Wanderlust - Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Tanden struggled to stay out of the way while the physician worked. One of the maids, a pretty girl named Lyna, gently washed the soot from Soren's skin. Tanden wanted to help her. He wanted to kneel by the bed and hold Soren's hand.
Instead he hung back nervously, watching the soot reveal equally dark bruising underneath. Nothing else mattered. He didn't care about the banquet; he didn't care about what was going to happen next. In the back of his mind, he knew he needed to be talking to the King, pleading Soren's case. But he couldn't bring himself to leave, as if leaving Soren would make his condition worse.
Tanden watched blankly, and it took him a moment to realize the physician had gotten to his feet and was trying to talk to him. Tanden shook his head to clear his mind. "Sorry, yes?"
The physician had been halfway through his report. He paused, sighed, and restarted. "He has some broken ribs. I see it all the time with the soldiers, they usually heal up fine on their own as long as he doesn't do anything too strenuous. Couple broken fingers on his left hand, so I wrapped them together. The bruising around his neck isn't impeding his breathing. He is having trouble breathing, but I'd guess that's from the smoke and his ribs. Should clear up with some rest. I had to pull a tooth, but the swelling in his jaw should go down relatively quickly. Aside for that, his head seems unhurt. All an all, he's a lucky man. This attack could have easily killed him." The physician paused and cast a glance over at Soren. "Honestly, my lord, it almost seems like the goal was to incapacitate him, while keeping him alive."
Tanden latched onto those last words. "Are you willing to say that, if the King asks? He couldn't have started the fire in his condition."
The physician nodded. "It is certainly clear to me that he was beaten earlier this evening, before the fire started. I'll give my report, of course, but I can't garauntee the King will listen."
"Yes, I know. Thank you."
A thin smile flashed across the physician's face. "I expect he'll recover fully. It will just take some time."
"Thank you," Tanden repeated. Now that Soren was bandaged, he just wanted the physician and Lyna to leave. Acell was still in the room, but he was hardly a concern. Tanden restrained himself from ushering them out. The physician kept talking while he cleaned up, and Tanden hardly listened. Then, finally, the door shut, and they were alone.
Tanden immediately sat on the edge of the bed. He picked up Soren's right hand, and leaned over him to gently stroke his hair.
"All right, mate. Time to wake up and tell me who did this," he mumbled.
Then, almost as if the Goddess had heard him, Soren blinked. He woke suddenly and tried to sit up, catching Tanden entirely off guard. But he didn't make it far before groaning and collapsing backwards.
"Steady, Soren," Tanden said, relief flooding through him. "You're going to hurt yourself."
Soren grunted something in reply, then started coughing.
Tanden grabbed the jug of water from the bedside table and filled one of the cups. "Here," he said, pressing the cup into Soren's good hand.
It took a moment for Soren to stop coughing long enough to drink the water. When he leaned back into the pillows, his voice sounded a little better. Still rough, but understandable. "Tell me."
Tanden took the cup away and laced his fingers with Soren's. "Broken ribs, broken fingers, smoke in your lungs, lost a tooth. Cuts and bruising. All in all, it could be worse."
Soren grumbled something and coughed again. Then his eyes widened. "The fire. The King's ship."
Tanden shook his head. "Don't worry about that, mate. Rael and Tandar are already handling it, and I'm here to take care of you. You'll be back to normal before you know it." Very carefully, he leaned down to plant a kiss on Soren's forhead. "Who attacked you? Do you know?"
Soren didn't reply immediately, and Tanden wondered if maybe he didn't know. But something in Soren's silence made him suspicious, and Soren wouldn't meet his eyes.
"Soren, who was it?"
Soren's eyes flickered over to meet his, just for a moment. "You'll do somethin' stupid. It isn't your fault."
"It isn't my fault?" Tanden repeated, puzzled. What could Soren possibly be trying to reassu—then it clicked. He dropped Soren's hand and stood up abruptly. "It was fucking Toliver, wasn't it? He's trying to get back at me? He almost killed you because I couldn't keep my temper in check?"
"No." Soren sat up slowly, resting most of his weight on his good arm. "It isn't your fault."
"It is my fault! If I had listened to you and left things alone, he'd have no reason to try to get revenge." He started pacing again, as if moving could control the rage building up inside him.
"He wasn't going to kill me," Soren said, a new panic in his voice. "He told me."
"So what? He just left you on a burning ship hoping you'd live? After he beat you half to death?" Tanden snarled. "Atricell, give me your sword." He was close enough to Acell that he managed to pull the knight's sword from its sheath before he could be stopped. "Stay there." He glared over at Soren, who had been starting to swing his legs over the bed.
Soren hesitated. It was clear moving so much was already hurting him. "Please don't do this. He trying to ruin you by getting me arrested and accused of treason. Just focus on that part. Settle things with the King, then Toliver's plan will fall apart. Please don't go after him."
His brothers were handling the King. They didn't need his help; he'd just get in the way. "I'm going to kill him," he said slowly, and he meant it.
Soren managed to get to his feet, and swayed until he grabbed the bedpost. "You're not inclined towards murder, remember," he said with a forced steadiness that must have come from trying to hide how much pain he was in. "Come here, please, Tanden. Stay with me."
His words almost worked. Tanden tightened his grip on the sword pommel. "Atricell, make sure he stays here." He stormed out of the chamber without another word.
"Please lie back down." Acell had moved closer, but didn't seem willing to physically force Soren back onto the bed.
But Soren couldn't lie down, not while Tanden was off making everything worse. He just needed to get around Acell. The problem being that even on a good day, Soren didn't think he would have been able to take Acell, let alone when he could hardly stay on his feet. He stared at Acell, trying to think though the pain. So he couldn't go after Tanden himself, but maybe he could convince Acell to.
"You need to stop him."
"I'm following orders," Acell said. "He wants you to stay here. He wants me to protect you."
"He's the one who needs to be protected," Soren argued. "You know what he's like. He's not thinking straight and he's going to get himself killed. Please go after him."
Acell cast a quick glance towards the door, and Soren knew he'd gotten through to the knight. Acell cleared his throat. "You need to stay here."
"I will," Soren promised, and he sat down just to prove it. He gasped when a sharp pain shot through his side, but tried to pretend it was nothing and waved at Acell. "I'm fine. Go."
Acell was already moving towards the door. "There are men stationed in the hallway in case you need anything. But stay here. And lie down." He didn't stick around to make sure Soren listened.
It took some time for the pain to subside, but Soren felt better just knowing that Acell was going after Tanden. Once the pain had settled back into an ache, Soren started to lie down. He was just getting comfortable when the door crashed open, and two guards marched in. They weren't West Draulin guards, their yellow uniforms made that clear.
"Get up," the taller one growled, while the other jangled a set of manacles.
Before Soren could even move, an old man had marched into the room. He pushed past the guards and planted himself firmly between them and the bed. "You are not moving him. If you two have any respect for a physician's word, you will leave."
"It isn't up to us," the shorter guard said. "The King's asked for him in the throne room. We can't disobey the King."
The physician crossed his arms. "Very well. However, I will not allow you to put chains on him. He's hardly fit to walk, let alone attack anybody."
The shorter guard nodded, and clipped the manacles to his belt. "We won't use them," he agreed. Only then did the physician step out of the way and allowed the guard to get closer to the bed. "Not going to put up a fight, are you?"
Soren shook his head.
"Good. Listen, I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to. You're clearly hurt, traitor or not..." The guard held out his hand. "We'll take it easy."
Soren grabbed his hand, and the guard helped him sit up. It took all of Soren's willpower to hide how much the movement hurt. He didn't want to appear weak in front of the men, although he had to lean heavily onto the guard. With the physician trailing behind them, they slowly made their way to the thone room. The pain kept Soren from worrying about what was about to happen, it was too hard to concentrate on both things. But when they entered the council room, and he saw the King sitting beside Lord Tandrael, he couldn't control the wave of panic the flooded through him. Common people didn't get dragged in front of King multiple times, especially not in one day.
He stared at the ground as the guards led him down the long room. The throne room was overkill, Soren's mind was clear enough to recognize that. People flanked the walkway, mostly guards, but there were a few nobles.
The guard helped Soren kneel when they reached the bottom of the thrones' dais. Soren hugged an arm across his chest in a vain attempt to stop his ribs from hurting. Every breath made them ache. He hadn't felt them so much when he was lying down.
"Soren. Please explain what happened."
Soren glanced up, hopeful. Tandrael had spoken. He could talk to Tandrael, as long as he ignored that the King was sitting beside him. Soren cleared his throat, which caused him to wince, before speaking as loudly as he could manage.
"My lord, a few days ago, you sent Captain Tanden to speak to someone named Captain Toliver," Soren paused.
Tandrael nodded. "He was being cruel to one of his sailors, and I asked Tanden to check in," he explained, when the King looked at him. "Carry on, Soren."
Soren attempted to take a deep breath. "I used to work for Captain Toliver. I accompanied Captain Tanden without knowing who we were going to see. But when Toliver saw me, and Captain Tanden realized who he was, they... he overreacted." He risked another glance at Tandrael, hoping he would understand. Surely he could make the connection, he knew enough about Soren's past.
He did understand. Tandrael ran a hand over his face and sighed. "I didn't know he had a link to the man."
"Neither did he," Soren replied quickly, then remembered the audience and added, "my lord. I never told him."
The King cleared his throat. "Lord West Draulin, what does this have to do with the treason committed tonight?"
"I believe Soren was just getting to that," Tandrael replied. "Soren?"
"Captain Toliver knew he couldn't act against Captain Tanden," Soren explained. "So he beat me, and left me to take the blame when he burned the King's ship. I was barely even awake when it happened, my lord."
The physician stepped up beside him. "Your majesty, my lord." He nodded at them both. "I can confirm that Soren was beaten badly before the fire was lit. I believe that he is not the arsonist."
Tandrael nodded firmly. "I must agree. I know Soren quite well, and I can confidently say that he would never do such a thing. We should let him go rest. Where is my brother?"
Somewhere, a guard spoke up, "Sir Tandar went—"
"No, where's Tanden?" Tandrael interrupted, glancing around like he expected Tanden to be in the room.
Soren tried to answer, and started coughing. After a moment he managed to stop, and ignoring the sharp pain in his chest, said, "He went after Toliver."
Tanden walked up the gangway, Acell's sword in plain view resting on his shoulder. The crew of the Hiraeth were busy, rushing around the ship, but they all froze the instant he stepped onto the deck. A few of the older men reached for their cutlasses warily.
"I wouldn't bother," Tanden said, eyeing one of the men. He gestured at himself. "Lord Tanden of West Draulin. Even if you survive a fight with me, you'll be executed for attacking a lord. I'm here for Captain Toliver. I suggest the rest of you leave and start looking for work elsewhere."
There was a moment of absolute stillness, broken by one of the older men stepping around Tanden to walk down the gangway. The rest were quick to follow, but they left silently. None of them even looked at Tanden as they walked by. Tanden watched them go, then turned around and was surprised to see that one man had stayed. A fairly large man.
Tanden sighed. "Really? He commited a crime earlier this evening. Treason."
The large man shrugged and pulled out his cutlass. "I'm loyal. Doesn't matter what he did."
"You're forcing my hand here, mate. I will go through you to get to him."
"You'll try."
Acell's sword wasn't a cutlass. It was a double-edged short sword, meant to be used with a shield. Tanden lifted it off of his shoulder. "What's your name? I'd like to tell Toliver which sailor died for him."
The man took a few steps forward. "Lorca."
"Lorca... Well, Lorca. I admire loyalty in a crewmember, I really do. So I apologize in advance for killing you."
Lorca snarled something under his breath and closed the gap between them. He swung his cutlass with force, and Tanden easily met the blade with his own. He really was quite good.