“Yannoma will stay with us,” Molun said firmly.
Trill shot him a grateful look. Yannoma rolled her eyes, but Cormal was pretty sure she was grateful, too. The alternative, if not the dungeon outright, would definitely have been something more… confined.
Onadal inclined his head like that didn’t surprise him.
“Delana and I have assigned Mage Warriors and Warriors to watch over your room.” He eyed Molun sternly. “No tricks. This is truly to protect you as much as anything else. There’s no way rumors aren’t spreading through the castle as we speak, and it only takes one person to do something stupid.”
Molun laughed, though Cormal thought he wasn’t quite as relaxed as he appeared. “I get it. We’ll behave.”
“Have Warriors always been this stupid?” Yannoma asked. “I think I’m a bit embarrassed.”
Cormal was glad there weren’t very many Warriors left. The rest of them knew that she was joking—probably—but he realized anew how fraught this situation was. There was no way they were going to get through it without tempers flaring—something that had never worried him overmuch, since the temper was usually his. But it was suddenly obvious how quickly the situation could escalate out of control.
But for now, they had a plan, and—
“Perian!”
The word was shrieked at the top of her lungs, and a projectile in the form of a thirteen-year-old princess burst into the stables and launched itself at Perian, who caught her and yelled back, “Renny!”
Cormal sighed. If anyone hadn’t realized Perian was back, they would now.
Well, he supposed it hadn’t been likely they could have hidden it for very long.
There was a lot of hugging, some tears, and a great deal of babble that Cormal didn’t try to keep track of. Perian finally managed to convince the Princess that they needed to get out of the stables and let everyone get back to their jobs. It was clear that whatever she was supposed to be doing, none of it was going to get done while she was reuniting with Perian. Her protection had caught up with her, and thankfully, between him and Onadal, they weren’t going to do anything rash.
With another sigh, Cormal realized that he had no idea what the actual sentiment in the castle was towards carnalions—or suspected carnalions. He’d always claimed that everyone wasafraid becausehehad been afraid. He’d been so scared of the past that he hadn’t seen the present.
He had no idea how many people were like him and how many were like Perian’s friends.
Cormal was struck anew by the bravery and selflessness of those who’d come back. They’d voluntarily walked into a situation that could end with the Queen sentencing them to death. Knowing there were people who’d be advocating for a different outcome didn’t mean the danger wasn’t very real.
This was, naturally, when two Warriors—Cormal didn’t know them by name, and he wondered if that was deliberate—appeared to announce that the Queen would like to see Kinan now, and everyone else was expected to go to their rooms before they attended an audience with the Queen tomorrow morning.
The Princess began to protest immediately, but with that consummate skill that he possessed, Perian managed to talk her down.
“Do you wish to make this as difficult as possible for us, or as easy as possible?” he asked.
She huffed out an aggrieved sigh and muttered, “Easy.”
Perian smiled at her. “That’s what I thought. There’s a lot going on, and of course your mother doesn’t wish anything to happen to you.”
She crossed her arms. “What are you going to do? Keep me up all night talking to me?”
Perian laughed. “If we wound up staying together, probably. But there will be lots of time for catching up, and some of us have been riding all day. There’s no doubt going to be a lot going on tomorrow, and we should be at our best to ensure this goes well, shouldn’t we?”
“Fine,” she said. Her eyes narrowed. “But nothing better happen to you! Or else!”
Perian managed not to laugh. “I’ll be with Brannal, and Bennan and Chamis have been kind enough to agree to stay with us and make sure that we’re not subject to a steady stream of visitors all night.”
The Princess looked like she wasn’t entirely buying what he was selling, but she let him get away with it.
She gave him another hug and then finally allowed herself to be escorted back to wherever she was supposed to be—after she made Perian solemnly promise that he would see her tomorrow and he wouldn’t, under any circumstances, leave without telling her. (She shot a poisonous glare at Cormal at that, so it turned out shehadnoticed he was there.)
Perian solemnly promised, though he had to know that he couldn’t guarantee any such thing. But it was clear there’d only been one possible answer that would appease the Princess.
Reluctantly, everyone went their separate ways until it was just Cormal and Kinan. Cormal realized he should probably be going somewhere, too—he had a lot of explaining to do with Delana—only then Kinan said, “Come on. We shouldn’t keep my mother waiting.”
Oh.Apparently, Kinan expected them to stick together. The time at Perian’s estate already seemed a bit like a dream, but… maybe it wasn’t going to all disappear just because they were back at the castle.
