The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans (18 page)

“That
still doesn’t explain Armistead,” said Thomas, doing innocent much better.

They
stepped out of the building wards joking and laughing, and Julian felt
something strange tug at him. He turned to Alex to ask what was going on, and
the world spun, and then went black.

CHAPTER 11

Everything
sounded so far away to Julian, like his ears were full of water. He tried to
reach up and clear them, but his body was sluggish and unresponsive. He
realised his eyes were closed and opened them, then immediately snapped them
shut against the bright white glare. It made him aware of the headache that
pulsed in time to his heartbeat, dull waves of pain with a sharp edge that made
him afraid to try moving his head. He could smell ozone and something charred,
but he didn’t feel burned, just the headache that seemed to grow with each
breath.

Julian
could tell there were voices in the sounds echoing distantly around him, but
they weren’t distinct enough for him to discern who was talking, or to whom. He
swallowed and considered opening his eyes again, but the decision was taken
from him as fingers pried his eyelids open one at a time. He flinched and
whimpered, the sound huge and loud inside his aching head.

“I
think he’s coming to,” floated into one ear, but the response was still a
murmur. He became aware of being very cold, except for one hand. Not only was
his hand warm, but the heat seemed to be flowing up his arm, slow as molasses.
He shivered, and the warmth tingled higher, breaking up into individual streams
that grew attenuated as they rushed up toward his shoulder.

The
smaller streams pulled the thick mass of warmth along in their wake, and Julian
thought it might not be heat at all, but life itself. He could feel, now,
someone’s hand in his, and as one of those little tendrils reached his ear it
popped, and he started to hear distinct voices.

“-ian,
can you hear me, love?” said Alex, and it was Alex’s hand holding his.
Which made the thing flowing into him magic, probably, or just love. Or
possibly warmth, given how warm Alex’s body was.

Julian
nodded, or hoped he did, a tiny movement that set off more pain rattling around
in his skull. “Head hurts,” he whispered, the words inaudible to his
ears and yet, somehow, as loud as the rushing wind inside his head. “Cold.
You’re helping.”

“He’s
conscious, but we have to get more magic into him,” said Geoff.
“Julian, do you think you could swallow a mouthful of potion?”

Julian
swallowed experimentally, and that seemed to work, though most of his body
still felt distant and numb.

“I’ll
do it,” said Alex, and Julian whimpered when the hand left his and the
cold started creeping back.

“You
keep doing what you’re doing,” scolded Geoff, and Julian cheered
internally when Alex’s hand took his up again. “This is a medicinal kiss, and
you’ll need your energy. You’re still all out of whack, remember?”

Julian
could practically feel Alex’s petulance and he wished he could smile. He felt
himself propped upright and held, and he accepted the kiss and the potion with
it, swallowing the thick stuff awkwardly, though he managed not to choke. It
was followed with another kiss of cool, pure water, and the combined rushes of
magic tingled all the way down to Julian’s toes.

Another
hand took up his left, and he felt things balancing out with a jolt. His heart
felt like it skipped a beat, and then the headache began to recede like a huge
wave rolling away from shore, leaving sharp debris behind it. “That
sucked,” said Julian, his voice hoarse.

Alex
laughed and kissed his forehead. “I just bet it did, love,” he said
gently. “Someone targeted you with a rather nasty spell.”

“I
thought that was really hard to do,” said Julian, his voice raspy. More
water was pressed to his mouth, in a cup this time, and once he’d drunk a few
more cool sips he forced himself to try opening his eyes again.

It
still hurt, but not the same way it had the first time, so he blinked to clear
them and looked around. He was in Geoff’s infirmary, propped in the bed against
Alex, with his hands being held by Alex and Geoff both.

“It
is, but it’s a lot easier if you’ve got something personal, like a lock of
hair,” said Alex. “You’ve got a bit missing in back here, I didn’t
notice until you fainted.”

“What
were they trying to do to me?” asked Julian.

Alex
kissed his mouth softly, and Julian sighed at the tingle of magic. “I’m
not sure yet, your amulet did something to deflect or transmute some of it into
heat and light.” He chuckled. “It didn’t hurt your skin, but your
shirt’s ruined.”

“Oh,
that’s what I smell,” said Julian. He relaxed back against Alex and
sighed. “Damn, and I’m still hungry.”

“Fortunately
for you, once Alex carried you down here, we sent the rest of them away for
provisions,” said Geoff. “You can have some food as soon as I’ve
checked you over for contamination.”

“And
if I’m still contaminated?” asked Julian peevishly. Today had not gone
well so far, and he wasn’t looking forward to more bad news.

“Then
we’ll take you to the Temple for a purification after you eat,” said Alex,
“instead of waiting for tomorrow.”

“Oh,”
said Julian, leaning into him and closing his eyes again. “That’s all
right, then.” He was still cold, even though the numbness had left, and
starting to feel drowsy.

“None
of that, now,” said Geoff sharply. “You need energy before sleep, young
man.”

Julian
sighed, but he sat up and offered Geoff his hands. “Go on, check me out so
you can feed me and then I can sleep.”

“He’s
a worse patient than you,” said Geoff to Alex, taking Julian’s hands.
“Hm, there is still something, I can’t quite say what, though. It’s
definitely tailor-made for you, though, that’s why it’s so enmeshed in your
subtle body. Hm, though I think your little keep-safe charm is also doing
something, maybe because you helped make it?”

“I’ll
call Father Stephen and arrange for us to take Julian through the purification
together,” said Alex. “Their mages will be able to help him.”

“I’m
right here, you know,” said Julian. He felt like something was missing, or
he had too much of it, or something. Off-kilter and unhappy about it, anyway.

“I
know, love, I’m sorry,” said Alex, kissing his forehead and then his
mouth. “I’m going to listen to your magic while you eat, is that
okay?”

Julian
sighed, but he nodded. “Food now?”

“Tea
and food,” said Geoff, pulling over a rolling bed tray. There were three
big meals on it, and a whole pot of tea, which proved to be Geoff’s herbal
restorative. They all had cups of it liberally laced with honey, and there was
no talking at all for a while as Julian and his two rescuers ate to replace the
energy they’d used up.

“I
wish I had a sweater here,” complained Julian, sipping another cup of tea
after the food had been demolished to the last bite. “I hate being
cold.”

“Jones
is going to stop by the house, I sent Alys a message to give him a fresh shirt
for you,” said Alex, sounding worried. “It’s pretty warm in here,
though.”

“I’ll
get you another blanket,” said Geoff, getting up. “Your persistent
body temperature issues might be related to magic use, I was thinking something
like that the other day, but it’s not really my area of expertise. You should
mention it to Dr. Chesterfield when Alex sees him on Thursday.” He got a
fresh blanket out of a cupboard, draping it around Julian’s shoulders like a
shawl. It smelled of lavender and other freshening herbs, which made something
inside Julian relax.

“I
will, if I’m allowed to go with him,” said Julian, leaning into Alex again
and sipping more of the tea. “I don’t know where I’ll be able to go if
he’s casting spells at me.”

“Well,
I have good news and bad news about that,” said Alex. “I can break
the connection between you and your hair so he can’t use it against you,
assuming he’s got any left.”

“But?”
asked Julian.

“But
it means a haircut,” finished Alex. “Not all of it, but I’ll need at
least one big lock of hair.”

Julian
laughed, tired and relieved. “That’s fine, whatever you do my stylist can
fix it,” he said, giving Alex a kiss. “I thought it was going to be
something awful, you git.”

“Perhaps
our vain mage thinks that would be something awful,” teased Geoff.
“One more pot of tea, and you can have a little nap while we wait for
Jones.”

Julian
yawned on cue, burrowing more into Alex’s chest. “Nap on Alex?”

Alex
laughed. “Maybe nap on me, imp,” he said, kissing Julian’s hair.
“If anyone wants my opinion on something, they can come find me, but not
until I’ve broken the spell connection.”

“Oh,
I never did Murielle’s map,” said Julian, sleepy and worried.

“She’s
bringing it by later,” promised Alex. “Fisher’s on a bit of a rampage
now, and she’s keeping him away from us on the condition that we feed her later
somewhere he can’t find her.”

Julian
giggled and rewarded him with another kiss. “So, what happened,
anyway?”

“From
our perspective,” explained Alex, “you stepped out of the Agency
building, turned and fainted. I caught you, and carried you down here. I’m
guessing whatever it was they sent after you was kept out by the building’s
wards, so it hit you as soon as you stepped out. We knew it was something
magical because your shirt started to burn from the amulet’s protection.”

“Oh,”
said Julian tiredly. “So not really very dramatic, then.”

“It
was plenty dramatic for me,” said Geoff, coming back in with a different
teapot and fresh cups on a tray. “And I’m pretty sure Alex thought it was
dramatic, to have you faint in his arms.”

“Well,
near my arms,” said Alex. “It would’ve been easier to catch him if
he’d fainted into my arms.” He kissed Julian’s nose. “Work on that
next time, will you?”

“Yes,
dear.” Julian rolled his eyes, then accepted another cup of tea from
Geoff. He smelled it, then took a sip, feeling a little rush of power.
“You charged it?”

“It’s
a special brew for magical exhaustion cases, which I got in after we has all
those problems with Alex during your Courtship,” said Geoff. “I’ve
used it a few times for the mages on staff.”

“What’s
in it?” asked Julian curiously.

“Specially
grown everything, of course,” said Geoff with a laugh. “I can find
the recipe for you later, but it’s made by very talented monks in some
monastery, and then I have magically-charged water to brew it with, and even a
special teapot and kettle.”

“Well,
thank you,” said Julian, taking another sip. “It’s wonderful.”

“It
really is good,” said Alex. “It doesn’t feel like a restorative
potion, more like one of those natural wellsprings.”

“That’s
where the water’s from,” said Geoff. “It’s all a kit, the plants are
grown near the wellspring, they even make the cups there from local clay. It’s
set up so that even someone like me who’s more of a sensitive than an actual
magic user can do it.”

Alex
chuckled. “You’ve got talent, I could hear you helping Julian. I’m
surprised you never got it trained, really.”

Geoff
shrugged. “It wasn’t really enough to train, back when I was in medical
school.”

“You
mean the school you went didn’t think minor magic was worth cultivating,”
said Alex. “I hate places like that, though you seem to have come out of
it all right.”

“Maybe
he can join in my lessons sometime?” said Julian, feeling more alive and
alert with each sip of tea. “I mean, it’s not healing, but it’s affecting
living things.”

“Given
the rate you two seem to get injured,” said Geoff, “It could
certainly be healing.”

Alex
grinned. “We could do that, and actually, this is a good excuse to test
and see if you can brew potions, too,” he said, kissing Julian’s hair.
“No more avoiding it.”

Julian
huffed at him. “I haven’t been avoiding it, I just don’t see what good
potions will do me as a Grower.”

“Those
fertilisers you were using are a potion,” said Alex.

“I
hate it when you’re right,” said Julian. “But Geoff wants to do
potions, too, there’s all kinds of healing potions.”

“It
would be good to be able to do customised work sometimes, though I can always
send out to an apothecary,” said Geoff. “Still, a few lessons here
and there would be nice.”

“We
can start when you come over to check up on me,” said Julian slyly.

Geoff
laughed. “Now I see how he keeps up with you,” he said to Alex,
shaking his head. He took Julian’s cup and refilled it. “Clever and
efficient, how can I say no?”

“Just
remember he’s taken,” said Alex. He gave Julian a sweet kiss, then rubbed
their noses together.

“Ugh,
how could I with the way you two behave?” teased Geoff. “I can feel
my blood sugar spiking.”

“So,
how are you getting me out of here?” asked Julian. He drank a big gulp of
the tea, but he could feel sleep tugging at him, and he yawned again.
“After my nap.”

“Alex
will snip a lock of your hair before you nap, and use my lab to set up the
spell,” said Geoff.

“Then
I’ll go out front to where you fainted and annoy everyone by setting things on
fire, and then Jones will park in the garage here and we’ll transfer you from
the building wards to the car’s protections without going back outside,”
explained Alex.

“And
then to the Temple?” said Julian with a sigh.

“And
then to the Temple,” said Alex. “But I’ll arrange it so you’ve got me
and someone else to go before and after you, in case you feel sick again.”

“I’m
not the one who bled all over the purification pool,” said Julian, poking
him.

“Finish
your drink,” said Geoff. “You, too,” he added, giving Alex a
poke of his own. “You gave Julian a lot of energy.”

“Yes,
sorry,” said Alex sheepishly, downing the rest of his tea. “Let me
call Father Stephen before I have another cup.”