Chapter 9

Shop Talk

The Merricks lived on the edge of town, in a simple but well-loved home big enough to house all seven members of the family and a few guests. The yard was large enough for a garden, training area, and workshop, since even people who loved each other needed a little breathing room sometimes. Marie had told her that, during a quiet moment when a younger Elena had needed to escape the warm but overpowering bustle of some family event. The thought had been surprisingly comforting.

When they got closer, Elena could hear the sounds of conversation through the open window. “They’ve already started, haven’t they?” she asked, belatedly wondering if she should offer her bun as part of the meal or if they’d let her set it down on a counter. The polite thing to do would probably have been to eat it on the way here, but then she would have had less room for dinner. “Tell me you at least told them I’d be coming.”

“That would be lying to you, which at this point just seems hypocritical,” Cam said cheerfully, pushing open the front door. Elena hesitated, trying to figure out the most polite way to crash a family dinner party, when he turned around gave her an exasperated look. “Come on. If we’re any slower Gabby will have finished off all the potato salad.” Then, before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.

The sound of conversation enveloped her the minute she stepped into the house, a cheerful back-and-forth about cackling techniques, chocolate cake, and whether or not someone could have seconds. When she and Cam appeared in view of the table, however, they immediately had everyone’s attention.

“Elena! Cam didn’t tell me you were coming!” Marie stood up, pulling Elena out of Cam’s grip and into a hug. “What a wonderful surprise. It’s been too long since we’ve had you over for dinner.”

“Robbie, get your brother a chair,” Alan said, squeezing Elena’s hand and ushering her into an available seat. “Elena, dig in. You don’t eat enough.”

“You haven’t seen her with cinnamon toast,” Cam chipped in, sounding completely unconcerned about the fact that she’d just stolen his seat. He took the wrapped bun out of her hand, setting it down on a sideboard as Robbie came back in with another chair. “It’s as bad as Gabby and potato salad.”

“I helped make it today. It’s delicious,” Gabby piped in, adding another helping onto her own plate before pushing the bowl towards Elena. “You can have some, but not all of it. Mom said I get all the leftovers.”

“If there are any,” Robbie added, scooting his sister over so there would be room for Cam’s chair. They both took their seats, reaching for the cheese-covered vegetables a second after Cam had already snatched them away. “Fine, then. Dish me some while you have it.”

“Fair enough.” Cam gave both of them big helpings, then passed the dish across the table to Elena.

Noticing that the serving dishes were piling up around her, Elena started filling up her plate. The move earned a smile of approval from Marie, who added a piece of chicken to Elena’s growing collection of food. “Here. You can’t just eat Alan’s part of the meal.”

“Dad’s really careful about chopping things, so he does the inside stuff,” Gabby explained, as if Elena hadn’t already been aware of the family’s cooking arrangements. Then again, maybe the girl simply liked explaining things. “Mom’s more of a free spirit.”

“Besides,” Alan added, sending a secret smile across the table to his wife. “She likes the fire.”

“Of course I do.” Marie grinned back at him. “You can have so much fun with it.”

“People, please,” Cam cut in, the humor evident on his face. “Not in front of the children.”

“Are you using physical or mental ages to define children?” Robbie argued, looking so serious Elena suspected the expression must be its own joke. “Because if it’s mental ages, that includes everyone at the table but Elena.”

The conversation settled back into a rhythm as everyone began eating again, giving Elena time to re-acclimatize herself. She’d been to the Merricks’ at least a few times every year since Alan had become her guard, but it was still a little disorienting to step into the world they made. They talked more to each other in a single hour than she and her mother did in an entire week. Maybe even a month.

She felt both Alan and Marie watching her out of the corners of their eyes, giving her the time she needed. They always did, waiting for whatever secret signal they used when they decided she’d finally relaxed. When they saw it, Marie smiled at her again. “It’s been too long since we’ve had the chance to sit down and really talk, Elena. How have you been?”

Marie knew about the blackouts, which meant Elena thankfully didn’t have to mention them. “Same as usual, really. Dr. Flyte says hello.”

“I’ll have to give him a mirror call.” The two sometimes talked about Marie’s students, many of whom went on to top positions with the city guard. She’d tried to talk them into joining the castle guard, if only so that Alan would stop complaining so much. Given the castle guard’s reputation, however, they’d all refused to take the bait. “How about Cam? Hopefully he hasn’t been causing you too much trouble.”

Elena glanced over at Cam, who was debating with his brother the question of who had been given the worst childhood chores and didn’t seem to be paying any attention. “No. He’s been good.” She didn’t mention the not-quite-fight with the muscle Nigel had hired, not certain how much Cam had told his parents. “We had some disagreements at first, but he’s very skilled at his job.”

“Ah.” There was laughter in Marie’s eyes, and Elena suspected she’d heard a far less polite version of the story. Honestly, Alan could have told her—she had started yelling at Cam from essentially the moment he arrived. Still, it wasn’t her right to talk about any of that with his parents, no matter what she threatened or teased Cam with in private. Besides, she hadn’t lied—Cam should appreciate that, if nothing else.

Before she could decide what else she could safely add to her answer, Elena felt someone watching her. Turning, she caught Cam sending her a look that was somewhere between disbelief and what appeared to be worry. She sent back an expression meant to ask him what the problem was, but he just shook his head and returned his attention to the meal. Alan and Marie were now watching both of them, and to Elena’s frustration they seemed to have a far better sense of what had just happened than she did.

Wanting to distract them, she turned to Alan. “Have we heard anything more about Nigel?”

The older man’s face darkened. “Cam told us about the local muscle he hired. No one’s spotted him in the city limits, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“The city guard’s had to cut back on witch assistance due to budget cuts,” said Marie.“He may still be using an invisibility spell, which would make him difficult to find during the sweeps they’ve been making.”

“I’m finishing up a set of charms they can use to pick up that specific spell,” Robbie added surprising Elena. She’d studied some witchcraft over the years, and giving a non-magic user the ability to detect invisibility was definitely not one of the standard charms. In fact, she wasn’t sure it was a standard spell. “If he’s still here, they should help the patrols find him.”

Elena nodded, watching Cam’s younger brother. She remembered Cam telling her how excited Robbie would be to hear about her adaptations to the broom spell, and she wondered why he had stopped asking her about magic. She couldn’t imagine his curiosity had waned, and in her experience a Merrick was never too afraid to ask a person anything.

Maybe he, too, had been trying to be polite.

“Cam tells me you’re in your third year of studying witchcraft with Dame Beacham,” Elena said, directing her attention to Robbie. “I’ve never worked with her personally, but I did know her mentor, Dame Kadrey, before she died. I’ve heard that Dame Beacham is just as skilled and exacting a teacher. You must be a rare student for her to have continued working with you for so long.”

Robbie’s eyes went wide at the unexpected compliment, and he even blushed a little before clearing his throat. “I—it’s an honor to work with her.” He hesitated, his eyes surprisingly hopeful. “I have a lab out back, where I’m finishing up the charms.”

He didn’t say anything else, but Elena used almost-questions often enough to recognize when one was being directed at her. She hesitated, knowing that it would be safer to pretend she hadn’t heard it. Private workrooms were a line of familiarity, and it would do no one any good if she crossed this one.

But surely it wouldn’t do too much harm to simply talk a little shop with someone. It was unlikely she would live long enough to take on a student—it would be nice to pass on at least a few of the tricks she’d learned to someone so eager to learn. “I would love to see it, if there’s time after dinner,” she told him, taking another sip of her drink before glancing at Alan and Marie for approval. “Cam mentioned you might also be interested in some work I’ve done adapting a witch’s broom spell to a flying harness.”

Robbie’s face lit as Alan nodded. He seemed pleased, as any good father likely would be when someone took an interest in his children. “We’ll make Cam help with the dishes.”

“I’ll do it!” Gabby piped in, trying to sneak in another serving of potato salad. When Marie stopped her with a stern look, she gave her mom a sheepish grin and put the spoon back in the bowl.

“You can’t. You’ve been banned from dishes ever since the juggling thing.” Cam sighed theatrically, but there was definite approval in his eyes. Possibly, she realized, because this was the first sign she’d given that she’d actually listened to him about anything. “Okay, fine. I’ll do it.”

Marie’s smile included everyone at the table. “It touches a mother’s heart to see her children sacrifice like that.”

~

As soon as Robbie swallowed his last mouthful, he hurried outside so he could “get everything ready.” Elena offered to help with the dishes, but Marie told her to sit down and relax. Cam schooled his face into an expression of exaggerated suffering as his mother teasingly dragged him into the kitchen, and Elena wiggled her fingers at him as he disappeared.

Gabby disappeared, no longer interested once there was no potato salad to hold her attention. That left only her and Alan at the table, and as soon as they were alone he turned that focused gaze of his in her direction. “So, how’s Cam doing?” he asked quietly. “Honest answer, not what you’d say to please the parents. It’ll be awhile before my leg is fully up to speed.”

Elena wasn’t sure if she was amused or annoyed that Cam had been right. More surprising, however, was the odd sense of defensiveness that sent a little spike along her shoulder blades. “I was being completely honest with Marie,” she said, watching Alan as closely as he was watching her. “In his own way, Cam is just as scary as you are.”

Alan smiled at that, the expression so close to a grin that it instantly melted Elena’s defensiveness. “I know. He cheats, just like his mother.”

The last was said with such approval that it briefly brought a smile to Elena’s own lips. Still, it wasn’t the response she’d been expecting. “I thought you two fought all the time.”He settled back in his chair, clearly having obtained the information he was looking for. “We do. He also has his mother’s inability to follow basic instructions,” he said, his face becoming solemn. “Cam could make captain in a few years if he’d just focus himself a little.” It sounded like an old argument between them, one she wasn’t familiar enough with to even consider touching.”

If he moved over to the castle guard, he could have made captain a year ago. They’re in desperate need of men and women who actually know what they’re doing.”

Alan’s disapproval of the basic training methods utilized by the palace guard was legendary, which had led to more than a few shouting matches between him and the guardmaster over the years. As her personal guard, Alan was technically outside their command structure, which was the only reason he hadn’t overhauled the entire system years before. “So why ask me if Cam’s doing a good job?” she asked, knowing she wasn’t likely to get a straight answer out of him. Still, she had to try. “It seems pretty clear to me that you already knew the answer.”

He looked amused. “I knew the truth. That didn’t mean I knew what your answer would be.”

She was tempted to prod the man further. Before she decided whether or not to make the push, however, Robbie reappeared. “Everything’s ready,” he said, his breathlessness suggesting he’d run back inside. As if he’d realized that himself, he stopped and made himself breathe more slowly. “You can come out whenever you want.”

There was only one acceptable answer to give. Standing up, she tried hard to make sure her expression didn’t slide into its usual defensive mask. “I’ll follow you out right now.”

Robbie kept up a steady stream of explanation all the way out to the lab, the semi-familiar technical language doing a great deal to make her shoulders relax. She asked a few careful questions, always designed to set off a new round of explanations, and made a mental note to copy her harness notes and send them along with Cam the following Sunday.

The lab itself was small, full of plants and different bits of wood and metal. There weren’t quite as many books as in her own work area, a sign of the differences between the two disciplines of magic, but the ones that were there looked well-read. “I like it,” she said. “You must accomplish a great deal out here.”

Taking that as a sign of approval, Robbie hurried over to his worktable. “I wove together the basic magic detection and lost child charm spells, then calibrated it to seek out the invisibility spell instead of the blood match like it usually does. It’s kind of blind, though. The one time I tested it, the spell tried to make Mom walk through the side of a building. I was wondering if you had any techniques to maybe refine the guidance system a little better.”

It was impossible not to jump in with him, offering suggestions from her own work and fascinated by the ideas that Robbie seemed to pull directly from his own imagination. At some point he sacrificed his chair so she could sit down, instead using an overturned mixing cauldron generally used to make basic household potions in large batches. Elena immediately asked him where he’d purchased it—Braeth had recently dissolved his, and they were hard to find in the city.

A casual mention of the flying spells set the conversation off in an entirely different direction. Soon various practice rounds of the spell—purely for testing, of course—had the invisibility-detecting charms dancing in a circle above their heads. Once Robbie came up with an idea, they used a basic wind spell for propulsion and guided the charms into even more complicated tricks. It was almost as much fun as flying.

“As much as I hate to interrupt, it’s getting dark. We should probably be getting you home soon.”

Elena jumped at the sound of Cam’s voice behind her, accidentally causing an eddy that sent one of the charms sailing towards the door. Cam caught it easily, his smile warm and a teasing light in his eyes. “Has anyone ever told you you’re pretty cute when you get caught up playing?”

Giving him her best haughty expression in response, she sent the breeze to pick the charm back up and return it to Robbie. “We weren’t playing. We were conducting serious magical experiments.” It was only then that Elena realized that it had been “getting dark” for at least a solid hour by now. She had been out here for far longer than she realized. “I really should be getting home. My mother doesn’t hover when she’s worried, but Bishop somehow senses it and hovers for her.” She smiled at Robbie. “Thank you. I should probably apologize to your parents for avoiding them all night, but I had a wonderful time.”

Robbie’s cheeks colored a little, but the grin on his face reminded her of Cam. “Hey, my door is always open for anyone who has the transitive properties of quartz memorized.” Then his expression sobered a little, becoming more earnest. “Seriously, I would love to do this again any time you’d be interested. I don’t have a lot of friends who are as in to the technical details of all this as I am.”

Elena knew exactly what he meant, and was briefly, powerfully, tempted to name a date. Then guilt hit, crushing the desire. She and Robbie could become good, close friends, but she had no right to be making those when she had so little time left. Even though she’d decided to examine the curse again, the odds that anyone would find something to help her were miniscule.

A thought clicked quietly inside her head, and the words were out of Elena’s mouth before she had any idea they were coming. “Do you know anything about deep spell analysis?”

Robbie paused. “Yeah. Sorcerers and sorceresses use them for intense study sessions on really complicated spells. They set up this whole circle so nothing accidentally explodes or backlashes while they’re poking at it, and aren’t there usually like three or four people on the outside sending in probes and doing different tests?”

“There are.” Elena took a deep breath, telling herself that this was an entirely practical decision. It was always good to have an extra set of knowledgeable eyes during an analysis, and the fact that Robbie was a witch gave him a perspective no one else in the circle would have. “I’m doing a deep spell analysis on a particularly complicated spell construction sometime in the near future, and I would like you to be in the circle. If you’re willing, of course.”

Behind her, Elena sensed Cam go still. Robbie, however, was paying absolutely no attention to his brother’s reaction. “That’s, I—” Blinking too-wide eyes, Robbie stopped and made himself take a breath before trying again. “Yes, of course. I’d be honored. But don’t you want somebody with more experience? I haven’t even finished my training. I’m sure if you asked Dame Beacham she’d—”

Elena stopped him with a lift of her hand, deliberately ignoring Cam. Whatever he was feeling, she could deal with it later. “I’d need you for your observational skills, not your spell casting, and those are already excellent. It’s also important to me that I absolutely trust everyone who will be involved in this circle.” She smiled a little. “The only witch I know of who fits that qualification is you.”

Their eyes met for a long time, then Robbie swallowed. “Of course, just tell me when.” Then he hesitated. “Is this something I shouldn’t mention to Mom and Dad?”

The question gave Elena pause, and she was annoyed at herself for not having considered that particular wrinkle. But if her own mother was eventually going to have to be told, it seemed wrong not to tell Alan and Marie as well. “I would never be so foolish as to try and keep a secret from your parents,” she said.

It was only when the worry left Robbie’s face that Elena realized it had been there in the first place. He started cleaning things up, and when she offered to help he gently shooed her away. “I’ve got a secret organizational system no one else can understand,” he said, smiling.

“He really does,” Cam cut in, trying to sound as light and easy as he had only minutes ago. But she could hear the tension, and braced herself for whatever argument he was going to try as soon as they were alone. “Come on. Mom and Dad will kill me if you don’t say goodbye before you go.”

Elena followed him outside, carefully shutting the lab door behind her so that Robbie couldn’t overhear. Expecting Cam to jump on the relative privacy, she started with the counterattack. “I have every right to involve your brother.” She sounded angrier than she’d meant to, but it bothered her that Cam thought Robbie had to be protected from her. “If you want Alan and Marie to weigh in first, that’s fine. But he’s intelligent and attentive, and I need his input.”

She stopped where she was, not wanting the rest of the family involved until they’d hashed out a few things. When Cam turned around, however, it wasn’t to yell at her. “You didn’t tell me you were going to take another look at the curse,” he said quietly.

Her frustration abruptly deflated in surprise. “It didn’t occur to me,” she admitted, feeling her way around the unexpected conversational turn. “Is that what this is about?”

Cam’s jaw tightened briefly, and for a while there was nothing but silence. Then he sighed. “I didn’t think you’d listened to me.”

There were so many ways she could take that, some of which would start conversations she wasn’t ready for. Elena kept her voice light, not letting herself wish for anything more than the simplest version. “I enjoy not listening to you.”

The corners of his mouth quirked upward. “Believe me, I know.” His expression went serious again. “But this was important. And before you try to yell at me again, Robbie was a good call. Mom and Dad won’t have any problem with it.”

There was no safe response to any of this, except for a simple and dignified apology that she’d gotten mad at him in the first place. “I’m sorry.”

Cam’s smile widened. “Let’s not start that.” He held out a crooked arm. “People might think you’re possessed.”

After a moment, she slid her arm through his. “I don’t know what came over me.”