Ryland surveyed the waste of food, morsels scattered, cups shattered, liquid spreading into a mixed, unappetizing mess.<br/><br/>"Hm. Yes," he said, sighing. "Well, they do need things to gossip about, don't they?"<br/><br/>Neither seemed inclined to clean it up themselves, though.<i>Spoiled</i>crossed through Ryland's mind, once more a label for the two of them. The servants would clean up the mess, they would in fact gossip, and everyone would stay in their appointed roles whether or not it was fair.<br/><br/>His thoughts were disrupted by the hand to his knee, by the semblance of a smile that Kethaias forced onto his face. He spoke of betrayal, of guilt. Kethaias thought his own life was an obligation to live, and while Ryland's position in life had those sort of overtones somewhere--no matter how distant from the throne he currently was, tragedies happened and he might one day have the crown in the face of one--he couldn't quite fathom that depth of exhaustion.<br/><br/>Then Kethaias had more instructive criticism. Too loud, just ruckus, closed in. Ryland laid a hand on his own chest and gave him a mocked look of affront. He laughed a little as his hand dropped.<br/><br/>"You are in the mountains. I'm afraid a sense of steep sides closing in on you is a hard sensation to escape." He shrugged. "But if it's quiet you want, there is a river..." His words drawled out, gauging interest as he went on. "There is no bank. It cuts straight through the rock, so still confined. But peaceful. We can go drift."<br/><br/>The boats Banque nobles used were long and nearly flat, with a low tent erected at one end. Usually, they brought along a picnic, because the only servant would be a man at the back end of the boat with a long pole. Ryland went on them mostly for intimacy, because otherwise they held very little appeal to him. But it was apparently something Kethaias might enjoy.<br/><br/>"Though I refuse to believe you didn't have fun at my teahouse and gambling house. Give them their due. And for all the stars' light, it isn't a crime to enjoy yourself. You won't throw me now. I am determined to show you something you like which you won't mope about."