by Amy Crook
Alex very much appreciated their attention.
He and Julian chatted and flirted a bit longer, and then it was time for another bout of Healing and physical therapy, and he had to send Julian off with a kiss.
"I hope you know I'm going to feel terribly jealous when we do get to the second round and I have to think of all those other men trying for a place in your bed," murmured Alex.
Julian grinned. "Good," he said, stealing another kiss. "I'll send you another letter by courier, is it all right if I keep Horace for a bit longer?" Julian hesitated and then added, shyly, "He feels like you."
Alex kissed Julian very warmly indeed, as he'd not often been told the feel of his magic was worth keeping around. "You may, if he starts to seem listless just bring him by for a bit of energy, he's used to getting ambient magic from living with me."
Julian looked delighted. "Thank you," he said, and they shared one more kiss before the nurse came back in looking very impatient indeed.
"I'll see you soon," said Alex with a sigh. He'd have the Healing in here, and then they'd all troop downstairs for the physical therapy, nurse, Guardians and patient in a little parade.
Julian smiled and took himself away like a good boy. "As soon as we can," he said, then vanished out the door.
Alex sighed.
"So, not just investigating a murder, then?" said James, his voice rich with amusement.
Alex decided on the mature, rational response, and stuck his tongue out at James. Then the doctor came in and it was time for a different sort of concentration, Alex combining his energy with the doctor's to Heal himself faster, more accurately, and with less wasted magic than the doctor could have done on his own.
~ ~ ~
After several more days of Healing and physical therapy, Alex's thigh wound was completely closed and barely even left a scar, and he was nearly as exhausted as when he woke up in the first place.
"Just a couple of weeks of physical therapy to make sure everything's working properly, and you'll be right as rain," said Dr. Chesterfield cheerfully. "You're an excellent patient, Alex, make sure you get plenty of rest when you get home."
"Thank you, Doctor, I will," said Alex, wishing for nothing more than his bed. That wasn't to be, as Chesterfield was replaced by Victor, who insisted that he would take Alex and the Guardians home himself.
"I brought you something to make you less cranky," said Victor through the bathroom door; Alex had taken his clothing in there for a moment of supposed privacy while he dressed.
"Is it caffeinated?" asked Alex grumpily.
Victor laughed. "It's heirloom," he said teasingly.
Alex sighed and kept dressing, realising he wouldn't get relief until he went home, and even then he'd have to find the energy to re-do his bedroom wards. "That covers a lot of ground, and bad taste," he countered.
Victor was undeterred. "Come out and see for yourself, then."
Alex sighed, but when he emerged Victor handed him a very valuable heirloom indeed -- a proper wand-cane, which would ground and stabilise his magic and help make up for the loss of mobility, in case he needed to defend himself again. "All right," said Alex, hefting the cane, "This qualifies."
"I've got your coat from the cleaners, too, there's a few things in one of the pockets they say you left behind," said Victor, pointing to where the coat lay wrapped in plastic on the bed.
"So which venerable ancestor owned this, anyway?" asked Alex curiously. He knew there were other mages in the family's past, but no one really talked about that aspect of their family history.
"Uncle Hamish. He was injured in the war, and used the cane for the rest of his life."
Alex used the cane to sit, looking over the construction. The handle was chased silver, the patterns worn but still quite visible, while the shaft was a dark wood finished to gleaming black, with a steel striking tip where it would hit the ground. He'd have to remember not to score anyone's expensive floors with it, but otherwise, he was pleased. "It's a good piece of work, to have lasted this long, wasn't he one of the Victorian uncles?"
"I think so, Mother would know better," said Victor dismissively. "Are you about ready? The tailor wouldn't give me your good coat, they insisted on another fitting for your ridiculously lanky frame," he teased.
Alex chuckled. "I'm exhausted, Victor, you're not dragging me to the tailor today, it's straight home and nowhere else for me." He put on his shoes, hearing the muted harmony of their familiar spells as he tied the laces. The cane, when he used it to stand, was louder but still harmonious, something that would feel natural for him to use. Alex sighed and went to the little locker, gathering up his possessions and putting them in all the appropriate pockets, then putting the extra things he'd gathered here into the silk bag instead, his phone charger and books and whatnot. Soon enough he had his coat on and was looking wistfully out the window at the grey wintry sky.
"Ready?" asked Victor impatiently, clearly ready for his own familial duties to be discharged.
"I guess... James, Jacques?" Alex looked at the two Guardians.
"We're ready," said James with a soft smile. "We might have to check in at the Temple once we've settled you in at home, you're warded, right?"
"Right," said Alex, making another mental note to fix the bedroom wards as soon as he had one iota of magical energy to spare. He moved to the door without prompting, finding the cane fit his height as well as his magic, and deciding then and there he wouldn't bother to return it once he was back to full mobility. He could always make it a fashion statement.
They paraded their way out, Alex having refused a wheelchair and the Guardians insisting on going first and last. Reliable Jones was waiting by the curb for them, arguing with a parking enforcer.
"He really is here to pick up a patient," said Alex, pointing at the sign indicating the white zone was for picking up and dropping off patients only. He leaned heavily on his cane and tried to look pathetic.
"As long as he leaves," said the enforcer grumpily, wandering off while the Guardians inspected the vehicle, then got everyone settled inside.
"Sorry it took so long," said Alex, once they were all seated, including Jones. "You didn't actually get a ticket, did you?"
"They're used to patients taking a while to get discharged," said Jones, "She was just having a bad day."
"My sympathies to you both, then," said Alex tiredly. "Home, Jones!"
At Victor's confirmation, the car pulled out and headed toward Alex's flat. "Will you two need a ride back to the Temple?" offered Victor, clearly keen to be seen as helpful.
Victor might actually just want to be helpful, Alex's better side reminded him, but Alex was too used to taking his siblings with a grain of salt to buy it.
"That would be kind of you," said James. "It shouldn't take us too long to clear Alex's flat."
"And then I plan to sleep like the dead," said Alex dryly.
"But not for two more weeks," said Victor, just as deadpan.
Alex chuckled. "No, no, just until morning, when no doubt Jones will be there to escort me to my PT and then off to the tinker and tailor and candlestick-maker, or whoever else I need to see about the Courtship."
"Those aren't even from the same rhyme," said Victor grumpily, but he didn't protest his brother's presumption, either, so Alex figured it was a win.
The rest of the ride was blessed silence, punctuated by a few questions on the Courtship for which Alex had no answers. He was woefully out of the loop, and he'd have to talk to Flora all over again to get back up to speed, in amongst getting back on track with gifts and clothes and all the endless shopping and planning.
He had half a mind to have Julian over for takeaway curry at his place, only he'd no idea what else they'd do once the meal was concluded.
And he'd still need another bloody gift.
Alex let those thoughts go in favour of the more practical as they arrived at his flat, everyone trooping inside only to find there was no milk for tea. Victor volunteere
d Jones for a quick shopping run, and Alex was feeling just pitiful enough at that point to accept and make up a quick list.
"I can bin whatever's spoiled here," said Jacques, while James prowled around the rest of the flat. "So long as you sit there."
Alex gratefully plopped in the kitchen chair Jacques pointed out, shoes and coat left at the door but otherwise still dressed and longing for the peace of his own bed. "That's very kind of you, a bit above and beyond."
Jacques chuckled and shrugged. "It's not so bad, you've mostly got takeaway in their containers and bad milk, so it's not like I have to touch anything." He found bin bags at Alex's direction, and started in. Fortunately, his assessment of the state of things was spot on, and he had a bag of rubbish and a nearly-empty fridge in short order.
"Flat's safe enough," said James, coming back into the kitchen. "Where's the bins? I'll take the rubbish out and check the perimeter."
"I'm absolutely sure that's not normally part of the service," said Alex with a shy, grateful smile. He'd grown rather fond of the two men in their days stuck in his hospital room together, and so he appreciated the help all the more for the respect he'd developed for their skills and education.
"You'd be surprised," said Jacques. "Lots of good opportunities for an assassin when the target's doing mundane stuff like taking out the rubbish."
"Tell him about that one housewife," said James. He vanished with a box of bin liners and returned with all the rubbish from around the house consolidated into one bag, then gathered up the kitchen trash and spoiled food and headed back out, taking Alex's spare keys with him.
"Oh, she about drove us spare!" Jacques didn't sit, prowling around the room while he talked, clearly on the alert. "The whole family was in danger, but it was like she had OCD or something, always doing the dumbest things, cleaning windows and taking out the rubbish. Finally we had to actually forbid her from doing chores when she nearly got zapped washing pots in front of an open window."
"And thus you became the pot-boy," teased Alex with a chuckle.
"So now we just do it before you can," said Jacques. He paused, then added impishly, "So to speak."
Alex yawned hugely. "Well, I won't be doing any it at all except sleeping. Will you two be back?"
"We'll come by in the morning with breakfast unless the threat on you is deemed too high," said Jacques. "You need rest, and you never sleep very well with us in the room."
"It's a bit weird, anyway, with one of you sleeping across the threshold like that," said Alex, referring to the way they'd positioned a cot across the door to do night watches, much to the staff's annoyance.
"Well, we'd do that with the front door here, we'll be bringing something back to sleep on since there's no extra room here."
Alex shrugged a bit sheepishly. "Sorry, work room won over guest room when I was fixing the place up... Though actually I think my couch might fold out, I've no real idea."
"We're used to ours," said James, coming back in from outside. "Perimeter's clear, no sign of lurking beasties."
There was a knock on the door, which turned out to be Victor and Jones with provisions, including Victor's favourite brand of tea. Alex directed while everything got put away and a proper tea was made up with deli sandwiches and Battenberg cake for everyone, along with a nice big pot of Victor's tea.
"It's a good thing I got more than a pint of milk," teased Victor, as they all five tucked in.
"I wasn't thinking of feeding the lot of you when I made the list," said Alex sheepishly, grateful for once for his brother's interference.
"We got plenty," assured Jones, and Alex nodded in agreement.
"Thanks," he said, going back to his sandwich and blessedly strong tea.
The meal was mostly quiet, until Horace came tapping at the kitchen window. After checking for illusions, James let the bird inside, then closed up the window tight and handed him off to Alex. "That's probably our cue to go," said James, draining his teacup without bothering to sit.
Jacques followed suit, loading up Alex's dishwasher with Jones' help, so they were all cleaned up and ready to leave in short order.
"I'll send Jones back in the morning for your PT," said Victor, "but I'll need him after three, so try not to do too much shopping."
"After PT, I may not want to do any shopping," said Alex wryly. "Go on, we'll make it work. There's always cabs, I'm sure the city's cab drivers have grown to miss me."
"No cabs," said James, with surprising finality.
Victor chuckled. "The Guardian has spoken... If it comes to it, I can use another car for a bit, there's bound to be someone on staff who can drive me around."
It was Jones who spoke up this time. "I'll help you pick someone, I think the youngest Sharpish boy has been wanting to do more than wash the cars."
They said their goodbyes, then chatted on out the door, James waiting until he heard Alex lock up and put up the chain, though he took the spare keys. When they were gone, Alex slumped against the door and sighed, then meticulously doused the lights and put himself to bed, belongings haphazardly scattered on the bureau and clothing tossed over a chair when he changed into pyjamas.
He'd really missed his own bed, and as soon as he was curled comfortably up in the familiar soft sheets, he dropped off to sleep.
CHAPTER 17
In Which We Awaken Quite Unexpectedly
When Alex awoke, he expected to find one of his Guardians had tripped a ward nosing around, or his phone had finally vibrated itself off the nightstand. He didn't expect that his questing hand would close on the body of an earth sprite, and that brought him awake all at once.
It tried to get away and he shook it sharply enough to rattle its teeth, shifting so he was holding it up by its collar. It was squat and brown as dirt, wearing bits of leaf and fur pinned together with shiny metal, and it held Alex's amethyst cravat pin one grubby hand.
"Hey, what'd ya do that for?" protested the wriggling creature.
"You are in my bed uninvited, little sprite," said Alex, without an iota of humour in his tone. He was still tired, his leg hurt, and he was most definitely tired of wayward magic.
The sprite sighed and went still. "Whataya want?" it asked resignedly; magical beings like sprites committed any sort of mischief they could get away with, but once caught, they were bound until their captor chose to free them.
"Give me three true answers, and I'll set you free," said Alex, a fairly standard bargain, and a generous one, considering the trespass. He plucked his pin from the sprite's hand and added, "And I'll be keeping this, and anything else you stole from me."
It looked sheepish, but produced the matching cufflinks as well. "Almost took yon pricey magic bauble, but I figured you'd go a-scrying for it."
"You figured correctly," said Alex dryly. He set the creature down, and it slumped to the bedclothes, though none of the dirt on it transferred to the duvet. Alex took a moment to pour himself a glass of water and drink it, then he considered his options carefully. Three questions wasn't always enough, and if he wasn't careful he'd end up having to bargain away those cufflinks just to get to the heart of the matter.
Well, best to start with the basics. "Tell me the whole story of how you came to be in my flat and past my wards, sprite."
The sprite looked positively mournful at this. "That's a long answer indeed," it said. "I don't suppose you'd spare a drop of whisky for a poor creature of the earth?"
Alex laughed. "Are you sure you want to be further beholden to me?" he asked.
It slouched further. "I were just asking," he said with a sigh. At Alex's impatient glare, it shifted and began its tale. "It began a moon or so ago, not long by the earth's reckoning, ye ken, but long enough in this case. I were digging in the back of this shop for something shiny for a lady sprite, and I'd just found a nice bit o' tin when I got caught up in somebody's wards as they was going up."
Alex nodded, but held back any further questions, gesturing for the sprite to be going on with it.
He knew interruptions might be taken by the rule-twisting faerie as a sign that the answer was sufficient.
The sprite looked amused at that, but continued anyway. "I were caught good, and he weren't nice like you, let me tell ya. I've gotta do three services, and this is me last." He paused with a sly look, then sighed. "I sure am thirsty."
Alex gave him a dry, unimpressed look.
"You're a hard one, but not so hard as him as caught me last," said the sprite, lifting his furs to show a cold iron shackle around one ankle, the flesh around it swollen and chafed.
Alex swallowed, but he still didn't comment. It was getting harder, with questions crowding his brain, so he forced himself to answer as many as he could. The shackle, for instance, wasn't spelled on, but since it was cold iron the sprite wouldn't be able to pick the lock. Some of the bits of metal in holding together the creature's strange clothing had half-obliterated runes, which meant he knew of somewhere he could get scrap metal that had once been magically charged, but was no longer, a valuable bit of knowledge for an earth sprite looking to impress the ladies.
There was more, but the sprite dropped his clothes back down and started speaking again. "I don't know his name so there's no use asking me that, and all three of me errands I was sent to deliver magical thingummies to places they couldn't go by themselves."
Alex raised an eyebrow.
"The first place was back to where I came from, which was mighty odd since it were full of other magical bits and bobs already, and I left a half dozen of his little nasties there and didn't set them off until I was just a step from outside the wards. I were suspicious of him as has motive to send in nasties like them, and he were right surprised when I turned back up, let me tell you."
More and more interesting. Six of the things, two of which had activated, if his guess as to the location in question was correct.
The sprite seemed to be enjoying his audience now, getting into the meat of the story, and he continued on without prompting. "He weren't too happy at first, but he had three of his nasties left, so he sent me first to visit one of the big temples, but them has wards against the likes of me so I had to leave it and come back unsuccessful, though I did what he asked to the best of me ability so the agreement was fulfilled," he said, and Alex could tell he wasn't sure that the mysterious mage was going to agree.
