Nic seemed taken aback.Again the silence grew.One kitten darted between Gabriel’s legs and into the manse.He cleared his throat.“Might we come in?”he asked.“Lady Phel is newly a mother and should not be kept standing long.”
“Ah yes,” the wizard turned and crooked an elbow at Nic, a clear invitation that she accepted, allowing him to lead her into the manse, Gabriel following behind.“Let’s see now,” the man mused.“Seems you wanted to see Órlaith.Never know where she might be.Always busy with something.Never could keep her still, except to read a book and even then half the time she’d read while pacing about.”He chuckled to himself.
The hallway stretched before them, long, unlit, and undecorated.Gabriel hadn’t visited many other high houses, but he’d heard plenty of Nic’s scathing opinions on how house Phel failed to meet up to those standards.From what he’d seen of house Harahel so far, House Phel looked like a modern palace.
The wizard—Lord Harahel Emeritus, apparently, which was a title Gabriel hadn’t heard before—opened the door to a brightly lit and cozy room.
“Nic!”Iliana squealed, a blaze of bright-red hair and effervescent enthusiasm as she launched herself at them, seizing Nic in a fierce hug.“Where’s Bria?Tell me you brought my baby!”
“Lord and Lady Phel,” Han said in a pointedly formal tone, drawing Iliana gently back and nodding politely to Gabriel.
“Oh, oops.”Iliana flushed a crimson as bright as her hair.“Apologies, Lord Phel.Lady Phel.And Uncle,” she added, with a glance at the old wizard, who flapped a hand at her and wheezed out a chuckle as he made his way to a chair perilously close to a blazing fire.She watched him go, then turned back to Nic and hissed, “Seriously, where is my baby?”
Nic laughed and hugged her.“I’ve missed you, Iliana.Mybaby is home at House Phel.Her grandparents are looking after her, with help from Quinn.”
“That bitch.”
“Iliana!”Han remonstrated, but couldn’t hold back a laugh.Gabriel held out a hand and Han shook it.“I apologize for my partner, Lord and Lady Phel.”
Iliana pretended to pout.“It’s been a little much, being holed up here in this isolated place.Everyone reads all the time.”
“You’ve been working too hard,” Han added, rubbing her back.
“True.But theright amountof hard,” she enthused.“We have so much to show you about what we’ve found.I’m not sure how much Cillian told you before he left, but since then, we—”
“Wait a moment,” Gabriel interrupted her rapid-fire words, aware of Nic’s stiffening beside him.“Cillianleft?”
“Hared off to rescue that sweet Elal wizardling,” the old wizard called out.“I was surprised Órlaith approved it, but she’s getting soft in her old age.Probably couldn’t resist sticking one to Piers Elal either.”
“You didn’t know,” Han said with a sigh.
Gabriel exchanged concerned glances with Nic.“No, we didn’t know.”
“It was our fault,” Iliana said, sagging.“Cillian thought Alise just left him here and didn’t care.”
“Had no idea Lady Harahel sent her packing while he was asleep and wouldn’t let her say goodbye,” Han added.
“Órlaith does love her little games,” the old wizard put in.
“So, when we told him she’d gone to House Elal to apprentice with her father,” Iliana continued, “he couldn’t be stopped from going after her.Very romantic.”
“Very foolish, if you ask me,” Lord Harahel Emeritus said on a cackle.“But no one asks me.”
“We love you, Uncle,” Iliana called over, then lowered her voice.“He seems eccentric, and sometimes makes no sense, but he’s really very sharp.”
“He isn’t deaf though,” the wizard observed, cackling again.
Han just shook his head.
“When did Cillian leave for Elal?”Nic asked, her magic heated to steam.Gabriel smoothed a soothing hand down her back.
Han and Iliana looked at each other.“Seven days ago?”she offered.
“Eight,” he corrected.
“Eight days ago.”Nic looked up to the ceiling, counting and also mastering her impatience.
“Didn’t Alise say they traveled here from Convocation Academy in a day and night, and Elal is past that?”Gabriel asked.
