Page 29 of The Lost Art of Revealing Hidden Truths (The Lost Arts #3)

They pulled out some of the stack of wood that had been lined up inside the cave. It was good and dry. Perian gathered up some smaller sticks and dried leaves that they could use as tinder. He dug through his bag and came up with his flint, then crouched down and tried to strike the right spark.

There was a sudden “whoosh,” and Perian reared back as fire engulfed all the wood in front of him. He half fell down onto his ass as he looked out to the water, where it seemed the combatants had decided they were done for the moment.

Perian raised his hand at Brannal as he shifted back to the logs that had already been placed around the firepit as seats. “Thanks, honey! I don’t need eyebrows. It’s fine.”

Arvus let out a chuckle, and Brannal made a face.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I’ll remember a warning next time.”

“Not that it’s not totally sexy, because it totally is,” Perian assured him. “Really, is there anything sexier than a man who can light things on fire while striding naked out of the water? Mmm…”

He got a little distracted and didn’t mind that everyone laughed at him while he gazed without shame at Brannal as he did indeed come striding out of the water, which might have been cold, but it didn’t seem to be slowing Brannal down at all.

He grabbed a towel and scrubbed himself dry, while Perian made soft protesting noises.

Brannal huffed a breath, came over to press a kiss to the top of Perian’s head, then pulled on his own clothes before coming to sit on the chunk of wood next to Perian, cozying right up to him just the way Perian liked. He slung an arm over Perian.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Good,” Perian said. “You? You looked like you were having fun.”

A faint blush was visible on Brannal’s cheekbones. He really didn’t blush often, and if Perian thought about it, it was a little sad that he found this sort of behavior embarrassing.

“We didn’t mean to exclude you.”

Perian laughed, shaking his head. “Please, don’t worry about it. I got out of there to reduce the chance of accidental drowning, but it was beautiful to watch. I really enjoyed seeing all of you so playful.”

Brannal let out a little breath and leaned a bit closer to Perian. He had definite feelings about what was appropriate for Summus and what wasn’t, but he also seemed to be working hard to modify some of those beliefs.

They all dried off and got properly warm again in front of the fire, and then Brannal suggested, “A light lunch and then one of our training exercises?”

Molun groaned and said in a very carrying whisper, “Perian, it’s your job to distract him.”

“You get the food ready,” Perian instructed. “Brannal, while I was gathering firewood, I saw something I really need to show you.”

“I’ll bet you did,” Molun said, and the rest of them snorted.

Brannal gave him a doubtful look.

“Really,” Perian said. “Please.”

He broke out his best pout.

Brannal rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be chivvied to his feet and guided out into the woods. Perian waited until they were definitely out of sight of the camp, and Brannal got as far as, “So what—” when Perian threw himself at the man.

Brannal caught him, of course, because he was the best at that, though he’d apparently been expecting a bit of subterfuge.

No, Perian had shamelessly and obviously lured him out here for sex.

Brannal got into it after a moment, tongue delving into Perian’s mouth, holding him closer. Perian bit at his lip, sucked on his jaw and made his way over to Brannal’s ear.

“Remember the sex against a tree? I want you to fuck me against a tree again, Brannal.”

Brannal blew out a breath. “The others—”

“—are definitely going to be smart enough not to venture into the woods while we’re out here. And even if they did, do you think any of them would be surprised? Besides, there’s a ninety percent chance it would be Molun, who wants to see what we’re doing.”

He could tell he had the man at least half-convinced, which told him how far they’d come. Brannal had colleagues not that far away.

Perian plastered himself over the man. “I told you I had something to show you. You wouldn’t want to make me a liar, would you? What are you going to do if the others ask what I showed you?”

Brannal laughed and hoisted Perian up so he could wrap his legs around the man’s waist, locking his ankles together .

“I’ll lie,” Brannal said, “because they’re not getting these details, are they?”

He pressed Perian back against the nearest tree, and Perian squirmed happily against it, rubbing as much of himself against Brannal as he could.

“You’ll tell them I showed you something absolutely fabulous, of course,” Perian answered.

Brannal kissed him hungrily and fumbled for the fastening of his trousers, so Perian thought this was a mission well accomplished.

There was no way they looked anything but rumpled and well-fucked by the time they made it back to the campsite, and Perian was definitely sporting a satisfied smirk.

“That good, was it?” Molun asked.

“I always show Brannal wonderful things,” Perian said smugly.

Molun laughed, and Brannal looked pleased as well. The others shook their heads.

“They’re really like this all the time, aren’t they?” Delana said, eyebrows raised. “I thought it was maybe just when I saw them.”

Nisal shook their head. “Oh, no, it’s all the time.”

“Well, really—” Perian protested. He frowned. “I mean, it is all the time, I’m not disputing that, but you only see us when you see us, so you can’t actually know that it’s all the time just because you’re also seeing us now.”

“It’s the different setting,” Delana explained. “I thought I might see a different side of you.”

Perian eyed her. “It’s a beautiful, mostly-secluded area by a lake with trees, a beach, and a fire. Of course, we’re going to have sex. Lots of it.”

She considered this, then said, “Yeah, all right, I rescind the comment. Is there any scenario where you wouldn’t have sex?”

“Hmm,” Perian said, thinking about this.

“Is this really what we want to be talking about right now?” Brannal asked with an eye roll.

Perian said, “I assume we can discount all of the usual ones: in front of children, the Queen, or anyone who really doesn’t want us to have sex in front of them, or a large group of people where the interest is unclear.

Apart from that… not a lot of occasions are coming to mind, especially if they’re occasions where the two of us are alone or one of us is looking particularly sexy—and since Brannal looks particularly sexy all the time , that kind of answers that question, right? ”

Delana was laughing. “Yes, that answers that question.”

“You know,” Brannal said, though his lips were twitching up at the corners, “you don’t actually have to answer every question that’s asked of you.”

“But what if it kept Delana up at night because it was an unanswered question, and then that led to a terrible sleep disorder, and then she couldn’t be a Mage Warrior anymore?” Perian demanded.

“That escalated quickly,” Molun observed, sounding impressed.

Brannal was eyeballing him. “So… you are, in fact, preserving the sanctity of the Mage Warrior duty by answering questions about our sex life?”

Perian smacked a kiss onto his lips. “Now you’re getting it.”

Everyone laughed, and Brannal wrapped an arm around Perian’s waist and tugged him closer, clearly not actually perturbed.

This was a group of Mage Warriors he was close to, and he seemed willing to be a little more casual with them.

Perian would have answered a little bit differently in front of another group.

Probably.

They dipped into the provisions from the castle for lunch. Perian was delighted with the fact that they were being fed the entire trip, since they were just staying overnight. Hunting was not a skill he’d acquired.

Brannal really did want them to do the training, though, and while Molun and Perian had succeeded in delaying them a little, it was early afternoon when they actually got some work done.

Molun was still complaining.

“If we get it over with, then we can do fun things afterwards,” Arvus pointed out.

“What sort of fun things?” Molun wanted to know. “Do we get to have sex in the forest like Perian and Brannal?”

Arvus regarded him with amusement. “Would you like to?”

Molun nodded hopefully .

“Then we can certainly do that,” Arvus agreed.

Molun cheered and clapped his hands.

“After training,” Brannal said flatly.

Molun was back to pouting.

Nisal and Delana exchanged glances. “Do you feel a bit like the odd ones out?”

Nisal nodded. “No offense, but I don’t want to have sex with you in the forest.”

Delana laughed. “Me neither.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Perian said, “I don’t want to have sex with either of you, either.”

This made everyone laugh, until Brannal finally called them all to order.

“All right,” he said, a little bit sternly. “Perian is going to sit here and count to one hundred.”

“Why am I the one just sitting here?” he wanted to know.

Brannal continued to explain. “Everyone else is spreading out through the forest, trying to get away from one another.” He eyed them.

“Your goal is to get back here untouched; if someone else is able to use their element on you, you’re out.

You don’t want to be seen, and you don’t want to wind up wet, dirty, or particularly ruffled.

” He looked at Nisal. “I’ll leave it to you to see just how ruffled you can make someone, shall I? ”

Nisal grinned. “Oh, if I’m hitting anyone with air, they’ll know it.”

Perian remembered the wall of air that had flattened people when some of the Mage Warriors were showing him defense back when he’d first been at the castle, and he was sure they were right.

Brannal added, “I won’t be trying to reach Perian, but I will be trying to get everyone out.”

There was a general chorus of complaints, which Brannal ignored as he continued.

“I won’t set anyone on fire, of course, or cause any forest fires. Anyone have questions?”

“Can we block other elements?” Delana wanted to know.

Brannal nodded. “If you’re able to prevent another element from touching you, then you may do so. In all the prosaic ways, like ducking out of the way, in addition to using your element to block the other one or forming a shield.”

“First one back to me wins?” Perian asked.

“First one untouched by an element who actually makes it to the fire and touches you wins,” Brannal agreed.

Perian eyed them. “So… wouldn’t it be to everyone’s advantage to not go far and then just sneak back immediately?”

“Well, they could try that, but I wouldn’t recommend it,” Brannal said with a glint in his eyes. “I’d strongly suggest that people take the count of 100 to get as far away as possible. Any more questions?”

Perian didn’t think he’d like to go up against Brannal when he decided he was going to defend something, and the others had similar expressions on their faces. Perian also appreciated that Brannal had learned his lesson, and no one was meant to be capturing Perian.

“Ready?” Brannal questioned.

They all nodded, and Brannal eyed Perian, who obediently started counting. He watched as they all disappeared into the forest.

Suddenly, a wind ripped around the fire pit…

but left a perfect untouched center where Perian and the fire were.

Peering at it, Perian was pretty sure it was composed of wind, water and dirt , and that was why it was so hard to see through, making everything around him a blur.

He would definitely not want to get caught up in that.

Perian raised his voice so that he was shouting as loud as he could in the hopes they could actually hear him and would know when they could start coming back.

When he hit one hundred, the gale suddenly rushed outward, screaming past the trees and out over the lake before it finally dissipated.

Perian was pretty sure that if anyone had failed to heed Brannal’s instructions, they were going to show up looking extremely bedraggled.

Or might someone have put up a shield and trusted it would withstand that force?

Perian couldn’t see Brannal anymore, but the man had probably thought of that and was lying in wait nearby in case anyone had taken the risk.

The trees looked pretty unscathed, and Perian wondered how much work that had taken Brannal to achieve.

Then it was just a waiting game for Perian, and after a moment, he dug through his bag and pulled out the book he’d brought. (Not that book. With Delana and Nisal coming, it hadn’t seemed like the best choice.) He was glad he’d shoved the novel in his bag just in case .

Perian loved how dedicated Brannal was, and he was never going to regret that, even if it sometimes meant that he was literally grounded, sitting on a block of wood by the fire just waiting for someone to make their way back to him and be declared the winner.

Perian couldn’t hear much at first, just the regular sounds of nature as they resumed from the shock of Brannal’s wind-water-earth chaos, but then he heard the sound of some yelling, what sounded like water falling from on high, and more yelling.

The ground trembled for a moment, which Perian assumed was Arvus, but he supposed it could have been Brannal, too, if he was messing with them.

Eventually, Molun came out of the forest, covered in dirt and grumbling.

“Betrayed!” he said very theatrically.

Perian said, “I have food.”

Molun beamed at him.

“Want to sit here with me and mess with them? Did Brannal say you couldn’t use your element once you were out?”

An even bigger smile crept across Molun’s face.

“He absolutely failed to say that,” he said very happily.

A very ruffled-looking Delana was the next one to appear, and Molun was polite and didn’t douse her with water because she looked annoyed enough as it was.

“Nisal is sneaky,” she said, sounding disgruntled but impressed.

Perian would not disagree with that assessment.

That left Arvus and Nisal out there, and whatever Brannal was doing to track them and help or hinder.

It got very quiet for a while, and then Perian saw motion out of the corner of his eye. Arvus was reaching for him just as Molun—and possibly also Delana given the amount of water—soaked him to the skin.

And then a hand plucked at his sleeve.