The Knight Commander's son

Chapter 12

Alden continued packing and Tyon felt his head spin. He had no idea what to do and started shaking. He fell to his knees in a thud. Alden turned around and froze when he saw Tyon crying. He started double guessing if he was seeing it right. Tyon never cried. If he did then that meant something was really wrong. Maybe he ate some kind of poison before he came to the library. Or he had a heart attack.

“Are you okay?”

Tyon grabbed Alden’s hand desperately clinging to him which made Alden lose his balance and fall into Tyon’s arms. He felt his waist be surrounded by strong arms and he was being pulled against Tyon’s chest not being able to move a single inch. He looked up irritated:

“What are you doing again? Don’t pull me like that. If you are sick just communicate.”

Alden’s face was really close and Tyon felt his heart go crazy but Alden was furious and he saw flammes in his eyes. He knew that if he acted on his urges, he would regret it immediately.

“You can do whatever you want. You can buy anything, do anything, say anything. You can go anywhere you want. Your wish is my command. I’ll never stop you again, I promise. I made a big mistake and I can’t stop thinking about it. I am sorry. I won’t ask any questions and won’t force you to tell me anything. I’ll do anything you ask… Please… Could you give me one last chance?”

Alden was shaken by Tyon’s tears. He never saw the knight commander so vulnerable. He was the cardinal of Death for God’s sake! What was he doing kneeling and crying like a child? Alden was so lost he forgot to be mad for a second:

“Okay I get it now let go of me.”

He still didn’t let go of the poisoning hypothesis and had to check. Tyon immediately let go and Alden stood up a bit dizzy. Tyon missed his warmth and continued to stare at him, not getting up from the ground. Alden knew he would stay like that for hours if he didn’t say something. He signed a contract after all and he couldn’t leave as he wished. He had about 9 months left and had to stay for that long.

“If you ever do anything like that again…

-I won’t.

-I sure hope so.”

Alden checked Tyon’s forehead for a fever but he didn’t feel anything. Tyon’s cheeks did get really red when he touched him and that worried Alden:

“What did you eat before coming?

-Nothing.

-Are you sure?

-Yes.”

He grabbed his face with both his hands and stared at him:

“Then why are you so red?”

Tyon couldn’t respond.

“Let’s call for a doctor.”

He shook his head.

“Why not? You definitely need one.”

Tyon grabbed Alden’s hands and softly removed them from his face.

“I am fine.

-You don’t seem fine. You are crying for nothing and you are red. You must have eaten something.”

Tyon was way too uncomfortable to say anything and got up to go to the doctor. Alden felt a bit awkward that he reacted like this and decided to think about something else and went immediately to Amauri to take him to the Zoo. Amauri was ecstatic and asked if his new friends could come with them. He was thinking of Janyn, Earl and the knights who had been playing with him for the last few days. Alden accepted and Amauri ran to tell them the news. Unfortunately Janyn couldn’t leave the mansion and the knights had work too but after a few minutes of pleading with their colleagues, they were freed.

The happy group therefore left for the Zoo and Alden wouldn’t have thought that they would have so much fun. He knew Amauri would be happy but he couldn’t get bored of watching animals. Even the smallest ones captivated him and they spent at least half an hour in front of every cage. Alden liked animals but he didn’t love them either. He didn’t really care about them but seeing such rare animals, even when he became a child and just as Amauri, he couldn’t stop staring and smiling.

Earl became the parent of the group and watched over his two children with a warm smile. Among the knights the reactions were different. Gaillard liked animals but got bored sooner than Amauri and Alden watching them and with Owain he would leave ahead and catch up with the others later on. James seemed to hate being here but never complained and bought a few feeding grains when no one was looking. Willie was the same child as Amauri and Nicolaus knew interesting facts about every single animal which made the whole trip that more interesting.

When they got home it was almost midnight and Tyon almost sent a full battalion to find them in his stress. Janyn told him that everything was fine, a lot of knights accompanied them and they were just having fun so he held back. He felt really uncomfortable around Amauri but he still loved that child. And Alden was of course someone really important to him. He didn’t do anything but couldn’t calm down and stared at the gate for hours when finally he saw them come back. He rushed down and arrived when they entered the mansion. Amauri was sleeping soundlessly in Alden’s arms and as soon as they arrived, Earl took him before taking him to his room. The knights wished Alden good night and left soon after leaving Alden alone.

As he was ready to go to his room, he raised his head and spotted Tyon at the top of the stairs. He frowned fearing what Tyon would tell him. He knew he was going to get yelled at as usual but didn’t know what he would say now. Tyon wasn’t a man of words and Alden wasn’t a patient person so he started talking first:

“I know we came back very late and I am sorry for that. Amauri was having a lot of fun and I couldn’t bring myself to bring him home. He was fine all along and nothing happened but next time we will be home sooner or I will send you a message to warn you next time.

-Okay.”

Alden’s frown deepened.

“What?

-Okay.”

Alden was really waiting for Tyon to find something he did wrong and start bugging him about it but it never came. This destabilized him and he just stared at Tyon who’s heart couldn’t take it.

“Don’t go to sleep too late.

-Okay…”

Alden thought he would faint of surprise. Tyon really wanted to say other things but as usual the words didn’t leave his mouth. He wanted Alden to tell him about his day, he wanted him to tell him when he became so close to his knights and he wanted him to know that he had been really worried, not because of Amauri only but because of Alden who he didn’t want anything to happen to. Of course he didn’t say any of that.

Alden climbed the stairs and passed Tyon:

“Good night.”

And he was gone.

The next morning, Tyon was already in the dinner room when Amauri and Alden arrived. They sat down and Amauri immediately started telling his dad about everything that had happened last night. Tyon listened for a few seconds but soon frowned:

“Your tea is going to go cold.”

Amauri froze and stopped talking immediately. Alden frowned and stared at Tyon. The latter immediately noticed and thought about what he just did. He didn’t even think about it and it was just a reflex but he had told Amauri to stop talking indirectly. He didn’t mean too. He literally meant that the tea would grow cold but the child took it the wrong way and Alden too. Tyon bit his lip and it took him multiple tries before he said:

“You can talk and drink at the same time.”

Amauri’s excitement was immediately revived and he continued on with his tale. He told Tyon everything Nicolaus thought of them and sometimes took a pause to eat or drink something. The servants couldn’t get used to all the changes about the commander despite everything. Alden on the other hand rolled his eyes. Why was it so hard to say that you wanted to hear about his day? He hated the fact that Tyon always had to say harsh and indirect things except when he was being openly rude. It was easy for him to be mean but he couldn’t be nice at all. That was pitiful.

Tyon felt that Alden wasn’t satisfied and stopped talking for the rest of the breakfast. He still had a lot of work and didn’t see his family until dinner. Now that the gates were open, Alden took Amauri out every day. They went to the park, to eat cake, to play with other children, to watch plays… They couldn’t stop having fun and every night Amauri would tell his dad in detail about their outhings. Tyon always listened patiently trying his best not to say anything mean to the kid and continued watching Alden’s every expression.

“And Sir Willie carried me on his back! He was so nice he did it so I could see the fireworks well. I prefer it when mommy is holding me of course.”

Alden brushed warmly Amauri’s head.

“Sir Willie is very nice and the other knights too. Sir Nicolaus knows a lot about animals! Did I already tell you that?

-Yes.”

Tyon really just wanted to answer but his voice was always so sharp and cold that the child took it as him saying yes don’t talk about it anymore. Alden immediately frowned and Tyon panicked but didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, Amauri was so happy to be listened to by his daddy, he didn’t pay attention to his tone.

“Do you like plays too, Dada?”

Tyon thought about his answer for a second.

“Yes.”

Amauri started beaming.

“Do you want to come with us tonight?”