Page 105 of The Lost Art of Finding Where You Belong

He stood up and bowed to her. “Thank you, my lady.”

She described it in glorious detail, and she really had been scathing. She wanted to know if they thought that if she saw a sheep leap off a cliff she would immediately do the same thing. Did she not have a mind of her own? Was she not allowed to see Warriors fighting? Or any other horses? Was she not the one who actually lived in her body and was aware of what it was capable of? Had she not, in fact, just kept riding her way while Perian rode his—which had been done at her request, to make her feel better? Did they notwanther to feel better but would prefer she was sad and stuck in her bed and not able to ride with friends?

“Oh, Renny, I love you,” he told her. “You’re magnificent.”

She beamed at him. Truly, though, it sounded like it had been spectacular.

Cormal had apparently looked irritated and embarrassed and flushed. He had finally said it must have been a misunderstanding and of course, his only concern was the health of the Princess.

Renny had apparently scoffed pretty loudly, but Brannal had given her a warning look, so she didn’t actually venture her opinion on this matter. The Queen hadn’t been overly impressed with all the drama, and she’d agreed that Renny was capable of making her own decisions within reason.

Perian would be permitted to continue to ride with her when she wished it, but perhaps he could also minimize the theatrics to protect the sensitive hearts of her fierceWarriors.

There had been enough tone, there, apparently, that Renny was pretty sure she wouldn’t actually be upset about a few more theatrics, but Perian thought it better to play it a little safer.

“I can take Prince Horsey for a run beforehand, and then he’ll be in better humor when we’re walking afterwards.”

Renny pouted. Perian looked for a distraction.

“Oh, in all the excitement, I almost forgot to ask. Kee, did you manage to ride with me? How was it?”

Renny beamed at him. “He was able to stay behind you on Prince Horsey the whole time. He said it’s not the same, of course, because he can’t really feel it, not like he could when he had a solid body, but it was still nice. He wishes that Prince Horsey could feel that he was there, but it didn’t seem like he could. But you’re a very able rider. He’s never seen anyone ride in circles like that before, and while he thinks it’s totally useless, he also thought it was pretty fun.”

Perian laughed. “Thank you. I’m not sure I’ve ever ridden in circles like that before. It seemed like a good idea at the time?”

“Does a lot of your life work like that?” Renny asked.

Perian wasn’t sure if the question was coming from her or Kee.

He laughed again. “I guess I sort of… tumble into things, sometimes. Some of the best things in my life are happy surprises.”

Renny beamed at him, and he smiled back.

Chapter Nineteen

He headed off to the doctor’s office and found her there with Nisal, selecting gloves. Apparently, some of the plants they would be harvesting had thorns. They found some for him as well, and a bag for gathering, with different areas in it for the different herbs, and then the doctor led them out to the section of the quadrangle where medicinal herbs were planted.

“We have other gardens in the royal park, but I like to start here. Now, watch what I do.”

Perian could recognize some plants, but he was by no means an expert, and he listened attentively to all the instructions. He didn’t want to be responsible for anything going wrong.

“I will check over what you collect,” the doctor reassured him. “You’re not going to poison anyone.”

Nisal laughed at him, but Perian was honestly relieved. He could only imagine how the rumor mill would react to an accidental poisoning.

“Do you always pick your own herbs and plants?” he wanted to know.

“Most often,” the doctor agreed. “It assures I’m getting a good quality.”

He watched what the doctor and Nisal did first, paying careful attention to what to look for to be sure the plants were ready for harvesting and how to check for insects.

“Not a good ingredient in the salves?”

The doctor looked amused. “Especially not the tonics. Seems to make people uncomfortable for some reason.”

Perian made a face. Uh, yeah, no, thank you. He looked extra carefully for bugs.

It was a soothing process, and he enjoyed being with the doctor and Nisal. If they had heard about yesterday, they didn’t let on. It was methodical work, rhythmic and… green, really.

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