“I can’t wait.”
She hesitated for a long moment, and then she nodded.
Then, of course, there was the whole debate about the fact that Perian needed Renny to be with him when he did this.
“Kee is attached to her!” he snapped, for what felt like the millionth time. “They’re connected! He hasn’t been able to leave her in almost seven years! They need to be here!”
“You can feed through a wall!” Cormal growled.
“You’re not asking me to feed through a wall!” Perian argued. “You’re asking me to try to stabilize an energy connection that we don’t even understand! We need every advantage!”
They would probablystillhave been arguing about it, but the Queen put her foot down, finally, and declared that Renny would be there, and Brannal and Cormal would be there to make sure nothing went wrong.
Perian was going to be doing his absolute best to make sure this worked not because of anyone who was threatening him but because of Renny and Kee.
The doctor insisted on remaining. The Queen did, too, even though Cormal recommended she leave. She just stared him down and said that her children would be present, and therefore, so would she.
Cormal insisted on more Mage Warriors to protect the Queen. Perian didn’t care who was in the room, so he ignored this. Cormal picked Mage Warriors he didn’t know very well, except for Delana. Perian wondered if Molun and Arvus would have been present if Molun wasn’t hurt.
He hoped so much that Molun would be all right.
Renny arrived, and she appeared to be the most relaxed about this whole thing, despite the fact that it had the most to do with her. She practically skipped into the cell after giving Cormal her best glare until he unlocked the door. She came to fling her arms around Perian just like she normally did, never mind that he was in a dungeon cell.
“Hello, Perian!” she said. “I’m so glad to see you again. Ooh, Kee says you look weird.”
“Weird how?” Perian asked, turning to look to Renny’s left. “Hello, Kee.”
She tilted her head. “He says it’s hard to describe. You always felt a bit different from everyone else, apparently, and now you feel… more different.”
This made Perian laugh, an unexpected sound in this particular place.
“I made sure to get as full of energy as I could, so I hope that’s a good thing.”
She made her “you’re talking about sex, that’s gross” face, and he had to laugh again, because it was that or cry, and he was pretty sure that if he started crying, he wouldn’t be able to stop.
“How are you feeling?” he asked her.
“Better now that I’m with you,” she said simply. “It was all right when I got to visit you when you were with Molun and here in the dungeon, but it’s not great. I like it better when we have picnics. I miss them.”
“Oh, Renny, I miss them, too.” He wished he could promise her that they could have more, but he wasn’t sure if the others would let him lie—and he wasn’t sure ifit would be worse if they did. He didn’t think a hysterical Renny was going to add anything to the proceedings.
“Right,” Perian said, sucking in a breath and then blowing it out slowly. “I think we should all be sitting down.”
Renny promptly sat across from him, still not seeming to care that they were in the middle of a dungeon, because this was where he was. She was a very good friend. He felt that weird little tug and was sure that Kee had sat down beside his sister on her left.
Perian held out his hands, and Renny placed hers in his. Right on cue, Cormal started to object, but Brannal told him to shut up.
“May I observe?” the doctor asked.
Perian nodded, and once Cormal was overruled, she was able to come and sit in the cell as well. This put her in proximity to Perian, but it also put her nice and close to Renny, and that was exactly what would be needed if something were to go wrong—or possibly even if something went right, for her or Kee.
Renny squeezed his hands.
“It’s going to be fine,” she told him. “We trust you.”
“Thank you, Renny. Kee.” He swallowed, his throat thick. “I don’t really know what I’m doing, you know that. But all this time, I’ve been accidentally sharing energy with you just by being near you, so at the very least, that’s what I’m doing right now.”
“You’ve been making such a difference,” Renny said, beaming at him. “Promise!”
