The Courtship of Julian St. Albans

by Crook, Amy

“We do?” said Julian, instantly attentive. “Is that what this is?”

  Alex grinned. “It is, usually I do this in my work room but this one doesn’t need heating or anything, just a bit of magic. I thought we’d make a Keep-Safe charm.”

  “Oh, like kids wear!” said Julian, clapping his hands delightedly.

  “Well, this one will be for you, but the principle is the same,” said Alex. “It’s not a gift because you’re going to help.”

  “You’re sneaky,” said Julian, stealing a kiss. “I like it.”

  Alex got them settled on the couch, then struck the tuning fork gently against the bowl and set it back down, so only the bowl itself was ringing softly. “Now first, put the stone in the bowl. That’s carnelian, most of the kid’s charms use a bit of coral.”

  Julian picked up the little red stone and laid it in the bottom of the glass bowl in the middle of the table. “Carnelian’s for protection, right?”

  “Protection and joy,” said Alex with a smile. “Next, add a little bit of this,” he said, pointing to a blue bottle. “It’s just water, but it’s one of those exotic waters from far-off lands, in this case a spring in Athens that’s good for divination. It’s to help your intuition.”

  “How much?” asked Julian, picking up the bottle and looking at it for a moment, holding it in his hands before taking out the stopper.

  “Just a little is fine, there, that’s good,” said Alex, watching him pour. “Don’t worry, it’s not priceless or anything.”

  Julian giggled. “Well, it is special fancy exotic water.”

  “But not very expensive,” said Alex, giving him a wink. “Now I need you to breathe on it, like you would a mirror you were trying to fog up, one whole lungful of air.”

  “Got it,” said Julian. He took a deep breath, then huffed it out into the bowl. Alex had already charged the bowl with his own power, and despite Julian’s touches it held the pure tone from being tapped earlier. When Julian’s breath hit the surface of the water, everything misted over as though the water was also glass, giving the whole thing a ghostly appearance. “Oh,” said Julian, once he’d taken in another breath and sat back. “It’s really magic.”

  “It’s really magic,” said Alex, kissing his cheek. “Next, this bit of silver,” said Alex, pointing to the small coil of wire. “Don’t worry about disrupting what’s there, just set the silver in the bowl.”

  “All right,” said Julian, nodding. He set it in carefully anyway, leaning against the little polished cabochon, silver bright against the fogged-up stone.

  “Next your second contribution, which will hurt just a little, I’m afraid,” said Alex. “For kids they use hair, but for you, I’d like to put in three drops of blood.” He picked up a straight, clean pin from where it was resting on a handkerchief, with a plaster waiting right beside.

  Julian laughed at Alex’s look of worry. “I can stand to lose a little blood,” he said, taking the pin. He pricked the middle finger on his left hand and dripped three drops, splashing red onto the rock and wire before swirling in the misty water, then allowed Alex to wipe his finger clean and put the plaster on.

  “Almost done,” promised Alex. “Usually vervain goes here, but I wanted to use a bit of your new clover, so pluck one whole clover off each plant and add them in,” he said, pointing to the window box.

  Julian did this silently, dropping each little trio of leaves in so they floated serenely in the bowl. “What next?”

  “Next, we make the charm,” said Alex. He picked up the tuning fork and scooted close, sliding one long arm around Julian. “Cup the bowl like this,” he said, guiding Julian’s hands to either side of the bowl, whose ringing tone was barely audible now. “Just stay there and watch.”

  Julian nodded, looking breathless and excited, and Alex was glad he’d decided to do this. He cupped one hand around Julian’s, then tapped the bowl with the tuning fork again and cupped his other hand on the other side, still holding the vibrating fork. “Hum with me,” whispered Alex into Julian’s ear, and then he chose a harmonious note and started humming softly in Julian’s ear.

  Julian hummed a higher note, but one that blended well with the rest, and Alex let himself relax, pouring power and will through Julian’s hands into the bowl, where the water and all the contents began to swirl, the mist of Julian’s breath obscuring everything as it roiled and stirred. Finally, just as they were starting to run out of breath, the liquid flowed impossibly into the stone, which had become wrapped in the silver wire to make a pendant. There was an etching on the stone of a clover, but otherwise nothing was left of the other ingredients in the bowl.

  “There you are, your very own Keep-Safe,” said Alex. He produced a chain from his pocket, and smiled. “Will you wear it?”

  “Of course,” said Julian, looking exhilarated and joyful already. Between them they got the stone threaded on the chain and put the whole thing around Julian’s neck. Julian slipped it under his collar to rest hidden against his chest next to the other, more elaborate amulet Alex could hear there. “It’s funny, but I do feel better now, wearing it. People always say they’re just trinkets for kids, but that was real magic.”

  Alex kissed him sweetly. “There’s a world of difference between a personal charm like this and a cheap toy at the corner shop, but even those do have a little power.”

  “Good,” said Julian, snuggling up. “I like to think of all those kids wearing them, feeling just a little bit like I do now, like someone’s watching out for them.”

  Alex smiled and held him. “I rather like that, too,” he admitted, which would’ve made eyebrows go up all over the Agency, were he to be heard talking that way.

  They stayed cuddled like that for a few minutes more, just resting in each others’ company until Julian’s belly gave a little growl and they both laughed. “Magic makes you hungry,” said Alex, kissing his hair. “Want to go have more tea and sweets?”

  “Yes, please,” said Julian, grinning hugely. “Did I really do part of the magic?”

  “You did, you contributed energy with your breath and blood, and also at the end, when I pushed my stronger magic through you it took a little of yours with it,” said Alex. He and Julian stood and made their way into the kitchen, where the two Guardians were happily arguing a detail from a book they’d both read recently.

  “All done?” asked James, getting up to put the kettle on.

  “Can I see it?” asked Jacques, clearly curious.

  At Alex’s nod of permission, Julian pulled the amulet back out from under his shirt and showed it to the two Guardians. “I’ve never made anything really magical before,” he said shyly.

  “I haven’t done anything like this,” said Jacques, looking it over curiously. “Guardians aren’t big on stuff like this.”

  “There’s other mages in the Temple that make this sort of thing, though,” said James, coming over to look, too. “This is a really good one, especially for how simple it is. I can tell.”

  “Do you hear magic, too?” asked Julian curiously.

  “Oh, no,” said Jacques, getting up to prepare the teapot, rinsing away the old leaves and choosing one of his herbal mixes to replace them. “We’re both sight sensitives, I see glowing and colours, and James sees waves and shapes.”

  “It’s hard to describe,” said James, but he clearly didn’t mind trying. “You know like when you see topography maps, the way the shapes and colours represent hills and valleys?”

  “Oh, yes! That makes sense, so you see hills where there’s magic?” asked Julian, fascinated.

  “Something like that, yes,” said James, grinning.

  “It all seems so amazing, that you can see magic, or hear it, all around us when I can’t see anything,” said Julian with a sigh. “I’m just ordinary.”

  “You’re hardly ordinary,” protested Alex, giving his hair a kiss. “Not many men would go on a date with two Guardians and a mage that investigates murders.”

  Julian giggled. “No
t many men would get invited,” he said impishly.

  “Exactly,” said James, and Alex looked smug.

  “So, when do you have to be home, anyway?” asked Jacques curiously, nibbling on a sweet.

  Julian got a sly look and snuggled a bit closer to Alex. “Technically not until tomorrow morning,” he said, looking up at Alex hopefully.

  Alex chuckled and kissed him. “You’re not making it easy to be a gentleman about things, my sweet,” he said. “Can you imagine Godfrey’s face if I brought you home tomorrow all debauched?”

  Julian laughed, delight warring with mortification. “Oh, he’d never forgive me for letting you be the first to keep me out,” he gasped, then cracked up all over again.

  Alex felt a surge of possessiveness, wanting to have Julian now and make him never want any of the other men in the Courtship, but he knew in his heart it wasn’t the right time. No matter what his lower anatomy might think. “I hesitate to think the glares he’d level at me then,” said Alex, teasing instead of seducing.

  “Well, best get me home before midnight, then,” said Julian, still giggling into Alex’s chest and clearly content for the excuse to stay there.

  “That’s a few hours,” said James, “why don’t we go out to the living room and play a bit of gin or something? We can put the planter by the door, now he’s had his moment.”

  Alex chuckled. “It is traditional to try to surprise and amaze when one is Courting,” he said, mock-defensively.

  Jacques snickered. “I’m just amazed you didn’t kill the plants, I heard what Mary Margaret had to say about you.”

  Alex laughed. “I’m lucky she likes me,” he said wryly. “I have a terrible track record, but she forgives me because I cleaned out a terrible pixie infestation for her in exchange for credit.”

  “I don’t think that’s why she likes you,” said Julian. “You’re very likeable when you let people.”

  “When I let people?” said Alex, surprised.

  Julian nodded against his chest. “Mm-hm. You don’t want people like Duckworth to like you because he’s a stuffed prat, but you’re nice when you want to be, like with me. You were always thoughtful with me.”

  “You say what you think,” said Jacques, putting the tea things and a few consolidated dishes of sweets on a tray, “but you make it funny when you want to.”

  “If you want to,” added James wryly. “You hate having to kowtow to anyone, though, so the more someone thinks you ought to respect them, the more unpleasant you are.”

  Alex chuckled. “And here I always thought I was just generally unpleasant,” he said, but of course he had known better, sort of. He just hadn’t wanted to think about it, much. “Julian will just have to be the guiding light of kindness and joy in my otherwise misanthropic life.”

  They all laughed at that, and then the Guardians shooed them out into the living room, James moving the planter while Alex got rid of the remains from their spell and Jacques got everyone set up with tea and found the cards. Julian perched on the couch, watching and smiling. “Next time, I’ll know where things are so I can help,” he said.

  “I hope there’s a next time,” said Alex, coming to sit with him.

  “Of course there’ll be a next time,” said Julian. “You’re the front runner officially, now.” He was a little sad as he said it, and Alex snuggled him close.

  “I’m sorry you’ve had so much loss,” Alex said quietly. He tilted Julian’s face up, cupping his cheek, and kissed him very sweetly. “I’ll do my best to stay alive.”

  “And not just for his own sake,” teased James, sitting down in one of the chairs.

  Jacques took the other and shuffled. “We’ll keep his skin intact for you, don’t worry.”

  Julian giggled. “I know you will, that’s why I’m happy he’s the one I like best. It would be tragic if you were guarding George Entwistle instead.”

  Jacques dealt the cards and they all gossiped laughingly about the other candidates, the Guardians having done their research enough to be able to participate. Alex admitted he rather liked Chudleigh the way one likes a puppy, though he didn’t voice his worry that the cheerful man would take Pembroke’s death harder than most. Julian teased Alex by bringing up Whitby Chilcott, who had so far been very sincerely interested in Julian himself, and less so the estate and lands, unlike some of the others.

  “Oh, god, I don’t think Standish Flynn could even remember my first name half the time, he was so fixated on the St. Albans titles,” said Julian with a giggle. “He kept having to resort to ‘Mr. St. Albans’ like we were discussing a business deal.”

  It felt good, to gossip and talk with Julian like friends, to be someone Julian could tell about his life and the most important thing in it right now. Alex was grinning for more than one reason when he laid down his cards and announced, “Gin.”

  Julian laughed, then pouted and demanded a kiss to compensate for losing, and Jacques demanded James help make the tea this time. Alex didn’t let the kissing get too heated, but he could feel the fine tension running through both of them. “After you’ve made your formal announcement, it will be more acceptable for you to come for a weekend,” he said softly, feeling shy to be the one to suggest such a thing.

  “It will, won’t it?” said Julian, grinning happily. “I expect our fourth date to be for a whole weekend here in the city, then, during which we put up silencing spells and rarely leave the bedroom.”

  “It sounds like a plan,” said Alex, stealing a few more kisses.

  Their idyll was broken when Alex’s phone went off, and Alex sighed to see it was Lapointe. “I should take this,” he said, giving Julian one last, soft kiss before answering. “This better be good.”

  “We found the ward-breaker, you were right. We had to requisition a special box just to hold it, but as soon as it was put away the mage in the room relaxed and said it was working,” said Lapointe. “I just thought you’d want to know your information was good.”

  “I knew it was good, fae take lying very seriously,” said Alex, “but thank you, it will make Julian happy to know that no one else will be attacked at the Agency on his behalf.”

  “Not even you,” said Lapointe, and then hung up.

  Alex chuckled. “They’ve figured out how he was triggering the devices inside the Agency and stopped it,” he said, loud enough for the Guardians to hear as well. “Armistead will live another day.”

  “Pity,” said Jacques.

  They all laughed, but it was a little strained this time. Alex, at least, was inevitably wondering what their murderer would come up with next, now that they’d smashed or disabled all his toys.

  He had a feeling Julian was, too.

  ~ ~ ~

  They’d been quieter for the rest of the evening, talking about everyday life and how things might change, if Alex and Julian did truly marry. Alex admitted he’d need Emmeline to stay on for as long as she was willing to help him learn to run things, and Julian wondered aloud if she’d want to just stay on, period, marry someone and run the place with her husband.

  “If she did a Courtship she couldn’t, but if she just met someone she liked, she could,” said Julian thoughtfully.

  “If your master-husband allowed it, anyway,” teased Alex. “God, I hate that term.”

  “Which part?” asked Julian with a smile. “I do like being taken care of like a consort, but I wouldn’t mind a little more autonomy, since…”

  “Since I’m not your Cecil,” said Alex quietly, kissing him. “I’m glad you’re learning to live past your grief, but I know you’ll always have him in your heart.”

  “You, that doesn’t bother you?” asked Julian in a small voice.

  “Of course not, the fact that you still love him after everything is one of the things I love about you,” replied Alex. “It’s one of the things that resonated with me, when I was in the Temple pondering what to do about you.”

  “I’m glad you listened to your heart,” said Julian, kissin
g him again. “I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on this.”

  Alex touched the spot where Julian’s new Keep-Safe charm rested, just his shirt in the way now, both of them having shed jackets and cravats as the night wore on. “I’m glad you have a bit of me keeping you safe now.”

  They kissed again, and then Julian giggled. “It feels a little weird, you two don’t mind?”

  James was the one who answered after a moment of silent communication with Jacques. “Of all the things we’ve inadvertently been a part of or witness to as Guardians, this is one of the most wonderful.”

  “It’s not often a Guardian gets to watch people fall in love,” added Jacques, gathering up the cards.

  Julian beamed, and Alex had a feeling he had a very similar expression on his face. “It’s not often I get to fall in love,” Alex said.

  Julian rewarded him with a very sweet kiss. “You are the opposite of unpleasant, Alex Benedict,” he said firmly. “All those other people are clearly idiots.”

  They all laughed, and then Alex’s phone got a text from Jones saying he was waiting downstairs. Alex sighed. “Our carriage awaits,” he said, stealing one more kiss before standing and stretching. “Don’t forget your cravat, that pin is gorgeous and Fauna might try to make me wear it.”

  “No she wouldn’t,” said Julian, face serious. “The colour’s all wrong for your complexion.” He giggled and stood, and they spent a few minutes making sure everything that was meant to go, went, and everything that was meant to stay, stayed. Alex elected to carry the window box down in order to leave the Guardians’ hands free.

  Jones was ready and waiting, and he helped Alex get it situated in the trunk while the Guardians gave the car a quick once-over, then they were all settled and off back to the estate. “Do you find it tedious, having to drive back to the city for all these dates?” asked Alex curiously.

  Julian tucked himself in Alex’s arms and nearly in Alex’s lap for the ride. “I like this part, though I guess we won’t snog as much this time.”

  Alex chuckled. “Not as much, but maybe a little,” he teased. “You were more of a homebody before this, though, right?”