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Lord Caden Brixzumin-Blackwood hands his gloves and coat to Mr. Cramaer with a smiled thanks and turns to go looking for his husband, laughing as the dogs go barreling past them both yipping and sliding on the hardwood floor.
“A good walk, sir?” Mr. Cramaer inquires as he shakes out the coat and carefully drapes it over his arm.
Caden huffs a small laugh with his hands on his hips. “Yes, or I thought.” He gestures to where the dogs disappeared. “Apparently we did not ramble long enough. I swear they were ready to fall asleep halfway home. I was afraid I’d have to carry them.”
Mr. Cramaer smiles with a small bow. “Perhaps they are just excited to see Lord Blackwood again, sir.”
Caden looks in the direction they disappeared. “Spoiled little monsters, he was feeding them breakfast off his plate this morning.”
He hears a muffled laugh beside him but by the time he turns, Mr. Cramaer’s face is completely neutral but for the smile playing at his lips. “I’d better go chase them back down.”
“Very good, sir.”
Caden strides down the great hall, heading for his husband’s study hoping to find him there. The door is open when he arrives and he stands in the doorway, surveying the scene in front of him. The dogs are happily flopped on the plush rug in the center of the room, panting heavily and starting to snooze as Lord Dorian Blackwood sits between them, absently scratching their ears and staring into the fire snapping in the fireplace.
“My lord? Are you well?” Caden asks teasingly, smiling when Dorian startles and looks over at him. “Whyever are you sitting on the floor when there are three perfectly good chairs for the taking?”
Finnegan, the redder of their two pups, woofs from where he’s laying, head nestled on Dorian’s knee and Dorian gestures down to him. “What was I supposed to do?”
Caden joins him on the floor and Copernicus leans against him with a small woof. “I think you’ve done the best you can under the circumstances, my love.” He reaches for Dorian’s hand and brings it to his lips. “How was today’s correspondence?”
Dorian groans and stands, gently lowering Finnegan’s head to the rug and pacing back to his desk. “It was fine.”
Caden comes to his feet to follow, concern etched in his face as he sits across from Dorian. “What is it?”
Dorian sits heavily in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We’ve been summoned.”
Caden’s brow furrows. “Oh?”
Dorian leans forward and picks up the parchment with heavy recognizable handwriting on it, Caden can see the broken seal of his father-in-law on the outside as Dorian pushes it across the table to him. He takes it and scans the contents.
A wedding.
The younger Isillionthë girl is marrying human nobility. Duke Blackwood could care less about the Isillionthë family and their desperate ploy to crawl back into the good graces of high elven society and doesn’t even bother to name the human nobility they’re marrying into.
Caden rolls his eyes.
The Duke is interested, however, in making sure his newly introduced grandchildren are matched and matched well. The opportunity for so many suitable people to be in one place is rare enough. The Lords Blackwood are expected to turn up to assist in these matchmaking endeavors.
He looks over the parchment at his husband. “This seems fairly innocuous, my love. I mean, it could have been a dinner summons. There will at least be other families at this.” He waves the parchment slightly. “And we’re encouraged - nay - expected to talk with them rather than your own kin.”
Dorian relaxes slightly in his chair. “You’re right.”
Caden slips around the desk and carefully places the parchment down. “Then what seems to be the matter, husband mine?”
Dorian looks up at him and reaches for his hips, tugging him gently until he tips into his lap, straddling his thighs and wrapping strong arms around his neck with a grin. “It was unexpected. And sudden. We’ll need to leave in a couple days to make it there on time.” He presses a kiss to Caden’s neck over his high collar and grins when his husband shivers in his arms. “I always assume a letter from my father is bad news. I hadn’t had time to process it when you arrived.” He tugs the collar down and nips at the exposed skin and Caden’s fingers twist in the hair at the nape of his neck as he gasps. “Thank the gods for your clear head, we can move on to better things now.”
Caden sways forward before catching himself. “Dorian, the door – we can’t.”
Dorian captures his lips in a searing kiss they both lose themselves in. “The servants know to hold dinner, I told Mr. Cramaer to not bother us awhile.” He breathes against Caden’s mouth.
Caden swats his arm. “You’re terrible!”
Dorian catches his hand and stands, laying Caden across the desk, pinning the offending hand above his head and grins wickedly. “You love me.”
Caden’s eyes soften even as passion still simmers behind them. “I do.”