Chapter 5 Jasper

Part 1

The sun rises and illuminates the room in a soft glow. Sleep has properly eluded me, the curse of having sensibilities and unhelpful softer feelings.

Poppy's breathing changes as she begins to awake. I've positioned her so that her head rests on my stomach, as if she slumped over me having fallen asleep. Now, I let my fingers trace over her cheek, her eyebrow, down her nose and onto her lips, feeling the flow of her magic sparking into my fingertips. It brings up all the wrong sort of memories, so I switch to gliding them through her hair instead. She must find the action soothing because she makes a soft mmm sound, before jolting properly awake.

"Yikes, I am so sorry…" She jerks her head away from the mound of sheet rising in front of her, sounding extremely apologetic.

I chuckle darkly to myself at the irony. "You don't need to be sorry; you can always finish what you started instead."

"Poppy narrows her eyes at Jasper. Nice try, however, you have no idea what I look like, therefore that is100% not about me." Only now does she sound embarrassed, perhaps because she feels silly having to give her own voice over. She's wrong of course, sight is only one sense, and physical appearance only one facet of a person. However, I'm not about to argue, because my life will be easier if she likes me.

Her hand is still in mine, I tighten my grin so she cannot escape, reach up and rub my thumb across her cheek before releasing her. "So warm." I bet they are glowing red, almost as if they have an aura of their own. This time I chuckle softly as if to myself but loud enough for her to hear. She pulls away from me, scoops all the clothes I'd neatly folded over her chair into her arms and dumps them on my stomach. "Get dressed. I'm going to shower, then I'll make breakfast." Her tone has a satisfying level of annoyance mixed with the lust.

Part 2

She is such a delight to tease. I cannot remember the last time I had such fun. The true church of Vane was full of people so ardently earnest they were impossible to rile. I increase the volume of my chuckling to match her distance and am rewarded with the sound of her feet stamping as she walks. I should leave it there. However, I can't help my thoughts dwelling on the gentle warmth of her skin last night, remembering her scent, the hardness of her muscles, the softness of her breasts, and the lovely sounds she made. I wonder what she looks like… I dress and with my hands out guarding my face, stroll slowly over to where I can hear water gushing.

It would be unwise to use up any of my magic on something so frivolous as seeing Poppy in the shower, yet I cannot resist. Her body is even more lovely to look at than it was to touch. I let my gaze run over her curves, so beautiful… pale and dark, slender yet strong, and her hair a gorgeous black and purple waterfall cascading down to her waist. Her soapy hands caress her body in a manner not too dissimilar to the way I did last night…

Perhaps I made some kind of noise, as she opens her eyes and exclaims, "Jasper!" She sounds exasperated, then a bit discombobulated as she frowns at me. "What are you thinking?" Her gaze moves around the room resting on a bottle then her towel. I do believe she is assessing her bathroom accessories for their potential as weapons.

Attack they say is the best form of defence. "Were ever could your eyes be gazing, to ask such a question, hmm?"

She folds her arms. "My eyes flicked. It's part of an automatic female viewing response that has nothing to do with orientation."

"I believe you protest too much." I chuckle at her, and her cheeks go a most delightful shade of pink. More to the point her eyes have lost their fear.

Part 3

Poppy turns off the shower grumpily, I've obviously ruined her morning fun. I shall make amends. "I was hoping that having let me trace over that pretty face of yours, you would allow me to see the rest of you with my fingertips."

"No way …." Thinking my vision is impaired, she is remarkably unshy as she towels herself dry, which amuses me no end. I cancel my spell before I am discovered and feel oddly bereft as a fuzzy column becomes engulfed in white.

The White blurriness comes closer to me. "Can you really picture my face just from touching me?"

"No, sadly I don't have that skill."

"Oh." She sounds vaguely disappointed, falsely believing that 'pretty' was nothing more than meaningless flattery, rather than a stupid slip.

She places my hand on her arm and guides me into the shower, moving my hands onto various buttons and dials as she explains how to operate it.

"Well, I'll leave you to it." Her voice has a certain embarrassed huskiness to it. One can only assume from imagining me wet and naked.

I wink at her, "You can stay if you'd like."

"You are a terrible man; you can't see it but right now I am glaring at you in an incredibly stern manner."

I doubt that; the only emotion in her voice before she abruptly turned away was desire. I slip out of my garments and call, "Poppy."

Her bare feet cease padding away from me. I can't help it, I have to see the look on her face. What is wrong with me, when am I ever this lacking in restraint? I'm rewarded with the sight of her tongue moistening her lips which is well worth the magic expended, and her definition of flick is obviously quite different from mine. "Can you explain your shower to me again. And take my clothes, I can't see where to put them."

Part 4

"Really!" She walks back over to me. "I'm putting your clothes on the sink, here, next to a fresh towel." She switches the shower on, adjusting the temperature until I say it feels perfect and shows me how to turn it off.

She turns to leave once more. However, I'm not out of tricks and I'm fairly sure she wishes to stay with me. "I can't see to use your soap…"

She interrupts me, placing the bar in my hand. "Top tip, never play poker, you'll get pwned."

I want to drag her under the water with me, but somehow manage to refrain. "I recommend you don't either. I could tell you were tempted by the way your fingertips lingered on me as you passed me the soap."

She slams the door. However, I'm sure we both know that I only have to call her, and she'd come running back to me. It's a shame she lives so far away from Colde, as I'm sure it would be well worth the effort and time involved to have her consider me a 'friend.'

Her shower is amazing, akin to standing under a waterfall. I let it pummel my skin trying to relax, give up and imagine that she fell for my ploy and it's her who is soaping my body. Sadly, my euphoria doesn't last beyond stepping out of the shower and wrapping her towel around my hips. I want the real thing.

Smelling of green tea and Jasmine, a scent that will no doubt forevermore be linked to sexual frustration in my head, I hang around in the kitchen doorway while Poppy clutters about. Normally at this time of the day I'd be making Prince Guy his third cup of coffee and tempting Miss Sophia with a second pastry. I wonder what they are doing.

Part 5

Typically, my master will be sat on his sofa, already sorting through his correspondence from Avari, deciding which letters he needs to reply to urgently, which can wait and which he can pass over to me to deal with instead. Miss Sophia on the other hand will not be busy, although she will have assignments due for the coming week. Allegedly, she works better with the pressure of an imminent deadline. Instead, she will be enjoying the breakfast I've made her, and planning out the days mischief in her head, occasionally observing Guy and forcing herself not to worry about his workaholic tendencies. As she told me, he's a grown man she's there to support him and be ready to pick up the pieces, she's not there to nag him. Nagging him of course is my job, not that she added that.

I wonder if they realize something is amiss. Surely my master would have felt it when I was stabbed and at death's door. He must have contemplated taking his magic back before he lost it for good. Yet he didn't, for which I am incredibly grateful and touched. I can only assume that he knows I am well now, where I am and how far away, yet he hasn't called me. He must imagine I'm on to something and the situation is delicate, hence my need to stay incognito.

What am I thinking, it's only been the one night. My last message mentioned my imminent wedding and Prince Guy sent me his congratulations in turn. We didn't even need to use code, just be unspecific. He will not be expecting another message from me until this evening. By then Poppy will have brought me some glasses and I will be on my way back to the Isle of Colde, may even have arrived there…

Chapter 6

Part 1

"Nyan, Nyan." A feline pads past me, rubbing themselves against my trouser leg. I bend down and rub under their chin. "Hello, I'm Jasper Lane and who might you be?"

The cat doesn't reply, instead they bash my hand with their head and purr. I was half expecting them to introduce themselves to me, like Miss Sophia's, Master Midnight, did when we first met. Is this creature not Poppy's familiar? Surely, her magic must be on a par with Miss Sophia's to have healed me so thoroughly. Although it is strange that Poppy has managed to hide away in whatever she called this town, leaking magic the way she does.

Poppy waits for her pet to finish getting acquainted with me, then she picks them up and whispers so quietly, she must hope I don't hear. "I'll get your breakfast but then you need to go out to play. Jasper is our guest and I'm not sure about his feelings towards cats."

It was obvious from my friendly hello, that I am not only fond of kittens but know exactly how they like to be petted. Therefore, she's scared for them, and I've been trying so hard to make her feel comfortable around me too, even at my own detriment. Last night I'd had a choice, rely on the magic flowing from her hand to keep my life force stable and risk dying if she let go of me for too long, or bring more of her body into contact with mine and kiss her to heal properly. The second would have made so much more sense, however the trembling of her hand in mine stayed my lips. Well, until she'd fallen asleep anyway. So why is she afraid?

Part 2

She takes me back to the main section of her apartment and rests my hand on a cup and a plate, narrating as she goes. I raise my hand and bite into the toast, generously spread with butter and tart marmalade. "Mmm, this is delicious."

"I made the bread and marmalade myself," she says shyly with a hint of pride. There is something so winsome about her, and I wonder if she'd ever cease to surprise me.

Toast finished, I take a sip of the drink and nearly spit it out. I don't however, I swallow it politely, then wish I hadn't.

Unhappiness clouds her voice. "You hate the coffee don't you."

Oh, it's meant to be coffee! "I wouldn't say…."

"Jasper, there is no need to lie to me."

I shrug. "Yes, I hate it and once you get me some spectacles, I will make you coffee so fantastic that you will never be able to drink such a…. fluid, as this, again."

"Then I had best be off. Will you be alright Jasper?" Her voice is filled to the brim with concern. She is so many contradictions, she wants to fight me, kiss me, get rid of me, care for me. But then I guess so am I. I have to return to my master as soon as possible and yet I wish to stay and get to know her.

"I'll be ok."

With Poppy gone, I sit on her sofa and replay the last few days in my head, trying to remember everything I found out about the cult. Vane will heal you they said, and in a way, I suppose she did or rather another of her descendants did unknowingly.

Part 3

A hand softly caressed my cheek as I was plunged into darkness from light. To my relief I'd felt magic flowing into me. I could hardly believe that my master and Miss Sophia had found me in time. I'd felt that I'd failed them both and was so grateful to be given a second chance. Equally I'd been terrified at what they were risking for me. Then that voice, "Stay with me, please." It was not Miss Sophia's voice, and yet it still called me back to the living.

What happened in between. Did they chuck my body out into the street thinking me dead, and Poppy just happened to be wandering around the outskirts of Colde and found me by chance? Now that I have time to think sensibly it seems unlikely that I would be found by, perhaps, the only person in Saligia, other than Miss Sophia or Prince Toa's Miss Rei, who could heal me.

So is this a setup, all some elaborate plot to ensure my loyalty to the true church of Vane, and Poppy is in on it. It makes more sense that I was drugged and shipped elsewhere. But if they have their own Vane, why did the man on my corridor whisper about bringing her back… besides, her cat cannot talk, which does not tie up with Poppy having Vane's power.

What if the scam goes beyond that. What if the gut wound was a superficial one, the dagger tipped with a poison that made me feel as if I were dying, but only lasted a few hours? What if I only thought I felt her magic because I'd been primed, and I wanted to believe it. This could be the final stage of the initiation process. The consorts may all seriously trust that Vane healed them, when it was merely a trick played by the priest and his female associate. Of course there is another possibility, however that doesn't bear thinking about.

Besides Poppy has a confidence about being in the right place that neither Miss Sophia or Miss Rei do yet. Poppy belongs here, has a home, a job, friends and she moved to this region on purpose when her parents died. The given reason being that she came her with her parents as a child and had the best holiday ever. There was another reason, however she didn't want to tell me, and I didn't push.

Part 4

The most likely scenario is that she was born here, although it is difficult to entertain the notion that Poppy is playing me. Her voice, the looks on her face all point to an honest open personality. And yet I faked falling asleep last night, perhaps she did too… certainly she caressed me, kissed me back in a half asleep or acting half-asleep kind of way…

If Poppy is a fake and in league with the priest, she must not suspect that I am on to her, and yet my instinct is that she can be trusted. Ha, when am I ever swayed by a pretty face, I am clearly not at the top of my game….

With the amount of hallucinogenics I've been exposed to, that is no surprise. Perhaps I should not have swallowed that foul liquid, nothing benign could taste that bad surely…

I'm startled from my musings by the click of the door. There is another thing to consider if I'm still with the True church of Vane's people. My disguise vanished with my magic, and I gave Poppy my true name…

"I'm back." I hear her hurry over to me and feel her hand gently take mine. "Jasper are you ok."

She sounds so concerned. I enclose her hand in both of mine and breathe slowly and deeply, feeling her power envelope me. "Not being able to see is beginning to bother me."

"Of course, I am so sorry." She passes over my spectacles. "You were in luck, the optician didn't want to give me any glasses without you being there, however my distress became so obvious that she relented. These are on loan."

"You could have taken me." Why didn't you, was there things outside that you don't want me to see yet?

"What with those red eyes, no way."

Is the optician from Qelsum then? Or Ira. Considering it irrelevant, I put on the glasses. My hands glow with a red aura. As far as having Vane's power, Poppy is no fake. Yet her eyes are blue, not the bright blue I associate with Qelsum but more the colour of a winter's sky. "You have such an unusual eye shade."

She looks puzzled, "Surely there are lots of Canadians with my eye colour, aren't there?"

Part 5

There is that word again Canadian. I've never heard it before and yet she associates it with the academy. Is it her way of pronouncing Colde, she does have an unusual accent? She takes her jacket off and drops it onto her sofa. Her eyes move into summer, to match her top. My master said that Miss Sophia didn't have Vane's black irises either. They are allegedly the most beautiful shade of green, and shift in the light to amber and back again. I am half tempted to manoeuvre Poppy into the window and see what other colour changes I can see in hers.

Fear returns to her eyes. I shift my focus to her room. "Hmm, minimalist décor, sharp corners and boxy. With the flowers it's rather cute." Weird, it is very weird, I have never seen décor like it. Where have they taken me. Or is the weirdness meant to cause a feeling of alienation and is all part of the indoctrination process. How should I play this?

"Erm thanks. I think."

I stroll over to her window and gazes into the street, Poppy does not try to stop me. There are rope like structures hanging between the buildings, which are taller than any I've seen on the Isle of Colde. However, they are tiny compared to those that shoot up skywards in the distance, I've never seen there like, not even in the whole of Saligia and the signs have strange symbols on them rather than writing; I'm not sure what to make of it all.

Poppy is sunk into her sofa, cuddling one of the cushions, doing a terrible impression of nonchalance. I can almost see the tension rolling off her in waves. I feel that the time for playing along has passed.

"Why are you scared of me?"

She's surprised and even more fearful at my perceptiveness; something is definitely afoot... Her eyes flicker with lies. She is not the open, honest rescuer I'd hoped that she was. To be able to use my master's ancient magic would be advantageous in this situation. Luckily, I have other tools at my disposal.