Chapter One
When 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 didnotlook 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 lostboththe 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.”
