“Right,” Molun agreed.
“And now Brannal is here with me.”
“Right.”
“For the first timeever,” Perian repeated. “So I sent him to find Cormal so they could keep the longstanding tradition they’ve had since they were kids.”
“Oh, Perian,” Molun said, face soft. “You’re so adorable, I almost don’t know what to do with you.”
“Almost?” Perian said.
But then he was enveloped in a hug, and he leaned into the other man, even happier when Arvus wrapped around him from the back.
“You have a big heart,” Arvus said.
It wasn’t the first time someone had said this to him, but Perian was pretty sure it was just the average sort of heart.
Arvus kissed the topof his head.
The hug went on for a nice long time, but then they resumed their walk, keeping an eye on everything. Molun was on high alert, just like Delana, because they could put any fires out if anything got out of hand. Apparently, it was one of the biggest risks during the Fire Festival, when people sometimes got a little too excited and forgot that fire could be as destructive as it could be amazing.
At least for the moment, though, everything seemed under control. There was dancing, there was drinking, and there was the roar of the fire that was being given a pretty wide berth since it threw off so much heat. Lots of kids were tossing small sticks into the fire, daring one another to run in, toss their fuel, and then run back. There was a lot of laughing and squealing, and Perian loved to witness it.
There was also plenty of arousal to go around, so obvious that Perian didn’t think evenBrannalcould miss it. Molun and Arvus certainly noticed—but they were used to looking for potential people to join them, so maybe they’d honed their skills like Perian had. It was the sort of thing he’d noticed in the pubs on his periodic visits, but it seemed to get ramped up more for large gathering—and more still at Fire Festivals, where all that light and energy seemed to encourage… vigorous action. There were people dancing and cuddling, walking hand-in-hand, finding a dark corner where they could kiss or maybe grope or possibly a little bit more, and it all buzzed around Perian, swirling in the air like the leaping of the flames at the center of the square. Perian had always been good at picking out likely prospects at the pub, but he felt like his awareness had grown even more acute with all the time he’d spent in town.
“How did you celebrate the Fire Festival at home?” Arvus asked.
Perian laughed. “Oh, definitely not like this. There was a festival in town, of course, but we didn’t spend a lot of time there. Usually, my father and I would set up a bonfire down by the water. The reflections were always beautiful. We’d watch the sun set, and it would almost look like the water was on fire, all lit up for us. Father always said it was a reminder to take all this goodness, to pull in all the warmth of the sun and the brightness and energy and to hold it inside of us to prepare us for the waning of the year. And we’d always talk about what inspired us, what filled us up with energy to be ready for the months to come.”
“And what fills you up with energy?” Molun asked, nudging him.
“Oh, Brannal, of course,” Perian answered promptly, making the other two smile. “It feels like he could fill me up with energy forever.” He genuinely hoped that was anoption. “The two of you. Renny. Nisal. Delana and Bennan and Chamis—oh, all the friends I’ve made here. You all make my life so much richer and fill it with so much energy that sometimes I don’t know what to do with it all. Everyone in the castle, really. Prince Horsey. The memories of my first proper holiday with someone else. Everything here fills me with energy and sustains me.”
Molun hummed a happy noise, sounding like he was agreeing or maybe approving.
“What about you?” Perian asked Molun.
“Many of the same things. Arvus, always, first and foremost.” They exchanged a smile. “My elements, even if they don’t always match with fire. They’re like a storm swirling inside of me, always filling me with energy and guiding my way. You and Brannal. All my friends. I’m very grateful for the life I have here.”
“As am I,” Arvus agreed. “Molun is my bedrock, the earth beneath my feet that keeps me steady.”
Aww. Molun was, on the one hand, someone who seemed the least likely to be a bedrock for anyone, and yet Perian could see exactly how he supported Arvus, how they fit together and how they worked so well.
Arvus continued, “Like Molun, I’m so grateful for this life. Every moment that I spend with every one of you, that I’m able to protect people, I’m happy and fulfilled. I feel like this is an energy that will always carry me forward.”
They really were the best group of people Perian could ever have asked to find.
A fireball burst in the sky, making people cry out and point, and Perian felt the swell of excitement from the crowd, which surged forward, bringing Perian, Molun and Arvus with them to get closer to the bonfire.
Apparently, Brannal had been successful in finding Cormal.
Perian wasn’t short, but there were a lot of people between him and the bonfire, and some of them were as tall as he was. He could catch glimpses of Brannal and Cormal by the flames, closer than any non-Fire-Mage would ever want to get.
Another fireball launched into the sky, bursting above the bonfire and falling back down into it. The crowd roared its approval.
Perian hadn’t really thought about what he would see beyond “fireball.” That had seemed pretty self-explanatory. But it had failed utterly to capture the scope. Sure, there were balls of fire, but there was every other shape of fire as well. Hearts and stars outlined in fire danced through the air. What looked like vines of fire climbed out of the flames,growing what looked like leaves and fantastic fire flowers before they eventually fell back into the bonfire below.
Brannal created a huge ring of fire that Cormal then threw fireballs through. They tossed balls of fire between one another, like they really were playing an elaborate game of catch. One of them created a shield that they held horizontally above the fire—Perian hadn’t even known they could do that—and the other bounced fireballs across it, almost like they were skipping stones in a lake. They launched balls of fire that exploded into the sky, raining down on the bonfire.
