The Knight Commander's son

Chapter 6

Trying to avoid Alden, Tyon didn't spend any time with Amauri nowadays and Alden couldn't take it anymore. He tried waiting for Tyon to come back when he was less busy but he saw how disappointed the child got every time he was absent. Therefore Alden took his courage and went straight to Tyon's study. Two knights were standing guard there and seemed quite frightened seeing the young man march towards them but he didn't give them time to react and knocked before opening the door.

Tyon looked up and frowned seeing Alden in his study. He hadn't seen a lot of the young man these last days and felt his heart beat strangely at his sight. How come even his dress didn't seem that awful that morning?

"Mister Alden? What are you doing here?

-Amauri misses you and I know you have a lot of work but two meals a day is really nothing. Especially if you are not coming to those meals."

Tyon knew he was in the wrong but he felt ashamed about the reason why he hadn't been coming lately and being grounded like a child irritated him greatly :

"You have no idea how much work I have.

-I beg to differ.

-How could you?

-My father is a knight too."

Tyon was taken aback by this declaration. He had never thought about Alden's family and realized he knew nothing about them. In fact he didn't know anything about Alden. He didn't know how old he was, where he lived... He never wanted to know more about anyone and realized even if he knew nothing about Alden, he was one of the people he knew best.

"And even if I didn't, one hour a day is child's play. Everyone has to eat. Don't tell me you do photosynthesis."

Alden was really proud of his joke and had a hard time not laughing. He covered his mouth and looked away while a smirk appeared on Tyon's lips. Alden was really surprised seeing that and completely forgot to laugh his eyes wide open:

"You can smile?"

Tyon immediately froze and tried shrugging it off as if nothing happened :

"I didn't.

-You did! Was my joke that funny? Oh my! I never would have thought even the cardinal of Death would warm up to me. Watch out global warming because I will make everything worse."

Tyon frowned. Warming up? He wasn't warming up to anyone. Alden had only been there for half a month and Tyon did realize that his opinion on the man changed a lot but he couldn't admit he had warmed up to him. Alden always defied him and he hated that. Seeing his frown Alden smiled :

"That's more like you. I got scared for a moment. You could have been a copycat, who knows."

Tyon signed :

"Stop spewing nonsense."

Alden shrugged :

"Anyway, you should at least eat with Amauri. He misses you a lot. You may be the way you are but you are his Dada despite everything."

With that he just turned around to leave. Tyon was really pissed by the air of superiority he had. Did he think he would do anything he wanted just because he ordered it? He really wanted to do the opposite but he realized that would be childish and signed. Alden was right but he never would have admitted it.

That same evening, Tyon joined his small family for dinner and he couldn't deny how touched he was when he saw the smile on his nephew's face. He never had felt so welcome before and would have even smiled if Alden hadn't been acting like that around him. The young man smiled too but his smile had nothing warm in it. It was the smile of someone who won for the second time against Tyon. This made Tyon's blood boil. He couldn't lose face to this man. Not in his own house.

Amauri was really happy to see his Dada and told him a lot about his day. He talked about the birds he saw and the ensemble he was making for himself. He was constantly talking getting more and more expressive next to Alden and Tyon being in a bad mood, wasn't very receptive:

"Speak less and eat more. I won't wait for you if you take too much time finishing your plate."

Amauri immediately shut his mouth and focused on his plate with a pout. Alden rolled his eyes exasperated. He didn't know what was better, having Tyon here or in his study.

"It's okay baby. We are really happy to hear you talk. And you are very excited and in these moments it is good to exteriorise. Feel free to tell us about anything."

Seeing his mommy frowning at Tyon, Amauri asked :

"Did mommy and Dada fight?"

Visibly the child had misread the situation. He seemed to think his Dada's bad mood was because he had a fight with Alden and not because he was mad at him. Alden was ready to deny but thought this was indeed better for the kid than thinking his dad was mad at him.

"You know, sometimes adults fight but it's normal. Everyone does."

Tyon frowned, not getting where Alden was going with this lie. Knowing that he would ruin everything, Alden stared at him pointing towards Amauri with his head. Tyon understood and liked the feeling he had. Alden needed his help for this lie and he would decide if he would help or make things worse. That wasn't even the real reason he was so happy. He was just excited seeing Alden needing him. For some reason he decided not to say anything but he soon regretted it.

"Earl told me when people fight they have to hug to be friends again."

Alden and Tyon both didn't like the idea for different reasons. Alden didn't want Tyon anywhere near him and Tyon felt weird thinking about it.

"Adults don't need to hug it out."

But Amauri thought differently :

"Parents have to kiss to make peace."

Alden grimaced, not knowing how things escalated so quickly. Every servant started getting agitated looking at the two men not daring to even breathe. Tyon saw how against it Alden was and liked the idea of bullying him a bit. When Alden turned to him for help he didn't say anything which surprised everyone. Tyon never liked people touching him. At balls he wouldn't hold back from pushing away people who brushed against him with eyes full of disgust. He never hugged, never shook hands, never kissed anyone. Then why wasn't he protesting?

Seeing the panic on Alden's face made Tyon scoff. He didn't have anything else in mind except bullying the poor man. Nothing else. Really nothing.

"Amauri... Your Dada and I aren't fighting.

-Yes you are! Your mouth was all upside down!"

Amauri tried imitating the face Alden had made which would have been funny in other circumstances.

"If you don't kiss you won't be married anymore."

Things were getting out of hand.

"Darling... We aren't married. We are just..."

Alden didn't know what to say. What were they exactly?

"Parents are married and they shouldn't fight with each other."

Alden had never seen Amauri so stubborn and had to admit he didn't know what to do. He looked at Tyon and stood up walking slowly to him. He then grabbed his face and kissed him on the cheek with no tenderness or sentiment at all. Tyon felt his heart pound and immediately regretted taking Amauri's side. He didn't know why he felt that way and thought maybe he was sick. He couldn't feel his cheeks anymore and was ready to check the food for poisoning.

"There. We kissed."

The servants thought they would faint. Who would dare grab the commander that way? And how could the commander be that calm? He pushed people for touching him but someone just straight up kissed him. Tyon was too flustered to care but the others were ready for a blood bath which never came. Even worse than that, Amauri started shaking his head :

"That's not how parents kiss."

He pointed to his lips and everyone froze. No one knew what to do and the servants seemed as panicked as if they were getting ready for a tsunami. Surely, the commander wouldn't stand kissing someone on the lips. Alden lost all the confidence he had and bit his lower lip not knowing what to do.

Tyon was still feeling weird and he was so worked up that he couldn't think straight anymore. One second he was sitting, the next second he was on his feet and grabbed Alden's waist before pulling him closer. He grabbed his chin and lifted it towards him before pressing his lips to Alden's. The kiss didn't last long and the next second they were separated. Some plates fell to the ground and servants looked away, their faces bright red. Alden was taken aback by Tyon's reaction but was relieved to see that Amauri was satisfied. He started dancing on his seat with a smile :

"Don't fight with the one you love."