Page 65 of The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior

“Quite well, actually,” Perian said with a smile. “Thanks for stopping by.”

“I also thought I’d offer a spot to lie low this morning if you wanted.”

Perian sighed. “I take it that means Cormal is in a wonderful mood.”

Hesitantly, Nisal offered, “It’s occasionally been worse?”

Perian couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, thanks for that.”

“Anyway,” they said, waving this aside. “We’re preparing salves today, and we could use another pair of hands, so I thought I’d see if you were interested.”

“You know,” Perian said as he considered it, “that sounds amazing. I’ve got a picnic with Renny at one, but until then, I’m yours.”

Their face lit up. “Great! Come on.”

And that’s how Perian ended up elbow deep in a vat of salve, after being scrubbed within an inch of his life, because the doctor, a no-nonsense woman named Elorinn with graying brown hair pulled back into a bun, said that the salve always turned out better with the personal touch.

“It’s nothing like Life Magic, of course, but every little bit helps.”

“Life Magic?” Perian asked, confused.

She nodded. “Lost with the Great Cataclysm, unfortunately, and with it, the ability to heal far more grievous wounds than those that can be aided by my knowledge. But we continue to do everything we can. And the salve works better if hand-mixed.”

Perian could only trust that she knew what she was talking about. And while he might think that a big spoon would surely get the job done, he couldn’t deny the fun of using his hands and arms to mix an entire vat of salve together. The doctor was the one who’d poured everything in, so Perian didn’t have to worry about ingredients, he just had to ensure they were thoroughly,thoroughlymixed together. And since Nisal was elbows-deep in a vat next to him, he was pretty sure this was not simply a joke at his expense or a way to keep him occupied.

He stared down at the vat as he mixed, watching it become more uniform the more he worked it. The doctor had already explained how the essential oils had been made from the herbs so their goodness was in the salve without any lumps.

Perian sucked in a breath as the combined smell reached his nose.

“I think this is what Brannal used on me when I was injured. It smells the same.”

“It is,” the doctor agreed. “I make sure all the Mage Warriors have it on hand for bruising and swelling. There’s another for minor wounds, though this one will work in a pinch, and a tonic for major ones. You had all of them. You had a lot of bruising, and your ribs were in bad shape.”

“Oh, did you see me?” Perian asked, surprised.

“The night Summus brought you back here, yes. To ensure you were not critically injured.”

“Thank you for checking me over,” Perian said gratefully, if rather belatedly. “I didn’t realize.”

“You’re very welcome.”

They lapsed back into silence, Perian staring down at the vat full of salve that had helped to heal him. He’d actually had multiple strangers assist him just because they could, and now, in a small way, he was helping new strangers, people he’d probably never know but who would benefit from this salve he was helping to mix together.

He liked that a lot.

He mixed and mixed, thinking about losing a whole branch of magic during the Great Cataclysm. He’d never evenheardof Life Magic, and it sounded wondrous indeed, if a little too good to be true. What else might they have lost, what other things did Perian perhaps not even know about, did none of them know about, that they would never get back?

The important thing was that they had all survived, of course; they’d defeated the demons despite the cost. And Perian could still mix with the best of them. The doctor said the salve worked better when it was mixed by hand, and so Perian would give it the most personal blending it had ever received.

“You’re going to heal everyone,” Perian whispered to it. “You’re going to be the best salve ever.”

He caught Nisal’s eyes and shrugged, a little embarrassed.

“It can’t hurt, can it?”

Nisal considered this, and then they shrugged and whispered to their salve, “You’ve got competition now. Come on salve, be the best you can be.”

They grinned at one another and continued to encourage their salve while they mixed.

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