"Sort of," Denzil said dismissively. "Probably as good as I'm going to get for the moment."
"Okay," Callisto said, wishing he could do better than that, but he'd take it for now.
"If Mervyn shows up, tell him I'm taking a nap," Denzil said, standing. "That should give me some space for a bit."
"I will," Callisto said, and Denzil nodded agreeably before heading to the second floor entrance to the library. Callisto watched him go, frowning a little. Hopefully Denzil wouldn't go right back to brooding, but there was little Callisto could do about it if he did.
Callisto waited until the door shut behind Denzil to stand. He could go see if Mervyn and Malone were still conversing in the salon, but he didn't really want to know more about the things Baldric had done. He did want to know if Malone had any ideas where his heart could be, but if it was bad news, as Callisto suspected, he'd rather not know just yet.
Heading down to the first floor of the library, Callisto meandered through the rows of books slowly. The library was going to be one of the things he missed most when it finally came time for him to leave. Though he still wasn't sure where he'd go, since he really, really couldn't go home with a wizard's charm in his chest.
Frowning at the bookcase in front of him, Callisto sighed. He could worry about it later. Denzil would help him get settled, at the very least, and Mervyn so far didn't seem to mind housing them. The rest could be worked out after they caught Baldric and learned the fate of Callisto's heart.
Snagging a few random books, Callisto headed to his usual reading spot on the sofa near the fireplace. Settling, he cracked open the first book and started to read the short stories it contained. He was only a few short stories into the book when the library door opened and Mervyn let himself in. He looked distracted and only smiled briefly at Callisto before disappearing between a pair of bookcases that Callisto mostly ignored, as they were full of anatomy and magic books.
Callisto fidgeted briefly with his book, wondering if Mervyn would disappear as quietly as he'd appeared, or if he'd come and chat for a few minutes. Not that it mattered either way; Callisto was just reading and Mervyn had obviously only turned up because he needed or wanted books of his own. It was a library after all.
Callisto dropped his gaze, forcing himself to focus on the pages in front of him. It didn't work particularly well; he kept re-reading words only to realize he hadn't actually absorbed what they said. He gave up and was about to shut the book when Mervyn reappeared, carrying three thick tomes that looked incredibly intimidating.
He smiled, much more focused as he approached the seating area where Callisto was settled. "Mind if I join you?" Mervyn asked when he got close enough. "I have some research to do, and books I take downstairs tend to stay down there, much to Evandie's displeasure."
"No, go ahead," Callisto said, and he really wished Denzil had kept his mouth shut. Sitting up, he neatened the little pile of books he'd pulled from the bookcases, fidgeting with them for a moment as Mervyn sat down in a nearby chair.
Part Seven
"How is Denzil doing?" Mervyn asked, setting his books aside. They were all anatomical reference books, if the titles were anything to go by, and Callisto wondered what Mervyn was working on.
"He's doing okay. Not great, and I think he's still pretty upset…" Callisto trailed off, shrugging. "I don't think there's anything but time that will help now."
"Probably not," Mervyn agreed, looking pensive. "Denzil likes to mope, but he's pretty resilient. A few weeks, and he'll bounce back."
"I hope so," Callisto said, hesitating before continuing, "Did Malone find Baldric?"
"No, unfortunately," Mervyn said, frowning even more. "He's disappeared, and Malone isn't even sure where he does his charm work, as he definitely doesn't do it at his residences."
"Could it be somewhere near where he grabbed me?" Callisto asked, fidgeting with the book in his lap. "He probably couldn't take me too far, right?"
"Not without attracting attention," Mervyn said thoughtfully, smiling at Callisto. "That's a good idea. I'll suggest it to Malone so he can concentrate his search there. And you know, it really is a good bet that he still has your heart and is keeping it alive, since he knew where you were the entire time. I can't believe his visit the other day was a coincidence, either."
"Oh," Callisto said, startled. He hadn't thought of that. "He'd keep it alive?"
"Probably, especially if he thought he could get another chance to put one of his charms in you, or as a bargaining chip when we do track him down," Mervyn said, shrugging. "It makes more sense than just letting it die."
"Oh," Callisto repeated, curling his fingers around the edges of his book to keep from touching the charm in his chest.
"In any case, there's nothing to do about it until Malone finds him," Mervyn said, tapping his fingers against the cover of his top-most reference book and looking pensive.
Callisto nodded, hesitating for a minute before asking, "What are you researching?"
"Hmm? Oh, just some more tweaks for your heart charm. Now that you're stable and can do some minor exertion—like climbing stairs—I'm going to focus on rounding out the other ways your heart rate would increase," Mervyn said. "Even if we get your heart back and get you all fixed up, this can go a long way for other people who need new hearts for whatever reason."
"Do you think you'll get… clients who will need new hearts?" Callisto asked curiously, wondering what Mervyn's typical customers were like. Surely not everything Mervyn did was as dramatic and drastic as replacing hearts.
"It's possible," Mervyn said, shrugging. "I get a lot of different problems thrown at me. But more likely I'll write up a report on the charm I created for you so other wizards can use it if they need to. Leaving out any reference to why you needed it, of course, and the other adaptations Baldric has included in his charm."
Callisto nodded, unable to keep himself from lightly touching the metal charm beneath his shirt. "How did Baldric know how to do the energy part? That's not—that's not common knowledge, right?"
"It's not, and I have no idea," Mervyn said, then cracked a slightly crooked smile. "I have a few theories, and there are some things that support them, but I'm hoping Baldric will be forthcoming about that and some of the other details of the charm when we do find him."
Callisto nodded, lapsing into silence. It was probably sad—he wanted Malone to find Baldric so he could know for sure what the fate of his heart was, but he also was more than content with staying there, reading and spending time with Denzil and Mervyn.
"So what are you reading?" Mervyn asked, drawing Callisto's attention again.
"Short stories," Callisto said, offering a smile as he displayed the cover of the book. Mervyn nodded, shifting his chair closer to where Callisto sat to get a better look at the book.
"I think I remember that one," Mervyn said thoughtfully, squinting at the cover before sitting up and patting his pockets. He pulled out his spectacles and peered at the book again, then shook his head. "No, that's one of Evandie's. She's bought half the books in here, if not more. Have you found a favorite book yet?"
Callisto nodded, leaning forward and pulling the book of paintings from the stack of books in front of him. He handed it off to Mervyn and tried to ignore the stupid butterflies in his stomach. It was just a book, after all, and it wouldn't be like Mervyn to make fun of him for it, as Denzil would have.
"Oh, this one I remember," Mervyn said, smiling at the book. "Do you know Kaplir? Or do you just like the paintings?"
"Just the paintings," Callisto admitted, flushing a little. "They're all so good. I can't—" Callisto cut off, his face getting warmer because his silly efforts were nothing compared to the paintings in the book.
"Oh, you paint," Mervyn said, smiling brightly. "Art was never a strong point of mine, much to the dismay of my teachers."
"Drawing charms?" Callisto guessed, recalling Mervyn's less-than-perfect drawing of the heart charm.
"Yes," Me
rvyn said, grinning sheepishly. "The spell work is easy. Diagramming a charm is the difficult part."
"Have you considered teaching?" Callisto asked curiously, because it seemed Mervyn would be good at that, as patient as he was. "You're good at explaining things."
"I've thought about it," Mervyn said, shrugging. "But I like what I do now, and teaching would curtail the amount of time I have to work with people." Callisto nodded. That made sense, given what he knew of Mervyn. Mervyn really did seem to like helping people, without caring about the things most wizards did. Namely, wealth and as much magical power as they could get their hands on. "You nearly made me forget," Mervyn said, tapping the cover of the book of paintings. "I was going to offer—would you like me to translate? So you can know what the paintings are?"
"Oh, um, sure," Callisto said, startled. Could Mervyn do that? Callisto had never heard of a charm that could translate books—there were a few speaking charm he'd heard of that could translate, but he'd only heard of them because of the incidents that had been caused by their poor translations.
"All right, then," Mervyn said thoughtfully, setting aside his reference books and standing. Callisto blinked, perplexed as Mervyn joined him on the sofa, sitting a little closer than was polite. Callisto's cheeks warmed again, but he ignored it. Surely Mervyn didn't mean anything by it, except Denzil had said—
"So if my admittedly rusty Kaplir is correct, the title simply means A Century of Art: The Transformative Works," Mervyn said, running his fingers over the letters on the cover of the book. Callisto laughed, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry. I thought you had a charm—" Callisto began, flushing deeper when Mervyn just smiled at him. "You don't have to—"
"I want to," Mervyn assured him, cracking open the book and flipping through the first few pages until he reached the first painting. "The shoreline at Derya by Kaimana Dunbar. Apparently he's a big deal, won Kaplir's highest art award for this?"
"Never heard of him," Callisto said, though that was no surprise. He didn't know anything about art, really, not when it came to the most famous paintings and artists.
"Me either," Mervyn confided then looked thoughtful. "Evandie might. She's forever scolding me for not paying attention to cultural things like art and theatre." Mervyn wrinkled his nose at the last word, saying it with such distaste that Callisto couldn't help but laugh again.
"I like the paintings," Callisto said slowly, shrugging. His shoulder brushed Mervyn's lightly, but he ignored that, focusing on the book. "But I don't know that I care too much who did them or what awards they've won. That doesn't have much to do with the image."
"True," Mervyn said, squinting at the book again. "Apparently this particular beach was once the scene for an epic battle. One that we only narrowly won."
"It looks peaceful," Callisto said, wondering just how stupid he sounded. But Mervyn just nodded, and then voiced the rest of Callisto's thought.
"Perhaps he painted it as a contrast to that?"
"Maybe," Callisto said, staring at the painting for a moment longer before asking, "Does it say anything else?"
"No," Mervyn said, flipping to the next painting and translating the artist and the description of the scene. They'd only gone through a few dozen paintings when the sound of someone clearing their throat made Callisto jump. He knocked elbows with Mervyn, and his face immediately heated even as he wondered when Mervyn had gotten so close—or when he'd gotten so close to Mervyn.
"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes," Evandie said stiffly, giving them a suspicious look that just made Callisto blush all the more. Which was stupid—it wasn't as though he and Mervyn were doing anything other than reading.
"Thank you, Evandie," Mervyn said, not moving away from Callisto at all. "In the dining room tonight?"
"Yes," Evandie said, then glanced at the books Mervyn had abandoned on the other chair. "Leave those there. You can come back to them later."
"I was planning to," Mervyn said easily, taking no offense to Evandie's imperious tone. Callisto wondered curiously what Evandie's story was, since she obviously wasn't simply a servant. "Can you go see if Denzil is up to joining us? He should be moping in his room." Evandie simply nodded, looking briefly annoyed at mention of Denzil before turning and leaving the library.
"She's not a servant, not really?" Callisto asked shyly, not sure if he was overstepping his bounds. Mervyn would not answer if he was, though. Mervyn shook his head, pulling a scrap of ribbon from his pocket and marking their place in the book.
"No, Evandie is… technically she works as the housekeeper, but she's also my great-aunt. My parents supported her after my great-uncle died." Mervyn paused, setting the book of paintings down on the table. "Then I had a falling out with my parents, and she supported me in my arguments. They kicked her out when they kicked me out. Evandie wouldn't hear of me wasting money on a real servant when I moved here, and she's too proud to simply let me support her, so she does the housekeeping for me. In recompense, she gets to spend my money any way she likes, and I make her spoil herself every so often."
"Oh," Callisto said, startled. Mervyn had never spoken of his family before, but he certainly didn't seem the type to have been disowned. He was too nice for that.
"It was over the work I do, actually," Mervyn said, apparently reading Callisto's thoughts.
"You don't have to tell me," Callisto said quickly. Mervyn shrugged then stood, pushing his hair out of his face. He didn't look upset, though obviously the subject wasn't a happy one.
"I don't mind. It's no big secret," Mervyn said, and he smiled a little. "Come on, Evandie will be annoyed if we let dinner get cold."
"Right," Callisto said, standing quickly and nearly tripping in his haste. Mervyn caught his arm, steadying him, and Callisto gave him a brief smile.
"They wanted me to stay working at the hospital as a magical surgeon there," Mervyn said, slowly letting go of Callisto's arm. It's a guaranteed way to earn a lot of money and not have to work very hard. I think they were counting on me to provide a lusher lifestyle than that which they were living."
"But you didn't want to," Callisto said, which made sense. Mervyn obviously liked to be hands-on with his magic and spend lots of time working out all the kinks and bugs.
"No," Mervyn said, frowning as he led the way out of the library. "The hospital is well and good if you have a lot of money or prestige, but no one there gives any care for any of the patients, no matter how serious their condition."
"Oh," Callisto said quietly, distracted as they stepped out into the hallway. He'd been trying to find the hospital when he'd stumbled across Mervyn's house. He really was very lucky he'd found Mervyn first.
"It really isn't a big deal," Mervyn said, placing a hand against Callisto's back and steering him gently towards the dining room. "It sounds more dramatic than it actually is. I was already moved out and living here; only Evandie had to move. "
"Still," Callisto said, making a face. "Having—being disowned isn't—I'd be upset, even if I didn't live with my parents." Callisto bit his lip, trying to not think about how likely it was that his parents were going to disown him. Even if he got his real heart back, there was no saying they wouldn't eventually find out anyway.
"It was—I wasn't very close to my parents to begin with," Mervyn said, shrugging. His hand fell away as they reached the dining room, and Callisto stupidly felt a little disappointed that Mervyn was no longer touching him. The dining room was lovely, with pretty teak furniture and a dark, tiled floor. Two tall windows stretched the length of the far wall, the draperies pulled back to let in the evening light.
"I have three older siblings, but I was born almost ten years after my parents had my sister. I think they were sick of children at that point," Mervyn said, his tone light. Callisto frowned, not completely convinced that Mervyn was as reconciled to it as he was trying to pretend.
"That's terrible," Callisto said, ignoring that he was pretty sure his parents had only had children so they cou
ld have help on the orchard.
"It is what it is," Mervyn said, shrugging. "I'm sorry I brought up such an unpleasant subject."
"I asked," Callisto pointed out, sitting down and wishing he'd kept his mouth shut. Except he was glad he knew—it was nice to know more about how Mervyn had come to be where he was, doing what he did.
"You did, but I could have left it," Mervyn said, shrugging as he took the seat closest to Callisto. "Can I ask how you're feeling or will you throw something at me?"
"You can ask. I won't throw anything," Callisto said, smiling despite himself. He paused then added, "This time."
Mervyn laughed, pouring them both wine from the bottle perspiring in the center of the table. "I'll keep that in mind. So how are you feeling?"
"Good," Callisto said, touching the charm again. He couldn't seem to stop whenever he thought about it. And it was still strange, having a chunk of metal in his chest, but Mervyn's charm was much easier to forget about when he wasn't thinking about it. The weight of it didn't drag on him the way Baldric's charm had. "I still get tired more quickly than I used to, but that's, um, over the course of the day?"
Mervyn nodded, looking thoughtful. "So no single activity makes you tired?" Callisto nodded, shifting in his seat anxiously. He almost thought it was stupid to mention—he was probably just being finicky, and there was nothing wrong with the charm. Still, it was better to mention to Mervyn now, in case it became more pronounced later.
"It's probably a combination of things," Mervyn said slowly, sipping his wine before setting the glass back down on the table. "The surgery wasn't that long ago, so your body is probably still recovering from that, as well as adjusting to having such a strange replacement for a heart. Also, there are still tweaks I have to make—more indicators to add. Since your heart doesn't always know to increase or decrease its output, that puts more strain on your body, and it's probably subtle enough you don't notice until the end of the day."
"That makes sense," Callisto said, slumping a little. He should have thought of both of those, but it honestly felt as if he'd had the charm for longer than he actually had.
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