Cormal felt himself flush as he realized what Perian had obviously been sensing. Perian laughed at his expression.
“I hate to break this to you, but it’s pretty obvious even if youcan’tfeel desire.”
Cormal had to laugh at that. “That’s fair. It’s, um, still pretty new and entirely amazing.”
Kinan beamed at him, and Perian laughed.
“Oh, it’s so cute. It’s not quite the same when I feel Brannal’s and my desire because it’s already mine. I’ve not felt other people’s desire since”—he faltered slightly but went on—“the castle.”
“It must be very quiet here,” Kinan said, stepping into the breach with aplomb.
“It is,” Perian agreed, looking relieved for the subject change. “Very peaceful in a positive way but… sometimes in a bit of a boring way, too. Although it’ssomuch better with Brannal than when I was on my own. But I do miss our friends.”
“And they miss you,” Kinan hurried to assure him. He perked up. “Oh, and you’ll never guess what.”
“What?” Perian asked.
“Molun and Arvus seem to have found their third.”
Perian froze. “What? How can I not know this? Why didn’t they—?”
He cut off abruptly.
Cormal made a face. “Why didn’t they write you at that ridiculous fake name that I know nothing about?”
Perian stuck out his tongue, surprising a laugh out of Cormal. “Yes, that. Why don’t I know this already? What’s their name? How long has this been going on? When did they meet? Tell meeverything!”
Kinan started to fill Perian in, and he sank back onto the sofa and listened avidly. Cormal resigned himself to not getting that glass of water anytime soon.
Kinan asked him questions periodically to force him into the conversation. Kinan made no mention of Trill being related to Cormal, and he thought that was for the best at the moment. They’d already thrown a lot of things at Perian and Brannal—and if nothing else, Cormal would prefer to tell the two of them together.
With a swoop in his stomach, Cormal wondered what Brannal was thinking—could heeverforgive Cormal?—but before he could dwell on it, he got pulled back into the conversation as Perian asked Cormal what he thought of Trill.
“He seems quite nice. From what I observed, the three of them seem happy, but we aren’t exactly spending a lot of time together. He reminds me a little bit of you, actually.”
“So you don’t actually like him?” Perian asked, but he sounded like he was joking, thankfully.
“Really?” Kinan said. “I didn’t notice that. In what way?”
Cormal paused and tried to figure it out. “I’m… not totally sure. You’re outgoing in different ways. I’ve seen more of Trill’s uncertainty, which might just mean that you wisely kept your guard up more around me. Trill is eager to please and wants to make people happy. You always liked to make people happy.”
Perian’s expression softened. “Yes, I do.”
“Trill didn’t have a great home life,” Cormal continued, “so some of it comes from not wanting to make peopleunhappy, whichisn’tmuch like you. Honestly, it sounds weirder now that I’m trying to explain it. I mean, you clearly made Molun and Arvus happy, too. Superficially, you’re not that similar. He has green eyes, blond hair, and is shorter than you. But neither of you are made of muscles.”
“Hey,” Perian protested, “not everyone has a ridiculous training program and a very active job. It’s not our fault!”
“He also seems to be very fond of sex,” Cormal added.
This made Perian laugh. “Well, I certainly won’t object tothatcomparison. They’re really happy, then, Molun and Arvus?”
Cormal nodded. “Well, they’re not tellingmethat. But they seem happy.”
“They do,” Kinan agreed. “They miss you and Brannal a lot.”
Perian made a sad face. “I miss them, too.”
“I’m assuming they’ve not visited so that I won’t freak out and try to kill you?” Cormal said wryly.
