“Why the fuck am I here?” Julian groaned.

He stood in Corian's office across from his desk. Guarding the door so he couldn't duck out of there were two knights, each armed with a spear, and a short-sword on their hip. Sitting at his desk, Corian shook his head. He was looking over some paperwork in front of him, a thin stack in his hand that had his attention for the moment.

“Hey! Old man! Don't just call me in here if you're going to ignore me!” Julian touted.

Corian just continued reading quietly not saying anything or showing that he'd noticed Julian standing there. It irritated the brunette to no end. He grit his teeth, jeered back and suddenly kicked the lip of the desk with the base of his foot. The impact caused pens to rocket about, paper to flutter up, and a loud sound.

Corian, without blinking, looked up directly from the paper to Julian's eyes. He glared at the young man. “Snapping at people will not make them bow down to your will.” Julian thinned his eyes, frowning one side of his lips. “You're here because I graciously agreed to be your guardian.”

“That's not what I meant!” Julian stepped forward to the desk, slamming his hands down onto it.

“Then what is it you meant?” Corian asked, setting the stack of papers onto his desk. He spoke calmly with a fatherly tone, but it was clearly all business.

“Why did you summon me to your office? I already turned down that blond lord's request!”

“Ah,” Corian nodded briefly, then leaned back in his chair. He left one hand on his desk while the other, he rested against the arm of the chair. “About that. Alexander's deposited two and a half million into your account for just hearing his request. If you want the rest of the pay, you'll have to travel with him.”

“Wait – What the fuck?” Julian's jaw dropped. All of the irritation in his being evaporated. “He – He did what?”

“He paid you for standing there as an angry babbling buffoon for all of five minutes.” Corian clarified with no respect to Julian's ego. “The boat leaves today in an hour if you wish to go with him.”

“And why the fuck would I? I fucking hate boats, and the sea, and he wants to go on two of them!”

“It's not my job to make you accept.” Corian shrugged. He shifted forward and started to go back to reading through his stacks. “He didn't request you appear, just that I notify you of the time.” He lifted his hand and waved it dismissively. “Go off and practice, or get on the boat.”

“Why are you so fucking – fuck – listless about this?!”

“You mean 'apathetic'.” Corian replied in a dull tone. “Alexander said he wanted you. And wouldn't take anyone else.” He looked back up to Julian, watching him start to seethe again. “Go bitch at him. I don't have time to listen to you wail.”

“I don't wail!”

“Out.”

Julian tensed his face, glaring at Corian. He stood there like that for a few seconds, then turned abruptly and shoved his way past the guards out of the room.

Fucking doing whatever he likes and makes insane demands of someone who said they aren't interested in this damned trip and then goes ahead and pays a stupid ludicrous amount. Fucking rich bastard. I'm going down there just to sock him in the eye for lording his wealth over me like I'm a peon!

Julian left the barracks, got into a horse-drawn two-person taxi, and ordered it down to the harbor. The ride took a few minutes, giving him enough time to seethe, settle, and then seethe all over again.

At the docks, Alexander stood with a canvas bag next to him, a piece of paper clutched in his hands. He was dressed in rather plain attire: dusty blue slacks, a cream tunic with a dip at the neck, a brown muslin jacket with some parts padded with darker leather, and a soft fuzzy green scarf around his neck. He wasn't hard to spot for Julian though – all he had to do was look for the blond with pink tinges in his hair.

“Hey! Fucker!” Julian called as he stormed up to Alexander.

Immediately as soon as Alexander saw Julian, his face lit up with a bright smile. “Julian! I'm so happy you came!”

“I'm here to knock you down a peg!” Julian barked, stopping right in front of him. “Want me to hit your left or right eye?”

Alexander's smile vanished, and he looked at Julian with worry. “Didn't Corian tell you I've paid you?”

“Yes. And that's why I'm here.”

“Fantastic!” Alexander's face went straight back to beaming. “That's the boat there.” He pointed over to a galleon a dock away with a lot of sailors, men and women, loading up cargo and a queue line of people waiting to get on after the crates were aboard. “We should arrive in Ni`sale Port in a few days if the summer weather stays fair. Oh,” he handed Julian one of the pieces of paper he'd been holding. “This is your ticket for boarding. We're listed as regular passengers, with my name being on the room.” He closed his eyes, smiling at Julian's gawking face. “I'm looking forward to this voyage with my boyfriend~”

Still gawking, Julian watched as Alexander spun on his heel toward the ship. The blond plucked up his canvas sack and then started for the queue line. “Wh… What?”

“I'll be waiting in line. I know you'll want to stay on solid land for as long as possible.” Alexander told him reassuringly. “I hope our cabin is near the center of the ship so you don't feel the swells that much.”