Wanderlust (mxm)

Chapter Six

They continued along the Northern coast the next day. Soren wanted to avoid Tanden, but it wasn't easy aboard the ship. He tried to keep his head down and not seem too important. Despite that, he often found himself in situations where Tanden could tease him, and despite himself, he found that he didn't mind.

Luckily, Tanden spent a lot of time with the translator he'd hired in Falmuss, so he was often distracted. They would speak to each other solely in Morcean, except for the few times Tanden would ask something in Teltish. Soren was amazed every time he was working near enough to hear them talk. For the first few days, Tanden had spoken slowly, faltering often. By the time they neared Stanin, he was speaking almost as quickly as his translator. It didn't make any sense to Soren. Navirian and Deoran he could understand, at least those languages were similar. But Morcean was an entirely different thing.

Somehow Soren found himself at the helm when Stanin first appeared on the horizon. He was about to send someone to find Tanden, when the captain himself climbed up to the quarter deck. Soren stepped away from the helm but Tanden motioned for him to take it back.

"Think you can guide us into port?"

"Probably best you do it, Captain."

Tanden laughed. "I'll take it when we get closer. I've been thinking. We shouldn't have a problem getting up to Eith, and I'd like to head inland a ways along the river, but I'm not sure if we'll make it to the lakes on this trip. I promised my brothers I'd check in regularly and apparently the river freezes up in the winter. I'd hate to get caught in the lakes."

It wasn't a new word, but Soren wasn't used to hearing it. "An actual winter?"

Tanden's expression lit up. "An actual winter. Imagine it, white as far as the eye can see. Snow everywhere. It doesn't sound real, does it? I almost can't wait to see it."

"Sounds amazing," Soren agreed. "So you want to head back to West Draulin, and then come back out here?"

"Undecided. While we're in the area we might as well make a trip out to Crele. It's relatively quick money. It would be nice to visit my brother in Zianna if he isn't home, as well."

Soren had to rack his mind to remember the other Tandran brother's name. "Lord Tandar?"

"Sir Tandar," Tanden said. "You'd think he wouldn't give me such a hard time about insisting people call me Captain when he does the same thing." He smiled like he'd remembered something funny. "He gives me a hard time no matter what I do."

"He doesn't approve?" Soren asked. He couldn't imagine what it was like to have siblings. He was an only child, and his closest cousins had lived on Crele. He hadn't grown up with family.

Tanden shook his head. "No, he approves, he just teases me incessantly. I think he believes that being mean to me will toughen me up. Must be an army mindset. Rael's always having to step between us. Which, actually, is probably good practice for being diplomatic."

"You must be much younger than them," Soren commented hesitantly. It wasn't a regular person's place to judge a noble family, and he didn't want his observations to come off as insulting.

"I am," Tanden agreed. "Worked to my advantage, really. The Tandran family legacy rests on their shoulders, not mine, and the city isn't my responsibility. If anything happened to Rael, I'm..." he hesitated. "Eighth in line."

"Eighth?"

"If something happened to Rael, his wife would assume control of the city. She would be allowed to be the sole ruler of West Draulin until Tandrin, my eldest nephew, became of age to become Lord West Draulin. If something happened to Tandrin, Tandrix would take over, and then Tairia. Now, if some tragedy befell all of them, Tandar would have to move back to West Draulin to take over, then the cycle would continue through his family. His wife or his daughter would rule. And then, only if every other Tandran was dead, would West Draulin fall to me. It isn't impossible, I know, but it's unlikely. And as soon and Tandrin or Tandrix have any children it pushes me even further back."