Why the Straight One? - Chapter 52: Chapter 52

First came a silence so heavy it could be heard for miles around. That was the first sign that today was different from any other.
Next was the set of grim faces who met in Jonathan's room an hour before breakfast was usually held. There would be no breakfast this morning, leastways, not one for all to attend. Jonathan made sure that anyone who didn't want to be involved wouldn't be anywhere near where things might go down.
This should be a clean transfer of power. All the commanders were on Jonathan's side, and most of the guards should be. Jonathan told us that again this morning.
Then why did everyone seems so nervous? If there was to be no violence, why were we all acting so somber?
Elliot's warning came to my mind again. He had said to be careful around Jasper. He was armed with a knife.
When I told that to everyone gathered there that morning, a strange look came into the eyes of Jonathan's secretary, and he he traced the scar on his face absentmindedly. Most seemed to already be aware of that information, but Thomas saw this as another reason to keep me away from whatever happened today.
My job was to see Elliot safely to the car that was to take him directly to Thomas' estate. That was the closest, and probably the safest place we could get him to in a matter of hours.
It's not that I didn't think the job was important, it's just that about ten other trusted guards would be doing the same thing, and it wasn't necessary for me to be there.
Elliot didn't think this plan would work.
It was obvious in how he had spoken yesterday, although he barely had done that at all. He was resigned to his fate, convinced that nothing we did would change his position.
Mark was in the middle of explaining something to everyone, something about how and what they would confront Jasper with. Apparently, he had unshakeable proof of many of Jasper's crimes, proof that would stand in any court.
This was to be a peaceful transfer of power, and no one was to touch Jasper, except the guards who arrested him. Jonathan was insistent on the fact.
Mark didn't looked to pleased with this information, and neither did anyone else. It was hard to tell what was going on in Thomas' mind. His face was a blank mask, but his hands were in tight fists at his sides.
The nervousness of everyone in the room was tangible. Jonathan paced the room, Mark kept drumming his fingers on the bare wood of the table he sat at, Jordan kept checking the times, muttering under his breath as the minutes dragged on, Raymond couldn't seem to keep his knee still as he sat not far from me, and Thomas was starting to sweat. I don't know how appeared to everyone, but I knew my heart had never beaten this violently before.
The clock struck nine.
I looked at Thomas, who nodded towards the door. That was my signal to go. I was supposed to go wait by the car for ten minutes, and then get Elliot. He would be waiting for me. And Jasper? Jasper would be in the courtroom, like he always was at nine in the morning.
What if today was different? What if for some reason, he didn't go to the courtroom? What if he stayed behind and when I went to get Elliot—
"Alex, you should go. You don't want to run into him on the hallway. That would ruin everything."
Jordan seemed to be the only one able to speak past his nerves. Thank god he hasn't inherited his father's voice as well as his looks.
I nodded, and stepped towards the door. They were all going to the courtroom to face him, and I was going as far away from that as I could. I glanced back at Thomas, and met his eyes. No matter how angry I was at him for making me go, I couldn't help but find a little strength from the way he nodded almost imperceptibly to me. He would be okay. We both knew would facing Jasper would entail, and I wished I could be there with him.
I closed the door behind me, and hurried to doors of the palace, where the car should be waiting. It was eerily quiet as I hurried down the halls. Nothing stirred. Time itself seemed to have paused as it waited for today's events to unfold.
And I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong.
The ten minutes I spent waiting to go back inside were the longest minutes of my life. Everyone thought I should wait, just in case Jasper stayed in his rooms a little longer than usual. Nothing could be worse thanks coming to get Elliot while Jasper was still there.
I walked back inside, expecting at least some sign of life, or at least some noise, but again I was met by that eerie quite. The door was open,  which frightened me even more than having to knock.
What if Jasper was in there? What if he somehow had gotten the plan from Elliot and was waiting for me to walk right into his trap?
I took a hesitant step forward, the hinges of the door creaking noisily in the silence. I searched the whole room, but the only person I could see was Elliot. He was sitting, just waiting for me.
"Let's go." I whispered. Somehow speaking at a normal volume seemed wrong.
"It's not going to work, Alex."
"Why not? Does he know? Could he tell something was wrong this morning? I knew that—"
"No, he doesn't. But it still won't work." At least he was standing now, walking towards me, and following me out of the room.
He paused, looking back into the room we had just left. I couldn't read his expression, but I knew he thought he would be back in there before long. To him, this wasn't a departure.
He was just trying to protect himself from disappointment. We had to succeed. Elliot was never going to have to walk back through that door.
He was still limping when he walked, and followed me like an obedient puppy. He didn't speak again, and the only sound was that do our feet hitting the floor as we walked. There were a few guards who had followed a few feet behind me, and they kept a close eye on us as we made it to the car, but nothing happened. Elliot got into the car, and sat staring out of the window at nothing.
And then, we waited.
The crunch of the gravel beneath my feet distracted me for a few seconds. Then the sound of a crow in one of the trees. And still we waited.
It was too long. Something must have gone wrong. Terribly wrong. Too wrong for there to be anytime to call the guards who would come to Jonathan's aid.
"I'm going to see what's happening."
"But, your highness, Prince Jonathan—" One of the guards protested, but I cut him off.
"I know what he said. I know what they all said, but I need to make sure they are okay."
"At least let me go with you."
"No. Stay with Elliot. Your job is to protect him, not me." The determination in his eyes faltered. That was his job.
"But, your highness—"
"Why call me that title if you don't give me the respect that should follow? Stay here and protect him."
And with that I ran back into the palace. I had a vague idea where the courtroom was, at least, I'd been through the back door before. Yes, it might be better to go through there.
And still it was too quiet. Something was wrong, or about to be. And I was running right towards it.
Raymond's POV
Jasper was surprised, to say the least, to see us all walk into the courtroom. There were only a few guards in the room with him, guards that Jonathan had handpicked himself. It was too early for anyone else. Apparently, Jasper always came here this early to get a head start on whatever work he had to get through that
day.
He was sitting in the chair at on end of the room, a stack of papers in his hands. The room was how you would imagine an old fashioned courtroom, with the king's throne at the center and rows of seats in front of him. I think he liked the feeling of power he must have felt sitting there, overlooking it all. And really, he did have quite a bit of power for a modern day king.
"What the hell are you all doing here? What is this? Some sort of precession?" He gestured to the five of us as we stood in a line very near his chair.
"The end of your tyranny. You've never been fit to be a king to these people, and now you've gone too far." Jonathan's voice was cold and hard, and his father instantly was on his feet.
"And what makes you a fit judge of that? I suppose you think you'd make a better king, don't you? And you brought all your little friends along to hide behind while you try and assert your power. But you don't have any here, you ungrateful bastard, and you never will."
"On the contrary, from today forward, I will have all the power here. You are being stripped of your title and your position, Jasper, and if you think the country won't back me than you are dreaming. You've committed too many crimes against individuals, and against this country you swore to protect."
"And where's your proof? How the fuck do you think you're going to become king? Or did you plan on killing me? I must say, that would be a pretty uncharacteristic move from someone as weak as you."
"As much as I would like to, I don't plan on killing you. I think it would be much better for your people to know everything you have done, and for you to be tried for each and everything you have done to the people in this room, and many beyond. I wouldn't want you to die without paying for all of that."
"What crimes?" Jasper challenged, a knowing smirk crossing his face as he faced his son. Jonathan was remaining just as calm as he had been in the beginning, but I could tell Jordan was trying his hardest to not interrupt with all the things he wanted his father to answer for.
Jonathan's secretary, Mark, was watching Jasper with a look in his eyes that frightened me, and Thomas...Thomas who was standing right next to me, was starting down at his hands. They were shaking uncontrollably, and I opened my mouth to say something, but didn't want to miss anything Jonathan said.
"What crimes? What crimes? What about mom? And Eva?" Jonathan was starting to lose his calm facade now, the anger bubbling to the surface the more he spoke.
"What about what you did to Mark?" He punted to his secretary, who Jasper seemed to notice for the first time. "Kidnapping him and forcing him to practically be your personal slave for a year, doing all manner of unspeakable things to him."
Marks eyes blazed with anger, and he clutched the papers he was holding so tightly I thought he would tear them for sure. My heart broke for him. What the hell had Jasper done to him in that year?
"What about Thomas?" He was yelling now, and Thomas stiffened beside me, finally lifting his head, but not bothering to look at me as I cast questioning eyes in his direction.
"You fucking raped him when he was fourteen years old! Fourteen! You raped a child!"
He kept yelling, but I didn't hear a word of it. I looked over at Thomas, and everything else was being pushed aside. He had been raped? By Jasper? A sickening feeling settled in my stomach, and my head began to throb, my heart beating so much faster than it had been before. Ten years ago my brother had been raped, and no one ever knew. I treated him....God, I treated him like shit.
His eyes met mine for an instant, and the shame I saw there broke my heart. The fact that I knew now was too awful for him. Was I really that terrible of an older brother? How could I not have known? Warmth I couldn't ever remember feeling for Thomas spread through me, and I wanted nothing more than to pull him aside right then and there. But too much was going on.
I snapped back into focus, just as I heard Jordan yelling too. Jonathan had backed up, or Jordan had stepped quite a bit closer to his father, because suddenly they were standing very near each other. Jasper was looking around him with wild eyes, looking for an escape, and Jordan was still yelling. Something about his mother, and his eyes were blazing with an anger that didn't look to be controlled at all.
It all happened in such a blur it almost didn't register. Jordan lunged forward towards his father, looking like he was going to knock him to the ground. But instead he seemed to crumple forward, and suddenly, it was Jordan who was on the ground while Jasper stood there, knife in hand, over the body of his son.
Before any of us could break out of the spell that seemed to have rooted us to our spots, he turned, and ran towards the door at the back of the courtroom. And then we all were in motion. Jonathan fell to his knees by his brother, but the rest of us ran after him. He had a head start in his, and was already through the door when he went after him.
Thomas was ahead of all of us, but he froze in his tracks. From just ahead of us came the sound of a scream that could only have come from Alex.