The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans (17 page)

“In
a second!” he called back. “I’m sorry, sir, was there anything
else?” he asked, gesturing for Jack to precede him back the way they’d
come.

“No,
I suppose I’ll have to go to the Temple,” Jack grumbled, looking almost
angry at being denied his purchases. “I’ll remember this in the
future.”

“We’ll
be sure to keep that in mind, next time someone’s murdered here,” said
Julian pleasantly.

Jack
harrumphed again, huge and put-upon, and stomped out, ending up on the heels of
the woman Mary Margaret had been talking to. She didn’t look much happier, but
at least she’d left holding a plant.

“What
did you need?” asked Julian, joining her and the three men who had
replaced the unhappy woman at the front counter.

“Julian
St. Albans?” asked one of the men.

“Yes,”
said Julian, resisting the urge to take the other customers’ moods out on these
men and point out that his identity should be obvious at that point, having
answered to his own name already. “How can I help you?”

“Why
don’t I pour you all some tea?” said Mary Margaret suddenly, giving the
men a strange look. “I’ll make up a fresh pot.” She turned and began
the business of dumping the old tea bags and starting the kettle boiling
without waiting for an answer.

“Ah,
thank you,” said one of the other men. Their body language had shifted
subtly, and now it was clear that they worked for the man who’d spoken to him
first.

“I’m
Grandmaster Elkhort, with the Grower’s Guild,” he said, holding out his
hand for shaking.

“It’s
an honour to meet you, sir,” said Julian, taking the man’s hand and
getting a little jolt of something from the contact. It hadn’t been magic,
precisely, nor quite the same awareness he had with his plants, and it made him
feel off-balance. “What can I help you with?”

“Are
you aware that both of the recent victims of ritual murders were apprentices
with our Guild?” he asked.

“Oh,
no,” said Julian, feeling the shock like cold water down to his toes.
“The second one, too?”

“I’m
afraid so,” said the Grandmaster. “We’re talking to all of our
apprentices, especially those with magical talent.” His voice was gentler
now, as though whatever he’d seen in Julian’s reaction had mollified him.
“The Guild will arrange for you to be protected, but you may have to stop
working until the perpetrator’s been caught.”

“But
I just got back to work!” protested Julian, and then he sighed. “I
know, though, even with the new wards it’s not very safe here. Did both of the
victims have magical talent?”

“They
did, and Julia was almost ready for her journeyman’s trials,” said Elkhort
sadly. “I’m coming to you in person to impress upon you the seriousness of
the situation. We only had eight talented apprentices, and another fifteen
without, though most of those are in more rural situations.”

“Had,
oh,” said Julian sadly. “So there’s only six of us now?”

All
three men nodded gravely. “You’re to head straight home, if Master Stone
can handle the nursery without you?”

“If
you pause for a cuppa, I’ll call and make sure Raul’s coming in on time, he
starts in fifteen minutes, anyway. We’re usually slow the first few hours, so
their shifts are staggered.” Mary Margaret poured them all tea, using
ceramic mugs for everyone, just this once. Julian had a feeling no one would
object with a Grandmaster here, and whoever the other two shadows were.

“I
usually open, though, will you be able to cover that?” asked Julian.

Mary
Margaret smiled. “Although Mr. Stone will miss our lazy mornings in bed
for a while, I can go back to opening on my own, don’t you worry.”

“Oh!”
said Julian. “But I can’t go home, I mean, I’m meant to go by the Agency
to give a statement. Agent Lapointe asked me to walk the Gainesbury Temple to
see if the plants felt the same as they did here, and she’s got a map for me to
fill out.” He took a sip of tea to stop his own babbling.

The
three men conferred in low tones. “I doubt much will happen to you at the
Agency. As long as you promise to take care of yourself getting there and home
again?” asked Elkhort. “I have to call on the other apprentices so
their Masters don’t object to losing their labour.” His voice was wry, and
Julian had a feeling they’d tried a few phone calls first, not that Mary
Margaret would have protested for a moment.

Julian
nodded. “Alex will be there, and we can call the Benedict driver, he took
care of Alex during my Courtship when they were trying to assassinate
him.”

One
of the subordinates’ eyes went a bit wide at that, but the Grandmaster didn’t
appear fazed. “As long as you take care,” he repeated.

“I
promise,” said Julian.

“I’ll
stop by some afternoons and give you lessons,” promised Mary Margaret.
“You’ve helped out enough with your magic and Alex doing the warding for
us that you’ve more than earned it, anyway.” She turned to the
Grandmaster. “Why don’t I show you Julian’s good work while we wait for
Raul? Can you watch the front, lad?”

“We’ll
stay,” said Elkhort’s left-hand shadow. The man on the right had yet to
show much sign of life, and Julian fancifully wondered if he was a golem.

“I’ll
be fine, Master Stone,” said Julian. “Oh, we need to order in another
set of virgin lilies for that man Jack, he was very insistent, and some more
lucky clover, too.”

“If
we must, we must,” said Mary Margaret. “Write it down for me, would
you?”

“Yes,
ma’am,” said Julian, and he let her take the Grandmaster off to tour the
nursery while he went back behind the counter for the order book. He made a
note of the order and drank his tea and finally he couldn’t stand it anymore
and asked, “So, who are you two, anyway?”

The
one on the left laughed. “Sorry, we’re the Grandmaster’s Guardians. We’re
assigned to him whenever it’s deemed he requires protection, since he’s the
strongest talent in the Guild and does many invaluable services for the
Temple.”

“Oh!”
said Julian, relaxing. “I was Guarded once, well, sort of by proxy. James
and Jacques, they were taking care of my Alex last year.”

The
Guards both relaxed minutely, though he could see neither of them dropped their
alertness. “I’m Archibald,” said the quiet one.

“I’m
Rory,” said the other. “Jacques and James are friends of ours.”

“Mine,
too, now,” said Julian, smiling shyly. “Have you ever had Jacques’
cooking?”

They
raved happily about Jacques’ food until Raul arrived, and by then the tour was
done and Elkhort was back with Mary Margaret.

“Your
work is very impressive, my boy,” said Elkhort. “Your power is
developing admirably. I’ll be calling on you again when this is over. Good day,
Master Stone, Apprentice St. Albans.”

“That’s
our cue,” said Rory with a wink, and they all headed out, Archibald in
front and Rory taking up the rear and looking much more like Guardians once
they were moving.

“And
that’s my cue, as well,” said Julian with a laugh. “Call me a
cab?”

“Not
your Jones?” asked Mary Margaret, sounding concerned.

“He’ll
be out at the estate right now, but I promise to call him while you call my
cab,” said Julian, making puppy eyes.

She
laughed. “All right, you win. But do be careful, I’d hate to lose you now
that you’re doing so well.”

Julian
laughed, too, as he was meant to, and got out his phone to call Jones. It was
late enough that at least Lapointe would be at the Agency, and likely Alex with
her, so he’d be safe enough once he got there. Jones promised to pick them up
at the Agency later, and arrange with Victor to be at their disposal.

“I
never thought I’d be worried about protecting my passengers again,” said
Jones wryly. “Maybe I should take some bodyguard classes.”

“At
least you’ve got your paired amulets from Alex, those will help us all stay
safe,” Julian reassured him. The tale of Julian’s amulet saving him from
the mugging was enough to keep them talking while Julian waited for the cab,
and he barely had time to give Mary Margaret a kiss on the cheek goodbye before
he headed out.

Julian
hopped in the cab and tried to be confident that he was safe as houses for now,
though he felt a little paranoid until they got close enough to the Agency that
the turnings were properly familiar. He paid and headed inside, figuring he
could maybe lure someone out to lunch if they weren’t too busy. Having an Agent
with him should qualify as keeping safe.
 

“Julian,
you’re early!” said Alex, getting up off Lapointe’s uncomfortable couch.
“Did something happen?” he asked worriedly.

“Grandmaster
Elkhort of the Guild is personally visiting all the talented apprentices and
asking us to hide away until everything’s over,” explained Julian,
sounding petulant even to himself. “So I’m back to being not allowed to
work!”

“You’ve
got something very specific in common with the victims,” said Lapointe,
her face serious. “I’m glad your Guild is taking it seriously.”

Julian
sighed dramatically. “Anyway, since I can’t have my plants, can I have
lunch? If you’re both with me no one can say I’m taking risks.”

Alex
pulled him close for a kiss. “We’ll take you to the Temple to start Father
Stephen’s garden, there’s nowhere safer than there.”

Julian
felt his irritation draining away, as it always did when Alex was there to hold
him and help him make it better. “You’re a very smart boyfriend,”
said Julian, claiming another kiss. “I’ll call him after lunch and make
arrangements. Jones is going to be at our disposal, too, I already
called.”

“Good,”
said Lapointe. “I’m going to put a call in to the Guild, letting them know
that officers can be made available to any apprentices in less secure
situations, you two see if any of the usual suspects want to join us for
lunch.”

“Yes,
ma’am,” said Julian with a chuckle. He and Alex slipped out to find their
friends among the Agents, Thomas and Smedley both agreeing to join them and,
after a quick text, Geoff as well.
 

“Are
we just heading over to the diner?” asked Thomas, shuffling his paperwork
and getting it all put away.

“I
figured we would,” said Julian. “Everyone here knows what they like
there, and they’ve got good coffee.”

“Really
good coffee,” agreed Smedley. “Crap for wards, though, or so I’m
told.”

Julian
huffed. “I’m hardly going to be kidnapped out from under your noses,”
he said. “Alex even fixed my amulet after that stupid mugger,” he
added, tapping his chest.

“Are
you sure it was just a mugger?” asked Thomas.

“What
d’you mean? He definitely wasn’t a criminal mastermind,” said Julian.

Alex,
however, looked thoughtful. “That is an interesting point, though, if our
killer uses hired help and wasn’t aware of Julian’s protections.”

“Or
wanted to test them,” pointed out Smedley.

“You’re
not comforting me,” said Julian crossly. “I’ll be fine for
lunch.”

“You’ll
be fine for lunch,” agreed Thomas, “but that doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t pull the police report on your mugger and look at it with fresh
eyes.”

“Are
you on the case now?” asked Julian, pleased that at least someone he liked
was going to benefit from all the chaos.

Thomas
ducked his head and the tips of his ears turned pink. “Yeah, Agent
Lapointe pulled me in when I finally finished the paperwork on my last
one.” He chuckled wryly. “Though of course there’s more paperwork on
this case.”

“You’ll
be a paperwork expert someday, just like the rest of us,” said Smedley.
“I am not on the case, so I’m just here for the food.”

“I’m
sorry this is affecting you,” said Thomas with puppyish sincerity.

Julian
shot him a grateful smile. “Thanks. It’s hard to stay grumpy about it with
all you guys helping, though.”

“You
don’t really want to stay grumpy, anyway,” said Alex, wrapping an arm
around Julian’s waist. “I’m the infamous grouch, not you.”

“You’re
our little ray of sunshine,” said Geoff, coming up behind Smedley.
“Alex is our gloomy raincloud. Don’t confuse us by trading roles, it’s
unkind.”

Julian
snickered. “Yes, Doctor,” he said all singsong. “My shoulder’s
almost better, by the way.”

“Good,”
said Geoff. “You had excellent care.” He paused, then asked
plaintively, “Now, why are we all standing here instead of eating?”

“You’re
waiting for me,” said Lapointe, emerging from her office. “The offer
of assistance has been made, and they’ve got my number if they want to arrange
things, though the person on the phone seemed to think it was all beneath
them.”

“The
Grandmaster had a pair of Guardians with him, they were nice,” said
Julian. “I don’t think they thought he was really in danger, though, they
stayed with me while he looked around the nursery with Mary Margaret.”

“Maybe
they just thought you were in more danger,” said Smedley ominously.

Julian
hmphed. “I’m only in danger of starving. Come on!” He dragged Alex,
and by extension the whole group, to the elevators and down. They paused to
talk to the man at the desk, who was the same one that had gotten an extra
coffee the other day, and promised to bring him over a treat. His name, it
turned out, was Sherman Wu, and he was really quite nice when they gave him a
chance to do more than wave them through security.

“I
never knew Agents were so nice,” teased Julian. “In books they’re
always surly and full of deep angst about their partner who was killed or their
wives that left them over the job.”

“I’d
say you have terrible taste in books,” said Lapointe, “but I’ve read
them, too.”

“Maybe
that’s Fischer’s problem,” said Alex, trying and failing to maintain an
innocent expression. “Deep angst.”