The Alchemical Child

Chapter Ten

The cold woke Sage before sunlight had the chance. During the night, the snow had piled on top of the attic's only window, shrouding the sun so that the room was draped in gauzy shadows. Hermes had balled himself on the pillow next to Sage, his feathers twitching irritably when she rolled off the bed.

"I've got to get up," she muttered, tugging a blanket from his beak. "I promised Gillian I'd meet her at lunchtime."

The bird's sigh sounded more like a whistle as he buried under Sage's pillow, leaving her to face the freezing morning alone. A snowdrift was heaped against her kitchen door, and Sage had to shove her way outside when her clock struck eleven. The sky was clear of clouds, but the light was too blinding and the snow too deep for Sage to be able to cycle into the city.

She traipsed along the riverbank on foot, wearing three jumpers beneath her coat and four pairs of socks. The water had iced over during the night, cracks and fissures splitting its surface so that the world was reflected back at Sage in distorted shards. She kept her eyes straight ahead when she approached the bridge, away from the fae village and the song which had ghosted through her dreams.

But as she was about to pass the bridge post, she saw a dark figure poised on the opposite embankment. He stood beneath the snowy boughs of a tree, hair fallen across his face so that all Sage could catch of him were faint glimmers of gold. Yet, even with his eyes hidden, she knew with a chilling certainty that he had been watching her struggle through the snow.

She gasped, gaze flickering back to the river as she forged onwards, her breath puffing away with the wind and the sharp scent of cloves. The tightness in her chest didn't ease until the palace bells chimed midday and she passed onto University grounds. Students scurried across the lawn, leaving grey footprints in the frost as their scrolls tangled with scarves.

A snowball whirled past Sage's ear and she winced at the shrieks of laughter that broke the winter stillness. Peeking across the lawn, she saw Lawrence by the pond with a gaggle of his friends. They were tossing snow at each other, not worrying about the books they had discarded on the ground, and there was no sign that they had noticed her bundled beneath so many layers.

Still, Sage diverted her path to the avenue of trees, avoiding Lawrence and any prospect of arriving at Gillian's office on time. She had to take a moment in the courtyard to catch her breath, knowing her face was flushed from hurrying as she tugged off two jumpers and wrestled her satchel closed. After counting to ten, she knocked twice on her professor's door.

"Come in."

Sage burst into the office, already blurting an apology. "The snow came down so heavily last night, I had to walk up to the University. I'm sorry I'm late, I should've timed my morning better."

"Calm down, Sage. It's only ten past noon, no harm done." Gillian smiled warmly. "But stars above, you walked all the way here? Don't you live on that ancient University property down along the eastern embankment? Why not take the tram—you must be frozen, poor thing!"

It was too many questions and Sage felt the heat rising in her cheeks. She couldn't bring herself to admit that she'd spent the last of her budget on a telegram, especially when she could've simply sent her letter by post. Plus, Gillian had said she'd buy her lunch today; it would be worse if pity was involved.

"I suppose I just like the fresh air," Sage said instead, fussing with the strap on her satchel.

"Well then, I hope you won't mind a little more." Gillian stacked her papers on the desk and pulled on a woolly hat. "I thought we would have lunch at Basil's."

Basil's was a café only a few cobblestone steps from the bottom of the University's lawn. It was the unofficial gathering spot for Students after their lectures and named for the words—Basilius Valentinus—roughly carved underneath one of its pink-shuttered windows. Professor Jansen theorised that the carving referred to a fifteenth-century alchemist, making the café one of the oldest and most notable in the city, though Sage had never been inside before.