Page 32 of The Lost Art of Finding Where You Belong (Lost Arts #2)

Chapter Fourteen

E ventually, he finished with the tea and headed down to the training yard. It wasn’t like there was a time he had to be there given he was only watching, but he didn’t want to be too late.

Bennan and Chamis didn’t appear to be present, and Perian scanned the field twice and kept coming up empty. He really, really hoped nothing was wrong.

Onadal had noticed his late arrival, though, because once he’d finished speaking to the group of Warriors surrounding him, he headed over to Perian. His lip curled up when he got close enough to actually see him properly.

“I take it rumors were not exaggerated and Summus has returned to us?”

Perian couldn’t help but grin. “He rode extra late last night to get back.”

“And judging from that grin, you had a very happy reunion?” Onadal asked, but it wasn’t really a question.

“Very happy,” Perian confirmed with delight. “You probably don’t want details, but it was so good.”

The other man rolled his eyes. “I definitely don’t want details.”

“Delana and Cormal are still coming back today,” Perian thought to clarify when he remembered he was not the only one eager for a reunion.

Onadal just nodded like this wasn’t something he was particularly waiting to hear, but Perian wasn’t fooled.

“Oh,” Perian continued, “and I pinned Brannal down and told him all about what happened, so I’m pretty sure he’s not going to kill you.”

Onadal’s lips twitched. “Pinned him down, eh?”

Perian smiled and nodded. “Used every trick I know.”

Onadal snorted. “I’ll just bet you did. Thanks for that. I’ll make sure to connect with him when he’s available.”

“Next week,” Perian suggested smoothly.

Rolling his eyes, Onadal said, “I’m glad everything went well. Try to actually look at something other than the pretty people, or you’re going to be useless when you start practicing again.”

“Uh huh,” Perian agreed.

Onadal made a scoffing noise and headed back to his training.

Perian wondered if he should have asked about Bennan and Chamis, but he reminded himself that they hadn’t been there every day before.

Perian wasn’t normally here every day, either; he’d shown up every day while Brannal was away to help fill the time.

He needed to not blow this out of proportion.

He watched the training, but his mind was a million miles away, mostly revisiting the amazing reunion and how very happy he was that Brannal was back.

He definitely wanted to raise the idea of figuring out if he could go with Brannal in the future, but he didn’t think now was the time to bring it up.

Brannal had just gotten back, and it made more sense to let everything settle back into a regular routine before he proposed any adjustments.

Besides, Brannal would likely be exhausted after his late night and long day.

This was a hope for the future, and Perian would first prove that they could manage just the way they were doing now if that proved necessary.

(Perian could certainly imagine protest from certain red-headed quarters.) Plus, he didn’t want to cut into their reunion cuddle time.

“Based on the look on your face, I take it Brannal made it back in good order last night? ”

Perian’s eyes flew open to find Delana standing in front of him. He jumped to his feet and gave her a hug. She seemed a little surprised but hugged him back.

She still smelled a bit like horses, and that meant she’d come straight from the stables, and Perian was sure she hadn’t come here for him. He continued to hug her until he’d got his smile under control, then pulled back.

No, he was still smiling. He couldn’t help it.

“Yes, he did, thank you. It was glorious.”

She laughed. “I can see that. I think they can see that smile from the tenth district watch station.”

Perian’s smile just got wider.

“Wow,” she said. “It was that good?”

“It was so good. A week is a really long time.”

Her expression softened a little. “It can be, yes.”

“I wanted to thank you, because I’m not sure I can bring myself to thank Cormal, but I’m really very grateful you were both with him while he was traveling and that he wasn’t battling wraiths or lesser demons on his own.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

“Fire and water, don’t tell me he was battling them on his own!” Perian exclaimed, heart suddenly hammering.

She was already shaking her head. “No, no, I swear. It’s just that I remember a whole discussion where we weren’t going to mention it.”

Perian couldn’t help but laugh, relieved.

“Oh, yeah, I can totally see that. I definitely worried a bit. But I’m pretty sure I blew it out of the water by getting attacked while he was gone.

Fomadin was thrown out from the Warriors, as well as banned from the castle and the city. The Queen was involved and everything.”

Delana’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously?”

Perian raised his left arm, though it was covered. “I remembered to block with my left. It had to be stitched up and everything.”

“Fire and water. And Summus knows all about this?”

“I sat on him in the bath to tell him.”

She laughed. “Oh, I would have liked to see that. ”

“It helped,” Perian said, grinning a little, though the smile faded. “It wasn’t pretty. But we’re all right. And I made sure to emphasize everything Onadal did and the fact that he wouldn’t let me train again while still injured. So he’s in one piece and all yours.”

Her expression softened to one he didn’t see very often from her. “Thank you, Perian.”

“Oh, hey, of course,” he said, feeling a little awkward now. “Not like it was Onadal’s fault. He took a risk on me. He shouldn’t be punished for it.”

She squeezed his shoulder. “You know, I don’t really think it was a risk at all.” She cleared her throat, and her expression grew more neutral. “I was wondering why you were just lounging around over here.”

“I’ve graduated to just watching everyone,” he declared loftily.

“Oh, is that the next step? Learn how to defend yourself and then just idly admire instead?”

He nodded. “I highly recommend it.”

Delana smirked. “I’ll keep that in mind. For now, I’m going to go see how everything else went while I was gone. Any fights between Warriors and Mage Warriors?”

“None that I heard about. And apart from the occasional heckler, people have been really good. Onadal invited me to dinner and everything, so I do that now sometimes.”

She nodded. “I’m glad to hear it. I’ll see you later, Perian.”

“Welcome back.”

She headed over to Onadal, and Perian watched them for a long moment.

They really were being entirely professional.

He could see he wasn’t the only one watching.

They scarcely touched, their gazes didn’t even linger, and Perian didn’t doubt they were absolutely talking about Warriors and Mage Warriors.

He was equally certain down to his very bones that they were delighted to be back together. They were definitely, definitely going to have sex as soon as they were alone.

Perian was relieved Brannal hadn’t asked him to keep it so professional.

He would have tried—he never wanted to embarrass the man, and he knew everyone was not as open as Perian—but he was well aware it wasn’t his best skill.

Thankfully, Brannal knew that about him, and he’d given him that perfect night and morning without expecting him to hide anything.

As the clock tower tolled, Perian realized how late it was, and he sprang to his feet and hurried up to Brannal’s rooms to grab the picnic blankets.

He hurried to the kitchens, grabbed the food from a smirking Alona—yeah, the staff definitely knew Brannal was back—and made his way out to the garden.

Perian waved at the two Warriors and ducked through the bushes. Renny was waiting with a very expectant look on her face, and when she saw him, she burst into the biggest grin.

“What?” he asked, though he figured he could probably guess.

“I wondered if Brannal managed to see you before he had to see Mother, but I can see he did.”

Perian nodded and then couldn’t help but confess, “He rode extra late last night so he could get back and surprise me.”

“Did you get any sleep?” she asked.

“Renny!” he exclaimed, but he rather spoiled his attempt at censure by bursting into laugher, and she grinned at him. “We did sleep, thank you.”

“After?”

“After,” he said firmly. That surely wasn’t a surprise, but he was definitely not going into detail. “It was so nice waking up in his arms this morning.”

“Worth the wait?” Renny asked.

They pulled out the blanket and started setting everything up. He still brought the second, smaller blanket that he used to wrap Renny in when she was cold. It was warmer now, and she seemed stronger, so it wasn’t always necessary. But it was always ready, just in case.

“Absolutely,” Perian said with a nod. “I mean, it wasn’t easy, sometimes. You know how worried I got and how much I missed him. But you all helped me, and it was absolutely worth it for the moment he got back and I was holding him again.”

“Aww,” she said, looking really happy. “You two are just so sweet.”

He laughed again. “I’m not sure Brannal wants to be sweet.”

“Summus can be fierce and tough, all right?” Renny told him. “You and Brannal are sweet.”

Perian grinned and nodded. Maybe she was right.

There were absolutely times where Brannal was going to have to be Summus and make the tough calls and conciliate with Cormal or not go after someone who’d hurt Perian.

But there were times where he could overreact and they could just spend time together and read or cuddle or go riding. That was how they made this work .

They’d made it past this first separation and through the first reunion, and overall, it had gone really well.

Brannal had fought demons, Perian had been injured, and they were still all right .

He wasn’t so naive as to think there wasn’t plenty more they were going to need to face, but it did give him hope.