Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
Brannal raised an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted to be in charge of everyone?”
Molun scoffed, but he was grinning. “I wanted my chance to boss you around, that’s all. I can’t think of anything worse than being in charge of everyone. No offense.”
Brannal was laughing. “None taken. And if you won’t be offended, I will say that you make an excellent Tertius.”
“And Secundus,” Cormal interjected.
Molun shot him a look.
“Seriously,” Cormal said. Then he made a face and amended, “Mostly seriously?”
Molun laughed. Trill was so glad they could joke about this now. He liked it much better when they were all getting along.
“Brannal knew what he was doing,” Cormal continued.
“You do need people who can work together, which is where we struggled when I was being an ass, but it’s important to have people with varying strengths and approaches.
It means we can reach more people and solve problems better.
I lost sight of that, and I’m determined to do better.
” He looked at Perian. “I saw what you could do with my own eyes, but it didn’t once occur to me what it meant, and it should have.
We’ve lamented the loss of Life Mages for centuries, and I nearly destroyed you because I couldn’t see what was right in front of me.
Thankfully, I wasn’t in the majority at the castle, but I’m afraid there will be others like me, and it will take time and effort to show the error of our thinking. ”
“It will help to have abilities that are of benefit to people,” Perian pointed out wryly.
Cormal made a face. “Oh, I didn’t mean it like that!”
“But it’s true,” Trill agreed, nodding at Perian. “If we can gain the support of the Queen and aren’t actually in danger of our lives, then the fact that we can help people is probably a strong deciding factor in our favor.”
“But we’re going to be very careful,” Arvus interjected, tone brooking no objection. “We’re not having you or Perian overrun by requests or blamed for not saving everyone.”
Brannal and Molun both nodded seriously, and Perian and Trill exchanged glances. There were only two of them, and they definitely couldn’t be everywhere at once. Nor, he assumed, could they save everyone from every type or severity of injury or disease.
They hadn’t fixed the Prince, after all. His type of… injury might be unique, but surely he wasn’t the last they wouldn’t be able to help.
“Do you think there are more of us?” Perian asked, almost like he’d been reading Trill’s mind.
Trill shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess if there’s two of us, there are probably more. But if I’m being honest, if I were them, I wouldn’t even consider revealing myself until it was absolutely clear that no harm would come to me.”
Everyone around the table nodded, thankfully not seeming offended.
“But,” Perian said hopefully, “looking at it the other way, if we can convince people that we’re not just out to kill them, consider what we bring to the table: healing, as well as loads of really good sex, from us and the carnalions. What’s not to like?”
They laughed, and Brannal slung an arm around Perian. “It is superior sex.”
“Agreed,” Molun and Arvus said promptly, grinning at Trill.
He couldn’t help but preen. Looking around the table, he could see that everyone seemed amused and happy. No, it wasn’t a solution for the Prince, unfortunately, but it was still the beginnings of a monumental shift in something that Trill had thought was carved in stone.
It was entirely likely the Prince wouldn’t succeed, but just the fact that he was genuinely proposing it was more than Trill had ever expected.
“Would anyone like to join us in the sitting room?” Perian asked. “We like to drink tea and read terrible novels while we pick them apart and propose how they should be done better. It’s the doctor’s fault.”
This was exactly the sort of thing to appeal to Molun, and soon they were all trooping into the sitting room as Perian explained about the first terrible novel the doctor had sent to them.
“We usually do this in the study, but we won’t all fit there.”
By the end of the evening, everyone had taken turns reading, and the consensus was that Molun was best at the ridiculous voices, but Cormal and the Prince had shown a surprising ability to come up with absurd and wonderful-sounding plot ideas together.
There were parts where they had all been laughing too hard to hear anything, and it had been an unexpectedly enjoyable way to spend an evening.
Trill was reminded that Perian wasn’t even permitted to leave the estate.
He and Brannal had no doubt had to come up with countless things they could do here.
Trill really hoped that the Prince would succeed in changing that, but in the meantime, they had each other—and their friends, at least right now.
Trill woke early and sneaked out of bed because he had to talk to Yannoma.
He planted himself outside of her door. When she opened it perhaps three quarters of an hour later, she wasn’t dressed to depart, thankfully, but given her expression when she saw him, it was clear his effort had been necessary.
It was still weird to see her fully well like this. Wonderful! But weird.
“Better to get it over with and just talk to me,” he suggested.
She sighed and came all the way out of the room. “Very well.”
“You need to tell him,” Trill told her immediately.
“It’s complicated,” she protested.
“No, it’s not.”
“I can’t make up for what he’s lost.”
“No one is saying you need to. But you of all people can’t claim that you don’t think he deserves the truth.”
She huffed a breath, but she nodded with a wry expression in acknowledgment of his hit. Her eyes narrowed.
“I suppose you’ll tell him if I didn’t?”
“He deserves the truth,” Trill repeated. “I think it would come better from you.”
She drew in a deep breath, blew it out through her nose, and then nodded. He pulled her into a hug, which seemed to surprise her, but then she hugged him back.
“I’m so glad you’re well,” he told her.
Her grip tightened for a moment, and then she let him go. “Me, too.”
It had been so hard to see her injuries every day and not be able to do anything about them.
“Will you sit with me?” she asked. “If he wishes me to leave afterwards, I will do so.”
“Of course,” Trill agreed. “Let me get us something to drink.”
Yannoma headed to the study, and Trill was turned away from making tea in the kitchen, the cook and housekeeper insisting that they would have it sent to the study shortly.
Trill asked the housekeeper to let Perian know that they needed to speak with him when he was available.
Then he went to the study to join Yannoma in the armchairs by the fire.
She’d sat in the one that was further away from the flames, but she hadn’t run off while his back was turned.
“You intend to stay with the two pretty Mage Warriors?” she asked.
There was no censure in her voice, but maybe a bit of friendly mockery.
He bit his lip and nodded. “They asked me to. Until we know if the Prince is successful in his efforts to change how the Queen and everyone thinks about us, I’ll have to stay hidden from everyone else. But I won’t have to hide from a whole group of people, which is amazing.”
“The Prince intends to change the Queen’s mind?” Yannoma asked.
Trill had forgotten that she’d left the table before the Prince had made his declaration. He filled her in.
She huffed a breath and said dismissively, “So young.”
“Maybe that’s exactly what we need,” Trill insisted. “Someone young enough to dream.”
She looked annoyed for a moment, but then her expression softened.
“I would be astonished if this dream became reality, but if he makes a true effort to achieve it, it would be more than anyone has done in a long time.” She pinned him with a stern look.
“Be careful. If you become an object of political machinations, you could come to harm.”
Trill nodded. He trusted these people, but he agreed that it could spin out of control if they weren’t careful.
“I fear that it’s Perian who will become the focus of everything,” he confessed, “since he’s the one the Queen knows about.”
Her face tightened. “True.”
“But,” Trill hastened to add, “I don’t know anyone who could stand up to Brannal. He’s incredibly formidable.”
She nodded, but said, “Any one person can be overwhelmed.”
That was also true. An impenetrable shield only stayed that way as long as you could maintain it.
Still, though, it was a good place to start. Trill would much rather have Brannal in his corner than against him.
The housekeeper brought them a loaded tea tray, complete with biscuits, milk, and sugar.
Trill prepared it for himself and Yannoma.
She had easy use of her hands now, but Trill had gotten used to doing some of the finer work for her.
Tea was always a good idea, because then even if you didn’t know what to talk about, you had something to do with your hands and mouth.
They were on their second cup by the time there was a knock on the door, and Perian entered, followed by Brannal.
“Good morning! Evalon said you wanted to talk to me?” He greeted them cheerfully, though he looked a little worried.
Yannoma shot Trill a look, but he shrugged unapologetically.
“Yes,” Yannoma said reluctantly.
“Do you need privacy?” Brannal asked, glancing between them. It was clear he didn’t want to leave.
“No, you’d better stay,” Yannoma said after a moment. “Trill, too, if you don’t mind.”
Perian glanced between them. “No, that’s fine. What’s going on? Is everything all right?”
“Come and sit down,” Trill offered.
They had to rearrange the chairs, since the room clearly didn’t normally seat four people at once, but they made it work.
Yannoma stared into the fire for a long moment. Her hands were curled into fists, but then it looked like she made a conscious effort to straighten them out and appear more at ease.