Cormal huffed a laugh. “Yeah, well, it’s not my first choice in how she expresses herself, but I understand where she’s coming from. It’s part of the reason I throw fireballs.”
“To get all those emotions out?” Kinan asked.
Cormal nodded. “Sometimes I just lose my temper, of course. Sometimes, it feels like a good outlet for all the anger inside me. But I’m not so sure anymore that it’s actually helping.”
“If it feels like it’s helping, isn’t that enough?”
Cormal scoffed. “No, I can state pretty categorically that something that feels like it’s helping may, in fact, be doing the exact opposite.”
Kinan tried to touch his arm. “Oh, Cormal, I didn’t mean—”
Cormal shook his head. “No, of course you didn’t. Because you’ve chosen to be more forgiving than I deserve. Your support means a lot to me. I won’t forget it.”
Kinan nodded, still looking troubled.
“I should get to dinner,” Cormal said.
Kinan nodded. “Yes, of course. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Cormal nodded and barely bit back the words to tell him that it was the highlight of his day.
He didn’t need to put that on a twenty-two-year-old prince who was being kind to him, did he?
“See you tomorrow,” he agreed instead.
Kinan walked off, as silent as always, and Cormal wished with everything in him that he had a special ability to find the answer they sought. He’d trade his own power to do it. He wanted so badly for the man to be happy, to bewhole.
He blew out a breath and made himself head for his room. Or maybe that was just him wanting an easy fix when what he really needed to do was keep putting the work in. It seemed unfair that the delay hurt Kinan, but Cormal didn’t know how to change that.
He’d been having his dinner quietly alone the last few days because it had seemed better than inflicting his presence on others when his apologies were having such mixed results. But if they had things to say to him, then maybe he should give them opportunities to do so.
For tonight, since his meal was already waiting for him, he served himself and then pulled out another one of the blasted boring magic books and started to read.
He had a promise to keep.
Chapter Fourteen
Cormal
The next morning, Molun came to see Cormal in his office. He had a weird expression on his face, and Cormal hoped that maybe the other man was going to bring up the topic Cormal wanted to discuss.
But what he said instead was, “Is kneeing you in the groin an option for everyone?”
Cormal huffed a breath. No surprise, now that he thought about it, that the story would spread. The Princess certainly wasn’t shy.
“If it would make you feel better,” Cormal told him.
Molun’s expression got ever weirder, perhaps because he realized that Cormal was serious. It would hurt like blazes, but Cormal would accept it if it actually resolved things between them.
Molun’s expression finally settled into an angry one. “It’s not really us you hurt. You know that, don’t you?”
He stomped out as fast as his limp would allow, before Cormal could figure out what to say to that. Molun… kind of had a point. Cormal had hurt the othersbecausethey’d cared for Perian. It was Perian he’d harmed. It was Brannal he’d driven away, and that was what had hurt the others.
He stared blindly at the wall.
Was he going about this all wrong? Should he start with the two of them? (Well, it was too late to do that, but should hecontinuewith them?) They had the least reason to listen to anything he had to say, and if he were them, he’d surely consign a letter to the fire. Should he go see them? They still wouldn’t have to listen to him, and Brannal would probably try to set him on fire… but it would be starting at the beginning.
If he resolved things with them, one way or the other, it would surely make it easier for everyone else to figure out how to respond.
