It was a shame they were still so clothed, or Kethaias' crawl up to the head of the boat would have been something to watch indeed. Maybe when they got back, he'd have cause to do more than shape his hands over the pull of muscle, every hard plane of Kethaias' body. If the emperor-king let him. Ryland was mulling over everything he might do with a thick piece of rope, sprawled as lazily as a cat sunning itself, when Kethaias turned around.<br/><br/>The yelp the cold drove out of him echoed through the canyon. The boat rocked as he thrashed, trying to get away from Kethaias' heavy hand and the freezing cold cloth. Kethaias was<i>laughing </i>at him.<br/><br/>A twist slid hand and cloth to the boat's floor, and Ryland pounced on them both, pinning them there. He was gasping, his stomach chilled and heaving. "Brute!" he said. He clenched his teeth in a smile. "I'll show you."<br/><br/>It was<i>fun. </i>Ryland wondered when the last time Kethaias had<i>played </i>like this, and thought it must have been a long time. He glimpsed the boatman widening his stance to keep himself steady and bit back a laugh. They were certainly thrashing more. Ryland had gotten a fistful of Kethaias' braids and shoved them between the boat's side and the bottom of the stretched tent, letting them fall into the water so that they came back up soaking wet and icy. He threw them in Kethaias' face and watched him splutter.<br/><br/>The resulting tousle only ended when Ryland nearly kicked the brazier over and had recoiled with another sharp yelp. There was a nice little burn on the shin of his pants for it.<br/><br/>"Truce! Truce." He tightened his fists where they were pressed against Kethaias' shoulders. "Before one of us gets hurt. Or ends up in the river. Or<i>all </i>of us. Not very fair to our poor boatman. He can hardly refuse to ferry royalty, no matter how stupid we act." The smile he bit down on betrayed how he felt about that. Just excuses, really.<br/><br/>A glance down, though, showed he was still very much a mess.<br/><br/>"Do you want to try this again, or should I forever label you as untrustworthy? Choose wisely. I'll keep my word on this boat, but I make no promises out of it."