Real Person Fic - CW: Pharmakon [Part 4/4]

[cherie_morte]

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PART FOUR

One thing Jared has learned is that when you spend enough time pining after someone, you get pretty impatient once you finally get to have them. Sometimes, you just don't feel like waiting for them to wake up before getting their dick in your mouth.

Most days, it's an understatement to say Jensen is not a morning person. But Jared knows a foolproof way to wake him up in a good mood, and that's just the kind of person he is. A giver.

He knows Jensen's awake by the way his hips shift, cock pushing just a little farther down Jared's throat. That's followed by a needy moan, and soon after, Jensen's hand resting in his hair, carding through it as Jared works.

It doesn't take long to make Jensen come on mornings like this. He lets out a low grunt and Jared knows to expect the rush that fills his mouth seconds later.

When he reemerges from beneath the covers, Jensen gives him a sleepy smile. "You don't talk much, but you sure know how to do something with that mouth."

Jared kisses Jensen, and Jensen licks his own taste out of Jared, rolling over so that he's on top of Jared as they make out. "Make that two things," he says when the kiss breaks.

As soon as Jared smiles down at him, Jensen lifts his head, presses a kiss into one of Jared's dimples. "And the smile makes three."

I can do them all again, Jared signs, licking his lips as he waggles his eyebrows playfully.

The prince huffs a laugh. "You're insatiable."

Jared grins and nods.

Jensen reaches down, squeezing Jared's ass with both of his hands. "Just last night, I gave you all the dick in the world, and you can't even wait for me to wake before starting up again."

Weren't you young once?

"You little smartass," Jensen replies, before kissing him again.

They makeout a while longer, and then Jensen wraps his arms around Jared, an innocent cuddle at first. But his hand wanders, wrapping around Jared's cock and working him just the way Jared likes.

After they've both been taken care of, when Jared is starting to weigh the virtues of staying in bed with Jensen against the virtues of getting up to look for some food, he feels Jensen's fingers tracing over something on his back.

"Do you know you have a birthmark on this shoulder that looks like a swan?" Jensen asks as he nuzzles his face into Jared's neck and kisses it.

Jared nods. The swans had been a running joke in their family, one that turned sour after the witch had used it to punish them. Jared would rather forget the stupid thing is on him altogether.

Jensen pulls him down by the shoulder so he's lying on his back and then crawls up onto his chest so that his face is just a few inches above Jared's.

"I've been thinking about it the last few days," he says. "Not that I do a whole lot of thinking when I have you like this. But. Did anyone else in your family have a swan-shaped birthmark?"

Jared shrugs. Yeah, why?

He sits up enough to point to the five-pointed star on his chest, circled in flames. "Josh has a birthmark just like this. Our father had one, too. It's the sigil of our house."

It's on every banner in the palace, embroidered into Jensen's clothes and Jared's as well. Even if it weren't, Jared may have been a peasant, but he still grew up in Padacktopia. He knows the royal sigil just as surely as he knew the snake of Lord Morgan's house long before he ever saw it marked on the lord's ankle.

"Jared, these marks are hereditary. They flow through the blood of noble houses." Jensen's eyebrows draw together. "How could your family have a mark like this unless-?"

Jared rolls his eyes and raises his hands to say, You can't possibly think my family was nobility just because of a birthmark.

"But I do," Jensen replies. He bites his bottom lip. "I know every sigil in this kingdom, and in the nearest ten kingdoms. I've never heard of a family represented by swans."

That's because there isn't one.

"Hmm." Jensen rolls onto his back and stares up at the canopy of the bed for a long time, quiet in his thoughts. Finally he says, "I'm gonna talk to Genevieve about it."

Jared shakes him to get his attention, then mimes feeding himself.

Jensen snorts. "You're hungry. What a surprise."

_______________________________________________________________

Jared finishes the third of the shirts halfway through his second year. Six months since Danneel visited, which was when he started the second one. He's not going as quickly as he thought he would, but he wasn't banking on Jensen, on a palace to explore, a whole library full of books to read. He has half of the shirts done in half the time the witch gave him, and he decides he'll call that good enough.

What he's not as happy about is what he has to do to get the flax now that he and Jensen share a bed. Last time he ran out, Jensen had been on a diplomatic trip to one of the far eastern kingdoms, leaving Jared alone and bored, with plenty of time to knit, and no need to be secretive about leaving the palace.

He tried waiting for another good opportunity like that, but the months have ticked away on him, and Jared gets anxious about the thought of losing sight of his task, failing to complete all six in time.

That's why, just a few hours after midnight, Jared kisses Jensen on his back and carefully disentangles his body from the prince spooned in his arms. Jensen doesn't wake easily, and Jared is relieved that he's able to tiptoe out of the room and shut the door behind him undetected. It's his hope that he can be back in just a few hours, and the prince will mark his tiredness and new hand wounds up to working too hard on his knitting.

The room that was his before still holds most of his clothes and belongings, one of the rare ways they keep up appearances, as if everyone in the castle isn't aware that he and Jensen share a bed. It's a lucky break for now. Jared is able to light candles, dress himself, and slip out to the stables without making noise anyone will hear.

Sadie quiets once she recognizes Jared, even more so when he shares a cube of sugar with her, and he saddles her up as she chews contentedly, her tail swishing in the cool night air. Then they're off, back to the forest Jared grew up in and the bushes that nearly took his life.

The land around the bushes has already started to flourish in the absence of the first three, and Jared proudly pulls at the fourth, finding the improvement worth the extra pain it brings him. It takes longer than it had before, as if the plants are starting to realize what he's up to and are fighting back with thicker roots and more potent leaves.

It's a poison that can't hurt him anymore, though, so Jared soldiers through. The day has gotten much later than he hoped, and even with Jensen's hatred of mornings, he knows it's unlikely the prince will not be awake by the time he returns. He just has to hope Jensen won't be too stern about the new injuries.

When he returns to the palace, however, he finds Jensen's most trusted guards, Chris and Steve, watching the gate. They stop Jared and seem to visibly relax when they recognize him.

Jared waves hello to them and points to Sadie, trying to explain that he was out for an early morning ride. The guards exchange glances and then Chris looks at Jared.

"I'm glad you're back, man," he says. "You better go on up and see Jensen."

He tries to ask them if something is wrong, but neither of them recognizes Jared's signs, and he gets frustrated, spurring Sadie back toward the stable after a few minutes of repeating himself.

"I told you he'd be back," he hears Chris say to Steve, as if they'd been taking bets or something.

When he arrives, he dismounts right away, handing Osric the reins without stopping to hear the young man's greetings and jokes. If Jensen is in trouble and Jared wasn't there to help him, he'll never forgive himself for taking his time.

He finds the door to Jensen's room open when he reaches it, and inside are Aldis, the king, and Jim Beaver.

"It's for the best, really," he hears Beaver say, in what is probably supposed to be a comforting tone. "If he had been a noble, or even a peasant woman, we could have put a good spin on it, but things being what they were, he made a joke of you in court. You’re much better off this way."

"Now isn't really the time to talk politics," he hears the king say. "Jensen, why don't you listen to Aldis? This potion is stronger than the old one. It'll make you feel much better."

"I don't want to take it," Jensen is saying when Jared rounds the corner and appears at the door. "I was happy. I was happy. I don't want to take it. I just want-"

Jared watches Jensen's expression change when his eyes settle on Jared in the doorway, and he seizes forward in bed.

"You're back," he says, staring at Jared in awe. He turns to look at the others in the room. "He's back. He came back."

The king lifts his head and looks incredibly relieved to see Jared. Aldis smiles, too, but Lord Beaver sneers. "The guards let you in just like that, huh? Even after stealing a royal horse? I recommended they detain you after the trouble you caused."

"It's not stealing," Josh says. "We gave him free reign of our castle, including the livestock. I presume you returned Sadie to the stables, Jared?"

Jared nods, looking around in confusion at all the commotion his borrowing one horse for a few hours caused.

"That settles that." The king stands, patting Aldis and Jim on the back and herding them toward the door. "Let's go, fellas. Our business here is done. I think my brothers need to talk."

He gives Jared a friendly wink as he passes, as soon as he sees Jared gasp in response to a king referring to him as kin.

When he turns his attention back to Jensen, the prince is sitting on the bed with his head hung, staring at his hands in his lap like a chastised child. "I thought you left," he admits. "I thought you left me."

Jared crosses to him in just a few strides, taking Jensen's hands in his own and forcing the prince to look up at him.

Why would you think that?

"I woke up and you were gone. You didn't even say goodbye." Jensen's voice cracks and he looks away. "You have every right to leave, of course. You're not a prisoner. I just thought. I thought I'd driven you away." He turns toward Jared and pulls him in, burying his face in Jared's chest and embracing him. "Don't leave me like that. Please. Don't go without saying goodbye."

Jared kisses the crown of Jensen's head, and when Jensen looks up at him, he mouths, "Why did you think I wasn't coming back?"

"Jim," Jensen says. "Jim said the guards who saw you leaving tried to stop you, to ask why you were taking the horse. He said you knocked them down and took off before anyone could catch you. I didn't believe him, and Josh didn't either. But Jim has been so loyal to us, and the horse was gone, and they kept saying it. He said you never loved me, that you'd always been planning to leave. I knew better, Jared, I swear I did. It's just that…sometimes I think like that. Because…because of the way I am."

Jared feels his hands curl into fists. Jim Beaver hating him is one thing. Calling him names, most of which are technically true, is one thing. But manipulating Jensen, using his sickness against him. He could kill the man.

But right now, what Jensen needs is reassurances, not anger. So Jared takes a deep breath and sits next to him. He signs, I will never leave you and presses his hand against Jensen's chest.

Jensen wipes at his eyes and shakes his head. "I shouldn't have doubted you. I'll never doubt you again."

It wasn't your fault, he tells Jensen, but Jensen shakes his head.

"It was," he says. "I believed them. I almost…"

Jared follows Jensen's eyes to the nightstand by his bed and sees a dark blue potion, bubblier than the pink one he used to take when Jared first came to the castle. The prince has been so much more animated since he stopped drinking that potion-not only happier, because it's true that he still has bad days, and when he does, they're worse than they were before. He's been more awake, more aware, less accepting when others are unkind or wicked to him.

It may be paranoia, but Jared can't help suspecting that the reason Lord Beaver is so invested in keeping Jensen on that potion is because it makes him easier to control. There have to be potions that can help Jensen without doing that to him.

Do you want to take it? Jared asks. Will it make you feel better?

Jensen shakes his head. "They said it was stronger. I won't feel anything. And you're back. What else could I need?"

Then dump it, Jared tells him.

Jensen nods, then sighs. "Your hands are bleeding. You went to get more flax, didn't you?"

Caught, Jared opens his pouch so Jensen can see the leaves stuffed into it. The prince turns his palms over sadly. "I wish you wouldn't hurt yourself," he says, making a tsking sound. "Come on, I'll wrap them for you, Sammy."

Jared lets him, and as he watches the worry on Jensen's face, he decides to let it rest for a while. He'll finish the fourth shirt and then give it a few months. Just enough time for his hands to fully heal, for Jensen to have some peace of mind. Then he'll get back to the last two.

_______________________________________________________________

Months and months pass, happy and worry free. Jared's hands heal. The seasons cycle through. Jared all but forgets that his family is waiting on him.

At first, he works slowly on the fourth shirt. He tells himself it's okay to pace himself, that his family wouldn't want him speeding through this. It takes him months to finish where the first three all got done in much faster spurts, but slow and steady still gets the job done.

When he finishes, he decides to wait a week until he goes back to the forest for more flax. The next week, Jensen invites him to go to Danneel's kingdom for a visit, so Jared promises to do it the following month when he returns.

The excuses pile up, until one day he's out with Jensen, reading by the lake while the prince writes a letter, a fine lunch spread out between them. It's a gorgeous mid-summer day, the last clear one for the week according to Jensen, and they're enjoying it.

A large white bird flies down and lands on the rock next to Jared's face, startling him. Jensen looks up from his letter, laughing when he sees what spooked Jared. "You ever realize how many swans gather around when you go outside?"

Jared frowns and looks up at the sky, where five swans are circling overhead. He never did notice. If they've been trying to get his attention, Jared has been happily blind to it. The swan in front of him makes a honking noise, and when Jared meets its eyes, he sees his mother's disappointed expression in the face of the bird.

It strikes him all the way to his heart. He realizes how much time he's wasted-it was supposed to be a week, or a month, it's been well over a year. But life with Jensen has been so easy, so wonderful, he didn't want to think about anything else. He let himself be that selfish, and now he only has weeks to make two more shirts, or he won't get to save everyone.

Immediately, Jared scrambles to stand up, starts shoving their things back into the bags they brought them in.

Jensen makes a confused face. "Hey, calm down, it probably just wants some bread. You're not scared of a swan, are you?"

Jared shakes his head, gestures to Jensen that they have to go, and Jensen stands slowly to help him pack up.

"Maybe it's because of the birthmark," Jensen teases, though he's so much closer to the truth than he'll ever know. "Maybe they can sense your common bond."

As soon as they're ready to head back to the castle, Jared hands the bags to Jensen and points toward the gate.

"You want me to go back to the castle, but you're going…" Jared holds his hands out, and he knows Jensen understands his intent from the way his face falls. "I thought you were done with that."

He shrugs an apology, and Jensen just sighs. "At least let me come with you. We can take the carriage, so you don't have to ride back with sore hands. I can wrap up your cuts. If you're going to do this, you may as well be smart about it."

You're fussy, Jared tells him.

"You bet your sweet ass I am," Jensen agrees.

_______________________________________________________________

The fifth shirt is almost complete when things start to go wrong. He works day and night at it, much to Jensen's distress, but he knows it's for the best. Once he's done, he'll be able to explain. Everything will be better once he's done.

He returns to the study from lunch and finds the shirt he'd been working on entirely unraveled. Jared runs to it, days and days of work wasted, and tries to imagine who would have done such a thing, or why.

How anyone could even have done it, when touching the material before the shirt was finished should have been toxic.

Then he hears a soft laugh from the doorway, and he looks up to see Jim Beaver watching him.

"Turns out, you're not the only one in the kingdom with an immunity to that stuff," he says, raising his hands and winking when Jared sees the redness of his palms. "I bet you won't tell on me though, will ya?"

He knocks on the doorframe and walks off, whistling all the way down the hall, and Jared wonders just what the hell the point of that was. It was like he wanted Jared to know, and Jared gathers his yarn back into a ball, trying not to think that was only the start of something.

_______________________________________________________________

A week later, the queen falls ill.

It happens slowly, so slowly that it takes an embarrassingly long time for Jared to recognize the signs. Everything she's going through, he went through much faster. Everything she's going through, Sandy went through just like this.

Jared sits by her bedside, knitting most of the day. Her husband is a king, incapable of neglecting his work to care for her the way Jeff had. And of course, there are nurses to look after her and powerful sages like Aldis, she's not dependent on her husband the way Sandy had been. But still, the fact that he can't be with her upsets Jared, so he stays to keep her whatever sorry excuse for company he can.

He likes the queen. For the simple reason that she has always been kind to him. She's never treated him like he's less than anyone else, even though the servants who clean their toilets are of higher birth than he is. She allows him to play with her child, to hold the prince who will one day rule the kingdom. Jared, with his permanently scarred peasants' hands, holding the heir to the throne.

Jensen reports to the great hall much more often now to help his brother rule. He tells Jared that his brother's mind wanders throughout the day and that he tries to make rash and harsh decisions on topics that he is usually just about. Jensen says he and Jim spend most of the day talking him down, and Jared is no bard, but he's smart enough to figure it out.

Queen Adrianne has never taken pains to hide her distaste for Lord Beaver. With her in the infirmary and the king's mind distracted, his grip on the throne is even stronger than usual. If she dies, there will be no one to check his influence in the great hall; the king will obey him blindly.

Lord Beaver has a daughter only a few years older than the prince, and Jared knows the queen would never bless the union. So it's clear why he wants her out of the way.

Even clearer when he first accuses Jared.

The day Jared puts it together that the queen is suffering from the poison he and Sandy had nearly fallen to, he gestures Aldis over, pointing first to the flax he's using to repair the damage Jim had done to the fifth shirt, then to the queen. Aldis seems to understand him right away. He sends a messenger to fetch the king and thanks Jared before hurrying to begin the potion.

The king and Jensen arrive shortly thereafter, with Lord Beaver in tow, and Jared knows he's made a mistake as soon as he sees the smirk on Beaver's face.

"Jared figured it out," Aldis tells the king, his smile bright. "She was poisoned by the same bush he was. The potion is cooking now, your highness. The queen's fever should break in just a few hours. She'll recover in a matter of days."

Jensen's eyes light up with pride, and the king's shine with unshed tears. He turns to Jared-the king!-and wraps him in an embrace as if they truly were brothers. "You saved her. You saved her."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Lord Beaver says, his tone grave.

The king lets go of Jared, turning to Jim, and Jared can see a false look of sadness on Beaver's smug face.

"Maybe he didn't figure out what was wrong so much as he caused it."

Jensen scoffs. "What are you trying to suggest? That Jared poisoned the queen?"

"That's exactly what I think happened," he says. "Think about it. Those bushes only grow in one place in this kingdom, and your friend Jared has collected most of them. The queen wouldn't have been in that forest to brush against one, but Jared has some right there in his hands. No one else could have touched it without showing symptoms."

"Why would he tell Aldis how to save her if he was trying to kill her?" Jensen shoots back.

"Why would it take him this long to tell Aldis when he's seen all these symptoms before?" the king asks, his own voice sounding shaky.

"Precisely my question, your highness," Jim answers. "Maybe he realized someone would figure it out if he didn't make himself look like the hero."

"That's stupid," Jensen replies. "Jared has no reason to want to see the queen dead. You've always hated him just because-"

"Stop," the king yells, silencing the room. "We…obviously we'll have to consider all possibilities. The queen was poisoned, that much is clear, and we will find out who's responsible and crush them." He looks back to the queen on the bed, and his voice quiets to almost a whisper. "Tomorrow. Today, I want to see my wife healthy again, and that's it. Everyone out. I just want to be with my wife."

_______________________________________________________________

Sure enough, the king sends for him the next morning. Jensen walks with him to the great hall, their hands clasped together, and he makes promises all the way that he’ll talk sense into his brother.

"Good morning, your highness," Jim says when Jensen enters the hall.

Jensen gives him a foul look and nods up at his brother. "You sent for us."

"I sent for Jared," Josh clarifies.

"Well, you got us," Jensen replies. "You can’t seriously be planning to investigate Jim's slander as if-"

"Jim has been a loyal adviser since our father was only a boy, Jensen." Josh gives Jared a sorry look. "I don't think your friend is guilty, but I confess that the more we've talked this over, the worse things look."

Jensen rolls his eyes. "And just what is the motivation for Jared to risk his life by poisoning the queen after years of being a trusted member of our household?"

"We think Adrianne was only the first target, with his highness and the young heir to be the next," Jim says, stepping in for the king. Josh's lips thin at the way Jim uses 'we,' but he doesn't correct him. "We think the plot was to see you crowned king."

"I don't want to be king," Jensen answers. "Josh, you know I want nothing in the world less than that."

"I do," he agrees.

"But a king under the control of a powerful wizard could be a very-"

Jensen starts laughing hysterically. "Jared? You think Jared's a powerful wizard? Josh, you're taking this seriously?"

"You would not be able to see it if you were under a spell," Jim says. "You would think him innocent of any crime, as you do now. You would go to mad lengths to defend him, as you're doing now."

"Or maybe I'm just no more eager to see someone I love killed than you were, brother."

The room falls silent for a moment after that. His and Jensen's relationship has always been tacitly understood, but no one has ever spoken it as boldly as Jensen just did. Jared would consider it romantic, were his entire body not coiling with dread.

"You must confess, you felt very strongly for him almost immediately. Even without him saying a word to charm you, you would have died for him within days." Josh shakes his head. "We know you haven't taken your potion for most of the time he's been here. I thought-I hoped it was because he was helping you more than it was, but Jim thinks your condition has made you more susceptible to his spell."

"A spell," Jensen repeats, shaking his head at the absurdity. "Just how did a peasant become such a powerful wizard? Did he buy his magic with poisoned bushes, is that what you'll tell me next?"

"Jensen, we don't really know that he was a peasant. He may have come from another kingdom, one where he was rich and powerful, tried similar scheming and was exiled. You don't know anything about him."

"You're making things up," Jensen says. He looks up at his brother, pointing to Lord Beaver in disbelief. "He's inventing a backstory and you’re giving it more credence than the fact that you've known Jared and seen what kind of man he is for years."

"I'm just saying, there's no knowing-"

"Lord Morgan," Jensen says suddenly, like he's only just remembered something. "Send for Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He knew Jared. Jared worked on his farm, his whole life. He knew Jared's family. They were simple people! Accuse me of loving a commoner and I'll gladly say I do, but he's no villain."

"Jensen, calm down," Josh says.

"You can be calm now, your wife is alive because of Jared, and you want to kill him for saving her," Jensen shouts, and the words echo for a long minute.

Jim Beaver clears his throat. "You shouldn't speak to the king like that, your grace."

"You shouldn't speak to me at all," Jensen responds, rounding on Lord Beaver.

The king gestures to the guards, and they step forward, placing their hands on Jensen's arms.

"You were like a father to me," Jensen says, still looking at Jim. "I trusted you my whole life. Why are you doing this?"

"You're not yourself right now, son," Beaver replies in a forgiving tone, patting Jensen on the shoulder. "I won't hold any of this against you when the spell is broken."

"I'll kill you," Jensen promises. "If anyone hurts him. I'll kill you myself."

"I don’t fully believe you're guilty just yet," Josh says, looking directly down at Jared and ignoring the scene his brother is creating. "I want you to be innocent. But I need to hear your side of the story."

Jared raises his hands and signs, Jim Beaver did this to your wife. He's immune to the poison, test him.

Jensen gasps. "He says Jim is immune to the poison as well. He says Jim poisoned Adrianne. Test him."

Josh shakes his head. "The only way to test him is by poisoning him. I'm not doing that on your word. I'm giving Jared a chance to defend himself, but I need him to do it. I can't trust anything you say for him, Jensen, you must understand that."

"He doesn’t speak," Jensen says. "You can't read his signs. Maybe you should have taken more time to learn his language."

"Yes, well. I'm going to give you one last chance. Jared. Tell me, out loud, your side of the story. Or I will call Aldis in, and if his magic detects that you can speak and are choosing not to…" The king sighs. "There are many powerful spells that can be broken by the caster's voice. You understand?"

Jared nods.

"Jim believes this is the kind of spell you have Jensen under. If you can speak, speak. Tell me your side. If not…If your voice is intact and you are choosing not to defend yourself, I'm afraid you'll be sentenced to death by burning tomorrow, for attempting to kill the queen, mind control, and conspiring to steal the throne of Padacktopia."

"No!" Jensen yells, trying to surge forward, but the guards pull him back. "Josh, no. Please, no."

"Brother, please be quiet. I'm trying to be as fair as I can."

Jared stands in the middle of the room, wishing Jensen's hand were still in his own. He looks to the prince, and Jensen's face is so distressed Jared can hardly stand to see it. He turns his eyes away, shaking, with fear and anger, and temptation.

He finished the fifth shirt last night. The last day of his three years is tomorrow. If he spends tonight in jail, he won't finish in time. If he speaks to save himself, he'll live the rest of his life knowing he failed his family.

He could save five of them. Leave only the sixth cursed, and he could save himself if only for Jensen's sake. He steps forward, opens his mouth, and he sees Jim Beaver's eyes widen with fear.

But then a voice in the back of Jared's head starts asking questions:

How do you choose which of the people you love will stay cursed forever? How do you explain to your brother that his wife just didn't make the cut? Is Jared supposed to leave the niece he never knew as a bird so she can never know a human life, so she can go on alone without her parents? Or should he sacrifice one of his parents because they've lived longer than the rest, even though they spent most of their lives sacrificing what little they had to keep him happy and fed? Or his little sister who, big mouth or not, was his best friend?

Jared feels a hot tear fall down his cheek, but he turns to Jensen and signs, I'm sorry. I can't. I just can't.

Jensen lets out a dull sob, and the king must understand what Jared said just by Jensen's response.

"Send for Aldis," he says unhappily.

Of course, when Aldis does the spell to check, he finds nothing wrong with Jared's voice. The spell confirms that he knows how to speak and is choosing not to.

"And a powerful love spell like the one Jim describes, it could be possible? Such spells exist, dependent on silence?"

"Technically, yes," Aldis says, giving Jared an apologetic look. "I don't think Jared is guilty. But I can't disprove that theory."

Josh nods. "That settles it, then. Guards, take him to the dungeon. See to it that my brother is watched. We don't know what the spell will make him try."

_______________________________________________________________

"Come on, man." Jared hears the words echoing down the dungeon hallway and stands, approaching the bars out of sheer boredom. He's been in here all day, and it's been hours since it became the moon instead of the sun that Jared could just hardly see from his cell window. "You know I can't let you go in there. Don't make me the bad guy."

"Chris." It's Jensen's voice. Jared would know it anywhere. "You've always been a good friend to me. You must know this is lunacy."

"Man, they don't tell us anything. All I know is he stays in there, and you're not allowed to see him."

"They're going to kill him tomorrow," Jensen says, sounding too tired to truly fight. "Chris, I'll never see him whole again if you don’t let me see him now."

Jared hears the guard sigh, then the sound of metal shifting as he steps aside. "I am gonna be in so much trouble for this tomorrow."

"No one will know," Jensen promises.

Jared is already pressed up to the bars, trying his best to see the moment his prince arrives around the corner. Jensen's brisk pace becomes a run as soon as he spots Jared.

He stops at the bars, running his hands over the metal, his face deep in shadow, but a gift to Jared's eyes nonetheless.

"Sammy," he says. "Look what they've done to you."

This room is bigger and cleaner than the one I lived in before, and I don't have to share it, Jared jokes.

Jensen shakes his head. "I'm not laughing."

He nods, because he knows. Jared's not feeling all that funny himself.

"I brought you something," Jensen says, reaching down. "Hide it well."

Jared nearly cries out when he sees the satchel he's used to carry his knitting in these last three years, and wouldn't that be a foolish way for this to end? Still, his excitement is impossible to contain within his narrow cell.

"All five of the finished shirts are in there, and all the flax you stomped out for the sixth." Jensen hands it across the bars, biting his bottom lip. "I don’t know why, and I don't like it, but I know this is important to you. I couldn't think of anything else to do to make this-" He chokes on his words. "To make this easier for you."

Jared wipes his thumbs under Jensen's eyes, taking away the tears, and Jensen cups Jared's palms in his own. He kisses them, then turns his face and rubs it against Jared's skin. His cheeks are rough from days of inattention, much bigger matters than shaving on his mind in the wake of the queen's illness, but even so, there's such devotion in the gesture that all of the pain from Jared's wounds retreats like a broken army.

Jensen pulls away to meet his eyes. "They say you have a voice."

He nods, no sense in lying about it.

"I bet you have a beautiful voice," his prince says softly.

Jared shakes his head, letting Jensen keep his fingers wrapped around his wrist as he signs, you wouldn't if you heard me sing.

Jensen laughs, but his laugh dies on a sob. "Jared, please won't you say something? Tell them something, anything. I know-I'm sure you have a good reason to be silent, but. They're going to kill you. What could be so important it's worth dying for? Over something this stupid. Please, Jared. My Jared. Just speak this once. I'll send for the king, and you can explain, and you'll never have to speak again."

He mouths "I'm sorry" and Jensen nods, looking away.

"I've tried talking sense into him. He wouldn't listen. I've never felt so powerless in my life." Jensen runs his hands through his hair and paces away from Jared's cell. "He has Jim whispering in his ear. I should have known what kind of man he was the first time he looked down on you."

You loved him.

Jensen nods. "I thought he loved my family. I thought he was loyal to us. But he's never been loyal to anyone but himself, has he?"

Jared shrugs, because he can't say for sure. Odds aren’t in Jim Beaver's favor.

"I'm supposed to be the one to set the fire tomorrow," Jensen tells him. That gets Jared's attention, and Jensen lets out a bitter laugh. "That's right. Law of the land states that the victim is supposed to be the one to carry out punishment. Of course, Adrianne is still too sick, and since they believe I'm enchanted, I was the next victim."

Jensen wraps his fingers around the bars of Jared's cell and kicks them, making the metal reverberate as it lets out a clanky sound. "I told them I'd just as soon burn down the square, take myself and everyone else out with me. They've decided to hire an executioner and let that tradition slide."

Jared huffs as genuine a laugh as he can manage. Then he licks his lips and gathers his strength. He doesn't want to say this next thing, but he can't die, can't leave Jensen alone, knowing what could happen.

Promise me, Jared signs.

Jensen's eyebrows draw together, but he nods. "Anything," he says. "Revenge?"

Jared shakes his head. Promise me you won't hurt yourself.

The prince's eyes widen, and he shakes his head. "I can't live without you. I don't want to."

"You may feel differently tomorrow."

Ice runs through Jared's veins when he hears the king's voice, but he sees Jensen steel his expression and knows right then that he was expecting to be caught. He moves a few inches to the side, hiding Jared from the king's view long enough for Jared to shove the satchel Jensen brought into the pile of hay that is to be his bed.

"I thought I instructed the guards not to let you out of your room."

"Steve," Jensen explains.

"Or into this dungeon."

"Chris."

"I'll have to see about-"

"You'll see about nothing. I'm the prince. I threatened them, they had no choice but to stand down. If you want to punish someone, I'm right here. You can throw me on Jared's pyre, kill two innocent souls with one fire."

Jared knows that's all a lie. He heard how easy it had been for Jensen to convince Chris to let him by, and he doubts Steve had been any more of a challenge. Still, hearing Jensen lie to protect his friends only makes Jared's love blaze that much brighter.

"I don't mind your anger, Jensen," the king says calmly. "I expect it. I won't tell you not to feel it."

"No, I meant it," Jensen says, and Jared rushes to his bars, reaching out to try to stop Jensen. "If you need to kill someone for this, kill me."

"I'm not killing you for his crime," Josh says. "Jensen, this is becoming-"

"You're worried someone wants to take your throne? You think that's what this is about? Well, Jared can't use me to seize the throne if I'm dead. Kill me and your stupid crown is safe, just don't hurt him."

"It's not that simple," Josh says. "You're my brother, and I know you wouldn't conspire against me. I know that. I won't hurt you anymore than you would hurt me."

Jensen grabs his brother by his fine clothes, his fingers clenched so tight in the material that Jared almost expects it to tear.

"He's the only part of me worth saving," Jensen says. He sinks to his knees, hugging his brother's legs, pathetic and desperate and openly crying. "Please, brother, please. Kill me instead. Not him. Your majesty." He looks up, completely humbled, begging for mercy. "Your majesty, please. Spare him. Spare him, I'll do anything. I'll die at your feet, don't hurt Jared."

"You've never bowed to me," Josh says, his own voice shaky. "Jensen, don't do this."

"Please," Jensen whispers, but his voice is hardly more than a cry now. "Please, I'll do anything."

Josh gestures to Chris. "Get him out of here, would you? And the next time you disobey my order, I'll have you exiled before you can say goodbye to your mother, do you understand me?"

"Yes, your majesty," Chris says as he forces Jensen to his feet. "Of course, your majesty."

Jensen tries to run to Jared's cell, but Chris drags him back. "Jared. I love you. Sammy. Josh, if you let them hurt him. I swear on our father's grave, if you hurt him I'll never forgive you."

The king keeps his back turned to his brother, so only Jared sees him close his eyes against a wave of pain. When he opens them again, he looks directly at Jared, profound anger and disappointment clear in his expression.

"I really thought you were here to save him," he says. "Whatever you've done to my brother, you're going to pay for it."

He turns on his heels and walks out, and Jared watches him go. He doesn't have time to process every direction his heart is being torn in. He reaches into the hay and takes out the last ball of yarn, and he begins to work. He's gotten pretty fast, but he only has until sunrise to see that he leaves his family human before he's gone forever.

_______________________________________________________________

If Jensen had had the peace of mind to focus on such things, he could have told Jared that the morning of his execution was going to be a beautiful one, with the sun bright but not yet too hot and not a cloud in sight.

He looks up at it in a haze of sleeplessness and relief, because the swans should be able to find the fire easily, if they know to look. All he has to do is toss the shirts to them a second before they tie him to the pyre and this won't all have been a complete loss.

He's still knitting, the shirt in his hands a sloppy, simplified version of the rest, but it’s almost done. His eyes are swimming, but his fingers work through the stitches as muscle memory. He only has half a sleeve to go.

The guards that guided him out to the cart had seemed confused by Jared's project-where it came from and whether he was allowed to have it and how he was so nonchalantly focusing when he was about to die. But Jared just gave them a tight smile and a nod as he loaded himself onto the cart, and the men had shrugged, apparently satisfied that if he hadn't been allowed to knit, he wouldn't have the materials in hand.

It's a bumpy ride to the town square where his pyre has been erected, and the crowd has gathered so thick to gawk at the queen's attempted murderer that it adds nearly an hour to their travel just clearing a path. Jared appreciates the time and stays focused, even as the crowd flings insults and rotten fruit. Most of them miss, anyway.

They arrive to no trumpeting or ceremony, nothing like the welcome Jared has gotten used to after three years riding with the royal family. Jared is pulled out of the cart by a large man all in black and dragged onto a raised platform for all the kingdom to see. Another man begins to read out the crimes he stands accused of, but it's mostly a buzz in Jared's ears.

He can see the king sitting high above the crowd, a sick expression on his face. Jim Beaver stands behind him as usual, a wild look of anticipation lighting his eyes that makes Jared's stomach turn. He glances around, but he doesn't see Jensen anywhere on the king's platform, and that makes him let out a relieved breath. At least his Jensen won't have to see this.

"And for these crimes, you have been sentenced to death by fire," the man finishes. "Bring forth the prisoner."

Suddenly, chaos breaks out in the crowd. A man clad all in black charges toward the stage, yelling "stop!" and Jared doesn't have time to wish his prince had learned just a little more subtlety. Jensen has created a distraction that buys Jared enough time to reach into his bag and pull out the first shirt, and out of the sky swoops a large white mass of feathers.

The swan passes through the fabric, landing on two human feet on the stage next to Jared. He doesn't have time to check who it is before there's another coming and he has to scramble to have the shirt in place on time.

The crowd goes quiet with awe and confusion, and everyone watches as a third, fourth, fifth swan all tumble from the sky and through a shirt, transforming into humans as they do so.

The last to fly down is the smallest, a little girl Jared has never seen before, but who he catches in his arms. She has his brother's eyes and Sandy's smile, and she tilts her head in confusion, flapping one arm and one wing. Apparently, not finishing the sleeve had its repercussions, but Jared did the best he could.

"Witchcraft!" Jim Beaver yells out, the only sound to break the stunned silence around him. "Look at how he casts illusions to distract us from justice! Burn him!"

Jensen climbs up onto the stage, looking from Jared's relatives to Jared. "What the-Jared, are you okay?"

Jared feels a smile nearly crack him in half, and he doesn't care now what happens. If Jim's yelling stirs up more anger, it won't matter. He has this moment, right here. The spell is broken. He can speak, and he knows just what to say.

The one word in the world he holds most dear, but which he's never been able to speak out loud. "Jensen."

Jensen's smile is instantaneous, his lips shaking as if he's a moment away from crying. "Jared," he says. "My Jared."

"My Jensen," Jared replies, taking him in his arms. "My prince."

"What just happened?" he asks. "Who are those people?"

"What just happened is a pretty long story," Jared tells him. "And I may or may not only have a few more minutes left to live. So. What do you say you come meet my family?"

Jensen shakes his head, looking down at his clothes. For the first time, Jared realizes just how plain they are. There's not a spot of color, not even his family's sigil. The statement is clear; Jensen dressed not only to show he was in mourning, but to disavow his family altogether. He was going to turn his back on his brother, on a kingdom, just for Jared.

"I can't meet your parents dressed like this," Jensen says anxiously. "They'll think I'm being disrespectful!"

"They've spent the last three years as glorified ducks, and before that, we lived in a hut. Come on."

_______________________________________________________________

By the time Jared has led Jensen all the way through his family, the king has called off the execution and ordered that everyone on the stage be immediately brought to the palace. Jared's family follow in confusion as Jared tries to explain how he can be so casual about being taken to a castle. Jensen is equally confused when Jared tells him the story of how his family was cursed and why he'd been forced into silence and knitting for the last three years.

On the whole, Jared seems to be the only one who knows what's going on, which is actually a very entertaining feeling.

They're escorted to the great hall as soon as they arrive, and the king is already there on his throne. Jared's family fall over themselves trying to bow, and Jared wonders if he'd looked as ridiculous the first time he tried.

"Worse," Jensen whispers, because apparently he still has enough practice to read Jared's every thought off his face.

Jensen and Jared both remain standing, defiant, and the king doesn't even challenge it. He seems to be the most confused of all.

Jim Beaver is flanked on both sides by guards, and Genevieve and Aldis are each gesticulating wildly as they try to explain twelve different things at once.

"Okay, everyone shut up." Josh says. He points. "You. Jared. You go first."

"Your majesty, I'm not an evil sorcerer. I could not speak because a witch, who had turned my family into swans, told me that the only way to save them was to knit one shirt for each of them out of poisoned flax, which is why I was carrying it around, and that I needed to remain mute for it to work. Also, your brother doesn't love me because he's under an enchantment, I just happen to be extremely good with my-"

"Alright, that's-that's fine, Jared, thank you. We'll talk about my punishment another time."

Jared smirks and bows his head. "Yes, my lord."

"And you people, you're all his family. You've been swans?"

"For three years, yes," Jared's mother says.

The little girl makes a half-squacking, half-crying sound. They'll need to work on teaching her to speak. And walk. And a name, a name would be good. And maybe Aldis can fix the wing arm; that could make her life awkward down the line.

"I would call bullshit, but I saw it happen with my own eyes, so. Moving along." Josh sighs. "Jensen."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Not cutting it."

"Didn't think so." The king turns his head to Genevieve. "You, talk."

"Your highness, what I'm about to say might sound a little bit treasonous."

The king snorts. "I have people turning into birds and birds turning into people, if there was ever going to be a day for treason to be the least thrilling news, this is it."

"Jared and his family aren't peasants. Well, they were, I guess. Their blood is noble."

"Told you so!" Jensen says, turning to tease Jared.

Jared is too surprised to even acknowledge him. "What?"

"I'm not done," Genevieve says. "Their blood is royal."

"Shut up," Jim Beaver snaps at her.

She ignores him, bringing a sheet of parchment forward and handing it to the king. "This is the sigil of the Padalecki family."

"A swan," the king mutters. "Of fucking course."

"It's quite fascinating, actually," she says, and Jared can see that look in her eyes. The look she has before she launches into full-on geek mode. "In all my years as a historian of this kingdom, I've only ever seen the barest of evidence to support the Two Monarchy Theory. I wrote about it when I was being certified as a bard."

"We've all had a long day," the king says. "Explain in as few of the smallest words possible."

"Basically, the historical record, if you go back to the oldest surviving documents, seems to suggest that the kingdom was founded by two royal families, bound by partnership rather than marriage alliances. The Ackles, of course, but the second family was completely stricken from all written documents, their sigil erased, their name a crime if spoken out loud, and the family sent to work as servants on the land of a minor house and eventually lost to time."

"Wow, your ancestors were dicks," Jared tells Jensen.

Jensen smiles and lifts an eyebrows. "Your ancestors probably had it coming for being bigger dicks."

"I do have a bigger dick," Jared agrees.

"We can test that theory out later," Jensen promises.

When they tune back in, Genevieve is still geeking out. "It's been my life's dream to recover this information, but I never knew where to begin to look. Then Jensen mentioned that Jared had a swan sigil on his back. I'd never heard of such a sigil. It took me months to figure out why."

She points to the paper she just handed to the king. "That's from the oldest complete and unaltered history of your kingdom. Half of it is theirs," she says, pointing to Jared's very confused family members.

"Furthermore," Genevieve says, and Jared can tell he's going to like this part from the way Jim Beaver starts to struggle against his guards' grip. "I believe your trusted adviser, Jim Beaver, and his ancestors, were the motivating force in the erasure of the Padalecki family's claim to the throne. For generations they kept the family down, finally even they lost track. Until I maybe accidentally tipped him off to the fact that Jared was a member of this family when Jensen first asked me to look around and see if anyone knew a swan sigil."

She makes an 'oops' face and turns to Jared. "My bad, I didn't know he was evil."

Jared laughs.

"That would explain the timing," Jensen says. "Why he waited almost three years to try to get rid of Jared."

"My presence was only annoying to Lord Beaver when he thought I was a peasant. But once I was a part of this family that his forefathers deposed to have greater access to the throne, I became a threat."

"True," the king says. "Still, he's served us loyally for so long."

"Yeah," Aldis says, cutting in. "That's where my news comes in. And, uh. I'm sorry I didn't bring it to you sooner. If Jared had died today, it would have been largely on my shoulders."

"No hard feelings," Jared says. "Except to you," he adds, pointing to Beaver.

"I had a memory I wasn't sure I could trust, so I went to my birthland to speak with my father after the ruling yesterday to confirm it was true. I only just arrived back in town as the execution was supposed to begin."

"What was the memory?" the king asks.

"When I was a very young boy, a man came to my father for help. He'd come into contact with a poisonous plant while visiting our kingdom, and my father was the best known potion maker in our town. It was a great honor to us to serve him, because this man was adviser to the visiting king and queen of Padacktopia."

Josh's eye suddenly flash with hurt. "The man was Lord Beaver," he guesses.

"Yes, your grace. That was the night I learned how to make the potion I used to save Jared and the queen." Aldis frowns. "To thank my father for saving him, Lord Beaver sent for me and had me groomed to be the most powerful sage in this kingdom. But not until years later. Not until-"

"The king and queen," Josh says hotly. "Not until the king and queen had fallen to what he said was a plague." He turns to look at Jim Beaver, who has stopped struggling and is now sagging dejectedly in the hold of the guards.

"Your majesty, if you'll let me explain," he says. "I did it for you! To make you king!"

"You did it because the king would be easier to influence if he was a child you raised," the king accuses. "You killed our parents. You tried to kill our wife." He turns to Aldis. "The potion you used to give Jensen?"

"A poor cure for his condition, my lord. I tried to find an alternate, but Lord Beaver insisted and…I'm sorry. I felt indebted to him for the favors he did me and my father. I thought he was a good man, and that he meant well."

"I think we all fell for that," the king says, pardoning Aldis's guilt. "Everyone except for the queen," he looks at Jared with a faint smile, "and you."

The king clears his throat, then looks at Jared's parents. "Your majesties."

"Gerry is fine," Jared's father says with a jovial wave. "I still have no idea what's going on."

The king smiles, shaking his head. "I hope you'll accept my apologies for the terrible injustices my family has perpetrated against yours. Lord Beaver's castle is the second largest in the kingdom. I would like to offer it to you until we have determined a more permanent way to divide up our kingdom. One day, if they both wish it, I hope my son and your daughter may reunite the crown of this kingdom in love."

"I thought being a swan was weird," Megan mutters. "We should probably do something about her arm if she's gonna be queen someday."

"That one's all me," Aldis says, walking across the room and taking the little swan princess into his arms. "I'm sure I've got a spell for this somewhere."

"Jared," the king says.

Jared raises his head. "Yes, brother."

Josh smiles brightly. "I hope you'll stay here. There's going to be a lot of change in how we run things, and I think you could be very helpful. My brother also seems to find your company not entirely terrible."

"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried."

"Good." He stands and looks around the room. "Take Jim to the dungeon until I've decided on a more fitting punishment for him. I'm going to go tell my wife I'm an idiot who almost ruined everyone's life so she can tear me a new one."

He exits the room, and Jared turns to Jensen, finding it hard to contain his grin. "I'm a prince, you know. A charming prince. Do I charm you?"

"I've been a prince this whole time," Jensen tells him, taking his hand. "You're not special."

"Oh, but now neither are you."

Jensen smiles and leans into him as they walk out. "You know it doesn't change a thing for me, right? You being a prince."

"I know," Jared tells him seriously. "That's why I love you."

The smile on Jensen's face only widens, his eyes folding up in the corners. "See, I knew you'd have a beautiful voice."

Jared starts to sing right there in the entrance to the great hall, and Jensen seizes forward, covering his mouth. "I was wrong!" he admits.

It's too late now, though. Jared continues his tone deaf serenading, until all the servants have stopped to glare at the disturbance.

"And then, Lord Morgan did say something about not being able to shut you up, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Jared says, pausing mid-song. "He wasn't lying."

"I should hope not." Jensen squeezes his hand. "But I can get pretty creative to keep your big mouth full."

Jared stops in the middle of the hallway, takes Jensen's face between his hands, and shuts them both up with a kiss. Then he rests his hand over Jensen's heart, says, "And they lived happily ever after."

The End