Page 46 of The Lost Art of Finding Where You Belong (Lost Arts #2)

Chapter Nineteen

H e headed off to the doctor’s office and found her there with Nisal, selecting gloves.

Apparently, some of the plants they would be harvesting had thorns.

They found some for him as well, and a bag for gathering, with different areas in it for the different herbs, and then the doctor led them out to the section of the quadrangle where medicinal herbs were planted.

“We have other gardens in the royal park, but I like to start here. Now, watch what I do.”

Perian could recognize some plants, but he was by no means an expert, and he listened attentively to all the instructions. He didn’t want to be responsible for anything going wrong.

“I will check over what you collect,” the doctor reassured him. “You’re not going to poison anyone.”

Nisal laughed at him, but Perian was honestly relieved. He could only imagine how the rumor mill would react to an accidental poisoning.

“Do you always pick your own herbs and plants?” he wanted to know.

“Most often,” the doctor agreed. “It assures I’m getting a good quality. ”

He watched what the doctor and Nisal did first, paying careful attention to what to look for to be sure the plants were ready for harvesting and how to check for insects.

“Not a good ingredient in the salves?”

The doctor looked amused. “Especially not the tonics. Seems to make people uncomfortable for some reason.”

Perian made a face. Uh, yeah, no, thank you. He looked extra carefully for bugs.

It was a soothing process, and he enjoyed being with the doctor and Nisal. If they had heard about yesterday, they didn’t let on. It was methodical work, rhythmic and… green, really.

He helped with the washing, and then everything was laid out to dry, and Perian was sent on his way.

“Would you like me to come back tomorrow to help some more?” he asked.

“If you’re available,” the doctor told him, “I wouldn’t say no.”

Perian nodded. “I’ll plan to stop by, barring disaster. As you know, sometimes I have disasters. Or get distracted.”

She laughed. “I understand.”

Nisal left with him, asking, “How are you doing?”

He took this to mean they’d heard about yesterday after all.

“Not too bad, now. Brannal got a very skewed version of what happened, we agreed that actually talking to one another was better than berating one another, and we had a good discussion. We’re going to be all right.”

They smiled wide. “I’m so glad. I like you together, very much.”

“I like us together too,” Perian agreed, smiling back. Sheepishly, he said, “It’s taking some work, but I feel like we’re figuring out how to be in a relationship.”

They laughed slightly, but it was a commiserating sort of laugh.

“I think most relationships probably have plenty of missteps. Plus, there are a lot of outside pressures and scrutiny that are pushing against the two of you. That would be a challenge for anyone to face.”

“Thank you,” Perian told them. “That actually makes me feel better.”

They beamed at him.

It was true that in most cases, people didn’t have to deal with queens, princesses, and protection of the country. Or the castle’s rumor mill. Maybe it was reasonable that they were struggling with this sometimes .

“Are you coming to dinner?” Nisal asked.

“Not sure yet,” Perian said. “Brannal and I didn’t talk about it. Want to see if he’s in?”

They nodded, and the two of them headed upstairs, where they found Brannal was indeed there, looking up and brightening when he saw Perian.

“There you are,” he said. “I remembered about the herbs, but then I realized I had no idea how long that would take, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Perian laughed. “We hit a moment of pause, anyway. Nisal was asking if we were going to dinner.”

Brannal made a face.

Perian made one in return. “What was that expression? ‘I don’t want to eat ever again’?”

Brannal’s lips tipped up. “Conflicting decisions.”

“Ah. And how are you torn?”

“I would much prefer to eat here with you, but after the… events of yesterday, I think it would be wiser to present a united front and dine with others.”

“Let’s do it,” Perian said immediately.

Brannal looked at him. “Yes?”

He nodded. “I thought one of the options was going to be without me, so I’m good.”

“Never without you,” Brannal told him.

There was a look in his eyes that told Perian that if Nisal hadn’t been present, they might not have made it to dinner after all, but Perian could see the sense of the plan.

“Let’s go,” he managed to say, before he got too distracted by that heated look.

He also wanted to show that he could compromise, too, and that he understood the importance of Brannal’s role as Summus.

When they got to the dining hall, Molun and Arvus were already there and waved them over to the usual section where they sat with Onadal, Delana, Bennan, Chamis, and a few of the others that he sort of knew.

Perian was pretty sure there were still a few more stares than yesterday, but he didn’t hear anything outrageously rude.

No one close to him brought the matter up, except for obliquely, when Brannal asked how the Princess was today.

Perian assumed this was to confirm he was still seeing her, but that was all right, he always liked to talk about Renny, and so he told everyone who might be listening that she was doing quite well, that she’d enjoyed her ride the day before—ha!

—and that she was looking forward to riding with him again in the future.

Cormal was not at dinner, Perian noticed, and he wasn’t sure if the man was embarrassed, if he’d decided he’d better sit this out if he couldn’t say anything nice—or if he just had a life that didn’t actually revolve around Perian, and he was off doing his own thing.

At one point, Perian realized that after serving himself and Chamis from a large bowl of mixed vegetables, Bennan was picking all of the green ones off Chamis’s plate and putting them on his own. He must have caught Perian staring.

“He doesn’t like green vegetables, so I eat them for him.”

“What, not anything green?”

Chamis’s ears went red, which hadn’t been Perian’s intention at all, but thankfully, the discussion quickly devolved into a discussion of all the foods that people didn’t eat and why—ranging from very sensible reasons to really completely absurd ones, and it left them all laughing.

Perian gave fond farewells to everyone and then headed back with the Mage Warriors to their corridor. Nisal said farewell first.

And then, proving why Perian loved him, Molun asked, “Do you need a blow-by-blow account of this morning? I have details. Facial expressions. I can share it all!”

Perian laughed. “That’s very generous of you. But Renny filled me in—and it was definitely blow by blow.”

Molun grinned. “She was the best out of all of us.”

Brannal huffed a laugh, but he was nodding.

“She outdid herself. I think we all got a very clear idea of what would happen if anyone tried to take you away from her or thought she was not capable of making her own well-informed decisions. She’s not an adult yet, but she’s not the child she was, either. ”

“I’m sad I didn’t get to witness it in person, but I almost feel like I was there,” Perian told them. “So if you don’t mind, I’d rather try to put it behind me and go have sex with my man instead.”

Molun laughed, and Brannal and Arvus looked amused.

“On that note,” Brannal said cheerfully, “goodnight everyone, sleep well, see you tomorrow.”

Molun was still chortling as Perian gave a wink and a little wave, and then he and Brannal were safely inside the room.

“Sex with your man, is it?” Brannal asked.

Perian closed the door with his back to it, leaning against the wood.

“What do you think I’ve been wanting to do since I saw you before dinner?”

“And I delayed it for hours? I’d better make it up to you.”

And he did. Against the wall, then in the armchair by the fire, and finally in bed. It was so worth the wait.

Over the next few weeks, Perian was actually able to ride with Renny three more times, and absolutely nothing untoward happened.

Kee continued to accompany Perian while they were with Renny, and although he still said it wasn’t the same, he reiterated how much he appreciated the chance.

Perian was happy to do anything he could.

He kept working on his defense, and he helped out the doctor and Nisal when they asked for it. He took Prince Horsey out for longer runs.

He spent a lot of time with Brannal, and that was always awesome.

It had fallen into a bit of a routine, and Perian kind of loved it.

This was, naturally, when he arrived at the stables to go for a ride with Prince Horsey and found that Brannal was there in the stable yard. He had both Warrior and another horse saddled beside him.

“Oh,” Perian said, a bit blankly. “Are you going somewhere?”

They hadn’t talked about this at breakfast.

“I am,” he agreed. He gestured, smiling. “So are you.”

“I am?”

“Up you get,” Brannal instructed.

There was a suppressed excitement about him, and Perian just stared for a moment, a bit bemused. He eyed the horse that was definitely not a certain magnificent stallion.

“Are you trying to get me on Prince Horsey’s bad side?”

Brannal’s lips twitched up. “Why do you think I made sure to be ready for you out here? He doesn’t have to know. ”

Perian shot him an unimpressed look. “He’ll know. He’s the smartest and most opinionated horse I’ve ever met.”

Brannal was eying him with amusement. “What if I promise to make it worth your while?”

Perian gazed back at him, at the twinkle in those dark eyes. Were they going off into the countryside to have sex? He still didn’t understand why they couldn’t bring Prince Horsey, but Perian could get behind the end goal.