The Courtship of Julian St. Albans (42 page)

“We’re going, right?” asked Julian,
reading through the rest of her letter. They’d gotten in the habit of
corresponding that way, and Julian was excited to send Horace with their reply
today.

“We’re going, now go answer her while I
finish this or I’ll never finish,” said Alex, but his tone was gentle.
Julian was a welcome distraction in Alex’s life, especially now that he lived
with Alex most of the time.

Julian came and collected a kiss, then closed
the door so Alex could work in peace. Alex re-struck his tuning fork and this
time it was easier for him to listen to the threads of Horace’s music and work
in harmony with them. It seemed like no time at all before he’d changed out
Horace’s old parts for the new ones, and had the little bird sitting on his
shoulder, chirping happily in his ear.

“Thanks for being patient, old
friend,” said Alex. He gathered up the pieces, whole feathers set aside in
a box to be made into something new and the broken ones stripped of their
enchantment and set aside in a different box to bargain with Con at a later
date. He’d also finished Con’s pendant this morning, using the setting to
emphasise the heart-shape rather than changing the natural stone and giving the
glow spell an added little hook that would beat in time to the wearer’s heart.
He emerged with Con’s pendant in his pocket and Horace on his hand, pleased to
see Julian was still writing at the desk.

“All done,” said
Alex, giving Horace a little boost.

The bird launched himself off Alex’s finger
with a joyful trill, flying over to settle on Julian’s shoulder and rub his
head against Julian’s cheek affectionately. “Oh, you’re all better!”
said Julian, kissing the bird’s head. “You look quite handsome with your
new colours,” he said, admiring the silvery shimmer of beak and feathers
against Horace’s old bronze finish. Horace helped by holding out a wing, then
hopping down to the desk to show off, strutting quite vainly.

Alex laughed and came over to stroke the bird’s
head. “So, I’m forgiven for letting you get hurt in the first place?”
he asked.

Horace nipped his finger affectionately, just a
gentle tug of his new beak, and then trilled a swell of gratitude to Alex for
keeping Julian safe.

Alex smiled and stroked Horace’s head again,
then kissed the top of Julian’s hair. “He says I have to keep you, because
he’s really yours now, anyway.”

Julian laughed delightedly. “Oh, is that
so?” he said, pulling Alex down for a kiss before turning back to the
bird. “Well, Horace, to you feel up to taking Emmy a letter?”

Horace trilled happily and moved off the
papers, hopping back up to Julian’s shoulder to wait for him to be finished.

“I’m going to call Con to give him his
pendant, along with the brownie that he said might be able to get the dents out
of the fridge, okay? We’ve got no plans tonight?” said Alex, heading for
the kitchen.

“Sounds good,”
said Julian distractedly, already back to his letter.

Alex conjured two little butterflies and gave
each a name, Con for one and Brownie Nat for the other, as instructed, and sent
them off through the kitchen window and out into the world. Then he put the
kettle on, figuring they’d want tea no matter what.

The kettle had barely boiled when the doorbell
rang, and Alex took a moment to set a full pot to brewing before he answered
it. “Con, I wondered if you’d be nearby,” said Alex with a grin. Next
to the little earth sprite was a much bigger faerie, a cheerful brownie in
proper clothing, his skin brown as a nut and grin only a little unsettling. He
came about halfway up Alex’s thigh, and Alex smiled right back. “And you
must be Nat?”

“Aye, that I be,”
said the little fae. “May we come in?”

“You may enter as guests, with
guest-rights and restrictions,” said Alex formally.

“Yes, yes, I
accept,” said Con, clearly impatient with Alex’s formality.

Alex chuckled and whistled
Con in through the wards. “And you?”

“I accept as well, good Mage,” said
Nut, waiting to be let in. The two little beings headed straight for the
kitchen, and Alex chuckled and followed.

“Tea’s steeping, the kettle’s just boiled,
but there’s bread and honey,” said Alex. The butterfly fairy was curled up
in its plant, which it had been diligent in getting Alex to care for properly.
It had chosen to stay in Alex’s flat rather than go live on the St. Albans
estate, so Alex made sure there was always fresh bread, milk and honey for its
upkeep.

“You’ve got me bauble?” asked Con
casually. “It’s the last day of the moon.”

“I do, I’m sorry it took so long,”
said Alex. He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over, having put it on
a short bit of chain. “See if that’ll fit over your head, I want to make
sure the beating spell is working right.”

“Oh, now that is a
lovely bit o’ work,” said the brownie appreciatively.

“It’ll be right pretty on my lass,”
agreed Con, slipping the brass chain over his head and letting the stone rest
against his chest. Its glow began to beat in the fast cadence of a
small-hearted creature, making Alex smile. “There you are, it’ll keep her
heartbeat while she wears it, and otherwise just glow.”

“It’s a bargain well-met,” said Con,
taking it off and making it vanish. “Now, you said something about
tea?”

Alex laughed and set about being a proper host,
and just as he was pouring the tea Julian came in with Horace. “He’s all
ready to go, did you want to do the honours?”

“You fixed yer little
bird!” said Con, surprised.

“Of course I did, he saved Julian twice
over,” said Alex, accepting the construct from Julian and whistling to it,
making sure the spells were watertight and well-powered. “He’s got bright
new plumage now, too.”

Horace preened, showing off
his feathers.

“I don’t suppose you’ve got a use for his
old, broken bits,” said Con, interested as Alex had known he would be.

Alex grinned, then launched the bird out the
window. “That would be another bargain, now, wouldn’t it?” he said.

Nat laughed and slapped Con on the back.
“Ye were right, little sprite, this one is clever and honest both.”

“Alex is a good man,” said Julian
proudly, stepping close for a kiss before sitting for his own portion of tea
and treats.

“I can readily fix your refrigeration
machine,” said Nut, barely glancing at the damage, “but it seems to
me that you need a permanent house-fairy.”

Julian looked delighted.
“Oh, to help out, like in the stories?” he asked.

“Aye, lad, cleanin’ and cookin’, and
fixin’ a thing or two as well,” said Nat. “I’m not much for cookin’
but my lady makes a wonderful meal, and it seems you’ve enough wherewithal to support
the pair of us.”

“I suppose it’s the wards that keep you
from just moving in?” said Alex, chuckling.

“He don’t want to end up accidentally
squashed,” said Con with a chuckle. “With you magic types, it’s best
to bargain outright.”

Ales grinned and sat, satisfied that Horace was
flying true. “That’s very true, what sort of terms are you thinking?”

They worked out a bargain that suited them all,
and Alex even gave Horace’s old broken beak to Con as a finder’s fee, which
made the little sprite glow with pride. There was a bit of avarice as well when
he saw nearly half a wing’s worth of broken feathers in the box, too, and he
declared as he left that he’d be on the lookout for information worth the
valuable baubles.

Alex included Nat in the wards, bringing out
his flute so he could make it specific to Nat, and then the brownie headed off
to tell his lady-friend the good news. They’d find a little corner of the house
to make their own, likely in the laundry room, and take care of all the little
household tasks that Alex and Julian were both a bit useless at.

“Well,” said Alex, shutting the door
and locking it, “We’ll have some news for your sister tomorrow, too.”

Julian was beaming, his face full of wonder.
“You have the best home,” he said, kissing Alex sweetly. “Magic
everywhere!”

Alex grinned and gave him a second, rather
hotter kiss. “I think it’s about time we made it your home, too, don’t
you?” Julian had been living out of overnight bags, but Alex thought it
was high time they made room in his life for Julian permanently, since Julian
didn’t seem to feel they needed a bigger flat.

“I agree,” said Julian, melting into
Alex, hands beginning to roam beneath Alex’s clothes. “But we can
furniture shop later.”

“Did you have something
else in mind?” asked Alex innocently.

Julian giggled, and then proceeded to show Alex
just exactly what was on his mind.

~ ~ ~

Alex let Julian dress him up, though he put his
foot down on either of the coloured suits, which is how he ended up in the pale
yellow shirt. Julian allowed him to forgo the cravat, so he wore the heirloom
yellow diamond as a lapel pin to match the cufflinks, along with the black suit
with its matching pinstripes.

“I have fond memories of you in this
suit,” said Julian with an impish grin, straightening Alex’s collar.

Alex pulled Julian close for a lingering kiss.
“I hope to give you fond memories of me out of this suit later,” he
teased.

Julian laughed happily and swirled around. He
was wearing his own finery, a lovely suit in a rich rusty red with embroidery
like fallen leaves and a matching shirt in soft gold. He’d left his own cravat
behind and worn his amber pin just as Alex did, giving Alex a few fond memories
of his own.

“You’re so warm and handsome,” said
Alex, catching his hand and turning the spin into a dance that pulled Julian in
close for another kiss. “I’m a lucky man.”

“We’re both lucky,” said Julian, and
then he caught sight of the clock. “Oh, and nearly late! Come on, you big
peacock.”

“Peacock?” protested Alex, laughing.
“I’m not the one who made me wear this.” But he was following Julian
out anyway as they gathered up their things, including a little guesting-gift
from Saveur, and headed down to the waiting car.

Emmeline had sent the St. Albans driver along
for them, though Victor was still more than happy to loan Jones to Alex
whenever he needed it. Apparently Alex having won Julian despite the cancelled
courtship had given the Benedict name a certain cachet among the people that
Victor cared about. Not to mention that young Sharpish was coming along nicely
as a secondary driver for the estate.

Alex and Julian snuggled shamelessly in back
since the driver left the partition up between them. “I wonder if he and
Godfrey get along?” asked Alex, when the man let them out in front of the
St. Albans home with a look of familiar disapproval.

Julian laughed.
“Perhaps they play whist together,” he said teasingly.

The butler in question was there to let them
in, somehow managing to stare pointedly at their lack of cravats without
changing the angle of his head at all. “Welcome home, Mr. St.
Albans,” he said.

“Thank you, Godfrey,” said Julian
cheerfully. “We brought Emmy a little something for tea, will you see it
gets where it needs to be?” He handed off the box, more of the cheese
truffles that had turned out to be a favourite of everyone’s. Saveur had struck
a deal with Victor and was now making them as a regular item, and had even
named them Benedict Truffles.

“They’re
Benedicts,” said Alex with just a bit too much glee.

“Of course, sir,” said Godfrey, his
town dripping disdain as he gingerly accepted the box and vanished with it.

“He really hates
you,” said Julian, sounding impressed.

“It’s my natural charm,” said Alex
with a laugh. They headed through parts of the house that Alex hadn’t ever seen
before and found their way to Emmeline’s suite, her parlour done up in a very
tastefully feminine manner.

“Julian, Alex, so good of you to
come,” she said, coming over to give them both a hug and cheek-kiss.

Alex accepted and returned the greeting, feeling
all the welcome from her that Godfrey denied him. “It’s good to still be
invited,” he said with a grin.

“A sentiment I can wholeheartedly
echo,” said the man by the mantel, whom Alex had barely registered. He
turned and Alex laughed to see it was none other than Phineas O’Connor.

“Is this your mystery
man?” asked Julian, delighted.

Emmeline looked decidedly relieved. “Yes,
he and I began corresponding after the Courtship dissolved, at first he was
just inquiring after you, and then, well…”

“Well, I approve,” said Julian,
kissing her cheek again. “I always did enjoy our dates, even if there
wasn’t any kissing.”

“None at all?” asked Alex, arm around
Julian’s waist. “Was I the only one so blessed?”

“Well,” Julian
prevaricated, “not the only one.”

They all laughed, and Alex kissed Julian
soundly. “Good, you deserved all the kissing you could get while you
endured your Courtship.” He turned to O’Connor and put out his hand for
shaking. “I approve as well, not that it matters.”