Wanderlust (mxm)

Chapter Seventeen

They made it to West Draulin in good time. Tanden's back healed well, and it wasn't long before he was pestering Soren. Soren managed to stop him every time, not because he wanted to, but because the ship didn't provide enough privacy. Tanden might not have cared, but he certainly did. So they returned to their home berth, both them of them looking forward to whatever seclusion the city would provide.

Even after mooring, there was plenty to be done before the crew could leave. Tanden gave them instructions about organizing the cargo and cleaning the ship before beckoning Soren to follow him into his quarters.

Soren shut the door behind them. "If this is about—"

"Contrary to what you seem to believe, I do possess some self-control." Tanden leaned over his desk and flipped open his ledger. "We need to deal with this, and the crew, and then some boring pleasantries with my brother, and then I'll have my way with you. See?" He flashed Soren a grin. "Self-control."

"Only because you know I'd stop you otherwise."

"You can be incredibly boring, did you know that? Get over here."

Soren rolled his eyes but joined Tanden at the table. Tanden pointed at one of the many lists. "Our cargo should be fine to stay onboard. None of this is going to go bad."

Casually, Soren turned the book so that it was facing him. It wasn't something he had ever imagined he'd ever feel comfortable doing around a Captain, let alone a Tandran. He ran his finger down the list as he read it. "It'll keep," he agreed. "We're selling the dried fish from Crele here though, aren't we?"

"Yes, but you're going to be handling that while I'm busy with diplomacy," Tanden said. "And it can wait a few days, anyway. My main concern now is to make sure everything is stored correctly. We'll need to double check before we let the crew leave." He slid the ledger back to its usual spot and turned to the pages listing the crew's wages. "It always—"

There was a knock on the door. Tanden closed the book. "Come in!"

The door opened and a man stepped through. He was tall and wearing the kind of light armour soldiers often wore when they weren't on active duty. A sword hung from his belt. His long blond hair was shaved on the sides with the top tied back and his nose was crooked as if it had been broken a few times. He glanced around the room and Soren felt just a hint of haughty judgement.

Soren had never met Tanden's other brother, but this man looked nothing like the rest of the Tandran family, so Soren assumed he wasn't Lord Tandar. He glanced sideways at Tanden, waiting for some sort of reaction.

Tanden smiled. "Acell. Well met. Which one of my brothers thought it would be a good idea to send you? I know you didn't come on your own."

Soren's attention snapped back to the knight, suddenly making sense of who he was. He could instantly tell why Tanden would have liked the man. He was handsome in a rough way, and as Tanden had said on Crele he preferred handsome men to pretty ones. To his surprise, Soren didn't feel particularly threatened by the presence of an old lover. He was just curious.

The knight shrugged. "You know how they are, sir. Sir Tandar insisted that if you were going to be in West Draulin for an extended period of time you needed to be assigned a guard. Lord West Draulin insisted that if that were to be the case, he might as well gather and reinstate your old guard. So here I am. I'm to escort you to the castle once you're ready."

Tanden chuckled. "I'm not surprised. You're looking good, Acell." He walked around his table with open arms and the two men hugged. "Not having to run around after me seems to suit you well."