No. Marmion is having an affair with Sarena. I'm being molested by Sarena." Megabyte glowered, "Legan knows too. Legan knows and even he doesn't do anything about it. He just treats me like I'm dirt."

"No offense, but from what I know of Marmion Ruele, he is dirt," Adam said. He held up a hand to forestall any outbursts from Megabyte. "I know you're not him, and I'm glad that you're not nearly the jackass that he seems to be. Maybe that's the one good thing that can come of us being here -- you can give Marmion a personality makeover."

Megabyte scowled. "And what do I do about Sarena?"

"Whatever you want." Adam shifted in his saddle. "Is that why you sent Jade away, so she wouldn't find out about this?"

"What was I supposed to do? Let her know that the *Lady Jadina* is being totally taken advantage of and being made a fool of by her lady in waiting? Come on, Adam, Jade and I may not get along, but I'm not going to do that to her. At least I wasn't going to until I actually figured out what to do about it."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Adam tilted his head thoughtfully. "Better yet, what do you want to do about it?"

"What do you mean?" The redhead appeared genuinely confused.

"Well, Megabyte, you do have Sarena's attention. And, as you pointed out to me, she is very . . . beautiful," Adam stumbled over the description because beautiful did not even begin to describe her. The woman gave off vibes that would set men to one another's throats for her attention if she so desired it; the fact that she knew it did very little to dampen her attractiveness and appeal. Women like Sarena were dangerous; wars had been rumored to start over less.

"Are you saying that I should --" Megabyte stared at him with absolute incredulity.

Adam held up his hand, "I'm not saying anything, Megabyte. I'm asking you what your feelings are. What do you want to do about Sarena? And shipping her back to the Palace with me is not an option, so don't even suggest it."

Megabyte was quiet for a while, chin resting on his the heel of his hand while he seriously contemplated the question. "I don't know. I mean, it's like, it wouldn't be right you know?"

"Consider me the devil's advocate. Why wouldn't' that be right?"

"Well, for starters, I'm married."

"Marmion is married," Adam corrected him.

"And I'm Marmion. And you're the prince … and now do you see how screwy this all is? I'm *married* and even if it is to Jade, it just doesn't seem right. Besides, it would really hurt Jade's feelings if she found out. I think she actually likes Sarena."

Adam raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment on Megabyte's concern with hurting Jade's feelings. It certainly wasn't something his friend had concerned himself with back on earth; maybe being trapped alone with Jade for two weeks had done Megabyte and Jade's friendship some real good. "So?"

"Do you think she'll just go away if I tell her to?"

Adam laughed, the first genuine laugh since they began their ride. "You're *Lord Marmion Ruele,* she has no choice. You could tell her to go the capital and play in carriage traffic and while she may not follow through, she certainly couldn't tell you 'no.' "

Megabyte considered it, "What if she doesn't go away?"

"You're a smart boy, Megabyte. You'll figure something out."

Chapter Sixteen

Button