The Master Finale | manxman | (Book Four: The Master Collection)

XVIII - No More Fears, No More Tears

The night after Broderick's return from Islesbury, Jasper lay in bed beside him as the other man slept. It was fairly late, striking one in the morning about this time, yet the Master still found himself unable to fall asleep as well. He and Darcy had spent a great deal of time bonding with their children, hoping to build a loving connection early on, and while the crying could be a bit shrill at certain times, there was nothing Jasper loved more than the sight of him and his wife's babies.

When he was younger, never had the idea of fathering children crossed his mind, but with the task having shown up, he couldn't be more thrilled to be a father to Eloise and little Jasper. He cherished his son and daughter to the ends of the world, would provide any and everything they could ever want, and he swore to never let them experience what it was like to be unwanted. Like him.

As the boy he'd grown up as, Jasper's resentment toward his father was crafted after discovering his own father had not wanted him. When he was small and his mother Daloris was still alive, Jasper hadn't suspected his father of detachment, but once she was gone, it became all too clear he was not the son Ronald Lancechester wanted.

Jasper's distaste of his father ran deep, and he knew there would never be a time in his life where he felt any different. Ronald hadn't been worthy of a beautiful family, but Jasper swore to himself that he would not end up like the man he'd come from. No, he would take after his mother, be attentive, loving, honest, and appreciative to his children, and he hoped when they were young, that a day never went by that they didn't feel the love their parents had for them. Eloise, she would turn out to be a proper, free-spirited young lady, while little Jasper would be an honorable gentleman.

Even now, Jasper saw such brilliance in his children's futures.

As he could not sleep, the Master sat up from under the covers and stood out of bed. He wasn't dressed in any nightwear, just the canvas of his pale skin. He rustled a hand through his hair, shaking the twists out and stepped closer to one of the bedroom windows. The silver lighting of the moon illuminated his fair skin as he looked out upon his land. Bits of rain was falling from the sky, only a few patches of open sky which allowed the glow of the moon to shine upon him.

The Master crossed his arms and looked down, spotting the one blemish on his skin that would never leave him. The scar on his forearm. Always, it looked the same, in every lighting, every passing year, forever there to remind him of events from his past. Vividly, he remembered the fearsome snarl of the wolf that had attacked him, the pain that followed when its dangerous claws dug into his flesh, but most of all, he remembered the red-haired boy that had come to his rescue. Such a long time had gone by since that day, nearly twenty years, and here he stood, a man of his own.

Since then, though unfortunate and dreadful occurrences happened upon him, Jasper was proud of the man he'd become. There would always be certain things he wished he had the power to change, and while he loved Broderick Thorne in an exceedingly similar fashion, he was more than sure there were things Broderick wished he also had the power to change. But with that being something neither of them could do, they were satisfied with the time they had now until the moment came when the years called upon them.

It was wonderful to experience love all over again, even while it was with someone else, because nothing could ever take away from the first, and in a slight manner of speaking, Jasper mildly understood what it had been like for Elijah all those years ago.

Mildly.

A first love could be lost, but not forgotten.

Never.

Feeling stings of tears in his eyes suddenly, Jasper breathed in shakily and tried to let it out as coolly as he could.

"Jasper," Broderick had awoken behind him, and he was now sat up in their bed. "Are you troubled?"