He does, and gets a shocking answer in turn

For a few blissful minutes, Marcus just let his strong, handsome lover cuddle him, relaxing into that broad, muscled chest and letting the troubles of the world fade away. It couldn’t last like this though, no matter how much he might wish for it, and when his ears caught the muffled sound of raised voices from the banquet hall he froze stiff, hoping that Lyra hadn’t noticed his absence and gotten angry again. Remembering that awful, scary woman made him think of other things too, and then he suddenly remembered there was something he really wanted to ask Jack. There might not be a better chance than this for a long while, so he breathed in sharply, hoping his lover wasn’t going to be angry.

"Can I ask you something?" The young prince glanced hesitantly up at his handsome lover.

"Of course." Jack smiled back, his big hand reaching up to ruffle the young prince's silver hair. Marcus smiled happily, his whole body glowing as those callused fingers he adored so much rubbed across his forehead. Only, he couldn't focus too much on how good it felt. Not when there was something he needed to ask.

"Um...I was wondering if you could get a message to my parents in the dungeons?" He asked, his voice soft and hesitant. Jack froze stiff against him at the question, shock in his dark eyes. "I just...want to tell them I'm okay." Marcus continued hurriedly, hoping his lover wasn't angry at him for wanting this. "My Mother will be so worried about me and my Father too. I know you hate them, but please...can't you do that much for me?" He stared up at Jack through long, fluttering lashes, pleading with everything he had. His lover paused, uncertainty flickering through his dark eyes as he gazed back at the prince. Then, he slowly crouched down, still holding Marcus tight, until they were face to face. The young prince shivered at the serious look on his lover’s handsome features, then again when Jack leant in right towards his ear.

"Listen to me, Marcus." The older man murmured right into Marcus' ear, his voice rough as he held the young prince tightly against his body. "You mustn't tell anyone this. Lyra will be furious if she realizes you know and she doesn’t want it getting out until she’s ready.” He paused, taking in a short, sharp breath. “We never caught your parents. They're still free."

“What?” Marcus yelped, forgetting he was supposed to keep quiet. His parents...still free?

“We don’t know how, or where they went. There’s tunnels underneath the castle, miles of passageways we haven’t been able to follow. Our best guess is that the pair of them disappeared down there as soon as they realised they were under attack, and left you behind. We thought we’d have caught them by now, that’s why Lyra pretended we had, but there’s still no sign of them.” Jack explained hurriedly. Marcus shook his head faintly. There was no way his Mother and Father would abandon him like that! Not to a horde of angry peasants! Only...what if they had? What if they hadn’t been able to reach him in the confusion? What if they’d known he’d be kept alive at least, while Lyra would have had them executed as she surely planned to? His Mother would never have stood for it, but the King...he might have realised it was their only chance and made her come with them. His Father surely planned to rescue him again, like the brave warrior he was. “That’s why it’s all falling on you.” Jack continued, his lips curling into a regretful frown. “If Lyra had the King and Queen to show off as prizes it’d be easy for me to argue that you didn’t deserve any of this and make sure she set you free. Hell, I’d have done that even if we weren’t...together like this.”

“My Mother...and Father are free?” Marcus murmured, still reeling at this shocking news. Lyra had convinced him utterly, even though he suddenly realised how strange it had been she’d shown him off to her crowd of followers that first night instead of the far greater prize the King and Queen would have been. How stupid had he been to miss all that?

“Not for long.” Jack grunted sourly. “They haven’t shown themselves yet, but I bet they’re planning somewhere to retake this Castle, along with that fucker Gaius. When they do, I’ll have some surprises for that bastard King and his tyrant brother too.” The sheer venom in his lover’ voice made the young prince shudder, his heart going cold as he realised even kind Jack meant to hurt his parents.

“Oh Jack!” Marcus gasped in horror. “Please, you mustn’t hurt them, please! I know you hate them, but they’re my Mother and Father, please!” He stared into his lover’s handsome face, hoping desperately Jack would understand.

“Damn it...” Jack murmured under his breath. He paused, his brow furrowing.“Okay. I can’t promise nothing’s going to happen to them if they do try to retake the Castle by ****, but I swear, I won’t do anything to hurt either of them unless I don’t have a choice. That’s all, and it’s for your sake, Marcus, not for theirs.”

“Thank you, Jack!” The young prince squealed in relief, darting forward to throw his arms around his lover’s broad shoulders again. This was all such a shock, he didn’t even know what he was supposed to think. His parents were free, and probably out there somewhere planning to rescue him, but at the same time he was here with Jack, who’d been so kind to him...and made him fall in love. He had no doubt his Father could retake the castle with his knights, but what would that mean for Jack? He hardly dared to wonder about that right now, not while he could simply bask in warm relief and happiness at Jack’s kindness. Later, he knew, he’d have to face those questions, wonder how he could save his lover when the king would want every rebel dead. Or how to stop either of them getting hurt in the battle? But right now, he just wanted to hug Jack as tightly as he could.

Then the door to the storeroom swung suddenly open behind him, slamming into the wall with a dull crack. Marcus yelped in shock, and turned his head, freezing in place as he saw the figure standing there, her arms crossed over her chest and a cold frown on her burn-scarred face.

“Alright, what the fuck is going on here?” Lyra snapped sharply, her one good eye fixed on Jack.