Page 47 of Rogue Familiar

“An entire wardrobe of them,” Nic agreed wryly. “I thought we could—”

“Lady Phel.” Asa strode up and bowed, barely contained exasperation in his voice and movements. “I do have patients and while I am obviously obligated to answer to you and Lord Phel, it’s most distracting to be pulled away by an unexplained summons like this.”

Nic waved the documents at the healer. “Not interested in some amateur legal wrangling?”

Asa’s expression blanked, then sharpened. “My patients can wait.”

Unable to stop herself, and despite everything, Nic laughed again. Yes, this was better than being so incandescently furious. “I’m told Wolfgang is in the study hall.” She glanced at Alise. “You might as well come along.”

Feeling a bit like she was leading a parade, Nic continued into the study hall. As she walked, she concentrated on breathing deeply from her belly, running a fast meditation exercise to calm her over-excitement and subdue her magic. The various wizard minions of House Phel would never step out of line and violate Gabriel’s trust by messing with their lord’s familiar, but waving an abundance of magic around wizards was akin to throwing a bloody steak in front of a hungry dog. Even the most obedient and well-trained canine would struggle with itself and its baser instincts. One should always be wary of a wizard’s essentially predatory nature. They craved magic and no veneer of civilization would ever completely tame that voracious need.

As she’d been informed, Wolfgang, the Ratisbon wizard, and his familiar, Costa, lingered at a table in the study hall. They sat near the terrace doors, which stood open to the lovely spring morning, the remnants of breakfast between them, and both nursed cups of coffee as they pursued separate interests—Costa reading a novel while Wolfgang appeared to be sketching him. The morning light fell nicely over Costa’s hair, gilding it and his aquiline features, making the handsome young man look like a creature out of a tale, so Nic could hardly blame Wolfgang for appreciating the view and wanting to commemorate it.

A few other folk were scattered around the common area, some browsing the shelves, others seated at work tables or on deep-seated couches, books and documents scattered around them as they studied. In the area of the hall designated for conversation, several lively groups debated points of magic and politics. It did Nic’s heart good to see her vision coming to life. This was worth fighting for.

The hall lay adjacent to a secondary kitchen, which they’d begun staffing to provide morning and midday meals for the various minions—and evening meals for those who didn’t rank highly enough to join the lord and lady of the house in the formal dining room. As Nic had originally envisioned, the large hall had become a convivial gathering area, the shelves filling the walls from floor to ceiling not exactly bursting with books, but not as gapingly empty as they had been, either. It helped that those who’d brought materials with them had been—for the most part—persuaded to store them in the study for common use. House Phel would need far more than this if they were to be a proper house, but new acquisitions would have to wait until they were no longer in arrears on their accounts with House Calliope.

Though perhaps they could ask for duplicate materials from other houses, even Convocation Academy. Nic made a mental note to look into it, wryly amused at herself that she could apparently continue to look that much toward the future. Still, she did give herself a moment—the meditative breathing was helping—to appreciate how much the place had begun to look like her initial vision of it.

As Nic moved through the hall, wending her way around desks and conversational groupings of chairs, the occupants all looked up and acknowledged her with unfailing courtesy. Gabriel had made that very clear: Nic might be a familiar and thus of lower rank to many of the House Phel denizens, but she was Lady Phel first and foremost in his mind, and woe to any who failed to treat her with the courtesy he demanded. She loved Gabriel for it, more than she ever wanted to tell him. Her vain heart that had been groomed to be an arrogant high-house wizard thrived on the deference. As much as she’d tried to reconcile herself to a familiar’s lowly status, it had always stung her pride to be looked down upon.

As an Elal, she possessed more than her fair share of pride—likely too much—but that was an emotion that could be useful, if wielded properly. Righteous anger could be channeled into a rage to bring down the Convocation. Weddings could be postponed or canceled entirely, but her child would have a future. She would see to it.

Wolfgang and Costa glanced up as she approached, then both rose and bowed to her. Casting an interested eye at Nic’s entourage, the Ratisbon wizard lifted a brow. “Good morning, Lady Phel. I see you’ve brought the House Phel quasi-legal team.”

“The best we can muster,” she agreed, setting the pile of documents on the table.

Costa hastily rescued his coffee cup and novel. “Since I’m useless at law, I’ll take myself off.”

Wolfgang caught his familiar’s hand. “You don’t have to go. Stay. I value your insights.”

Costa smiled radiantly and gave his wizard a kiss. Had Wolfgang always valued Costa as a person rather than solely as a magical appendage and lover—or was that only since arriving at House Phel, with their laxer rules on the status of familiars? Most likely, this unusual pair had been drawn to House Phel, like so many of the other round pegs who didn’t fit precisely into the unrelentingly square holes the Convocation offered its magical citizens.

“You can tell me all about it later, darling,” Costa told Wolfgang, batting his lashes flirtatiously, “and I’ll offer my insights then. Iliana wanted help in working with Nethys, so I might as well do that while my wizard doesn’t have need of me.”

Wolfgang’s expression went dense with a desire Nic recognized well from her own wizard. Alise cleared her throat and looked away, while Asa’s green healing magic took on such a tinge of bitter longing that Nic inadvertently lifted a hand to soothe him, withdrawing at his black, warning look.

For her part, Quinn exchanged air kisses with Costa, then sighed after him as he left. “What a thing to be in love with your wizard,” she said wistfully. Quinn was bonded to her sister, so they shared a strong magical connection that, while affectionate, was obviously not sexual.

“It’s overrated,” Asa said shortly, going to the chair Costa had vacated and holding it for Nic to sit. Alise dragged over chairs for herself and Quinn, while Wolfgang began perusing Nic’s stack of documents. To her satisfaction, he quickly discerned her organization and piled them accordingly.

“Not that you’re bitter,” Alise said to Asa.

“Didn’t you have affection in your relationship with Laryn?” Wolfgang asked Asa. “You seemed to have a loving marriage on top of the wizard–familiar bond, her eventual betrayal notwithstanding.”

“I thought we did,” Asa bit out, “but apparently I was deluded.” He snatched up one of the documents, glaring at it fiercely.

“You were not the only one she fooled. She betrayed everyone in House Phel,” Alise told him gently, with a wisdom beyond her years. “Some more than others,” she added cutting a glance at Nic and away again.

Asa visibly set his jaw. “Some cuts go deeper than others, too. Can we focus on the matter at hand? I do have patients to tend to.”

“Yes,” Nic said briskly. “Would one of you wizards set a ward so we can’t be overheard? Then let’s read and discuss.”

It took some time for all of them to read, passing the documents around the circle, Wolfgang and Quinn both making notes as they went. Nic took the opportunity—why not?—to read each again as they were passed to her.

The threats, no matter how floridly couched, hadn’t gotten any more pleasant in the interim.

Finally, Wolfgang sat back with a sigh, tossing the final document onto its appropriate pile. He raised a brow at Asa. “Do you want to take the lead or shall I? Your debate team won the Convocation Academy championship also.”

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