Page 16 of Strange Familiar

Alise gazed back at him, beyond surprised—and realizing that this confession had been the aim of this conversation all along. Perhaps of him joining her in the dark arts ritual to begin with, establishing trust and all. He regarded her steadily, seeming to acknowledge her thoughts.

“Even after all Laryn did?” She asked. “Betraying Nic so profoundly…”

“I’m not saying she didn’t deserve consequences for her reprehensible actions, and Lord and Lady Phel were absolutely justified in meting out any justice they found appropriate.”

“But with Laryn being pregnant with Cornelis?”

“Even so.” Asa stared off into the distance. “I wouldn’t have blamed them and I was resigned to losing them both—the familiar I’d tried to love and the unborn child I already loved without reservation. So you see…” His gaze returned to hers. “When you offered to sever the bond between us, I leapt at the opportunity. And, as a healing wizard, I could forecast the potential risks. I was up front with Laryn about those risks, and she agreed to it, too, remember.”

“And died anyway,” Alise pointed out bitterly. Along with Maman. Alise might as well paint her hands with their blood.

“That’s my point, Wizard Alise,” Asa said with quiet authority. “Laryn lived to deliver Cornelis, for which we were both grateful beyond measure. Laryn said as much to me before she passed, that at least she’d brought him into the world. I think she regretted, in the end, how she’d let bitterness and misery consume her.”

Alise nodded, too choked up to speak.

“You gave us all three a great gift,” Asa continued soberly. “Your ability to sever the wizard–familiar bond can change the face of the Convocation.”

“And kill a lot of familiars in the process.”

“It’s a new technique. Do you have any idea how many new healing techniques employed through desperation end in killing the patient rather than saving them? You’ll work it out. Don’t reject this revolutionary ability because you’re afraid of the damage it could do in its unpolished state.”

She nodded, slowly, turning that thought over. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good. That’s all I ask.” Asa stood, slapping his hands on thighs muscular from his long hikes. “Ready to head back to the manse? The naming ceremony will begin soon.”

“Yes.” She stood, chucking her apple core into the water. “Thank you.”

“No thanks necessary. I have Cornelis because of you. Which is good, as I’ll never bond a familiar again,” he added darkly, “even if I forgive myself for the role I played in Laryn’s self-destruction, in my pride, arrogance, and self-involvement.”

“Thy name is wizard,” she offered ruefully and he grimaced in agreement.

Once off the narrow bog trail and on the wider path through the orchard, they strolled side by side. “You know,” she told him, coming to a decision, “wizards can share magic with each other.”

Asa slid her a curious glance. “Of course. They just rarely do.”

“Competition, pride, self-involvement, arrogance,” she listed on her fingers.

He laughed. “Thy name is wizard. Yes, I get you.”

“I practiced magic sharing a fair amount with Wizard Cillian Harahel at Convocation Archives. I can’t tell you too much about the particulars,” she added hastily, to fend off the inevitable questions.

Asa laid a finger alongside his nose. “I can guess, but enough said. Did you find it worked as well as receiving magic from a familiar?”

“Well, I’ve obviously never had a bonded familiar, but… yes.” The experience of giving and receiving magic had been transporting, intimate, even sexual. “It’s something for you to consider, since you don’t want another familiar, for which I don’t blame you.”

“Hmm. I’ve received magic from wizards from time to time, but it wasn’t as… effortless as drawing from Laryn. Tell me, do you think it’s necessary to be emotionally and physically involved with the other wizard?”

Alise tripped on a root, glancing quickly at Asa, who watched her with a canny sparkle in his black eyes. “Oh, ah, no. You see, Archivist Harahel and I… We did not have that kind of relationship.” Her face grew hot at the lie. “It was a matter of exigency.”

Asa nodded, dark lips curved in a knowing smile. “If that’s the position you wish to claim, I won’t gainsay you.”

There was nothing to say to that, Alise decided, so she simply inclined her head in acknowledgement, keeping her mouth firmly shut, as she should have done in the first place.

The naming ceremony wasn’t as grand as some of those Alise had attended at House Elal. Pretty much everyone who lived at House Phel wanted to attend the naming of the first of the new generation of Phels, however, so they held the ceremony in the grand ballroom, lavishly decorated with spring flowers. The weather had turned chilly as evening came on, with a soaking, naturally formed drizzle falling, so the windows had been closed and fires lit in the grand fireplaces.

Gabriel’s parents held young Bria, up on the dais, while Gabriel performed the ritual according to Nic’s whispered prompts. “I name thee Gabriella Phel, treasured child of House Phel. I also name the magic of your rightful heritage. Water.” He anointed the infant’s forehead with water he’d purified.

“Moon.” He laid moonlight in a shimmering band across her brow. “And the spirit world.” Drawing on Nic’s Elal magic, he summoned elementals to represent that part of her heritage, too. He nodded to Alise, who had changed into the one formal gown she’d brought. At least on this frenzied escape to House Phel she’d packed outfits suitable for a variety of occasions, if only because she’d thought she’d need them at House Harahel.

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