Once they dressed, they had breakfast at the sitting room table, everything set out for them just like it always was, and Brannal poured the tea. They weren’t terribly talkative this morning, but it was cozy and companionable, and Perian basked in it.
It wasn’t until they finished eating that Brannal surprised him.
“I’m going towhat?” Perian screeched.
“See the Queen this morning. She wishes to speak with you concerning Renny.”
Perian narrowed his eyes. “You found this out last night.”
Brannal nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me last night!” Perian demanded.
“So you could get this worked up yesterday, last night,andthis morning?” Brannal asked sardonically.
That was… an annoyingly accurate representation of what would probably have happened.
“Is it too late to move away?” Perian asked. “Maybe I could join a traveling fair.”
Brannal laughed. “It’s definitely too late. Now come along; you don’t want to be late.”
Perian jumped to his feet. He definitely didn’t want to be late to see the Queen. Brannal was now the one rising more slowly, and Perian practically pushed him out the door.
“We’re going to be there in plenty of time,” Brannal assured him.
“You’re not the one she wanted to see,” Perian protested. “Come on.”
Brannal was, in fact, the one who knew when Perian was supposed to be there—and where he was actually supposed to be meeting the Queen, but Perian wouldn’t let a little thing like logic get in the way of his sense of urgency and panic.
They made their way to the royal wing, Brannal now leading him without hesitation back to what Perian was pretty sure was the same office that he’d seen the Queen in last time. Brannal’s left hand pressed to Perian’s back in a soothing gesture that Perian tried not to collapse into.
Brannal knocked on the door and opened it when he was bid to enter.
Chapter Three
They stepped inside, and Brannal closed the door behind them. Oh, was he going to stay with Perian? Was this a good or bad thing? Was this Summus right now, and did that make a difference? Perian decided it wasn’t the thing to worry about with the Queen in front of him. No matter what BrannalorSummus thought, it was the woman in front of him that Perian needed to convince.
He bowed, and she gestured at the chairs in front of the desk.
“Sit.”
No armchairs by the fire today, apparently.
He sat. Brannal sat in the chair beside him. The Queen’s gaze didn’t waver from Perian’s. She had the same gray eyes as her daughter, her dark hair done up in even more elaborate braids than Renny’s. Her expression was a lot more severe, though.
“Do you think you know Princess Larenia better than those who have been by her side her entire life?”
“Your Majesty—” Brannal started, but he cut off abruptly at a sharp glance from the Queen.
Her eyes cut back to Perian. She raised an imperious eyebrow.
Perian swallowed and chose his words with care. “Not better, Your Majesty. But I think, perhaps, that my distance is what she needs. Someone who sees her now.”
The Queen’s gaze was narrow. Perian wondered if this was what a mouse felt like before a cat. “You think we don’t.”
Perian explained, “I think you can’t see her now without seeing how she was, which is to be expected, really.”
“You think we’re… coddling her,” the Queen proposed.
