Page 83 of The Lost Art of Finding Where You Belong

“But you’re the one who had to sit on the horse—and convince your mother.”

Renny rolled her eyes. “She actually came to watch, like the Queen observing would make everyone calmer and less likely to mess up.”

“But she saw it go well,” Perian pointed out.

Renny nodded. “She said there still has to be at least four Mage Warriors, and at least two of them have to control air, but I can have a short ride in the stable yard twice a week.”

“That’s wonderful!” he said.

Renny gave a satisfied smile. “I started with demanding riding out in the hills every day.”

“Smart girl. Do you start training for negotiations with other countries this early?”

She just smiled blandly at him.

Yeah, Perian was sure she was going to be fine.

“Did it tire you out?” he asked.

She shook her head. Stopped, while Kee clearly said something. She rolled her eyes. “All right, maybe a little. But honestly, I think it was less riding on the horse than all of the build-up around it, you know? I was worried that it wasn’t going to work, I was hopeful that it would work, I was imagining what would happen if I fell off the horse after all. It was a lot of… of mental energy. So I did have a nap when I got back. But really, I just plodded around on the slowest horse we own, and then someone lifted me off again. How much work is that, actually?”

“Plenty for the person doing the lifting?” he proposed.

She threw a piece of apple at him, and they both laughed.

“It’s a place to start,” he reminded her, and she nodded, looking content.

Renny didn’t look one hundred percent well yet, but she looked much healthier than when Perian had first seen her.

None of them knew if this was going to be a permanent change, but oh, how they all hoped it would be.

He hugged her after they’d wrapped up the picnic.

“I’m so happy for you,” he toldher. “You deserve every good thing.”

She held onto him for a long time.

Perian returned the basket to the kitchen and the blankets to Brannal’s rooms and was surprised to find an object messily wrapped in old paper and tied with string sitting on top of the sitting room table with a note clumsily shoved in one of the seams of the paper.

Perianreallywanted to know what it was, but since it was no doubt for Brannal, he made himself go off for a ride.

Prince Horsey seemed delighted by the fact they could gallop again properly. He still preferred that Perian was the one to saddle and unsaddle him—he expressed his displeasure very clearly when Perian tried to step aside. Apologizing and coming right back, Perian had claimed he was just getting him something sweet to eat, and would he please calm down.

Yeah, so he was definitely still Prince Horsey, but he’d maybe mellowed a tiny bit. Perian headed back to Brannal’s rooms to get cleaned up, and by great good fortune, was joined by Brannal at the point at which he’d stripped in the water closet.

Brannal grinned. “This is excellent timing.”

Perian smiled back. “I smell like horse, I’m afraid.”

“I can get over it.”

Perian laughed. “Oh, yes?”

Brannal hummed an agreement and pulled the entirely naked Perian against his very clothed body. Perian was a big fan of naked skin on naked skin, but there was something about rubbing his body over all that leather armor that definitely worked for him.

Maybe it was just anything to do with Brannal.

Perian made a happy noise and leaned into Brannal’s kiss, chasing after his tongue and rocking against him. Spinning Perian and pinning him to the wall, Brannal freed his cock and buried himself inside Perian. He loved the urgency, the fact that Brannal hadn’t even taken all his clothes off, just fucked him until they both came, Perian painting the wall and Brannal buried deep inside of him.

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