Perian shot him a look. “I did.”
Brannal’s expression was serious and intent, and he still looked annoyed. “You were restrained. You fought off an attacker who was attempting to assault and kill you. Youdefended yourself.”
Their gazes remained caught for a long moment, and then Perian blinked and looked at Trill.
“I knew that carnalions could consume energy. I was desperate, so that’s what I did. I didn’t know how else to stop him. I killed him, and despite that, the Queen chose not to have me killed after I tried to heal the Prince.” His gaze was somber. “Nothing about this is easy, and I imagine that by the end of it, we’re all going to have accusations and insults hurled at us.But as long as we’re not actively attacking or killing people needlessly, I think we can still make this work.”
Molun kissed the side of Trill’s head, and Arvus curled an arm around him. “We know you wouldn’t do that.”
Trill sighed. “No. I’ve never deliberately harmed anyone.” He swallowed. “But I didn’t know what I was then, I guess a bit like you.” He tried to smile at Perian. “I’d started an apprenticeship at a tailor’s, and I didn’t know to be careful. An apprentice and I fooled around, and I took too much energy. I didn’t kill him, but he collapsed and nobody could rouse him, and the, uh, state of undress made it clear what we’d been up to. Everyone started yelling, and…”
It had been awful, truly. Not like what had happened to Perian, but still terrible for Trill.
“My grandmother found out,” he said, voice low. “She hushed it all up somehow, told them she’d take care of it. She didn’t call the Mage Warriors, but she locked me in my room and just, uh, waited. Didn’t give me any food or water. I guess she’d figured the situation would take care of itself.”
They were all staring at him with horror. Molun clutched Trill’s hands, and Arvus’s arm tightened around him.
Trill blew out a breath. “I’m still not sure how my father heard about it. He hadn’t come round in a year or two. But he showed up just in time.” Trill sniffed. “He broke down the door and rescued me. He made sure I ate, then took me to Yannoma so she could explain everything. And we took care of one another for a bit.” He cleared his throat.
“We’re so glad you found one another,” Molun said earnestly, and the others nodded.
It was Brannal who said, “When I manifested fire for the first time, I burnt down my house. Exceptions have always been made for Mages—Elemental Mages—when they come into their magic. I don’t imagine it will be that simple for carnalions orLife Mages, but the fact remains that there are precedents for protections and exceptions. As difficult and awkward as it will be to discuss it, that’s why we’re all going.”
Trill supposed that was true. It was likely to be awful… but even Yannoma had agreed to try. Trill was going to do his part, too.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cormal
The trip back to the castle was anxiety-inducing in a lot of ways, but, fortunately, there was no demon attack. Cormal hoped that meant Yannoma and Trill were wrong about Kinan’s vulnerability, but he suspected it meant they’d been lucky—and that the Warriors, Mage Warriors, and District Wardens were doing their jobs. The main thoroughfaresand towns were inspected regularly to keep everyone safe. Thankfully, that had paid off for Kinan on this trip.
Cormal knew he wasn’t the only one who breathed a sigh of relief when they crossed the drawbridge and made it to the stables unscathed. He also noticed that not everyone was as delighted—but then he couldn’t really expect that from those who might have walked into a death sentence.
The thought of waiting for such sentencing made Cormal antsy, and he could only imagine now what he’d put Perian through when he’d been locked in the dungeon for days and then dragged before the Queen as soon as he regained consciousness. Cormal was glad that he’d apologized, but he wasn’t sure anything would ever be enough.
Cormal would have been inclined to hustle them all into rooms and get them out of the public eye as quickly as possible, but that plan was immediately derailed by the fact that Prince Horsey would permit no one but Perian to take care of him. Cormal had forgotten about that. It had seemed natural enough on the road. Even in the inns, where it was a strange stable and strange stable hands, that kind of made sense. But here, in the royal stable, where Prince Horsey had lived for years… It should have been utterly unnecessary—if the horse wasn’t as opinionated as the person who’d named him.
Once Perian started grooming Prince Horsey, Brannal went to work on Warrior. And then Cormal felt like an entitled idiot if he left Fireball to someone else. There was a weird moment where all the other Warriors and Mage Warriors stared at Summus—Brannal—caring for his horse and wondered if they all needed to do it, but then Onadal snapped at them to stop dragging their feet.
The captain of the guard shot them a stern glare.
“Her Majesty will make an announcement when she’s ready to do so. I wouldn’t like to be the person who gossiped about anything she might say before then. Understood?”
There was a chorus of “Yes, sir” from every mouth. Cormal hoped that would at least slow the rumor mill down a bit.
Brannal was staring at him, and after a moment, Cormal realized it was becausehewas still Summus, and there were a bunch of Mage Warriors in the crowd, too. He repeated the message, and then they were all sent off to clean up and find dinner.
Onadal, Bennan, and Chamis stayed behind along with the others from the estate.
“These two are going to stay outside your door,” Onadal told Brannal and Perian.
Brannal opened his mouth, no doubt to protest, but Onadal raised his hand palm up.
“I’m well aware you can take care of yourself,” he assured Brannal. “You must know that it would be much better for Perian if you didn’t have to.”
Brannal huffed a breath but nodded.
Onadal continued, “Delana and I already drew up a schedule with Mages and Mage Warriors. We’ll also need—”
