1
Hal
“Your stateroom, my good sirs.“
Hal held open the heavy door and waved his friends inside, anxious for their initial impressions of the luxurious stateroom.
Archer strolled in first, dropping his posh leather shoulder bag at the end of the bed. He immediately slid open the glass partition that separated the bedroom from the seating area and, with little more than a glance around, proceeded out onto the balcony. The salt water and exhaust scents of New Angouleme’s port tinged the breeze that swept through the space.
Hal wasn’t worried about Archer. This was a boat. Archer Sophin, master water mage, already loved it. He’d extolled the new ship’s virtues from the moment they arrived at the pier and continued all the way through the embarkation process.
Kane’s reactions made for a better test. Hal studied the way Kane set his battered travel pack next to Archer’s bag, surveyed the space with the air of a man used to identifying exit strategies, and stepped into the bathroom and flicked on the light for a look inside. Once back in the cabin, he quirked a grin and said, “Not bad. Bigger than I expected.”
High praise from Kane Nalamas, master earth mage.
But he’d never bullshit Hal, and Hal always returned the favor. “To be fair, this is one of the largest cabins,“
he said. Large being relative, of course, for a ship of this size. He hadn’t even followed them all the way inside, still propping open the door rather than crowding the space. This entire stateroom fit inside one of the bedrooms of the ocean liner suites he usually traveled in.
Kane shook his head at Hal in fond amusement. “You spoil us.”
“Least I can do for dragging you to across the Atlantika,“
Hal said. As Archer returned from the balcony, accompanied by another swirl of air through the cabin, he added, “And putting that one to work on the way,” he added. The timing had aligned well, with the Pearl Star ready for her first passenger sailing after Archer and Kane finished their spring term. He couldn’t imagine taking this next step in his life without his best and oldest friend at his side. And Kane went where Archer went, even if it meant travel by water.
Archer’s wide grin lit up the cabin even more than the golden afternoon rays that stretched inside, and he almost bounced on his toes as he rejoined them. “Hardly counts as work if I’m not wrangling three teenagers at the same time,“
Archer said. “She’s beautiful, Hal. Well done. I love her.”
“We know you do, babe.“
Kane draped an arm over his husband’s shoulders and smacked a kiss to his cheek.
Archer peeked past Hal into the hall. “Miles ditch us already?”
“He probably headed to our room. We’re in the owner’s suite next door.“
Only that stateroom included a tub in the bathroom. Even if Lord Henry Delacour, heir to the multinational Delacour shipping empire and future Earl of Calaitum, hadn’t literally been the new owner of this ship, he’d have selected that room. Sometimes only a good soak at the end of the day offered Miles relief from his chronic pain.
Though he was unsure whether pain or nerves had made his already taciturn fiancé even quieter than usual since they woke together that morning. All week, actually, since their first official tour of the Pearl Star when it arrived in New Angouleme. That visit had likely made the impending voyage finally feel real. Miles had barely left the boroughs of New Angouleme his entire life, so nerves before crossing an ocean were to be expected.
“Good. I can kick you out without feeling rude,“
Archer said, using both hands to make shooing gestures. “We need to prep Kane’s magic for the trip.”
Though Hal did know what Archer meant, he’d never let a chance to tease pass him by. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?“
To his surprise, a blush reddened Archer’s cheeks, while Kane’s wide grin showed all his teeth.
“You owe me a drink,“
Kane told Archer, before winking at Hal. “He bet you wouldn’t make a sex joke.”
“Teaching has made you boring, friend,“
Hal said. “If you’ll pardon me, I’m going to find my fiancé. Tell him we have magic to prep.” As he closed the door on their laughter behind him, he smiled for a different reason. Referring to Miles as his fiancé hadn’t yet grown old.
It never would. By this time next week, the Pearl Star would have arrived in Calaitum. Miles would have officially met Hal’s parents, the alphas of the Delacour pack. Kane and Archer would have stood at their sides while they vowed forever. And from then on, he’d refer to Miles as husband.