He peered out from between Molun and Arvus at Cormal, who had apparently driven Perian out of the castle to get him away from Brannal—yeah, now that he’d been told more of the details, he could kind of see that in his energy. But it seemed to be healing; there was affection, and the desire had mostlydissipated to the regular sort of casual appreciation that people had for bodies that they liked the look of.
Cormal smiled softly at Trill. “Iamtrying not to make the same mistake twice. And I’mdeterminednot to be my father. I wouldn’t turn away my family for something they can’t help which is harming no one.”
Trill sniffed back more tears and then wiggled out of Molun and Arvus’s embrace so that he could go and hug Cormal, who wrapped his arms around him and held him close.
And then Brannal said, “Family? I don’t understand.”
Cormal scoffed. “Yes, that’s because like me, you didn’t realize the depths to which my father had descended. Not only is Trill my nephew because my father abandoned a daughter who didn’t prove to be a Mage, mygrand-nieceis the newest novice at the castle because my father abandoned a wholedifferentfamily he started when he was twenty because thatsondidn’t prove to be a Mage.
Perian said, “Son of a wraith.”
Cormal huffed out a laugh, and Trill hugged him harder.
“Right? And the only reason I ended up at the castle at six was because my mother got too sick to care for me herself and she brought me without asking. I heard them fighting about it, but I didn’t really understand at the time. And with his cursed luck, I’m the one who ended up with magic, just like he wanted, so he could go on and on about how he came from a long line of Mages and was continuing the tradition.”
Yeah, that really didn’t get any better in the retelling.
Brannal crossed the room. “Cormal, I’m so sorry.”
Trill slipped out of his embrace so that Brannal could hug Cormal instead. Cormal let out something that sounded like a sob. The Prince kept his face perfectly neutral, but that didn’t work for Trill or Perian, apparently, because Perian said, “Kee, you don’t have anything to worry about.”
Cormal pulled immediately out of the embrace, slewing around. The Prince looked embarrassed now.
“No, no, keep hugging,” he admonished them. “You know how you have an inside voice and an outside voice, and it’s unexpectedly awkward when the inside voice is used on the outside?”
Perian winced. “Sorry. It’s been a while since it’s been anyone other than me and Brannal, and we don’t really have that sort of distance anymore. I didn’t mean to intrude. I just didn’t want you to worry.”
“I’m working on it,” the Prince told them. “It’s, um, a bit harder than I expected, because I can’t give hugs.”
“I promise we can try again in the morning,” Perian assured him, his face a mask of resolution. “I don’t know if more energy will help, but I’m happy to try.”
“You!” Trill exclaimed.
Half the room jumped.
“Sorry,” he said, wincing. He gestured at the Prince. “I couldn’t understand how he ended up like that. But it makes a lot more sense if you gave him energy, because he’s kind of… all energy. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Perian was looking at him curiously. “You can tell?”
“How could I not tell?” Trill asked in astonishment. “If people are normally giving off this much energy”—he put his thumb and forefinger together, barely an inch apart—“the Prince is doing this.” He stretched his arms wide, as far apart as they could go. “He’s just energy. I never understood what was holding him together, but now I assume it’s you.”
Perian’s eyes widened, and he looked immediately alarmed. “Wait, does that mean he doesn’t stay together without me?”
“How did he get that way?” Trill asked.
“Nope,” Arvus said firmly. “I’m going to put a stop to that one right now. It’s the middle of the night. Some of us have beenriding all night, and the rest were woken from a sound sleep by what they feared was an attack. How about we all go to bed, and we resume this in the morning? We’ll fill Trill in on the past, and we’ll figure out what we want to do next.”
Trill wanted to knoweverything, but he doubted it was a simple story.
Everyone agreed, more or less reluctantly. Arvus grabbed their bags, because he was practical like that, and they headed upstairs. There was a small detour because Perian had to grab sheets for their bed.
“Don’t exactly have a lot of guests,” he admitted. He looked a little down, but before Trill could say anything, he smiled again. “But Cormal already told us that he’d make sure everyone could visit when he got back, and now you’re here anyway, and that’s the best! Just, you know, sorry for the accommodations not being quite what you expected. The housekeeper can fix everything up tomorrow, but tonight, it’s just me and my fairly decent skills with making a bed, because sometimes Brannal and I get it dirty frequently enough that we need to change it ourselves when the housekeeper isn’t here.”
Molun was laughing delightedly, and Trill couldn’t help but grin.
They helped Perian make the bed. The room looked perfectly adequate by the light of the lamp, and it really was just the bed that they were most interested in right now, anyway. Perian pointed out the water closet and assured them that there was plenty of water, and they could use as much as they wanted.
“Hot, because I know Molun is good for all the water you could ever want, otherwise.”
