They arrived atHouse Phel in the rising warmth of mid-morning, exactly as Alise had designed.And, as predicted, the denizens had been forewarned.To Jadren’s momentary surprise, it wasn’t Healer Asa who greeted them—before he remembered Asa had been summoned to Convocation Academy at the same time they sent Han and Iliana to intercept Cillian and Alise—but instead it was Wolfgang, the House Ratisbon carpentry wizard who met them, his familiar, Costa, at his side.
“Guess it’s me in charge while the big cats are away,” Wolfgang said ruefully, greeting them with enthusiasm—and dropping Costa’s hand.Clearly they’d been ready to defend House Phel, though Jadren didn’t know how—by flinging furniture at them?“I’ll give the all-clear.Thought we should be careful in case you were followed or the message was falsified in some way.”
“Good thinking,” Jadren admitted, having not thought about that himself at all.Very quickly, more people poured out of the house.He recognized many of the junior wizards Gabriel had been tutoring in water and moon magic, so very likely they’d been waiting out of sight to provide backup.In fact, most of them seemed to be in the process of sheathing moonsilver weapons of various kinds.Jadren considered what he’d have done in Gabriel’s place.Right now, Fyrdo was in charge of House El-Adrel, because Jadren trusted his father implicitly, but as a familiar, Fyrdo couldn’t wield defensive magics.Fyrdo, however, knew the staffing of House El-Adrel backwards and forwards, including the loyalty of their wizards—and could absolutely call on the right person for the job, depending on what skills were called for.“Lord Phel designated you because of your legal knowledge?”he asked Wolfgang.
The Ratisbon wizard gave him a little salute of acknowledgment, then looped his arm affectionately around Costa’s shoulders.“I know the law and Costa can charm anyone.”He ruffled the handsome man’s tawny hair, Costa beaming back at his wizard.“We all figured that the most likely attack is a legal one—some attempt to enforce one of the many frivolous demands piled on House Phel of late.But if a stray Sammael pokes up their head, we’re ready for that, too.”
“Smart,” Seliah agreed, scanning the crowd.“Where’s my niece?”
“Right here,” Daisy called out.She came down the steps, carrying a fussy Bria.“She’s crabby with her mum and da gone so long.Aren’t you, precious?”She rubbed her nose on Bria’s forehead, laughing when the infant swatted at her face.“She’s happy to see her auntie though.”
Seliah took the baby from her mother and Jadren spent a moment just enjoying the sight.No one would call Seliah a soft or gentle person, but she looked very good holding Bria.She smiled at him as he leaned in to wiggle a finger at Bria, her baby magic a bright, pure silver like a burbling stream.
“She looks like you,” he commented in some surprise.He hadn’t seen it in Bria before, but he supposed all newborns looked kind of squishy and wrinkled, little newt-potato crosses that barely looked human, much less like a specific human, but now… “She has your eyes.And mouth.”
“I don’t see it,” Seliah said, giving him a narrow glare, as if she suspected him of making fun of her.
“She does,” Daisy confirmed.“Selly looked exactly like this at her age.Those eyes—that color is pure Phel golden-brown.Gabriel’s eyes were that color before they went all black.”She said that last in such a tone of distaste that Seliah rolled her eyes at him behind her mother’s back.Daisy had never gotten over Gabriel becoming a wizard.She accepted Seliah being a familiar much better—probably because Gabriel had already inured her to their strangely changed lives but also because Seliah had gone from being a crazed, wild, and incomprehensible creature driven nearly insane from untapped magic to the healthy, happy Lady El-Adrel.
“Let me look at you, Selly,” Daisy commanded, as if hearing the thought, scooping Bria from Seliah’s arms and depositing the blanket-wrapped infant into Jadren’s.
He went rigid, trying to remember the rules for holding the fragile being.He’d held Bria—and Asa’s son, Cornelis—a few times, all of them because Seliah had bullied him into it.She looked amused right now, observing him in her peripheral vision as her mother took her hands, holding them out wide, the better to survey her daughter.
“I don’t care for the outfit,” Daisy announced.“Do you have to wear all black?But you look good,” she went on without waiting for an answer.“You’ve put on the weight you needed to.Are you pregnant yet?”
Seliah choked, reddening, and Jadren concentrated on kind of swinging Bria in his arms, the way he’d seen people do, as she’d started to fuss again.No way would he let Seliah see anything resembling laughter on his face.
“Leave the poor gel alone, Daisy,” GF declared, pushing through the convivial gathering.He’d clearly been out in the fields or orchards, swiping off his sweat-stained floppy hat and pulling Seliah into an embrace.“How’s my baby girl?”he asked.“Beautiful as always.And radiant with love.”He threw a wink at Jadren and clasped him on the shoulder.“Guess I won’t have to give you a talking to, boy.”
“I’m grateful,” Jadren replied, not entirely joking.
“Well, you two should come in,” Daisy declared.“Have you eaten?”
“Yes, we have,” Seliah said quickly and Jadren knew to agree.While one of GF’s homecooked meals sounded delicious, they couldn’t afford to get dragged into a time-consuming affair.
Then Narlis arrived.When Jadren first encountered the aged familiar that Gabriel had, for all intents and purposes, stolen from an Iblis wizard—though the idealistic, newly minted Lord Phel had argued that human beings weren’t property and thus couldn’t be stolen—he’d expected the next stiff breeze to topple the fragile old lady.But she’d flourished at House Phel, with decent care and some help from Healer Asa.She’d never be a brilliant conversationalist, having lost too much mental capacity to malnutrition and being repeatedly tapped for magic by the Iblis wizard, along with some natural dementia in her old age, but she was considerably more coherent since the beginning when she’d only said, “you’re a good boy.”
“Bria baby,” Narlis declared, reaching to take the infant from Jadren, who was more than happy to be relieved of the tiny burden and immense responsibility, but he did check with Daisy and GF to get their nods of approval.He wasn’t sure he’d want his own child in Narlis’s dubious care—and then the thought struck him hard enough to take his breath.Seliah was definitely not pregnant…yet.Because they’d decided they weren’t quite ready.
Thoseyetsandquiteshung out there, though, dangerous as Elal spirit spies and twice as likely to expose Jadren’s essential weaknesses as a capable person.Catching his mood through the bond, probably, Seliah sidled up to him and slipped an arm around his waist.As if he were the one who needed comforting rather than their as yet unborn, unconceived child he’d probably forget to feed or leave on top of the carriage when it took off.
“We have something we’re here to do,” Seliah said, loudly and firmly—and in part for him, so that he’d stop losing his shit over something that hadn’t even happened yet.
“Yes,” he croaked, then cleared his throat and managed to say it louder and like the manly wizard he aspired to be.
“Yes,” Wolfgang said in easy agreement.“So Lord Phel’s missive indicated, but he was unclear on what you actually needed?Only that we’re to let you do whatever you wish and we’re not to interfere.”His tone made it sound like he seriously questioned Gabriel’s choices there, but didn’t want to explicitly say so.
Jadren wasn’t sure what to say, so he scratched his ear.Why he thought that was a useful occupation, he had no idea.Except it itched.Unfortunately, the sleight of hand distracted no one and they were all looking at him expectantly.
Even Seliah.
Which… dark arts, it washerhouse, wasn’t it?Though he supposed she hadn’t spent much more time in it than he had, what with it being sunk underwater for most of her life and then her running wild and crazy in the swamps even after it was restored and a room set aside for her—and then running wild and crazy trying to track him down and save his miserable hide.
“Yes,” he said, then realized he said that three times in a row without clarifying anything for anyone.“So…”Um.He really should have thought in the carriage about what he could say, rather than simply having a lot of sex with Seliah.“So we need to be left to our own devices.We’re searching for something.Something secret.”
Beside him, Seliah twitched, and he agreed that hadn’t been the best choice of words.
“Secret?”Daisy repeated with a frown.“What could possibly be secret here?”
