Page 110 of The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior

“Oh, come on,” he cajoled, “the image of the bucket of water is way better.”

And finally, she laughed. “Yes, it is.”

He looked at her and asked, “All right?”

She sighed. “I guess. But if he attacks you again, I’m sending him to the dungeon, and I don’t care what anyone else says.”

Perian wasn’t actually sure she had that power, but he was definitely smart enough not to question such a declaration.

And Renny proved she was rather smart because after another couple of minutes, she said, “He didn’t like me hurting him, did he?”

“This was not your fault,” Perian said emphatically.

“That’s not what I said.”

“It’s not what you didn’t say, either,” he pointed out.

Her lips tipped up a little.

“The only person who decides what Cormal does is Cormal,” Perian pointed out, just as he had with Brannal. “I mean, am I responsible for what you did to Cormal, or are you?”

She considered this and then nodded. “You showed me what to do, but I was the one who chose to do it.”

“Exactly,” Perian agreed. “And of course we can influence people, suggest things, say or do things to them. In extreme situations, perhaps you could argue that someone didn’t have any other choice, but for the most part, every single day, hundreds of times per day, people are making their own decisions influenced by an entire world around them, but ultimately it’s up to them how they choose to react.”

Renny sighed, but she sounded resigned now. “I really wanted to throw him in the dungeon.”

“I don’t necessarily disagree with you,” Perian admitted with a small smile. “But I’m pretty sure your mother would let him out, and then we’d have to deal with him being annoyed again.”

She eyed him and said dryly, “You don’t think he’s going to be annoyed again unless that happens?”

Perian laughed. “I wish. But we can still control howwereact, right?”

She made a face. “Why are you sounding so sensible?”

This made him grin. “It has to happen occasionally. Do you want to hear about my ridiculous adventure this morning instead?”

She brightened immediately, and Perian told her all about his outing this morning and his delivery to Delana.

She was grinning. “That’s more what I would expect from you.”

Perian smiled back, and they settled to the business of eating lunch.

He checked if there was anything new going on in Renny’s brother’s life and got a weird look from Renny.

“It seems impolite not to ask,” Perian explained with a shrug. “Maybe something exciting happened. I don’t know, do I?”

“Call him Kee,” Renny instructed.

Perian looked at her brother—well, his empty space. “Are you sure?”

Renny nodded. “He says it’s fine. He doesn’t feel very much like a prince like this.”

Perian eyed the empty space again. “So, wouldn’t it be nice if you were recognized as such? I mean, I get why you wouldn’t want your sister to call you Prince Kinan—”

“As if,” Renny scoffed.

“—But I could do it.”

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