The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans (26 page)

“I
wouldn’t be so sure,” said Jacques, nodding to Brianna, who darted forward
and opened the office door. “Alex told me he’d been tinkering again, to
make him more useful for you.”

“Of
course,” said Julian with a chuckle. “That’s my Alex.”

Jacques
cleared the room, sharp-eyed and radiating a magic that Julian could feel but
not place, though it reminded him of the real birds that sometimes stopped at
their window box, hoping for a butterfly snack. He went outside and shut the
door, standing in front of it, and Julian collapsed into a chair.

“So,
you’re not just here to plant a garden, then,” said Brianna dryly.

Julian
laughed. “They didn’t explain?” When she shook her head, he told her
the whole tale, from finding the body to the delivery man just now. “So
there were only enough Guardians for three of us, but I’m glad it was James and
Jacques, because they Guarded Alex during my Courtship.”

Someone
came up outside and they tensed. Julian felt Jacques’ magic peak and then
tinkle into warm welcome, and the door opened to show a frustrated, disheveled
James. “I got him,” said James, “but we’re pretty sure he was
just a spell carrier.”

“What
happened?” asked Julian, eyes wide.

James
chuckled. “I tripped over the stupid box of plants, which had a tangling
spell on it, but recovered enough to catch him. He didn’t run far, and they’re
taking him to the Agency now to do all the necessary tests.”

“To
make sure he’s not faking,” said Jacques. “And figure out what was
done and who did it. Plus, agents are headed to the courier’s office to track
the box, and the box is in evidence.”

Julian
sighed and let his head hit the wall with a gentle thump, which earned him a
scolding from Horace. “This is all too weird.”

“Well,”
said James, finding their big box of treats and pulling out the little packets
of chocolate, “at least you know he’s not after you for your fortune.”

Raj
and Roger arrived at the door to the office looking sheepish. “We missed
you at the delivery door, so we found Father Stephen and let him know what was
going on, and he told us to tell some other people, and is that
chocolate?” said Roger.

“Yes,”
said Julian with a laugh, “and luckily there’s some for you two,
too.” He tossed them each their portions, passing around the rest, and
they all spent a few moments just appreciating the very good truffles. Ellen
had sent something different for each of them, and Julian’s were lemon tarragon
from the Benedict estate, and spicy gingered peach from his own. The people
they didn’t know had less risky flavors like honey or simple chocolate, but
each Guardian had something special.
 

“Oh,
this is exquisite,” said Jacques, making happy noises as he ate a truffle
with a crystallised flower on top. “Ellen is a master.”

“She
really is,” said James with a happy little sigh. “We’ll break for
lunch after this, right?”

“If
we’re allowed,” said Julian, glancing toward the door. “I expect
people to come demanding us any moment now.”

“Too
bad we can’t eat under the wish tree,” said Brianna. “Hardly anyone
goes back there on a weekday.”

“We’d
have to do some extra warding,” said Jacques, trading looks with James,
“but it might be worth it to debrief Julian ourselves first.”

“Me?”
said Julian. “Why me? You got a much better look at him.”

“You
actually felt the spell, though,” said James. “And you’re learning to
talk about magic usefully, so we want to hear your impressions.”

“Would
it be worth the energy?” asked Julian hopefully. A picnic under a tree
sounded like the best cure ever for his frustration and fear, but he didn’t
want to wear out his Guardians for a little bit of peace and quiet.

James
and Jacques exchanged looks, then they both nodded. “It’ll be worth
it,” said James. “Brianna, can you find us something to sit on?”

“I’ll
get a tablecloth from the dining hall, there’s old ones that aren’t fit for
formal occasions anymore,” she said.

“We
can have our tea afterward, in the new garden,” said Julian. “Raj,
can you get us some water and suitable glasses for drinking outside?”

 
“Yes, sir,” said Raj, and he
was off like a shot.

Brianna
chuckled. “Boys,” she said, sauntering off on her own task.

Roger
fidgeted. “Should I help, too?” he asked.

“You’ll
carry the box,” said Julian, pointing to their lunches. “I’ll send
Horace for Jones.” Julian went to the door with the metal bird.
“Bring Jones to us, please,” he said, then gave Horace a little boost
into flight. Horace chirped and circled, then took off down the corridor to get
the last member of their little party.

“That’s
a really neat bird,” said Roger, watching him fly off.

Julian
smiled fondly. “Horace is a very complex construct. He saved my life
once.”

“He
did, we saw him,” said Jacques, sounding just as proud as Julian felt.
“Alex, that’s Julian’s boyfriend and our former Charge, fixed him
afterward. He used to be all bronze, but Alex added in the silver parts during
the repairs.”

“He’s
really pretty,” said Roger, grinning. “How come he’s yours now?”

Julian
smiled fondly. “He chose me, after Alex let me keep him a while during my
Courtship.”

James
chuckled. “We’re fairly sure he’s not dating Alex for the bird,
though.”

“Well,”
said Julian teasingly, “Not
just
for the bird.”

Brianna
returned with two nice big tablecloths that were only slightly singed, and Raj
arrived soon after with a big jug of cold spring water and a bunch of plastic
cups. Horace flew up moments later, and Jones rounded the corner into their
corridor with a grin on his face.

“Ah,
good, I was a little worried you guys needed help, but he didn’t rush me,”
said Jones. “Is it lunchtime?”

They
laughed, and everyone agreed it was lunchtime. They paused at a washing station
to get their hands and faces at clean, and then trooped out to one of the
larger courtyards. It had a huge wish tree in the middle, growing right up past
the roof. There were four tall towers in this Temple, one for each of the
cardinal directions, but most of the building was on a single, sprawling level.

“Wow,
this has been here for a long time,” said Julian, all his attention on the
tree. It called out to him with its old, deep magic, full of all the stories
and wishes that previous patrons had given it. Julian walked up and lay a hand
on the coin-studded bark, leaves and paper rustling all around him in the
slight breeze. It was electric, the tree giving far more than it took as Julian
connected with its life force. “Strong, the tree is so strong,” he whispered.

“Did
you want to make a wish?” asked a voice, and for a moment Julian thought
it came from the tree. Then a little old priest stepped into his view, and
Julian chuckled at himself. “Picnics are also welcome, of course, just
take your trash with you.”

“Thank
you, Mother,” said Julian, turning to see them already spreading out the
tablecloths. “I would like to make a wish, you only allow the paper ones
now?” The tree told him it was tired of the pounding of metal into its
bark, and while it would happily grow around what was already there, it didn’t
want more.

“That’s
right, our tree’s a bit old now for all that hammering,” said the priest,
patting the bark. “I’m Mother Lauren, keeper of the wish tree. It’ll be a
pound per wish, for the supplies; even the acolytes pay.”

Julian
chuckled. “Seven pounds for the lot of us, then? Oh, eight, Horace might
want one,” he said, though the bird was already happily up in the branches
communing with the tree in its own way. “I’ll just make it ten,” he
said, getting out his wallet and handing over a ten-pound note.

“A
generous soul,” she said, making the money vanish. “You’ll find
supplies over there, I’ll leave you to your picnic.” She waved to the
acolytes and wandered back to the doorway she’d emerged from on the other side
of the courtyard.

“I
got us all wishes,” said Julian, coming to sit on the cloth. “She
said even you guys have to pay.”

Brianna
laughed. “We do, Mother says it’s so we don’t waste our wishes on
frivolous things, since we don’t have much of a stipend.”

“Well,
now we can all have one, and perhaps Horace will fly them up to where they’ll
be out of the way, if the tree allows it,” said Julian. They got the food
sorted out so everyone had their lunch and a cup of water, and the tea snacks
were left in the box for later. Everyone exclaimed over the brownies’ delicious
food, roast beef sandwiches on herbed bread, a pear and satsuma for everyone,
and a jar of salad that they had to shake up before eating to spread dressing
over the ingredients.
 

“How
can you guys eat so much?” asked Brianna, who had been given less salad,
no pear, and only one sandwich.

“Magic,”
said Julian.

James
chuckled. “Literally, in our case. Raj and Roger haven’t been using much
of theirs today, but at their age it’s just the way boys are.”

“I’m
glad I’m a girl, then,” she said, shaking her head as she peeled her
satsuma. “This is plenty, especially with the chocolate earlier.”

“There’s
more for tea, too,” said Julian. “But you’ll work it off, we’re
almost done terracing and then there’ll be more planting.”

Their
conversation turned back to the work, and if Julian felt the occasional burst
of magic from James or Jacques as they did their Guardian things to keep him
safe, he wasn’t going to complain that they weren’t paying attention to the
conversation. Without them, he suspected he wouldn’t be having a conversation.

Brianna
finished her food first, and went over to get eight wish papers and one of the
pens from the supply table. She wrote her wish and folded it deftly, then passed
the pile along to Jacques. They each paused their eating to write something
down and pass them along, Julian writing down a wish from Horace that met with
chirped approval, and then he finished the last of his food and got up.
“I’ll make sure the tree doesn’t mind that Horace is going to hang
them,” said Julian. Brianna was attaching long loops of string to each
little wish-knot, to make it easier on him.

“Would
you mind if…” Julian began to ask, and he got a burst of approval from
the tree, for finding a way to decorate its high branches instead of crowding
more on the lower ones. “I guess not,” he said, pressing his hand
against the bark again. “Go on, Horace, one at a time,” said Julian.
 

Horace
flew the first wish over to Raj for a last infusion of intent, and Raj kissed
the paper, then launched the glittering bird into the sky. Horace circled the
tree three times, then landed up high and managed to get the wish-knot looped
around a branch and held as securely as it needed to be. Nature would dissolve
the wishes with wind and rain, but until then they were meant to stay safely in
its branches.

Julian
saved his own wish for last before Horace’s, and he kissed it as well, pushing
as much of his own magic into it as he dared before giving it to Horace for
delivery. He let it go and felt his heart lighten just a little, as though the
making of it had been enough to give him more hope. Horace tied this one very
near the crown of the tree, careful with the little paper rose that Julian had
made out of his wish.

“Keep
us safe,” whispered Julian, too soft for anyone but the tree to hear,
though of course it had already heard the words when he wrote them. It sent
back another wave of wise, old magic, and Julian sighed. He watched Horace
deliver the last wish-knot, a little paper bird that just said,
“useful,” inside.

“Thank
you,” he said aloud, and everyone else came over and touched the tree and
thanked it, giving little tendrils of energy to it and sheltering for a moment
under its aura of hope and possibility.

After
that, they were quiet and thoughtful as they packed up and went back inside,
filled with the peace and silence of the tree. Work went quickly, and soon
enough the terraces were finished and they’d begun to fill them with seedlings,
taller plants against the wall and bright flowers along the edges. Julian
poured himself into the plants unstintingly, just as he had before he was in
danger, and although he was tired when they stopped for the day with one whole
side of the room done, he was also happy.

They
gathered everyone up and were just sitting down to tea in the empty dining hall
with a tired Alex and worried Father Stephen when Julian’s phone rang.

“I was wondering when you’d call,”
said Julian, seeing Murielle’s name on the caller ID. “I take it we’re to
head over for debriefing or whatever?”

“How’d you
guess?” she said with a laugh. “When can you get here?”

“We’re having tea
now, so maybe an hour?” said Julian, relieved when Jones nodded.
“Traffic willing, of course.”

“Of course. I’ll
make sure to send Thomas for coffee, he’s dying to get away from Fischer’s
thunderclouds of doom.”

Julian giggled. “I
can’t figure out if our visit will help or hurt, given that Alex was busy with
two Temple mages, Dr. Chesterfield, three other Healers, and Grandmaster
Elkhort.”

Lapointe laughed.
“Oh, it’ll definitely help me, if not him,” she said. “I’ll see
you soon.” She hung up without waiting for him to say goodbye.

“Well,” said
Julian, sipping his tea, “Now we know what the rest of our afternoon
holds.”

CHAPTER 15

“So,
how is the girl in the hospital?” asked Lapointe, settling back behind her
desk after greetings and coffee.
 

“Jordan’s
doing better,” said Alex. “They think she might wake up soon, now
that we’ve broken the spell connection, purged the magic, and restored some of
hers. It’s slower with her unconscious, we can’t just dump a bunch of potion
down her throat.”

“Or
put her in the salt pool,” said Julian.
 

“I
have news, too,” said Lapointe. “Wu and I figured out who ratted you
out about the spell.”

“Ooh,
we’ll have to bring him a treat to thank him,” said Julian, already
pondering what might be seen as a friendly gift and not a bribe.

“He
likes berry pie,” said Lapointe. “We spent about ten minutes talking
about pie, and now I am dying for a slice, but we can’t take you to the
cafe.”

Julian
grinned. “Berry pie, hm? I’ll tell Alys, maybe she can make some tarts for
the department and we’ll make sure he gets a few.”

“Clever,”
said Alex. “So, who was it?”

“It
was our nosy Ms. Eberly,” said Lapointe. “You apparently have a good
track record for pissing off our senior crime scene techs.”

“I
wasn’t even mean to her!” protested Alex.

“He
wasn’t, it was actually a little weird,” said Julian, trying to look
innocent. “She’s new anyway, isn’t she? So maybe she really thought it was
suspicious.”

Lapointe
nodded, but she didn’t look convinced. “She’s been hanging around with
Fischer a lot, and we’ve been assuming he’s spreading his bias, but what if
it’s the other way around and she’s goading him into continuing to pursue the
bad lead?”

“But
why bother?” said Julian. He snuggled a little closer to Alex in the cool
office and sipped more of the welcome coffee that Thomas had kindly provided
before going back to his own desk.

“That’s
a very good question,” said Jacques. “What do you know about this
crime scene woman?”

“Ellora
Eberly,” said Lapointe. She paused to think, then started to recite.
“Transferred into the city from one of the northern branches of the
Agency, where she was top dog. She’s about the same rank as Armistead, that’s
why she heads up cases already, but she’s not the top of the food chain because
several other techs have seniority.”

“She’s
obviously not the guy that stole my hair, though,” said Julian, giving a
little shiver that he’d ever turned his back on that man. “So if she is
involved somehow, she’s working with him.”

“Nor
is she your mugger,” pointed out Murielle. “And if she was inside the
Agency when you were attacked outside the wards, then she’s unlikely to have
been the person responsible there, either.”

“So
maybe she just doesn’t like consultants,” said Alex with a sigh. “Or
we were right the first time, and she’s spent too long in Fischer’s charming
company. What’s he busy doing now, anyway?”

“He’s
been interviewing the other apprentices one at a time, trying to see if there’s
anyone that they’ve all seen around,” said Lapointe. “It’s boring and
necessary, and it keeps him away from your doorstep.”

“I
still can’t believe he actually tried to come to the flat,” said Julian.
“I mean, it’s not like he’s you. Well, or Smedley, or Geoff, or
Thomas…” Julian laughed.

“Do
you think he was expecting to be let in from general goodwill, even after all
his accusations?” said Alex.

“If
he was, he’s dumber than he looks,” said James, “and that’s saying
something.”

“So
who’s interrogating this morning’s guy?” asked Julian.

“I
did that, with one of our Agency mages, who do in fact earn their keep even
with Alex around,” said Lapointe. “We confirmed that there was a spell
on the delivery, and he was merely the carrier. He’s been with the courier
service for a long time, so right now he’s down with Geoff getting
purified.”

“We’ll
cover the donation if he wants to go to the Temple,” said Alex.

Julian
rewarded him with a very sweet kiss. “We will,” he agreed. “It’s
not his fault someone’s trying to get to me.”

“Watch
it, or you’ll totally destroy your reputation for being a dick,” said
Lapointe, amused. “I’ll let him know, though I’m fairly sure the Guild
would cover it even if you hadn’t offered.”

“The
Temple would allow it regardless,” said Jacques. “The system is set
up so that no one has to donate if it’s a hardship.”

Lapointe
nodded, and made a little note in her book. “Regardless, now I have to
debrief you. You didn’t send him through purification again?”

“The
magic never got a foothold,” said Jacques.

“It
reached for me, but it never got past my Guardians, the Temple, and my
amulet,” explained Julian. “I could feel it reaching out when he
caught my gaze, but it was like it broke up against their protections.” He
gestured to James and Jacques, who looked smug. “And then whatever was
left got scraped off when Jacques pushed me back into the proper Temple
wards.”

“The
delivery area has lighter wards by necessity,” said James. “Sometimes
we get in magic items for study or destruction that wouldn’t be able to come in
through the front door.”

“So
that’s how the magic got inside the building in the first place,” said
Lapointe, writing things down. “Okay, let’s go over it one by one from
start to finish, just to make sure?”

Julian
sighed. “Yes, all right, but let them go first. I never got to hear how
James took him down.”

James
laughed. “I didn’t, really, he got confused when the mage stopped
controlling him and basically just stood there and waited for me.”

“From
the beginning?” she interrupted pointedly.

“Yes,
Mom,” said Julian, settling in to listen as James and Jacques both
described the afternoon’s excitement from their points of view. It was
fascinating to listen to their descriptions of the magic and the way it looked,
especially with the way they used each others’ perspectives to get a clearer
idea of what magic had been used. Julian added in his own, rather less
informative version, and by the time they were done it was well past dark.

“Coming
for dinner?” offered Alex, as they all got organised to head home. Jones,
being under no particular threat, had spent the afternoon in the coffee shop
flirting with Jenny, and now had her number as well as the car ready downstairs.

“No,
but thank you for this,” Lapointe said, holding up the little box from
Saveur. “It’ll make the rest of the night’s work go more smoothly.”

“Any
time,” said Julian. “Home?”

“Home,”
said Jacques, and down they headed to the garage and their waiting car. They
all gave Jones teasing congratulations over finally getting Jenny’s number as
they got into the car and on the road.

“So,
reading again?” asked Julian hopefully, cuddled up to Alex with Horace in
his lap.

“We
should work on your protections more,” said James apologetically.

“You
can come read in my work room if you want,” offered Alex. “And I
promise to come to bed on time.”

Julian
pretend-pouted for a moment, then grinned and kissed him. “It’s still a
quiet evening in, so I suppose I can handle that. Even if I won’t get
cuddles.”

“You’ll
get more than cuddles later, I suspect,” teased Jacques.

“I
will, but it’s not the same,” said Julian with a big, fake sigh.
“Naked cuddles are totally different than reading cuddles.”

Julian
was grateful for the laughing banter that buoyed him on the way home. He didn’t
want to fall into guilt or worry about the situation, the girl in the hospital
or the other apprentices without his talent or resources, who were consequently
more vulnerable.

“You’re
not going to carry me upstairs again, are you?” asked Julian, when Jacques
directed Jones to pull up right next to the elevator.

“Why,
are you starting to see the benefits of being in the arms of a man who isn’t
all elbows and ribs?” asked Jacques.

James
elbowed him. “No, but this way you’re out of the wards less time. Alex is
going to follow us up with the lunch boxes, aren’t you?”

“Apparently,”
said Alex dryly. “You’re all in the wards now, anyway.”

They
got out and scanned the garage, James calling down the elevator before they’d
let Julian out of the car and its small but significant protections. Julian was
grateful for their care, even if it did feel silly to hurry from car to
elevator with the two fit men Guarding him from stray dust motes in the
otherwise empty parking area.

“See
you soon,” teased Alex, waving as the doors closed.

Julian
waved back, then leaned against the wall with a sigh. “I really like you
guys,” he said, “but I can’t wait until things are back to
normal.”

“We’ll
be happier when you’re safe, too,” said James.

“And
when we don’t have to listen to you two through your wards anymore,” said
Jacques.

Julian
stuck his tongue out, and then stood up as the elevator reached their floor.
The doors opened, and everyone tensed; there were plants of all sorts arranged
around their front door. It was strangely ominous, for all that it would seem
like a harmless kindness any other day. The anonymous delivery was far from
innocent here. Julian could already feel something reaching for him, the
draining magic that was already becoming distressingly familiar.

“We
need Alex,” said James, pushing the button to close the doors and take
them right back downstairs.

“I
got his flute,” said a voice near Julian’s thigh, and then Nat appeared.
“We can’t move or touch ‘em, someone knows ye’ve got brownies, but I can
get around easy enough.”

“Th-
um. That’s really good,” said Julian faintly. “Alys is fine?”

“Oh,
aye, she’s holding the fort inside. Yon wards are very good,” said Nat.
“You should call your cop lady, though.”

“Right,”
said Julian, fumbling with his phone. “She’ll want it all taken into
evidence.” He made a noise of pure frustration. “Why does he want me
so badly? I’ve got better protections than anyone else, between Alex and you
guys. What’s so special about me?”

“You’re
really a lot more powerful than you think,” said Jacques, almost
apologetically. “We’ve been keeping an eye on you while you work, and
you’ve got amazing natural rapport with the plants and the earth, and you
replenish power at an impressive rate.”

“Which
is good, because you still leak like a sieve whenever there’s plants
around,” said James dryly.

The
elevator doors opened just as Julian got Lapointe’s number up on his phone and
hit send.
 

“Something’s
happened,” said Lapointe.

“There’s
a booby trap around our door,” said Julian. He heard a noise and looked
up, then gasped to see Alex and Jones wrestling, with Alex whistling
desperately and some kind of magic like a fog of emotion swirling around them
both. “Oh, god, something’s happened to Jones, you have to send
someone.”

“We’ll
take care of him,” said James. This time he was the one who stayed with
Julian, pulling him out of the elevator and into a corner while Jacques moved
forward, doing some magic of his own. There was a blur of movement, and then it
was all three of them fighting, and Julian felt panic rising up in his throat.

“Don’t
hurt him,” said Julian softly, worried for all of them.

“What’s
going on?” asked Lapointe. “I’m heading out with Thomas, who else do
we need?”

“Geoff,”
said Julian. “Jones got, I dunno, bespelled or something, he’s trying to
do something to Alex. I don’t really know, they’re fighting but James is trying
to hide me.”

“We’re
on our way. Stay on the line if you can,” said Lapointe. “I’m going
to put you on speaker for the drive.” There were noises from her end of
the line, but Julian ignored them, peering worriedly around James.

“Your
magic trick didn’t work?” Julian asked, remembering how they’d knocked out
the brawlers at Padma’s during his Courtship.

“It
doesn’t always,” said James. “This influence is too strong.”

“Are
you helping him? Can I do anything?” asked Julian, biting his lip. “I
hate being the damsel in distress.”

“You’re
not very damsel-like,” said James. “Put your hand on my arm and give
me a little energy, I’m already feeding to Jacques.”

“I
can do that,” said Julian. He took a deep breath and found James’ hand,
then slid his grip up to James’ bare wrist. He tightened up his power and sent
a trickle just through that point of contact, making sure it wasn’t leaking out
anywhere else, increasing it to a slow but steady stream. He made sure to keep
tabs on his own energy after today’s expenditures, but he accepted that he’d be
depleted when they were done no matter what.

The
three men were wrestling, though no one really threw any blows except Jones.
Alex and Jacques concentrated on blocking and trying to wrestle him to the
floor, but something in the magic was giving him extra strength and speed. Or
maybe Jones was just really good in a fight; Alex wasn’t really much of a
physical fighter, though Jacques should have more than made up for that with
his bulk and training both.

“Jones,
Paul Jones, you trust Jacques, let Jacques in!” said Julian, trying to see
if anything could break the stalemate. “Jones, Jones, Jones!”

Julian
heard a giggle from somewhere nearby. “I don’t think that works on
humans,” said the still-invisible Nat.

“It
was worth a try,” said Julian, crouching back behind James again, though
he kept up the contact.

“Are
you still there?” said Lapointe, her voice tinny and distant.