“Iwantto learn to defend myself,” Perian said gently. “And there are Warriors and Mage Warriors who watch every day to make sure no one is harmed.”
“That didn’t stop you from getting hurt,” Brannal said tightly.
“No one can be everywhere at once,” Perian reminded him. “And maybe they’d gotten a little lax about it, because most people aren’tmoronsand don’t attack people in front of an entire yard full of witnesses.”
Brannal snorted another reluctant laugh.
Perian smiled at him. “I’m going to be all right. Maybe one day, Onadal will say I’m good enough that I can actually carry a knife on my person. All right?”
Brannal sighed. “All right. Sorry.”
Perian just smiled, glad they’d managed to actually discuss this.
“No, it’s fine. In fact, if you think you can be really fast before my picnic, I’d be happy to say a very enthusiastic thank you for caring so much about my safety.”
Brannal’s eyes went dark.
They rushed back to their rooms, and Brannal took him against the door.
In retrospect, that might have been a bad precedent to set, but Perian didn’t want Brannal to think he didn’t appreciate his protectiveness. It just needed some guidelines.
Then they were both hurriedly cleaning up and heading off to the rest of their day, Perian to his picnic and Brannal to whatever it was he was supposed to be doing rather than looming.
Renny wrinkled her nose when she saw him, which told him he should maybe have cleaned up better. He launched into an immediate rendition of his morning, which made her laugh, and he tried to smooth down his hair and straighten his vest and coat a little more. She kept laughing.
“Oh, no, you look fine. It’s the look on yourface. You get thissatisfiedlook that makes it entirely clear what you’ve been doing.” She squished up her face. “So gross.”
Perian could only laugh. He probably did do that, and he wasn’t sure he could stop it.
Renny was full of the news of her first successful ride. Her mother had insisted that she beliftedonto the horse. The horse was barely more than a slightly overgrown pony with the placid soul of acow. But Renny had been on top of a horse. And yes, Brannal, Nisal,andMolun had been there, like if she fell off, they were all going to blow her back up again.
“Would that work?” Perian wanted to know.
Renny shrugged. “I think Brannal convinced Mother it would—but I’m pretty sure it was total nonsense. He might have figured out I was plotting how to do it on my own.”
Perian smirked. “More rumors about going out the window?”
It was what she’d claimed to have done to be able to sneak away to hide in the garden, a threat of what she might still try to do if they didn’t let her have her way and keep having picnics with Perian.
Her smile was mischievous. “Something like that. But it wasn’t necessary. Ididn’tfall off.”
“Congratulations, Renny!”
She was beaming at him even as she explained that a groom had held a leading rope the whole time, and she hadn’t done much more than go in circles around the stable yard.
“But it was on a horse!” he pointed out.
She couldn’t hide how pleased she was. “Itwason a horse.” She sighed. “And actually, it was useful to go back over the basics again.”
“Heels down,” Perian said.
She laughed. “Yes! Why is it that we want to point our toes?”
Periangrinned, so glad this had worked, and Renny wasn’t chafing too much at the slow pace.
“I’m so proud of you,” Perian told her.
Her smile got even brighter. “It was all your idea.”
