The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans (11 page)

“Hello?” said the voice at the other end.

“Hello, is this Father Stephen? It’s Julian
St. Albans,” he said formally, in case this went to a main line instead of
directly to the priest.

“Julian, my boy, how are you?” said
Father Stephen, his voice warm and familiar now that he knew who was calling.

“I’m fine, Father, Alex is taking good care of
me. It’s just a big bruise,” Julian reassured him. “I’m sorry to hear
about the Temple, though.”

“Thank you, we were all quite shocked to hear
of it. The Gainesbury Temple was a very peaceful place, though attended quite
sparsely,” said Stephen, his expressive voice full of sadness. “We’ll
rebuild it, though, it’s been there too long to abandon over this
tragedy.”

“Good,” said Julian. “And you’ll let
me know if we can help, right?”

“Of course, my boy,” said Stephen, and
Julian could hear him smiling. “Though at this rate the Temple is going to
end up owing you.”

Julian laughed. “Well, next time I need
Guarding I’ll remember that,” he teased. “James and Jacques would
have made short work of our incompetent mugger.”

Stephen chuckled wryly. “I’m sure they would
have. Well, thank you for calling me back. I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

“See you then,” said Julian warmly,
feeling less scattered and worried as he hung up. Father Stephen always had
that effect, even on the phone, and even Alex appreciated it. Well, most of the
time.

He finished off his tea, then curled back up and
hit the button to return Tiny’s call. “Officer Engebretsen, it’s Julian
St. Albans,” said Julian, when he answered the phone.

“You don’t have to, I mean, you can call me
Tiny,” said the man awkwardly, which Julian found charming.

“Only if you tell me your first name,”
teased Julian. “Engebretsen is a bit of a mouthful, I admit.”

“It’s, uh, Tjostolv. My pappa was Norwegian,
wanted me to have a proper Nordic name, so it’s been Tiny since I was a
kid,” he said, with a laugh.

“So you were always a big boy, then?”
said Julian, then he chuckled. “Sorry, habit, I shouldn’t flirt. I really
do appreciate you calling to check up on me.”

“I was always tall for my age,” retorted
Tiny, and he sounded more relaxed. “You’re really all right? You’re so
small, it seems like you’d just break in half.”

Julian chuckled wryly. “I’m not so fragile as
all that. I’ve got a big bruise on my shoulder, but I managed to keep from
getting a lump on my head. Alex made me a really good protection amulet, and it
gave the attacker a nasty zap.”

“Are they meant to do that?” said Tiny
curiously. “I thought they just did passive stuff, like making you less
prone to accidents or…”

“Or getting mugged?” said Julian.
“Most of them do, but Alex built in a kind of one-shot active protection,
because of the trouble last year. He’s going to fix it today before we go out
again.”

“It’s good to know he takes care of you,”
said Tiny, sounding shy again. “I try to take care of my girl, but she’s
really strong and independent.”

“Oh, well, I wanted to be a consort before I
met Alex, you know, like in the tales? I almost was, but Alex helped me get out
of it after my fiancé was murdered.”

“So you are the one that was in the papers
last year?” asked Tiny curiously. “What are you doing working at the
nursery?”

“Actually, I’m her apprentice,” said
Julian. He explained about his apprenticeship and how he came to be working for
Mary Margaret, and Tiny told him about how he got to be a cop, and before
Julian knew it his phone was beeping with another call. “Oh! That’s Alex,
wow, time flies. Call me again, though? We’ll take you and Gemma to
Padma’s.”

“I’d like that, thanks. You take care,
now,” said Tiny.

“I will, promise.” He switched over to
Alex’s call and just barely caught him. “Sorry, I was calling back Officer
Tiny, who says you have to keep taking good care of me.”

Alex laughed. “I accept his assignment. Are
you going to be ready for company when we get there?”

“When are you going to get here?” said
Julian right back.

“Oh, um, it’s about forty-five minutes, we’re
leaving now,” said Alex, after consulting with what sounded like Lapointe.
“Murielle’s going to meet us directly at Thomas’ place.”

“Then yes, that’s plenty of time to shower and
dress, I’ve already returned everyone else’s calls,” said Julian.
“I’d better go now, though. Love you.”

“Love you,” said Alex, and they both hung
up.

“I’ll be looking at your shoulder before you
bathe, lad,” said Alys, coming out of the kitchen with a little dish of
what looked like pesto.

“I don’t have too long, should I wait and put
that on after?” asked Julian. “Assuming it’s a poultice and not a
condiment.”

“Nah, it’s got a little extra something to
make it sink in quick-like,” she said.

Julian obediently removed dressing gown and pyjama
top, trying to ignore the goosebumps that rose up. She looked and hmmed and did
some things, and then he felt the cool paste smoothed over his bruise all the
way out past where he’d been able to see colour in the mirror. “How long
should I keep it on?” he asked.

“Brush your teeth afore you shower, and it’ll
be fine,” she said. “I’ll have biscuits and tea when you get out for
being a good boy,” she teased.

He giggled and stood up, leaving the clothes where
they sat. “You’re a gem,” he said, and headed into the bathroom. He
rushed a little in the shower, then dressed partway in a button-down shirt and
trousers, well aware that Dr. Tamlinson would want his own peek at Julian’s
shoulder. It did feel better after both Alys’ treatment and the warm shower,
less stiff and achy, though still sore.

Julian smiled to see tea and biscuits set up at his
writing desk as he emerged, along with paper and pen, and he whistled to Horace
as he sat down. The little bird flew over to chirp and twitter at him while he
wrote a short love note to Alex, and then he folded it up in a flower-shape and
hid it in Horace’s chest. “You give that to him in a little while, when
he’s in there alone, okay?”

Horace chirped assent, nibbling Julian’s fingers
gently, then hopping up to his shoulder to preen his damp hair.

“Oh, now you’re not afraid of a little
damp,” said Julian, checking the time. “They should be here any
minute, let’s go start a pot of tea.”

“You just have a sit, dear, I’ll have tea and
biscuits ready when the boys arrive,” said Alys, though Julian wasn’t
quite sure where she was at. The brownies didn’t do their invisibility thing
often anymore, but sometimes she just felt like it, especially when company was
coming. Julian went and stood by the window instead of sitting, looking out at
the city and thinking about having some plants there to soften the man-made
landscape.

Horace hopped down his arm until he could be petted
comfortably, which made Julian smile. “I’m glad you like this, even though
you’re metal,” said Julian softly. Alex had never really explained what
made Horace the way he was, but in a way Julian didn’t want to know. He knew it
was magic, and that was all that mattered.

“How could anyone not like being petted by
you?” said Alex, coming up to hug him from behind.

“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in,” said
Julian, turning to steal a kiss, though he kept his hands as they were.
“I’m not just keeping you for your bird, but he is an excellent
perk,” teased Julian.

“If you two are done being disgusting,”
said Geoff with mock-irritation, “I’d like to make sure someone with
actual medical training sees to Julian’s shoulder.”

“Alys put a poultice on before my
shower,” said Julian. “And Alex has been putting on his own bruise
potions.”

“And now I want to see it,” said Geoff,
and then he relented and grinned. “I’m sure it’s fine, but you know how it
is. You’d want to see it if I got a plant for my desk and tried not to kill
it.”

Julian chuckled. “Yes, all right. Here,”
he said, handing Horace off to Alex, letting the construct hop up onto Alex’s
shoulder. “You go fix my amulet, and I’ll be safe enough in Geoff’s
hands.”

“Your wish is my command,” said Alex with
a grin. He stole one more kiss, and snagged the cup of perfectly-prepared tea
that had appeared on the table, then vanished into his work room.

“Just don’t take forever, I get cold
easily,” said Julian. “Hello, by the way.”

“Hello,” said Geoff. “Now, sit
here.” He guided Julian to sit sideways on the couch, taking a seat behind
him but not so close as to seem untoward. Julian shook off his sudden foolish
self-consciousness and unbuttoned his shirt, letting it fall down. “So,
Doc, am I gonna live?”

Geoff chuckled as he was meant to, and Julian
relaxed. “I’m pretty sure you were going to live whether or not I examined
you,” he said, “I just want to check for underlying bone damage, so
this might hurt a little.”

“Ugh, more poking. You’re putting more of
Alex’s potion on after, then,” protested Julian.

“Deal,” replied Geoff, already sounding
distracted. Julian felt fingers on his skin, and tried not to twitch as Geoff
gently probed the edges of the bruise, then moved carefully to the centre. He
ran his fingers up and down the length of the oblong where the pipe had
impacted, and Julian remembered what Alex said about him sensing magic through
touch.

“Are you using magic to probe me,
Doctor?” asked Julian, making it sound flirty.

“Only a little,” said Geoff. “I
don’t feel anything broken, though, and whatever they’ve been giving you is
working really well. It already looks a lot more than half a day old.”

“Good,” said Julian. “It really does
feel better, that hurt a lot less than I was expecting.”

“Let me put this on, then,” said Geoff.
“This is the right bottle?” Julian turned; Alys must have brought the
bruise potion out for them at some point, probably when she made the tea
appear.

“Yep, that’s it,” said Julian, sitting
straight again.

Geoff’s fingers were gentle but professional, and
Julian relaxed as he rubbed the potion in. “Thanks,” he said, once it
was done.

“As I’m not a fairy, you’re welcome,” said
Geoff. He handed Julian his cup of tea. “You drink a bit of that while I
wash my hands, just to make sure you don’t stain your shirt.”

“All right,” said Julian, giving a little
shiver. The tea was warm, though, and Geoff didn’t take but a minute to wash up
before declaring Julian shirt-safe.

“You really do get cold easily,” said
Geoff, sitting to have some tea of his own, finally. “You must love it
outside right now.”

Julian shrugged, but he was smiling. “I do, I
always loved August in the orchards, when there’s peaches and trees to climb to
get to them.”

“I’ll bet you gave your family a heart attack
a time or two doing that, no wonder you’re not much fussed about a little
bruise,” said Geoff. They talked about childhood bad habits and Julian’s
plans to go harvesting after the equinox, and ate Alys’ wonderful shortbread
biscuits until Alex emerged from his work room.

“All better,” he said, holding up the
amulet on its cord. It looked a little different now, and Julian was sure Alex
had done more than just ‘fix’ it, but he wasn’t going to complain. “Wear
it for me?”

“And for me,” said Julian, but he let
Alex put it on and tuck it away. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, especially if you saved
me a biscuit or three,” said Alex.

A whole plate of them appeared and, a moment later,
Alex’s cup, which proceeded to fill itself with the requisite amounts of tea,
milk and sugar.

“Okay, that’s just cool,” said Geoff.
“That’s your brownies I guess?”

“Yeah, Alys is feeling antisocial today,”
said Julian. “I can never decide if it’s cooler when we have stuff serve
itself, or when we get to see real life house-brownies in our own flat.”

Alex looked very pleased. “It’s all magic,
you’ve enjoyed that as long as I’ve known you.”

“I bet Chudleigh would love it here,”
said Julian teasingly.

Alex surprised him by looking pensive. “He
would, I wonder what he’s been up to since the Courtship?”

Julian kissed his cheek. “You’re so
thoughtful, I forgot how you two got along. He writes sometimes, he’s learning
more about his family’s estates. I think he’s hoping to do another Courtship
now that they’re in fashion.”

“We should have him over sometime, then,”
said Alex.

“You really think so?” said Julian,
snuggling up closer. “I’m not sure most boyfriends would say that about a
former suitor.”

“Good thing I’m not them, then,” teased
Alex, stealing a kiss, and then another two biscuits. These were a lovely soft
spice cookie with crunchy sugar on top, perfect for giving a hungry mage back
some energy, and Julian took one for himself.

“If you two don’t stop being so cute, I’m
going to get depressed,” said Geoff, only mostly teasing.