Page 1 of The Lost Art of Revealing Hidden Truths (The Lost Arts #3)

Chapter One

W hen Perian finished ensuring that Lily, the mare he’d ridden back to the castle, was clean and comfortable in her stall, he approached Prince Horsey with caution.

Brannal had tried to suggest that Perian should come back later, but Perian didn’t have a death wish.

He could hear the snorting and stomping from the other side of the stable.

All fifteen plus hands of glossy black stallion did not look impressed. Perian had known he wouldn’t be.

“Hello,” Perian said, aiming for calm and casual. “Are you in a temper because I was gone or because I dared to come back?”

Prince Horsey snorted some more and flicked his mane in Perian’s face.

“I’m sorry,” Perian apologized, offering an apple. “We thought you’d be more comfortable here in this stable instead of breaking down one that you didn’t know well.”

Perian was the first person the horse had willingly allowed to handle him in the last six years, which made the stable hands’ jobs rather difficult.

The horse lipped the apple off Perian’s palm and crunched through it angrily, expression making clear that he absolutely did not forgive Perian .

He tried a carrot next.

“You’re still the best horse ever,” he assured. Leaning forward, he confessed, “I lost both the races against Warrior because I wasn’t on you.”

Prince Horsey blew a huff of horsey breath right in Perian’s face, making him laugh.

“I know, serves me right, doesn’t it? Can I come back tomorrow? At least to feed you more carrots and apples?”

Prince Horsey ate another carrot and seemed to shrug, like Perian could do what he wanted, and Prince Horsey hadn’t committed yet to whether he was going to crush him for existing.

Perian laughed again. “Fair enough. I’ll be back.”

Brannal had waited patiently through all of this despite the fact that he had to be eager to get back to the castle and see what was going on. But he just smiled as Perian finally moved away from Prince Horsey.

“Do you think your bid for successful relations will broker the desired peace treaty?” Brannal asked.

Perian snorted. “I sure hope so. We’ll see what happens.

I think I might be in luck because he’ll get bored otherwise, but it might take a few days.

I don’t mind being frozen out if it gives him the chance to express his feelings.

It must be so confusing, sometimes, things happening in the world around you that you just can’t understand. ”

“That happens to all of us,” Brannal said gently.

“True,” Perian agreed.

He still didn’t entirely understand how he’d wound up with this wonderful man, but it was a happy chance, and he was so very grateful for it.

They headed into the castle together and made their way up to his and Brannal’s rooms to quickly clean up. They weren’t going to take the time for a full bath, but they could at least scrub off and change into clothes that weren’t as travel-weary, which also helped with the smell.

“Going to go see if everything has fallen apart in your absence?” Perian asked.

There were many competent Mage Warriors in the castle, but Brannal was Summus, the head of them all, and he’d been gone for three glorious nights when he’d spirited Perian away on a surprise holiday.

Brannal nodded. “You’ll be all right? ”

Perian grinned. “Of course. I mean, I’ll be sad that we don’t get to have sex every minute of the day, but I’ve got some good memories to keep me going until we spend time with one another again.”

Brannal groaned and pulled Perian closer to give him a resounding kiss.

“Tease,” he murmured.

Perian didn’t deny the allegation. A hot and bothered Brannal was one of his favorite things.

“I assume you might be late?”

Brannal shrugged, nodding. “It’s certainly possible.

And if not, it would probably be wise to have dinner in the dining hall with everyone, even though I want to drag you to bed and have my way with you again.

You’d think that the last few days would have gotten you out of my system at least a little. ”

Perian’s smile faltered. “I should hope not.”

Brannal made a face, tugging Perian closer again to press a soft kiss to his lips. “No, I didn’t mean that. More like… I’ve had so much sex, it should tide me over until later, but instead, I just seem to want to have more .”

This made Perian laugh, especially at the mixture of longing and incredulity in Brannal’s voice.

Perian slung his arms around the other man’s neck and gave him another kiss.

“I always want to have more sex with you, too. But I can wait until tonight after dinner, whoever we spend it with, when we’re able to curl up in bed together. Have to see if this bed is better than the one at the inn, right?”

Brannal nodded, lips tipping up in a smirk. “Yes, absolutely. I’ll see you as soon as I can.”

They went their separate ways. It was tougher than Perian expected.

They’d not even been gone for three days.

Surely, he could handle Brannal doing exactly what he usually did here in the castle.

Instead, it felt like they’d trained themselves to spend all their time together, and now it felt weirdly like something that was between the two of them was being stretched to the breaking point and was going to snap.

Which was ridiculous, and Perian wasn’t going to be ridiculous about this.

It was early afternoon, so Perian had missed his chance for a picnic with Renny. He decided to stop by the doctor’s office to see if she needed help with anything. Surely, there would be something that Perian could do.

He was clutching the necklace Brannal had given him that morning, he realized, his thumb and forefinger pinching the metal, joining all four elements together. He made himself let go before he entered the doctor’s workroom.

The doctor looked up, and though she smiled, Perian thought she looked a bit strained, the lines around her mouth and at the corners of her eyes more pronounced than usual, though her hair was still neatly pulled back, the square beads marking her gender a metallic gleam against the graying strands.

“Welcome back,” she said.

“Thank you,” he returned, frowning at her. “What’s the matter?”

She was silent for a moment, and then she said, “The Princess had one of her dizzy spells yesterday.”

“Oh, no!” Perian exclaimed, heart thumping in his chest. “What happened? Is she all right? Is she hurt?”

The doctor reassured him, “She isn’t seriously injured. Thankfully, she collapsed as she was rising from her lessons. She did not have far to fall, and she was speedily attended.”

“Maybe she stood up too fast?” Perian asked hopefully.

The doctor shot him a withering look.

“It’s just, it’s been weeks ,” Perian said, a bit desperately. “ Months .”

The doctor nodded and reminded him, “And we always knew this could happen. Her illness is not uniform in its severity.”

Perian had never witnessed a bad patch, though, and he’d been hoping so desperately that she was properly on the mend. Almost every time he’d had a picnic with her, she’d looked better than she had the day before.

“Can I see her?” he asked.

“She’s resting and is not permitted visitors.”

Perian drooped.

The doctor considered him for a long moment and then scooped up a bottle of tonic.

“The Princess’s riding lessons have been canceled, and I believe she is…

chafing at her restrictions. It’s nearly time for her next dose of medicine, and I’m so very busy.

Do you think you could do me the greatest favor and take it to her? ”

The workroom was completely empty .

Perian flung himself at the doctor and gave her a hug that seemed to surprise her, but she gave him a pat on the back and then pushed him away and held out the tonic. She cleared her throat, and Perian was surprised to see that her cheeks were a little flushed.

“That’s quite enough of that. Get on with you before I change my mind.”

Perian snatched up the tonic and practically ran out of the room, hearing her laughter behind him.

He slowed down as he left the public wing.

He didn’t make it more than two steps into the quadrangle before he retreated.

It was now pouring rain, which rather reflected Perian’s mood.

And while he’d willingly dash through the rain to get to Renny—it was the fastest way—he had the feeling that showing up a bedraggled mess would reduce the chance of his being let in to see an ailing princess.

He reluctantly retraced his steps and took the longer route indoors around the quadrangle to get to the royal wing.

It wasn’t like anyone was expecting him, and it wasn’t that much longer, but Perian was suddenly bursting with impatience.

How much had he been enjoying himself yesterday and today while Renny had been languishing in bed?

Logically, he knew he couldn’t have known, but that didn’t help how he felt about it now.

He loved every single thing that he and Brannal had done, and there was nothing he could have done if he was here, but he wished he’d been here just the same.

He was sure Brannal would have understood.

As he entered the royal wing, he straightened his spine, squared his shoulders, and made sure to walk with what he hoped was a combination of assurance and relaxation, like this was exactly where he was supposed to be.

While, you know, having absolutely no idea where he was going. But he was going there with purpose .

He stopped the first person he met and tried to sound authoritative as he asked for the Princess’s rooms. Thankfully, he got directions.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know either of the Warriors stationed outside Renny’s room.

“Hello,” he greeted them, still trying to sound like he knew what he was doing. “I’m here to bring Renny—er, the Princess—her tonic. The doctor was unable to come, and she directed me to bring it in her stead.”

One of them reached for it, and Perian snatched it back.

“Oh, no,” he protested. “I’m to make sure she gets it.”

“We can—” one of them started.