“Perian!”
Perian snapped out of his memories and looked over at Brannal, who was riding at his side.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Perian offered him a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. The last time I went camping, it was with my father. We never went far away, but we would camp outside, bringing all the food and supplies with us, like the house wasn’t right there, just out of sight.”
Brannal smiled. “That sounds fun.”
“It was,” Perian agreed.
“You didn’t travel much, right?”
Perian shook his head. “Not ever. I mean, just into the city on occasion, like I said. Father decided to retire with his family, which soon ended up being just me, and he was really committed to that.”
“I’m glad he took such good care of you,” Brannal said.
Perian nodded. “Me, too.”
He sometimes wondered what life would have been like if his mother had lived, but of course, there was no way to answer that question. He valued all the time with his father, and he’d never doubted that the man loved him.
Besides, if everything hadn’t unfolded exactly like this, he might not be here right now, and here was exactly where he wanted to be.
It was a good thing Prince Horsey was paying attention to where they were going, because Perian had been so trapped in internal musings that he’d mostly not been paying attention at all. Prince Horsey pushed his way through the final bushes, and the lake appeared.
Perian watched with enjoyment as all of their faces lit up as they pushed past the screening bushes and saw the beautiful area that was revealed.
“Oh, this is nice. No wonder you kept it a secret,” Molun said to Brannal.
Brannal rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t my secret to tell.”
Perian knew exactly how Brannal’s sense of honor worked. He would never have told anyone about this space, not when the Prince was alive once they’d made it safe for him, and certainly not after his supposed death. Perian hadn’t really thought about what it could mean to him to be here again. He wished he’d brought it up privately, but Brannal didn’t seem upset. He was looking at the place with a small smile on his lips, and Perian could only hope the place was conjuring pleasant memories.
They dismounted and found a good spot for the horses. Prince Horsey was clearly a professional when it came to this area, and he practically led the others to where he wanted to go. There wasn’t a ton of area to graze, so they’d probably supplement with feed bags later.
“He has so many opinions,” Molun said.
“Right?” Perian agreed with a smile. “I mean, he led me right here one of the days that I was injured, like he knew that I couldn’t go as fast as I usually did, but he still wanted me to be entertained. He’s so sassy; I love it.”
Prince Horsey still didn’t like that many other people; he made that quite obvious when any of the others tried to approach him.
“I thought he was mellowing!” Molun protested.
“That is him mellow,” Perian corrected with a laugh. “He didn’t bite you, kick you, or lead all the rest of the horses in a revolt.”
The rest of the horses were much better-mannered, of course, and were tended to just fine as long as the others steered clear of Prince Horsey.
Then it was time to set up camp, because of course Brannal insisted they get that all done in plenty of time so that it was ready for them tonight. He just shot Molun an unimpressed look when Molun suggested that first they could swim and enjoy themselves for a little while.
“It’s been a while since I did this,” Perian confessed, “and my father did most of it. Uh, tree branches?”
Delana and Arvus proved to be the best at assembling tents, although all the Mage Warriors could do it. Molun got easily distracted—and did a good job of trying to distract the others. Perian was pretty sure he wasn’t even doing it on purpose, and it was entirely obvious that Arvus would take care of the two of them.
Eventually, though, they all persevered, and then Molun yelled, “Swim!” and started stripping. The rest of them exchanged glances and then followed suit.
Perian had never been naked in front of Delana and Nisal before, but everyone simply shed their clothes and splashed into the water like it wasn’t a big deal, so Perian did the same. He yelped at the water, and Molun laughed.
“Bit cold,” Molun said innocently.
