Page 22 of The Lost Art of Revealing Hidden Truths (The Lost Arts #3)

Still, he truly believed those two Warriors shouldn’t be in the castle. He shivered as he thought of a man who liked to hurt people, who was big and strong and preyed on people weaker than he was. That was definitely, definitely not someone who should be in a position of power over anyone.

Arvus stayed with him through the rest of the training session, and Onadal came over to see him near the end.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said.

“I think that’s my line,” Perian said with a wry smile.

Onadal shook his head. “No, I’d much rather get it out in the open and make clear what is acceptable and what is not.” He huffed a breath. “I would have thought that already clear, but it became obvious that a reminder was needed.”

“Would you rather I didn’t come tomorrow?” Perian asked. “Or at all? I’ve learned a fair bit already.”

But Onadal was shaking his head before Perian finished the sentence.

“That’s the last thing I want. If you decide that you don’t want to do this anymore, of course, I won’t stop you.

But I think it more important than ever that people are confronted with their prejudices.

I’m glad that you’re here and that we were able to discuss it.

Yes, Venoran is a friend to some of these Warriors and a colleague to all.

But that doesn’t make him infallible. It doesn’t mean that he can do no wrong, and it’s essential that everyone remember that.

We are not above the law, and if we do something wrong, then we will be caught and punished for it.

” He eyeballed Perian. “And in case you’re wondering, you have definitely not learned enough. ”

This made Perian laugh, and he nodded, pleased by the vehemence of that declaration. It really seemed that Onadal did want him there. And the man was right; Perian had helped expose the issue, but it had already been there.

Arvus accompanied Perian up to Brannal’s rooms to get the blankets, which was the point at which Perian realized he wasn’t simply heading back to his own room.

“Are you following me?” Perian asked.

Arvus nodded. “It seems expedient.”

“I’m all right,” Perian said.

“And if there’s another altercation? What do you think Brannal would do if you were harmed again?”

Perian sighed. “Ugh, fine. You can come with me, but you don’t get to come to the picnic, all right?”

Arvus smiled. “I believe Molun is guarding the Princess this afternoon.”

Yeah, Perian could see that this was going to be a team effort.

At the kitchens, Perian was not really surprised by the way everyone stopped to look at him, given what had happened with the Warriors. He soon realized that the reaction here was the opposite, though. More people than ever met his eyes, and numerous people gave him nods of their head.

Oh. These were part of the group of people who’d been taken advantage of, whom Perian had helped save.

Alona brought the basket of food, and Arvus took it, since Perian had the blankets and a bad hand.

“Thank you,” she said, eyes earnest.

He nodded, swallowing thickly. “I, uh, had to try to stop it.”

She smiled faintly. “We can see that.” She reached out and gently touched his arm. “Thank you for caring.”

Perian sniffed, nodded, tried to smile at the whole kitchen, because while some were going about their business, a lot of them weren’t, and then turned to head to quadrangle.

“Does it make that much of a difference?” Perian asked. “Did I do something that strange?”

Arvus considered for a moment. “I think he got away with a lot because he inspired fear in a lot of people, and he made them feel like they couldn’t possibly touch him. Warrior is a respected position here at the castle. But you helped expose him anyway.”

“Of course.”

Arvus huffed a breath. “You might not be a Warrior or a Mage Warrior, but you’re also Summus’s partner.”

Perian made a face. “Oh, do they think I felt safe to do it because of Brannal? ”

He did, in fact, think that Brannal would have supported him, but he hadn’t had that thought when it had happened.

Arvus shook his head, then amended, “Well, some of them, perhaps. But for others, I think it rather the opposite. You could be seen to be in a position of power yourself, where you could choose to cover up or ignore this sort of behavior. And instead, you waded in there and tried to stop it from happening. You weren’t his physical match, but you didn’t let that stop you.

I think a lot of people look up to you.”

Perian made a surprised noise, because that was not at all the sort of thing he’d expected to ever hear, especially not in a castle full of Mage Warriors and Warriors.

Arvus patted his shoulder. “You did a very good thing, Perian, and people noticed that.”

In the gardens, Perian saw that Molun was waiting by the bushes with a Warrior, who, if they had an opinion about Perian, did not seem to feel the need to share it.

Molun grinned at them. “Hello, two of my favorite people. How’s it going today?”

Perian said, “I got to see that Arvus is a lying liar who lies.”

They all shot him surprised looks.

“That whole thing about earth being so subtle and not showy? Lies! He broke the quadrangle earlier and made this wall of earth, and it was awesome!”

Molun looked at Perian like it was clear there had to be way more to the story than that, but he seemed to judge the mood right, and he shot Arvus a leer.

“Arvus has hidden depths. Super deep.”

Perian groaned. “Oh, wow, those bedroom eyes. All right, I think that’s enough for me. I need to go have lunch.”

The Warrior with Molun huffed a laugh, and Perian shot him a commiserating glance.

He nodded to Perian, which told him that either he supported him, he didn’t know what was going on, or he was a consummate professional.

Perian didn’t need everyone to like him, but the professionalism would be a nice change.

Perian piled the blankets in the basket and then carefully took it with his left hand, sighing.

“At least this should heal faster than the knife wound,” he reminded himself. He smiled at Arvus. “Thank you for the escort. I appreciate it, even if it was ridiculous.”

Arvus just smiled softly at him, and Perian nodded at the other two and then went through the bushes to where Renny was waiting for him.

She pounced as soon as he got in there.