Magic in the Air: The Traveler and the Exile

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This book has not yet been fully edited. I hope that any typos, awkward phrasing, or holes in research that might remain don't dampen your enjoyment of the story.

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"I can't believe he's recovered already."

When Gerard broke the silence between the three of them he had been expecting thankful affirmations. Instead, Eloise and Martin only glared at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Gerard could tell when a spark existed between two people, it was a skill he cherished not the least because he also prided himself on being able to cause that spark. But the heat he'd drawn with his remark belied an emotion he never felt he had known himself. Such was to be expected. Eloise had not exactly welcomed him to this visit and it seemed that even Martin strained to excuse the man's adding himself to the boy's visitors at the last minute. Knowing what the woman planned, Gerard was glad that Martin had been kept around. That kind of pliability was hard to buy and the price would forever be going up. But this woman had no care to please everyone, and as far as Gerard could tell she hadn't yet revealed her price. Some part of him hoped that she would never need to.

"Now Eloise, I'm sure he's just trying to make things less awkward for us all."

Gerard nodded, making sure he kept a lock step with the other two. Having made the trip through the infirmary so often over the last month had left them perfectly in sync. "Indeed. I haven't visited quite so often as you two, but my responsibilities don't bring me this way often." He looked over to Eloise. "And I do, after all, have responsibilities."

Eloise grimaced. Martin looked sorry. Gerard chuckled as the other two's expressions hardened back into silence. Glad to see I can still affect people. Gerard turned his attention to the hall they were striding through. It was true. He did not often have business in the guild's infirmary. In fact, he hardly bothered with the main mess just two floors below them these days. Though Gerard quite enjoyed the scent of herbs and poultices. Their sticky sweet aroma filled the air and strengthened as they passed by every open door. There wasn't a patient in every chamber, most mechanics were too careful to end up here, but it seemed as if there were just enough around to permeate the air with it. He at least had been here to visit the boy often enough to remember that he was in the room at the end of the hall. He distracted himself for the heat he could still feel from Eloise with the dust motes streaming through the sunlight that poured into the hall. 

Unlike the mess floor, the medical area was higher than the wall around the guild's land and so sunlight streamed into it freely. The same was the case for the counsel mess, but the light here seemed to be of a finer sort. No doubt because of the welcoming fragrance of mint and sage and jasmine. The counsel chamber had begun to stink a bit too much of that acrid powder Edgar had made such a mountain of. Gerard appreciated his entrepreneurial spirit, but sighed around the rest of his associated thoughts as the trio stopped in front of the entry to the larger of the two patient rooms.

As Gerard looked to Eloise and Martin he was struck by how ready they appeared, how practiced. He looked down to his hands which had folded themselves over his waist. He separated them and pace them on his hips. Martin forced a smile and he caught Eloise rolling her eyes. Gerard hoped she would be a better sport if she managed to win her way onto the council. Edgar's hand-selected puppets seemed popular, but both were men and he knew well how the wiles of a woman could sway things at the last minute. Martin called to the doorway from inside the room. "Are you going to come in Gerard, or just watch?"

Gerard felt a flush well up in his cheeks. Martin had always had a way of knowing of how to rile people up, though he didn't seem to enjoy doing it enough to do it frequently. He caught himself wishing that Orin had showboated all of his magic away at the demonstration, leaving Martin to that sympathizer's knife or Frances' arrows. But as he walked into the room a clanking at his side softened his intent. Much like Dean, Orin had been his student. And now, because his own schemes had gone only mostly perfectly, the boy was here and Orin was nowhere. Looking around on his way to the boy's bed gave Gerard further pause. The walls were solid stone, the floor a surprisingly polished dark wood that cast blurred reflections into the eyes of any who looked at it. And the made beds, Dean was the only one here after all, looked resplendent in the mid-morning sunlight. That was, as far as Gerard could guess, why those interested in pursuing the healing sciences had established their headquarters here rather than a higher floor where the windows were mere slits. As he reached Dean's bed another wave of mint, sage, and jasmine struck him.