“Is there anything you can tell us?” Brannal asked.
The doctor shook her head. “It was a dizzy spell similar to the ones she used to have much more frequently. She seemed very frustrated by this one, though, her mood much bleaker.”
“I believe Perian has helped with that,” Brannal said, smiling at him.
Perian explained how he’d tried to give her hope. The doctor considered this and then nodded sharply.
“I think that will do more good than harm if it improves her mood. We must not make completely unrealistic promises, of course, but I think your premise sound in the absence of other evidence. The Princess has shown herself to be growing in resilience, and that can certainly make a difference.”
Perian blew out a relieved breath.
“We’ll have to continue to monitor her closely,” the doctor continued, “and if you are such an improvement to her mood, then I will recommend to the Queen that you be able to visit her.”
Brannal’s lips tipped up faintly, and Perian realized belatedly that was part of the reason Brannal had insisted on coming.
Oh, he was getting so much loving tonight.
Perian admitted, “I did sort of promise her that I’d have an indoor picnic with her tomorrow, one that could even be a bed picnic if that was what was needed—but I said she needed her mother’s permission!”
In case they thought he wascompletelyreckless. He was onlymostlyreckless.
They both looked amused, thankfully.
“Shall we broach the matter now?” Brannal suggested.
The doctor nodded after considering for a moment. “Yes, if you believe there has been a material improvement, we should speak to the Queen without delay.”
Brannal nodded. “We left her peacefully sleeping after Perian read to her.”
The doctor looked pleased. “I was considering sleeping aids, which is not my preference. This is definitely preferred.”
“I’ll see you later?” Perian asked.
He was quite sure he didn’t need to be present for this battle, especially if Cormal was consulted.
Brannal nodded. “I’ll try to make it to dinner, but feel free to head down there yourself.”
Perian nodded, and to his surprise, Brannal leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to Perian’s lips.
Perian stared blankly after him for a long moment after he and the doctor had left, and then he grinned stupidly to himself and made his way back to his and Brannal’s rooms.Thatwas certainly new out in public, and Perian was not going to complain.
He read until dinner time, then tried to make sure he looked at least halfway presentable before heading to the dining hall alone when Brannal didn’t appear.
He was greeted by a number of people like he’d been gone for a year—mostly, Perian was pretty sure, so they could get in a joke about just what he’d been up to when he was gone. But the joke was on them, because Perian was perfectly happy to tell themall aboutwhat he’d been up to.
(All right, not actually in graphic detail, even if they were old enough, because he was sure Brannal didn’t actually want his subordinates to have a blow-by-blow account of every moment of his and Perian’s fabulous getaway. But if anyone had been in any doubt as to the purpose of their weekend away, they weren’t by the time Perian was done talking about it.)
Perian was sitting a couple people down from Onadal, the captain of the Warriors, and Arvus had joined them when he’d arrived a bit later than Perian. They were two of the only people who didn’t seem to have an opinion about Brannal and what he was getting up to with Perian—though everyone was careful not to phrase it quite like that.
The noise level dipped hilariously just as Perian realized that there was someone standing behind him.
“May I join you?” Brannal asked.
Molun was there too, grinning already.
Perian smiled at them both and squished over on the long bench.
“You certainly may. I’ve already told everyone about all the sex we had while we were away, so you missed that.”
