Perian wanted to know whatthatwas supposed to mean, but Delana was already tapping on Renny’s bedroom door.
“Princess, your lunch date is here.”
“Send him in!”
Perian was duly ushered in, and the door was pulled almost closed. The room seemed brighter today. It literally was, he realized, since it was sunny and there was therefore more light coming in through the window, but itfeltbrighter, too. Renny was already propped up on pillows so she could sit upright. Her dark hair was neatly pulled back into braids that Perian was pretty sure had been freshly done. She didn’t look as wan and lifeless as she had yesterday. He wouldn’t go quite so far as to say that she was brimming with energy, but it seemed like a significant improvement that Perian thought underscored everything he’d argued about Renny’s health.
She was smiling. “Perian! You’re here!”
“I sure am,” he agreed. “I brought our picnic and picnic blankets before it occurred to me that you might like a cleaner blanket on your bed.”
She waved this aside as though it didn’t matter at all. “It’s our picnic blanket!”
So it was. But maybe he would see if he could get it washed. He probably should have considered that sooner.
He gave it a shake over Renny’s floor because that seemed better than risking lingering dirt on the bed. Then he smoothed the blanket over the bed including over Renny’s lower body, which was already tucked beneath the covers.
She huffed and protested, “I’m not supposed to beunderthe picnic blanket.”
He stared at her mutinous little face and decided that it was probably not a fight worth having. He didn’t think it would have a material effect on the function of the picnic, but if it affected herenjoymentof the picnic, then that was going to be a problem. Perian eyed Renny and the bed.
“I’m going to call in reinforcements,” he told her.
She gave a pained look. “I’m not an invalid.”
“Do you want everything to go perfectly well the first time so that your mother lets us keep doing this?”
She let out a very loud and obviously aggravated breath, but she didn’t actually object, which Perian took as acceptance. He stuck his head out the door.
“Delana, may we borrow you?”
She promptly came into the room.
Perian explained, “Renny would like to be on top of the picnic blanket. I thought perhaps you could scoop, and I could arrange the blankets?”
Delana eyed both of them for a moment, and then she seemed to approach it much the same way he did.
“Of course. Pardon me, Princess.”
So that’s exactly what they did. Perian could have picked Renny up; he might not be made of muscle like the Warriors and many of the Mage Warriors, but Renny wasn’t that heavy. It was awkward to manage her and the blankets, though, and he was sure it was better to be able to assure anyone who asked that Renny had not moved herself and that a big, strong Mage Warrior had done it.
(He had no idea if Cormal was going to pass by today, but Perian was ready.)
The switch was quickly accomplished, and Renny was soon settled on top of the picnic blanket. Since Perian had brought the smaller lap blanket just like he always did, that one could be laid across Renny, so no one could protest that she was suddenly going to catch cold in the middle of the summer, either.
“Thanks, Delana.”
“Of course. Just give a holler if you need to switch back.”
They both nodded, and Delana slipped back out the door.
“All right,” Perian said, climbing up on the bed. “Let’s see what they’ve got for us today.”
He laid out all the food, trying to leave enough space for Kee at the end of the bed, and told Renny how everyone in the kitchen wished her well.
He tried to get Renny talking about what she’d done while he was gone—apart from have a dizzy spell and winding up in bed. She sighed but then told him about her boring lunch that was not a picnic, which she thought was rather inferior.
Perian laughed. “You see why Brannal and I had a picnic, too. We’ve found that it’s the best option for food!”
