Page 6 of The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior

Someone made a strangled sound behind him, and Perian flashed his coldest smile at the redhead. “Thank you for your concern. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to be anywhere but here.”

He turned back towards the other two, because they had sounded amused rather than critical before. He made it two steps.

“Do you have any idea who I am?” the redhead man demanded.

Perian turned around even as he kept walking. “I really don’t care.”

Fire suddenly ignited in both of his hands. “Howdareyou speak to me like that, you son of a wraith! I am Secundus!”

“Cormal!” Brannal snapped.

The redhead raised his hands as though he were going to throw the fireballs at Perian. With a rushing sound, Cormal was suddenly drenched in a deluge of water that put out the fire and made himmad.

Cormal started yelling, Brannal and the others started yelling back, and Perian took slow, careful steps backwards until he turned a corner and could breathe again. If only he wasn’t still barely dressed, barefoot, and had no idea where he was going.

Chapter Two

“Youlookalittlelost.”

Perian clapped a hand to his heart and acknowledged that if he’d been able to throw fireballs, this person would have been toast.

The top of their head was about even with Perian’s nose, the cylindrical beads braided into their dark hair indicating they identified as non-binary. They had a sharply pointed chin, an equally sharp nose, and large brown eyes. Perian thought they looked to be about his age, maybe a couple years older. They were wearing the tunic, leather vest, and arm bracers that marked them as a Warrior. The crest stamped in the vest clarified they were a Mage Warrior: two crossed swords and a representation of one of the elements in each of the resulting quadrants.

“I am totally lost,” he agreed.

“And trying to get away from all the excitement?” they suggested.

“Desperately,” he admitted.

They eyed him up and down. “You won’t fit in my shoes, but I’m sure we can borrow something that will work.”

They seemed both kind and practical, and despite the mixed results Perian had had with strangers lately, he found himself following his new ally to the laundry, where they appropriated a coat that made Perian look halfway presentable. They disappeared and returned a moment later with a pair of shoes.

“I only need them to get to the inn,” he told them. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“How about I walk with you?” they suggested.

Things certainly hadn’t gone well the last time Perian had walked anywhere alone, and he had a good feeling about this Mage Warrior.

“Are you sure?” He didn’t want to impose.

They nodded. “I can bring everything back, though chances are, no one will even have noticed they’re gone.”

Perian made a face. “Coat might need to be laundered again.”

Their lips twitched up into a smile. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

Perian couldn’t help but laugh a bit, feeling a bit of tension ease inside him. “It’s been a weird few days.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

The question was inviting without pressure, and Perian found that he did, actually, so he stuck out his hand.

“I’m Perian, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

They smiled at him and shook with a firm grip. “Nisal, and likewise.”

“You haven’t heard the whole ridiculous story. You might change your mind.”

---