Chapter 36: The Mind of a Sage

Jasper marked as his mate's face went paler than her skin was before, her eyes wide in shock. She looked as though she had seen a ghost. Following Dolores's vision, he found an overdressed female. Jasper raised an eyebrow at what he assumed to be the female who tormented his mate in the past.

Swallowing his snarl, Jasper felt the false King's hand clasp his shoulder.

"So, do you see anything you like?" Adam eerily asked.

Jasper knew that these females were more spies for the so-called King of Kequin than gifts of pleasure. He opened his mouth to refuse them, demanding Adam leave and never return, but something connected Dolores to the King, something ominous.

"You spoil me, your majesty," Jasper began his rejection. "but, I must--"

"Come now! You aren't going to refuse a gift from the King himself. Are you great, Sage?" Adam's words were a threat. "That would be a sign of disrespect, of war even..."

Jasper forced a smile upon his face at Adams's intimidations. "Of course, your majesty. I was simply going to say, but I must thank you somehow. Please join us for the Flower Festival. You and the princess may stay here at the complex tonight and attend the ceremony in the morning."

"Ah, see that. We can be friends after all." Adam folded his arm around Jasper's frame as if they were best friends.

"Come fest with us, and when you are ready, a servant will show to your rooms so you may rest for tomorrow's celebration." Jasper waved two of his fingers, and an assortment of dishes filled the round table beside them.

Adam sat once more, filling his plate. Jasper sat across Dolores, who hadn't spoken this entire time. He itched to reach out and touch her for her to tell him everything. Inhaling deep, he dove deep into his mind to send her a message through their bond.

*Lo.* Jasper hummed and felt unfamiliar arms reach around his neck. Pulling out of his subconscious, he saw that the female that had shaken Dolores so fiercely was now skating her hands over her chest, inching lower.

Before he could push her off him, Adam's obnoxious laugh bellowed. "Haha, It would seem the Sage is just like any other common male. He enjoys the attention of beauty such as Heather here. I guess being the leader of the Wizard Society is nothing special at all."

"That's enough!" Dolores forced out, surprising the table by finally speaking. A sense of relief spread over Jasper after hearing his mate's voice. "The Sage Jasper is a good man and has many vital matters to handle daily. You should not speak so poorly of him, brother."

For a moment, Adam looked confused. "Oh, my dear naive little sister." Adam chuckled. "Have you grown a liking to the Sage? Tsk, you poor thing, you think because the Sage was kind to you at the Palace, he will return your favor?”

Dolores's face turned crimson as the setting sun while Jasper's entire being screamed to claim her as his mate. Make sure Adam watched his tongue when speaking to his mate in such a manner.

"Please!" Adam barked. "He will be so engrossed and satisfied by these beauties tonight that I would wager he will miss his own festival due to the ecstasy of pleasure he will receive."

Jasper bared his teeth, but Adam was too focused on whispering something vicious into Dolores's ear, making her bend over at her middle and cover her mouth. Snarling at the female, attempting once again to seduce him, Jasper watched as Dolores white face practically ran from the table. Adam laughed before excusing himself and following his sister, Jasper's mate, to the complex.

Daflon came up behind Jasper bending so that only Jasper could hear him. "What are we to do about these gifts? Especially these females...."

"Hmm, what to do with them." Jasper pondered. "The new King would have them sent to my room, but I do not think that would be wise. Perhaps you could keep them? Unless you think Crystal would oppose it?"

Daflon shut up, causing Jasper to burst into a fit of laughter. "Relax, dear friend, I only jest. We are still short in the kitchen and on the farm, and these gifted females are placed in either. If they are to stay, they will need to work." Jasper ordered, making sure the females heard every word.

The female called Heather pounced onto Jasper placing her long boney fingers on either side of his face, drawing him in for a kiss. Jasper ripped her hands from his face, throwing her to the ground with disgusted force.

With a nod of confirmation from Daflon, Jasper strode towards the complex without glancing in the female's direction. Enough was enough. He wanted to be with his mate, to find out what was wrong. She was too pale, and she had barely spoken the entire night.

Something was wrong, but since Adam was here as well, Jasper couldn't let his concern for Dolores show. Jasper felt Adam's strange, sinister aura and didn't want him to know just how much Dolores meant in fear that Adam would use that knowledge.

Shifting into a small dragon, Jasper raced down the halls unseen, following Dolores's familiar scent to the room she was in. Closing the distance between him and the door to her room, he heard Dolores moan in pain. Jasper shifted back into his human form without a second thought of who may see, bursting through the threshold.

"Dolores! Dolores! What has happened?" Jasper begged, shifting her into his arms and clinging to her tightly.

"Ah...Adam... The amulet he sent... The spider inside...I don't know how he..." Dolores faded in and out of consciousness.

Jasper lifted her from the floor where she had fallen from the chair. He carried Dolores to the bed, gingerly laid her down, brushing back the long silver hair that clung to her sweaty brow.

"I'll call a healer to come to help you. It will only be a min--"

"No!" Dolores screamed, digging her nails into Jasper's forearm. "Adam mustn't know."

Jasper's flesh hardened, steam wafted from his bare skin. His fury was a drum growing louder and louder. He felt his teeth begin to turn to long sharp fangs.

"I will kill him!" A voice that was a mixture of his own and the dragon promised.

"You can't." Dolores hitched breath demanded. "Right now, he is only threatening me. If he finds out that you are my mate, who knows what horrible and terrible things we will do to you. I don't want that to happen!" She cried, "Please, Jasper, just keep pretending I am an ordinary female."

Jasper exhaled deeply, forcing himself to calm down. He knew what Dolores said was the truth, even if he didn't like it. He felt his skin soften again and teeth round.

"An ordinary female I'm interested in." Jasper teased.

Dolores tried to smile, but another round of pain hit her, and Jasper searched her body for any sign of injury, his hands roaming over Dolores's body.

"Where is the pain, Lo." He demanded.

Dolores placed one palm on her stomach before Jasper pulled her hand away. Looking at her training gear, he didn't stop to ask her to remove her top. Instead, he gripped the fabric with both of his hands, sending heat to line his palms. With one swift tear, Dolores's training tunic tore and turned to ash.

Flicking his eyes to Dolores's, he saw that a deep line of blush had spread across her nose. The expression made him chuckle, and he slowly moved his eyes down her frame, taking in every exquisite feature. An ache began to go below his belt, and he reminded himself that now wasn't the time. First, he had to heal her.

Frantically Jasper searched for the source of the pain, placing both hands on her stomach, feeling her heated skin beneath his touch. Dolores let out a tiny groan of pain near her navel. Jasper pressed his fingers deeper into her core, and she screamed out in agony.

"Back magic," Jasper states, tearing his hands from Dolores's skin. "The spider inside the amulet that Adam gave you is not a spider at all, but a spider-like spell."

"What?" Dolores groaned.

"When the spell was cast, the spider entered her body, and the being who manipulates the magic simply mutters the caster's word of control and, and the spider will attack you from the inside."

Dolores's fear filled eyes widened as she stared at her stomach. Jasper clenched his jaw, pushing down his rage. As much as he wanted to rip Adma to shreds and then slowly burn him alive, he had to remain calm and break this enchantment.

Lo, you don't have to worry. I can break this spell. But I need to..." Jasper drifted off, not knowing how to tell his mate what needed to happen.

"Just break the spell. Please!" Dolores anxiously screamed.

Nodding, Jasper cupped her chin, pulled her bottom lip down with his thumb, and kissed his mate deeply.