Page 108 of The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior

Still chuckling with mirth, she agreed, “You definitely won’t.”

She ate another pastry, considering him as she consumed it. She finished it, and then she nodded decisively. “I’ll talk to Onadal. He makes his own decisions.”

“But you have… influence?” Perian suggested.

She eyed him, a gleam in her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Perian raised his hands, laughing. “Of course you don’t.”

“I act as liaison between the Warriors and Mage Warriors, so I sometimes attend the training of the Warriors. It is worth getting Onadal to do this solely for the entertainment value.”

And Perian could only laugh.

Bribe a success.

She thanked him for the pastries and then nodded at his arm. “We’ll want to wait until your arm has healed more before you get started. No use in aggravating it and extending the healing time.”

Perian made a face. “Oh, I didn’t think of that. But don’t you have to fight when you’re wounded?”

“Warriors and Mage Warriors sometimes, of course. But it’s never preferred, and it’s certainly not the way anyone should begin lessons. Start with every advantage, right?”

He nodded. They’d shown him how to fall first. Not because they wanted him to fall, but because the reality was that he was going to, and they wanted to reduce the chance of him being injured as he figured all of this out.

“Thank you,” Perian told her earnestly. “I’m sure I’m going to be an embarrassed, sweaty mess by the end of this, but thank you anyway.”

She laughed. “Like I said, this is going to be highly entertaining.”

Perian left her to her training, hoping that Onadal agreed with Brannal and Delana. No matter what influence she had, Perian was sure the captain of the Warriors would have his own opinion. He might still decide Perian was more trouble than he was worth.

But just like you started training with as many advantages as possible, Perian felt like he had stacked the deck as best he could to encourage the outcome he wanted.

Plus, now that he knew how much Delana liked those pastries, if nothing else worked, he could always buy her more and see if she would train him.

The morning had passed more quickly than he expected, so Perian headed back to Brannal’s rooms and gathered up the blankets before swinging by the kitchen for the picnic basket that was now always ready for him. Alona seemed to have been appointed the one to deal with him—or maybe it was always her job to wrangle the people who showed up at the doors—and she smiled at him as he thanked her before he headed out to the quadrangle.

He nodded his head at the Warriors—not ones he recognized—and ducked through the bushes.

He’d forgotten about Renny.

Well, notforgottenabout Renny, because obviously he’d come here to have a picnic with her like he usually did. But he’d been thinking about the gossip and how everyone had heard about his injury… and he’d never once given any consideration to a certain twelve-year-old princess’s reaction.

Her eyes narrowed sharply when she saw him, and he realized belatedly that carrying the basket awkwardly with his left hand was a dead giveaway. She looked tired, pale, and stressed.

“Take your coat off!” she ordered.

Chapter Twenty

“Whoa,”Periansaid.“It’sa nice spring day, but it’s still a little chilly out.”

She actually stamped her foot. “Coat. Now!”

“You get really shrill when you’re losing your temper, did you know that?”

She squinted at him, looking thoroughly aggravated.

“I’m serious,” she told him.

“I can see that you are. But if I take my coat off, you’re still not going to see anything. I’d have to take my vest off, and then myshirtoff, and I’ve already assured your mother that I’m not interested in you like that.”

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